Silence from Webber and the Board

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,414]

7 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I mean that to outsiders we are a joke. We are seen as a team that banks the parachute cash but then comes up and doesn’t really try to stay up or has no real chance of staying up. Other supporters actively now dislike our presence in the premier league as they say we bring nothing to it. The national media attack is at any given opportunity or worse are just disdainful.Much as we might like to think to the contrary this is damaging to the brand. 

We're not, we're really not.

[lake district canary 4,531]

2 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I mean that to outsiders we are a joke. We are seen as a team that banks the parachute cash but then comes up and doesn’t really try to stay up or has no real chance of staying up. Other supporters actively now dislike our presence in the premier league as they say we bring nothing to it. The national media attack is at any given opportunity or worse are just disdainful.Much as we might like to think to the contrary this is damaging to the brand. 

We are trying to build the club. If that means building resources from wherever we can, so be it - and parachute payments help that, of course. Nothing wrong with that. 

The plan has been to gradually build the resources - and that can be seen by the way our squad value has increased over four and a half years and the financial well being of the club improved despite covid. The aim of that building, of course, is to have the kind of squad that can sustain itself in the PL.  It was obviously hoped it would be this season, but if not (and it is looking that way) we still have the kind of squad and players that can go down, regroup and come back up again. if that happens, the next time we come up we would have more resources to mount a better challenge.  It all looks a bit bleak at the moment, but that will change.

As for what outsiders think....who cares?  Let them think what they like.

[Capt. Pants 4,227]

12 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I mean that to outsiders we are a joke. We are seen as a team that banks the parachute cash but then comes up and doesn’t really try to stay up or has no real chance of staying up. Other supporters actively now dislike our presence in the premier league as they say we bring nothing to it. The national media attack is at any given opportunity or worse are just disdainful.Much as we might like to think to the contrary this is damaging to the brand. 

I'm afraid that is the case and it's stuff I hear regularly from work colleagues.

On and off the pitch we are a bit of joke tbh and I'm now quite ambivalent about the club in general. Certainly I'm more of a customer than a supporter.

[Nora's Ghost 157]

33 minutes ago, The Real Buh said:

And any resistance will be met with cries of abuse from the club and media

and I don’t mean racist abuse btw before you somebody jumps on that one. Hold your fire. Racist abuse is bad, obviously.

 

Some of us aren't so pedantic RB.

[Nora's Ghost 157]

23 minutes ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

And what are you doing about it...?

Nothing.

 

I have better things to do than fight other people's battles for them.

[The Real Buh 3,432]

2 minutes ago, Nora's Ghost said:

 

Some of us aren't so pedantic RB.

Some really are and are ready to throw people under the bus

[Nora's Ghost 157]

1 minute ago, The Real Buh said:

Some really are and are ready to throw people under the bus

I've already worked out who they are too. 😉

[Jim Smith 2,317]

21 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

We are trying to build the club. If that means building resources from wherever we can, so be it - and parachute payments help that, of course. Nothing wrong with that. 

The plan has been to gradually build the resources - and that can be seen by the way our squad value has increased over four and a half years and the financial well being of the club improved despite covid. The aim of that building, of course, is to have the kind of squad that can sustain itself in the PL.  It was obviously hoped it would be this season, but if not (and it is looking that way) we still have the kind of squad and players that can go down, regroup and come back up again. if that happens, the next time we come up we would have more resources to mount a better challenge.  It all looks a bit bleak at the moment, but that will change.

As for what outsiders think....who cares?  Let them think what they like.

I know what the plan is but Webber has undermined it completely with the horrific recruitment this season. And unfortunately the “model” means that room for error is limited if not non-existent.

I agree we will have a squad capable of competing next season if sensibly added to in the midfield and attacking areas.

What remains to be seen is the heart and desire to do it all again, throughout the club. Because right now I find it very hard to motivate myself for another crack at the prem when the experience ends up like this and I don’t believe I’m alone in feeling like that. 

[sgncfc 1,227]

Come on, grow up a bit! Other club supporters will naturally take the P155 but the bigger picture is still one of growth and progress - if you can't genuinely see that then you need to go and support another team, or at least wait until the progress is such that we can compete.

We are a huge club in the Championship and a small one in the PL but we are closing the gap, albeit slowly. Buying players for £5-£10m is where we now are compared to freebies only 4 years ago. Most of the major purchases will come good - the money has not been wasted. Not good enough yet to keep us up this year, maybe, but we will still challenge next year. Of course Webber has made errors on recruitment but then so have Man City and Chelsea and everyone else. It's not an exact science, and spending vast amounts is no guarantee.

Chelsae lost £175m last year and are now £1bn in debt to their owner. £1bn!!!!!

We are now in a group with Watford, West Brom, Fulham, and probably Burnley, Bournemouth, maybe even Sheffield Utd, Brentford and Leeds; clubs who will always struggle to get a run in the PL until the strength in depth is established. It takes years, not two or three windows, and even then, as Everton are proving, the recruitment has to be spot on.

 

 

[hogesar 9,658]

6 minutes ago, Nora's Ghost said:

Nothing.

