It's not about the manager. The problem is the owners...

[Jim Smith 2,317]

7 minutes ago, Badger said:

No - an answer would be much appreciated. What would you expect City gain if we swapped our owners with those of Southampton, Watford, or Burnley  - you must have some idea?

Well ultimately the best means of improving the club (as we've seen) is to stay in the premier league and it would appear that the owners of those clubs (whether by virtue of resources or more ruthless decision making) give them a better chance of doing that. Palace another example, in fact a gret example as their owner realised he could not progress the club without seeking investment so went and got it. Also sacked managers at the right time and appointed good replacements. 

[Dr Greenthumb 749]

On 31/10/2021 at 18:50, keelansgrandad said:

Cynical

Good debating right there

[Dr Greenthumb 749]

On 31/10/2021 at 19:33, nutty nigel said:

Nice to see you Shaun. Hope you're well.

This is a much fairer post than usual. When did you have the epiphany that the majority shareholders aren't bad owners?

You're right the alternative is fraught with danger. What would you say the odds are of that alternative working?

It’s got to be worth the risk, we are looking like we could be the worst football club in premiership history. 
We will go down and sell our assets and I’m on the fence with the recruitment now. It seems to be getting worse. So the replacements will need to be at a good level, which will come at a cost. Which we cannot guarantee we will spend the money. 
We need to make some form of a chance, before we get stuck in the champs and consistently selling.

[Mello Yello 2,291]

I noticed a young fan in the crowd on Sunday holding up a home made sign with "Can I have your shirt please Teemu?"....

I then glanced over into our Directionless Box and there was Neppers Tom gleefully holding up a sign with "CAN I HAVE YOUR SHARES NOW PLEASE AUNTIE?".....

[tea total 79]

57 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I don’t disagree that the owners are a long term problem in terms of sustaining competitiveness at the level Bigfeller but I also think you are excusing Farke too easily in these recent posts and radio calls in order to bolster that argument. The reality is it’s both. The owners do impose a ceiling and should look for fresh investment or to sell BUT that ceiling is not rock bottom of the premier league, humiliated every week and playing sh*te. This squad snd this team are capable of so much more but are being woefully mismanaged at the moment so I firmly do believe that changing the manager would make a big difference. Whether it’s enough now is a different question.

If you are saying that the owners are making sure that they keep hold of the club no matter what offer comes in for it then yes we have a "self made" problem. If they are being honest and truthful about no investment on the horizon then we are in a position of the Premier Leagues making. The club listened to the fans regarding the kind of possession based football that fans wanted to see and with Farke it grew into something special. But teams like Leicester,  Liverpool etc prey on possession based teams by being quick on the counter. Teams with quality won't need too many chances to expose you. So Farke changes to try and adapt. Unfortunately all areas of the football pitch can't be covered at the same time so there's always going to be room for top teams to exploit us with that type of football. It's about finding that balance. You could argue that it was individual defensive errors that cost us on Sunday and that's to do with recruitment not tactics. Although I respect that in attacking areas we look pretty toothless. Sargent was brought in to give more of an aerial threat but let's be honest both him and Pukki (are being put under immense pressure to score through defensive errors and decision making in our final third. And if you are short of Premier league goals then relying on Idah is criminal to say the least! In my opinion you can argue that Farke has been put in a difficult position and yes he's made mistakes but without investment in this club then not only is he a brilliant manager but, for the short term forseeable future, he totally gets where we are and who we are. What sort of experienced manager is going to buy into that? 

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

7 minutes ago, Dr Greenthumb said:

It’s got to be worth the risk, we are looking like we could be the worst football club in premiership history. 
We will go down and sell our assets and I’m on the fence with the recruitment now. It seems to be getting worse. So the replacements will need to be at a good level, which will come at a cost. Which we cannot guarantee we will spend the money. 
We need to make some form of a chance, before we get stuck in the champs and consistently selling.

"You can have faith that something will occur knowing that the evidence suggests the outcome... but blind-faith is having faith something will occur with no evidence or conflicting evidence against that outcome"

Our board ....

[BroadstairsR 2,164]

My hobby-horse is that Main Stand of ours.

It was ridiculed (slightly) when it first appeared.

It was sat there in all its glory the day Smith/Jones took over the club.

Every year since then, this forum has debated the pros and cons of building a replacement.

