Chelsea talking to Webber

[horsefly 4,301]

1 minute ago, Worthy Nigelton said:

I agree with all that, but the numbers are the numbers. He took over a team that finished 8th in the Champs and we're currently 2nd.... in the Champs. That's six places in six years. It is more nuanced than that as I've said, but nuanced both ways.

That's a wee bit disingenuous don't you think. We did get promoted to the PL twice, and that was achieved while working in accordance with very strict principles of financial self-funding. That he leaves us with a qualitatively significantly better squad than when he arrived, a significantly better financial situation, and a significantly higher set of expectations, suggests his time here has been a significant success.

[Capt. Pants 4,236]

8 minutes ago, Kenny Foggo said:

Also will allow our new member of the board to put his stamp on things... 

I hope Webber sticks around to get that over the line. The timing isn't great though.

Webber has been integral to this whole US thing and (hopefully) will be his greatest legacy.

 

[Mr Angry 1,562]

12 minutes ago, TheRock said:

Gilmour  😉

Sadly not, he’s at Brighton ☹️

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 1,761]

Improved the infrastructute at the club and built the state of the art training ground which will be used for decades amd will be his legacy. Great if his job title was operations director

However as Sporting director also encapsulates player recruitment , his dealings in the last 2 premier league campaigns , particularly last summer were reprehensible and their failure was sackable in itself

[hogesar 9,676]

21 minutes ago, Norfolk Mustard said:

Stuart Webber literally revolutionised Norwich City! Inevitable he'll move on; when he does, it'll be a huge loss...

 

19 minutes ago, Gibbo said:

Club is in a massively better place than when he arrived.  I can see this being one of those moments that some look back to in the future and some folks realize what we had was so much better than what we've got...

Of course, but to some it doesn't matter if all of Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool wanted him as Sporting Director, they'd still swear blind they know better and he's rubbish at his job.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

31 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

Previous Chelsea Sporting Directors didn't do hardly any media work, I'd be surprised if anyone would know who they were.

Wasn't Peter Cech the Sporting Director above Lampard?

Most people know who he is!

[Worthy Nigelton 1,049]

15 minutes ago, horsefly said:

That's a wee bit disingenuous don't you think. We did get promoted to the PL twice, and that was achieved while working in accordance with very strict principles of financial self-funding. That he leaves us with a qualitatively significantly better squad than when he arrived, a significantly better financial situation, and a significantly higher set of expectations, suggests his time here has been a significant success.

So this squad has players with the same resale value as Maddison, Pritchard, Murphy x 2 and a cusp of youth players like Aarons, Lewis, Godfrey, Cantwell does it? If it does, I agree, but we don't know that yet. 

[Pyro Pete 1,897]

 

[horsefly 4,301]

Just now, Worthy Nigelton said:

So this squad has players with the same resale value as Maddison, Pritchard, Murphy x 2 and a cusp of youth players like Aarons, Lewis, Godfrey, Cantwell does it? If it does, I agree, but we don't know that yet. 

This is the squad that got relegated from the PL before Webber arrived:

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG John Ruddy 2 DF  SCO Steven Whittaker 3 DF  NED Mitchell Dijks 4 MF  SCO Graham Dorrans 5 DF  SCO Russell Martin (captain) 6 DF  CMR Sébastien Bassong 7 FW  SCO Steven Naismith 8 MF  ENG Jonny Howson (vice-captain)[5] 9 FW  POR Nélson Oliveira 10 FW  ENG Cameron Jerome 11 MF  ENG Matt Jarvis 13 GK  ENG Paul Jones 14 MF  IRL Wes Hoolahan 15 DF   SUI Timm Klose 17 MF  NED Yanic Wildschut

[king canary 7,609]

19 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said:

I hope Webber sticks around to get that over the line. The timing isn't great though.

Webber has been integral to this whole US thing and (hopefully) will be his greatest legacy.

 

It is over the line though isn't it? The American's have bought the shares they wanted to buy, they are on the board, I'm not sure what more there is to do?

Unless you're talking about a full takeover which most speculate would take a fair bit longer and we don't have any real confirmation that it is definitley on the cards.

I'd also be shocked if a group like this would only be interested in investment/taking over the club if one particular member of staff was there.