 

I have better things to do than fight other people's battles for them.

So you're not part of the fanbase then?

Good.

F*ck off.

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,414]

10 minutes ago, Nora's Ghost said:

Nothing.

 

I have better things to do than fight other people's battles for them.

But you are the other people...

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

The constant bitching by the usual suspects is so tedious and dull. I really hoped it might have changed in the New Year but it seems not... 

[Newtopia 517]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

I mean that to outsiders we are a joke. We are seen as a team that banks the parachute cash but then comes up and doesn’t really try to stay up or has no real chance of staying up. Other supporters actively now dislike our presence in the premier league as they say we bring nothing to it. The national media attack is at any given opportunity or worse are just disdainful.Much as we might like to think to the contrary this is damaging to the brand. 

I get that perspective, but life is full of people who tell you what you should do, I think we have a plan, and I do think the club had a go at staying up.  It seems to have been unsuccessful and we are heading down with a whimper but the point about the parachute payments is true.  We are in a financial better place than Sheffield United, although they did manage to stay up for a season.  The FA must be aware that the gap between the premiership and the rest is growing massive, and any sense of sporting integrity is being lost.

[Uncle Fred 526]

47 minutes ago, Kenny Foggo said:

The constant bitching by the usual suspects is so tedious and dull. I really hoped it might have changed in the New Year but it seems not... 

Sounds like you are loving the situation the club is in. Binner is obvious 

[Nora's Ghost 157]

2 hours ago, hogesar said:

So you're not part of the fanbase then?

Good.

F*ck off.

Oh dear. Sweary boy is having another tantrum.

 

Grow up sonny and stop embarrassing yourself.

[Nora's Ghost 157]

2 hours ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

But you are the other people...

I am an individual and I make individual choices.

'Other people' are the 'blob' that throw stones at discontent because they are apparently 'proper fans'. Who in their right mind would bother putting themselves out for them?

[Mr Angry 1,555]

Good old Uncle Fred, Queen of Hysteria. 😳

[Wings of a Sparrow 1,414]

15 minutes ago, Nora's Ghost said:

I am an individual and I make individual choices.

'Other people' are the 'blob' that throw stones at discontent because they are apparently 'proper fans'. Who in their right mind would bother putting themselves out for them.

This is just it isn't it. Plenty of people saying how discontented they are with things and encouraging other people to take to arms, without the inclination to actually do anything themselves.

[Nora's Ghost 157]

3 minutes ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

This is just it isn't it. Plenty of people saying how discontented they are with things and encouraging other people to take to arms, without the inclination to actually do anything themselves.

The abuse isn't worth the bother is it?  For some NCFC is their 'bestest friend' who can do no wrong whereas the more 'grown up' among us accept it is a business owned by untouchables who can drive it into bankruptcy should they wish to do so.

 

My weekly financial input gives me every right to voice an opinion I think.

 

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

1 hour ago, Uncle Fred said:

Sounds like you are loving the situation the club is in. Binner is obvious 

Not at all, probably the lowest I have been since the Colchester game. Just wish we'd, in our differences, acknowledge the one thing we have in common, rather than flinging around abuse.. oh well.. happy new year fella

[CirclePoint 200]

4 hours ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

When- not if- we are relegated then this board and team will have little interest in being promoted again due to the humiliation. That is a big concern re competitive mindset 

This.....however, I have to admit that I'm still in the 'if' category regarding relegation.

But your point about the competitive mindset is true. Fighting your ar5e off to gain promotion, only to have it handed to you every week the following year is not why players play the game. They play the game to be competitive and win (unless they want to just sit on a bench and collect their wage.) What the players of NCFC are experiencing right now (and the fans) is embarrassing, humiliating and psychologically crushing.

Add to this that we will probably see our better players, having given the plan a few good years now, move on; players like Pukki, Hanley and Krul will be a year older; loanees leaving (thank god for the most part) and Normann  probably choosing not to sign permanently, NCFC will be in a dire position and will require ANOTHER rebuild. Unless recruiting hits the jackpot -again- NCFC will at best be a competitive mid-table Championship team for a few years.

I have to admit, I am becoming a little exhausted by the whiplash effect of promotion followed by humiliation and relegation. Some fans might cry COVID and injuries have been the cause of our troubles. My response is that all the clubs are in the same situation. In fact, Webber & Co. should've learned from the 2019/2020 season how to handle such a scenario. I am becoming exhausted with football in general; with the ownership of the club; with the self-funded model (but I do not condone wild spending.); with the diatribe of soundbites that are put out to appease the fan base.

I'll support Norwich until my dying day, but I no longer wish to look upon NCFC with 'HOPE'. Hope is for people who are in hospital and don't know if they will be going home. Hope is for people stuck in war and want to make it back to their loved ones. Hope is for people in true-to-life dire situations who are powerless to make change. Anything else is always up to the individual or group to make that change. NCFC is not changing. All they are doing is rearranging the furniture. The foundation is still in dire need of an overhaul. Hope has no place in a business model (i.e. I hope we find another Buendia) nor does it have a place in sports (I hope Cristiano Ronaldo rips a toenail off and can't play today). Both arenas have (within reason) controlled outcomes. NCFC are failing at both.