Every year the cost of doing this rises whilst the edifice gets more and more dated and decrepit.  

We are reminded of it more when in the Premier League as there it stands as an embarrassment to all regularly on our television screens whilst all around the country modern and amazing structures appear, even for clubs considered much smaller than us and aspire to smaller attendances and who must have funded them somehow.

Like Smith and Jones it still sits there in all its glory. A regular reminder of "Little Old Norwich."

Answers on a postcard.

Edited November 2, 2021 by BroadstairsR

[Doomcaster 10]

I agree the owners are lovely & 100% true NCFC fans - I have many cooking books on my shelf from D

But it is also true they don't have the wealth to compete in the Premiership

In the Championship - we are indeed fortunate to keep gaining promotion for 2 successive attempts - 3rd time lucky I hope

Webbers signings are fully under focus - as it appears Webber & Farke had no idea/conversations on what formations would be played in the Prem again this season, & then sign players that fit's into Farkes plans

Webber got it wrong last time in the Prem - & it appears by all the signings / loans on the bench, or not even in the squad - Webber has got it horribly wrong yet again (same as Huddersfield collapse)

My worries are not the owners or Farke - if we go down to the Championship - Webbers signings /loans could well push us down to League 1 next season

Change needed now - not after we got promoted this season to the Prem

1st - Webber + lack of quality players he wasted £70m on this season (according to Webber)

2nd - Farke 

3rd - owners

OTBC

 

[Doomcaster 10]

On 31/10/2021 at 21:01, NCPFC said:

NCFC should’ve invested in quality and not quantity as we did.
 

That was Webbers boast

Webber failed again 

[shaunieboy77 73]

17 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

My hobby-horse is that Main Stand of ours.

It was ridiculed (slightly) when it first appeared.

It was sat there in all its glory the day Smith/Jones took over the club.

Every year since then, this forum has debated the pros and cons of building a replacement.

Every year the cost of doing this rises whilst the edifice gets more and more dated and decrepit.  

We are reminded of it more when in the Premier League as there it stands as an embarrassment to all regularly on our television screens whilst all around the country modern and amazing structures appear, even for clubs considered much smaller than us and aspire to smaller attendances and who must have funded them somehow.

Like Smith and Jones it still sits there in all its glory. A regular reminder of "Little Old Norwich."

Answers on a 

But we won't be able to see the cathedral etc on the TV when the camera pans out. 

[Son Ova Gunn 165]

1 hour ago, Badger said:

Well you could try giving one and see? What advantages could you cite from having the owners of Southampton, Watford or Burnley?

Can you actually identify any?

There owners wealth provide a cushion on which to make footballing decisions even if they don’t put money in. For example they can sign someone like King and pay a 60-70k wage knowing that if it doesn’t work out and relegation happens the club won’t go bust while trying to offload. Naismith wouldn’t have been an issue for these clubs but was a massive one for us that has put us off making similar signings. Lack of owners wealth directly resulted in a quantity over quality recruitment strategy this summer. 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

On 31/10/2021 at 22:52, Petriix said:

Here's a crazy idea: maybe accept that it's really hard for us to compete at the top level; that we are punching so far above our financial weight that the relative success of the last three seasons is a huge achievement which we can all be proud of; that we don't have some preordained right to be in the Premier League.

I don't believe for a second that our current owners are holding back a stream of potential billionaire investors. And I'm not so deluded as to imagine that a takeover would necessarily result in the kind of dream future being imagined. You don't have to look far to see what happens when those rich owners decide that pumping hundreds of millions in isn't sustainable over a prolonged period.

So our options are really limited to keeping trying to find an alternative way to compete by doing things differently, or to give up and sink back to our natural position, probably towards the bottom of the Championship or the top of League One. There's probably a third way which involves gambling our long term future by overspending in the short term to try and buy success; a terrifying thought.

But let's be honest: promotion and relegation is probably far more fun than just being Everton. We're incredibly lucky compared to the majority of clubs outside the Premier League.

How about we just enjoy the roller-coaster ride. Right now we're heading down a fairly steep drop, but there's probably another rise coming. Maybe we'll be better placed next time.

Shot. Think we'd need a visa to catch that one as it flew out of the ground like a Jens Berthel Askou clearance...