[Robert N. LiM 4,368]

Webber has certainly rubbed a lot of fans up the wrong way with some of his public pronouncements. And it might be a good time for him to move on. But he has been an outstanding success here, as demonstrated by the fact that we are second in the Championship and a large proportion of our fanbase doesn't think that's good enough.

[jaberry2 550]

1 hour ago, A Load of Squit said:

It's good to talk. Note it says 'spoken', Bailey reporting that it has happened.

https://theathletic.com/3682935/2022/10/12/chelsea-stuart-webber/?source=emp_shared_article

Chelsea have spoken to Norwich City’s Stuart Webber.

Todd Boehly has previously looked to bring Christopher Vivell, the former RB Leizpig technical director, into Stamford Bridge. And he is continuing his restructure behind the scenes by looking at Webber.

Fair play to him if he does go, not many bigger clubs out there than Chelsea and quite a step up than Norwich City. Albeit he has got some signings woefully wrong, he has brought the club on no end and will leave us in a much better position than we were previously. Best of luck if he does go.

[Robert N. LiM 4,368]

Just now, king canary said:

I'd also be shocked if a group like this would only be interested in investment/taking over the club if one particular member of staff was there.

Yes, exactly. You would hope (and it does seem to be the case, looking from the outside) that Webber's greatest achievement is to build a sporting model that will outlive him. I'm sure Attanasio et. al are more interested in structures and culture than individuals

[A Load of Squit 5,170]

6 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Wasn't Peter Cech the Sporting Director above Lampard?

Most people know who he is!

He was Technical & Performance Advisor  

[KeiranShikari 1,412]

Makes a lot of sense for him to move on that's for sure. Playing a big role in finding the probable future owner of the club is about as high as he can realistically go out on. I'd assume we're not going to be financially competitive at the top level any time soon so he probably has done what he can. 

[Mello Yello 2,296]

I truly thank our Stu for 'Soccerbot' and our total elimination of wayward passes.....

[Ian 1,129]

I don't get it - apparently he is pretty useless and lucky to be in a job, but on the other hand one of the biggest clubs in Europe is looking for him to take over their DoF role.

🤔

On a serious note, it massively validates the job he has done here. There's no way a club like Chelsea are interested in someone who hasn't performed and achieved at a high level.

[horsefly 4,301]

I note that the knockers are fond of saying Webber got his transfer dealings appallingly wrong. Would happily see them resurrect quotes from themselves predicting at the time of purchase just how bad a particular player would inevitably turn out to be. I trust no one questioned the free signing of Pukki, Zimmerman, Krul, or the £1m signing of Buendia, or the bargain signings of Mario Vrancic, Stiepermann, Hernandez... etc, etc. Perhaps they also know of a DF who has never had a signing fail to live up to expectations, I'm sure the club would be grateful of any suggestions should Webber leave.

[hogesar 9,676]

19 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Webber has certainly rubbed a lot of fans up the wrong way with some of his public pronouncements. And it might be a good time for him to move on. But he has been an outstanding success here, as demonstrated by the fact that we are second in the Championship and a large proportion of our fanbase doesn't think that's good enough.

Excellent point

[Worthy Nigelton 1,049]

 

22 minutes ago, horsefly said:

This is the squad that got relegated from the PL before Webber arrived:

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG John Ruddy 2 DF  SCO Steven Whittaker 3 DF  NED Mitchell Dijks 4 MF  SCO Graham Dorrans 5 DF  SCO Russell Martin (captain) 6 DF  CMR Sébastien Bassong 7 FW  SCO Steven Naismith 8 MF  ENG Jonny Howson (vice-captain)[5] 9 FW  POR Nélson Oliveira 10 FW  ENG Cameron Jerome 11 MF  ENG Matt Jarvis 13 GK  ENG Paul Jones 14 MF  IRL Wes Hoolahan 15 DF   SUI Timm Klose 17 MF  NED Yanic Wildschut

I don't see your point.

I'm not saying he was a failure but he was not a runaway success either and there is an argument to be had. 

The club had spent four of the past five seasons in the PL before he arrived and McNally had taken us over at a MUCH, MUCH lower ebb than Webber did.

The real question here is what does each fan see as a success for the club. Your bar is different to mine and mine will be different to someone else's.