NCFC is a passion, yes, but it is first and foremost a business that has the potential to operate at a global level. But, rather than growing into a global environment, we are fumbling and bumbling our way to being recognized as a team that offers nothing more than a high-level training session for other teams.

Delia & Co. are allowed to run their business any way they want. I will never argue that. I just feel that I have come to the point where it is time they move on. If we continue with the current structure/model, then I fear that as a club, and as a business, we will begin down a path from which we will not recover. The gulf between the Premier League and everyone else is simply becoming too large.

I fear NCFC is on the precipice of ruin. Webber can smell it and is probably making plans (conjecture), while Delia & Co, who truly amaze me that after 25 years of ownership, continue to demonstrate nothing more than the comprehension of a hobbiest owner and will therefore offer nothing of substance as the 5hit intensifies in its hitting of the fan.

In a nut shell, Delia & Co. should sell the club and allow someone (or a group) who understand the sporting/business world at a higher level to take over.

[CirclePoint 200]

3 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

The constant bitching by the usual suspects is so tedious and dull. I really hoped it might have changed in the New Year but it seems not... 

That's what most people who have found themselves entangled in an abusive relationship think.

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

5 hours ago, Nora's Ghost said:

No club in the land has such a passive and accepting fanbase so ultimately we get what we deserve time and time again.

Official  figures  from the Office of Passive Fanbases?

Thought not.

We don't get what we deserve,  correct,  we get what we pay for ...whether we get our moneys worth is debatable sometimes. 

I hope it makes  you feel better,  posting such hype as fact  .

 

[Nora's Ghost 157]

 

 

17 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

Official  figures  from the Office of Passive Fanbases?

Thought not.

We don't get what we deserve,  correct,  we get what we pay for ...whether we get our moneys worth is debatable sometimes. 

I hope it makes  you feel better,  posting such hype as fact  .

 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Nora's Ghost

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

Just now, Nora's Ghost said:

 

 

 

W⚓ !

[hogesar 9,658]

3 hours ago, Nora's Ghost said:

Oh dear. Sweary boy is having another tantrum.

 

Grow up sonny and stop embarrassing yourself.

Awh. Are the big bad owners still in charge and poor NG don't like it? Awhhh but you don't have what it takes to do anything about it so you just make faceless accusations about our fanbase, excluding yourself from the criticism unironically without realising by doing nothing you are the 'perceived' problem you moan about?

You're certainly one of the more comedic recent posters, i'll give you that! 😂

[TESCO 70]

7 hours ago, WD40 said:

Getting my tin foil hat on - was there racist chanting at Palace players and Adam Idah? Can anyone that was there corroborate that? It was a convenient distraction. 

It was an anonymous commenter on Idah’s Instagram.

[East Rider 549]

7 hours ago, Nora's Ghost said:

They know that if they let the dust settle the easily mugged support will some to terms with the mess.

 

No club in the land has such a passive and accepting fanbase so ultimately we get what we deserve time and time again.

Utter b0((ocks and for an example of a fan base these comments apply to, look no further than down the A140. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on their stance on the state of their club.

We (our club support) have often made it clear when we are seriously not happy in a variety of ways and it is well documented. 

In any case we are still in the PL and it is clear that a supportive fanbase will be far more beneficial to our chances of survival than not

[TIL 1010 4,738]

9 hours ago, WD40 said:

Getting my tin foil hat on - was there racist chanting at Palace players and Adam Idah? Can anyone that was there corroborate that? It was a convenient distraction. 

One Norwich 'fan' giving it racist remarks was identified by those around him and removed by the stewards. Adam Idah was the subject of online abuse.

[chicken 2,624]

On 03/01/2022 at 09:35, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

I made this point a few months back. A fair few posters, @chicken especially, firmly denied this to be the case. 

We are a laughing stock, and no matter what people at the club may think internally, it most certainly does damage our brand. 

I'm still right. Firstly, a few months back is a different time with different issues.

If our brand has been damaged, it's by the actions of the fans that slagged off Gilmore, who have harassed Cantwell relentlessly and have tried to assassinate the character of almost every player in the squad at some point or other.

The press have always beat down on us. Nothing new there at all. We're never favoured, never given the sort of coverage that Bournemouth are given. We always get plaudits for trying to play football the "right way" over teams like Burnley and previously Stoke, WBA, Bolton and Blackburn etc.

But even then, it's our own fans that perceive this "damage" to our "brand" or reputation as being far more serious than it ever is. It's usually the same people that are always on the critical side of the club so it more than suits their agenda to blow it up, or even just make it out to be something when it's not.

You have to remember that the national media doesn't reflect the fans. It reflects the stories it thinks it will sell papers / online articles etc.

I tend to talk to fans of other clubs I know both local and further afield.

The only people talking about us being an embarrassment to the league either work for the likes of talksport, cheap rubbish newspapers or are our own fans. God knows why anyone talks talksport or newspapers seriously, they want you to get wound up and help drive the furore that leads to more people tuning in, calling in or buying their waste of paper. Sad to see how many Norwich fans continue to be duped by it.