[littleyellowbirdie 2,547]

On 01/11/2021 at 00:04, Iwans Big Toe said:

I would challenge the accuracy of this statement. 

They might be 'nice' people, but they are not very good owners of a football club.

Abrahmovic is, by all accounts, a pretty shady character, but how many Chelsea fans do you think would swap him for our owners following the success he has brought their club?

 

 

Probably very few, which shows a rather depressing lack of values beyond football. 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,547]

34 minutes ago, Doomcaster said:

That was Webbers boast

Webber failed again 

Good to see you living down to your alias...

Webber has sat in front of the camera several times outlining the buying strategy: unfinished products that display potential for major improvement, recognising that it's a high-risk strategy. By the terms laid out in the strategy itself, the strategy can't be considered a failure. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by littleyellowbirdie

[SwindonCanary 455]

It's not about the manager ?  Who decided to change how we played from last seasons success ? 

[Dr Greenthumb 749]

1 hour ago, Kenny Foggo said:

"You can have faith that something will occur knowing that the evidence suggests the outcome... but blind-faith is having faith something will occur with no evidence or conflicting evidence against that outcome"

Our board ....

They don’t really have a direction. We keep getting fed slogans “promotion,promotion, promotion” “top26” “top17”. But we need to be backed to keep going to these dizzy heights.

I’m worried for next season, we look so lost without Buendia and he has been a key element in promotions.

[Badger 2,405]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

Well ultimately the best means of improving the club (as we've seen) is to stay in the premier league and it would appear that the owners of those clubs (whether by virtue of resources or more ruthless decision making) give them a better chance of doing that. Palace another example, in fact a gret example as their owner realised he could not progress the club without seeking investment so went and got it. Also sacked managers at the right time and appointed good replacements. 

Thanks for responding Jim - I'm glad to see that you and a couple of other shave the courage of their convictions.

I certainly can't argue against more ruthless decision-making point, particularly in the case of the Pozzos. I certainly think that at times we have been too slow to act to dismiss managers - Chris Hughton being the best example and fear that we may do the same again with Farke - I really don't want to see him go through the same things as Hughton and Worthington.

I think that the resources issue is debateable. Certainly Southampton, Burnley and Watford have been more willing to borrow than our current owners. However, if we chose to do so, we could borrow as much as them under the same conditions (secured against the ground/ training ground). It is not beyond us to do it, we have chosen not to. Personally, I would like to see us get long term mortgage finance to expand the main stand and think that this should have been done before now.

However, I don't think that it is wise to borrow to finance gambles in the transfer market. I don't want to put words in your mouth but it seems to me that this is the difference between the school main schools of thought.

[Badger 2,405]

1 hour ago, Kenny Foggo said:

 

They have made their clubs competitive in this league. They are not laughing stocks of English football which we 100%, unfortunately are. They look capable of winning points in this league. They have offered some hope to their fans. They kept key players in the summer which could well be the difference between survival or relegation.

I have never experienced such a completely overwhelming sense of football hopelessness... To the point I don't want to go and watch that cr*p week in week out. I have a season ticket and I can't give it away... Going to Brentford but more for the pre / after game meet with mates. 

The Watford / Southampton owners are not in any danger of losing a generation of young supporters. 

The fact that Farke is still here after a 10% win ratio in 48 games says it all. If they don't care why should I... I am even getting pity off my MD in work... I now would rather not have another top flight campaign under these owners. It's pointless. If there was a sense of progression then fair enough... there isn't.

 

Thanks for the response Kenny. I share your dismay and frustration at our current plight, things have gone badly wrong and I can't argue against your suggestion that the other owners would have sacked Farke earlier - indeed they wold probably have sacked him in the previous premier league season.

Other than that, I can't see any certainty that things would be any better under the owners mentioned. Without doubt we are bottom at the moment and deserve to be. There is little at the moment to suggest that this situation might change this season. So, if we had parachuted the owners of the 3 clubs in at the end of last season, what is it that you think that they would have done to guarantee survival this season?

[Indy 3,298]

Let’s be honest would you sell? I mean they got the club for a steal, they’ve had 24 years of freebies, loans paid back in full, McNally, Bowkett bailed them out the first time, Webber this time, as long as we yo-yo they have all the trappings of the glamour of ownership with little expectation from majority of the fans. Who would actively look to sell? I wouldn’t!👍💛💚

[Naturalcynic 629]

13 minutes ago, Badger said:

Thanks for the response Kenny. I share your dismay and frustration at our current plight, things have gone badly wrong and I can't argue against your suggestion that the other owners would have sacked Farke earlier - indeed they wold probably have sacked him in the previous premier league season.

Other than that, I can't see any certainty that things would be any better under the owners mentioned. Without doubt we are bottom at the moment and deserve to be. There is little at the moment to suggest that this situation might change this season. So, if we had parachuted the owners of the 3 clubs in at the end of last season, what is it that you think that they would have done to guarantee survival this season?

I suspect they’d have been less emotionally attached to their employees and more prepared to be ruthless in replacing an underperforming manager.  Whether this would have kept us up, nobody will ever know.

[Mello Yello 2,291]

2 hours ago, BroadstairsR said:

My hobby-horse is that Main Stand of ours.

It was ridiculed (slightly) when it first appeared.

It was sat there in all its glory the day Smith/Jones took over the club.

Every year since then, this forum has debated the pros and cons of building a replacement.

Every year the cost of doing this rises whilst the edifice gets more and more dated and decrepit.  

We are reminded of it more when in the Premier League as there it stands as an embarrassment to all regularly on our television screens whilst all around the country modern and amazing structures appear, even for clubs considered much smaller than us and aspire to smaller attendances and who must have funded them somehow.

Like Smith and Jones it still sits there in all its glory. A regular reminder of "Little Old Norwich."

Answers on a postcard.

Unfortunately the Golden opportunity to upgrade or replace that ageing, archaic and well below acceptable standards City Stand was over the last 18 or so torrid months and with the minimum of disruption to the home support? This upgrade opportunity has now sadly long gone.....My viewing pew has been in the Cathedral lounge area for just over 2 decades of my measly just over a 3rd of a century supporting City......A replaced carpet and a slap o' magnolia and some big telly screens mounted on the walls, is the only occasional 'improvements' in the lounge that I can actually recall ?....I grab my 'gratis' programme as I breeze through the lounge ignoring the bar as it's too pricey and I also avoid eye contact with the 'Ok Yah' North Norfolk Set as I head straight out to that glorious green baize pitch and to hear that humdrum of expectant fan-folk. Half-time the lounge is packed with  biscuit bandits & beverage glugging gannets, it's a cacophonous hell-hole, so I remain outside. 

Oh, and not forgetting that the Cathedral lounge toilet facilities for the seeking relief stand ups and the sit downers are absolutely abysmal....and to be polite, 'bijou' but without the elegance....Wonder if they have a lengthy queue for a piddle or a plop in the Director's Lounge loos?.....  

Externally my pitch view is most excellent, hence probably why I have continued to remain there. I have a padded seat but with the restricted leg-room that a munchkin or an oompa-lumpa would probably struggle to avoid their patellas coming into contact with the seats in front.....It's all a bit Ryanair...ish....But then it's my choice, and hey, it's only for less than a couple o' hours. As a creature of habit I'm just about happy to pay the going rate to retain my plastic 'padded' pew amongst fellow fan-folk that I've got to know and bond with over those many seasons.....Alas some have also sadly faded into dust and vacated this island Earth, but their departing has allowed new fan-folk to occupy those empty seats....and the life supporting city cycle continues.....

All in all, 3 quarters of the stadium isn't actually a bad venue and the away support must think it's Christmas and Easter rolled into one compared to those many other 'away support' cattle class stadium facilities. Here at Carra the away support unrestricted view of the pitch coupled with the quality refreshment concourses and toilets must be a joy to savour....In fact the away crowd enjoy better facilities and a pitch view than some of our home supporters have..... 

Anyway bugga what I've written above.....So in Layman's terms, the City Stand is crumblin' cack and needs bl00dy replacing....(but with the minimum of disruption to me please)....  

[Naturalcynic 629]

8 minutes ago, Mello Yello said:

Unfortunately the Golden opportunity to upgrade or replace that ageing, archaic and well below acceptable standards City Stand was over the last 18 or so torrid months and with the minimum of disruption to the home support? This upgrade opportunity has now sadly long gone.....My viewing pew has been in the Cathedral lounge area for just over 2 decades of my measly just over a 3rd of a century supporting City......A replaced carpet and a slap o' magnolia and some big telly screens mounted on the walls, is the only occasional 'improvements' in the lounge that I can actually recall ?....I grab my 'gratis' programme as I breeze through the lounge ignoring the bar as it's too pricey and I also avoid eye contact with the 'Ok Yah' North Norfolk Set as I head straight out to that glorious green baize pitch and to hear that humdrum of expectant fan-folk. Half-time the lounge is packed with  biscuit bandits & beverage glugging gannets, it's a cacophonous hell-hole, so I remain outside. 

Oh, and not forgetting that the Cathedral lounge toilet facilities for the seeking relief stand ups and the sit downers are absolutely abysmal....and to be polite, 'bijou' but without the elegance....Wonder if they have a lengthy queue for a piddle or a plop in the Director's Lounge loos?.....  

Externally my pitch view is most excellent, hence probably why I have continued to remain there. I have a padded seat but with the restricted leg-room that a munchkin or an oompa-lumpa would probably struggle to avoid their patellas coming into contact with the seats in front.....It's all a bit Ryanair...ish....But then it's my choice, and hey, it's only for less than a couple o' hours. As a creature of habit I'm just about happy to pay the going rate to retain my plastic 'padded' pew amongst fellow fan-folk that I've got to know and bond with over those many seasons.....Alas some have also sadly faded into dust and vacated this island Earth, but their departing has allowed new fan-folk to occupy those empty seats....and the life supporting city cycle continues.....

All in all, 3 quarters of the stadium isn't actually a bad venue and the away support must think it's Christmas and Easter rolled into one compared to those many other 'away support' cattle class stadium facilities. Here at Carra the away support unrestricted view of the pitch coupled with the quality refreshment concourses and toilets must be a joy to savour....In fact the away crowd enjoy better facilities and a pitch view than some of our home supporters have..... 

Anyway bugga what I've written above.....So in Layman's terms, the City Stand is crumblin' cack and needs bl00dy replacing....(but with the minimum of disruption to me please)....  

Yes, they certainly missed the boat with that.  The last 18 months would have been the perfect opportunity to get this long-needed work done, but I suppose our owners are so utterly risk-averse that borrowing the money at currently low interest rates, repayable over many years (i.e. a mortgage), probably doesn’t sit with their self-funding philosophy.  Fulham, on the other hand, appear to have built a very impressive new stand.

[king canary 7,605]

On 31/10/2021 at 22:52, Petriix said:

But let's be honest: promotion and relegation is probably far more fun than just being Everton. 

 

Good post but I can't agree with this sentence. If we were competing maybe but there is nothing fun about writing off every other season and at this point I imagine another promotion in 22/23 would have some of the shine taken off as we'd be expecting to go back down in 20th place again.

[Jim Smith 2,317]

2 hours ago, tea total said:

If you are saying that the owners are making sure that they keep hold of the club no matter what offer comes in for it then yes we have a "self made" problem. If they are being honest and truthful about no investment on the horizon then we are in a position of the Premier Leagues making. The club listened to the fans regarding the kind of possession based football that fans wanted to see and with Farke it grew into something special. But teams like Leicester,  Liverpool etc prey on possession based teams by being quick on the counter. Teams with quality won't need too many chances to expose you. So Farke changes to try and adapt. Unfortunately all areas of the football pitch can't be covered at the same time so there's always going to be room for top teams to exploit us with that type of football. It's about finding that balance. You could argue that it was individual defensive errors that cost us on Sunday and that's to do with recruitment not tactics. Although I respect that in attacking areas we look pretty toothless. Sargent was brought in to give more of an aerial threat but let's be honest both him and Pukki (are being put under immense pressure to score through defensive errors and decision making in our final third. And if you are short of Premier league goals then relying on Idah is criminal to say the least! In my opinion you can argue that Farke has been put in a difficult position and yes he's made mistakes but without investment in this club then not only is he a brilliant manager but, for the short term forseeable future, he totally gets where we are and who we are. What sort of experienced manager is going to buy into that? 

In my view they have not been genuinely open or receptive to investment (that dilutes they ownership anyway). 

[Jim Smith 2,317]

55 minutes ago, Indy said:

Let’s be honest would you sell? I mean they got the club for a steal, they’ve had 24 years of freebies, loans paid back in full, McNally, Bowkett bailed them out the first time, Webber this time, as long as we yo-yo they have all the trappings of the glamour of ownership with little expectation from majority of the fans. Who would actively look to sell? I wouldn’t!👍💛💚

And therein lies part of our problem. Zero pressure on the owners who (along with their entourage) enjoy their toy and don’t want to part with it. The “model” is primarily about that. 

[Badger 2,405]

1 hour ago, Naturalcynic said:

I suspect they’d have been less emotionally attached to their employees and more prepared to be ruthless in replacing an underperforming manager.  Whether this would have kept us up, nobody will ever know.

I suspect that you are correct - as you say who knows if it would have worked or not?

[Badger 2,405]

1 hour ago, Indy said:

Let’s be honest would you sell? I mean they got the club for a steal, they’ve had 24 years of freebies, loans paid back in full, McNally, Bowkett bailed them out the first time, Webber this time, as long as we yo-yo they have all the trappings of the glamour of ownership with little expectation from majority of the fans. Who would actively look to sell? I wouldn’t!👍💛💚

I would. They would get £100+ million for most of their shares and I'm sure they' be able to negotiate a "Life Presidency" or some sort of ceremonial role which would keep most of the trappings of glory. They could still go to matches in the board room etc and retain a prominent role as a club figurehead. A bit like the Queen rather than the Prime Minister!

[Ian 1,129]

I think that, on reflection, this is as good as it's ever going to get for us against the backdrop of wealth in the EPL, given the lack of financial backing available from our majority shareholders and therefore self-funding model.

Farke, Webber et al will always take the rap but the simple fact is that we have not got the financial backing required to make us competitive at this level in the medium-term. Perhaps we could do a Lambert/Sheff Utd. and ride the momentum into a season of survival but it takes a hell of a lot more for you to establish yourself even as a mid-table team in the Premiership. That's the unarguable reality, regardless of who we have in to run the club. Changing managers and DoF in the meantime is just window dressing IMO.

It's absolutely horrendous to experience being undisputed whipping boys at this level - but in the cold light of day, whatever Farke's limitations, the fact we've won the Championship twice in his relatively short tenure is pretty miraculous in itself and I am sure there are many teams who would want to swap places with us in general terms.

What I'm not sure about is whether I'm alright with this, because we're "doing things the right way" or whether I actually want to see a successful football team even if it involves getting dubious investment. I certainly am not a fan who would be happy with just seeing us competitive in the Championship long-term; I want us to compete at the highest level we possibly can.

I do think Delia and Michael need to be more open to other options. They are obviously highly opinionated with regards to foreign investment, and I think have their hearts are in the right place, but in reality they need to adapt what they perceive to be the right approach, because there's no way things are ever going to go back to the days where they were seen as relatively wealthy owners in the EPL.

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Ian
Typo

[Badger 2,405]

30 minutes ago, Naturalcynic said:

Yes, they certainly missed the boat with that.  The last 18 months would have been the perfect opportunity to get this long-needed work done, but I suppose our owners are so utterly risk-averse that borrowing the money at currently low interest rates, repayable over many years (i.e. a mortgage), probably doesn’t sit with their self-funding philosophy.  Fulham, on the other hand, appear to have built a very impressive new stand.

I mainly completely here.

I am sure that mortgage-type finance over 25 to 30 years would be affordable and that the move would be profitable. I know that Webber has previously referred to the "payback period" as an excuse for not doing it, but it doesn't have to be measured this way. As an economist (not professional but an economics graduate), we were trained to define profitability as when MR > MC: in other words does it generate more in revenue that it costs, including the loan. With appropriate conference/ hospitality/ office facilities, I am sure that it would be.

The lockdown + season without fans would have been the ideal time to do this, but to be fair, I don't think that a major project like this could be started quickly - need for plans/ planning approval/ contractor etc.

With regards the self-funding part, it is entirely consistent with the principles behind the bond issue for the training ground. It is the same thing basically although on a larger scale.

[Badger 2,405]

2 hours ago, Son Ova Gunn said:

There owners wealth provide a cushion on which to make footballing decisions even if they don’t put money in.

If this is the case, why do their owners get he club to borrow at rates in excess of 9% secured against the clubs assets rather than their own?

Surely they would put their own money in (even if they charged interest) or at least secure the clubs new borrowings against their own assets rather than the clubs ground + training ground + brand name and intangible assets?