I think he's a 7.5 out of 10 and that's good so no complaints from me. Is he some messiah we will never see the likes of again though? No. Not by a long shot.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Worthy Nigelton

[Pyro Pete 1,897]

Webber's goal was to establish Norwich in the Premier League.

That hasn't happened.

But you can't argue that he hasn't been a success in the Championship.

[sgncfc 1,228]

Seriously, people criticising Webber's transfer policy....in comparison to Chelsea's he's been a magician. In the last 3 years they have spent £53m on Werner, £74m on Havertz, £97m on Lukaku, £36m on Ziyech, £72m on Kepa, £57m on Pulisic etc

In the same period, only Jorginho and Kovacic could be considered anything like successful at £51m and £40m. Plus the jury is still out on this season's incomings - Fofana, Cucurella, Koulibaly and Sterling (a total of £220m).

I could do better than that. Webber can't fail to. 

 

[Segura 84]

Recall Webber being previously linked with Man U after our promotion in 2019 and him saying something along the lines of...

'Working at a top club would be dull, at that level everyone knows who the best players are and it just comes down to who is willing to pay the most money. There's little scope for developing talent.'

Personally I think he's earned the right to test out that opinion.

[horsefly 4,301]

Just now, Worthy Nigelton said:

What's your point?

I don't see your point.

I'm not saying he was a failure but he was not a runaway success either and there is an argument to be had. 

The club had spent four of the past five seasons in the PL before he arrived and McNally had taken us over at a MUCH, MUCH lower ebb than Webber did.

The real question here is what does each fan see as a success for the club. Your bar is different to mine and mine will be different to someone else's.

I think he's a 7.5 out of 10 and that's good so no complaints from me. Is he some messiah we will never see the likes of again though? No. Not by a long shot.

Sorry I thought the point was pretty obvious. Or do you think that squad contains as much quality as the current one? Hoolahan and Howson are probably the only two who might get into the current team.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

1 hour ago, hogesar said:

You've got laugh at the pure ego of Norwich City Fans.

One of the top clubs in the country, nay, in Europe, is interested in our Sporting Director and it doesn't create even a slight amount of self-reflection in considering that maybe Webber is actually highly respected and good at his job.

Why does everything have to be black or white with you. I suppose if you acknowledged grey you'd miss your opportunity to bash Norwich fans again.

Why couldn't somebody acknowledge that Webber has done some good things, and brought us some good times, express some gratitude for what he has done here but simultaneously believe that he's probably done all he can here and it's probably the right time for him to embark on a new challenge? Wish him the best of luck at a completely different type of project whilst also being exciting about a new era and some fresh ideas at Norwich?

Besides, go look at Neil Doncasters salary as the top dog in Scottish football. Calling for him to stay at Norwich were you?

Edited October 12, 2022 by TeemuVanBasten

[PurpleCanary 5,562]

1 hour ago, Midlands Yellow said:

So we were on the brink of administration then before he arrived? That fact was denied by many and the Maddison sale saved the day. 

There was a hole in the accounts to be filled, and the Maddison sale - possible because we had a policy of bringing in young talent with a view to selling on at a profit - filled it. It is an odd argument I have seen here sometimes that somehow we were lucky to have a player like that to sell to plug the gap. Luck had nothing to do with it.

If for some reason we had not been able to sell Maddison then we would have sold other players and probably had to cut back on bringing players in. Of the by my count four times we have supposedly been on the verge of administration since World War Two I believe this was the one when the verge was furthest away.

As to Webber, despite some mistakes he is still comfortably in credit in my view. It would be odd for Chelsea, with the pick of talent worldwide, to go for Webber if he’d been an overall failure.

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Just now, PurpleCanary said:

There was a hole in the accounts to be filled, and the Maddison sale - possible because we had a policy of bringing in young talent with a view to selling on at a profit - filled it. It is an odd argument I have seen here sometimes that somehow we were lucky to have a player like that to sell to plug the gap. Luck had nothing to do with it.

If for some reason we had not been able to sell Maddison then we would have sold other players and probably had to cut back on bringing players in. Of the by my count four times we have supposedly been on the verge of administration since World War Two I believe this was the one when the verge was furthest away.

As to Webber, despite some mistakes he is still comfortably in credit in my view. It would be odd for Chelsea, with the pick of talent worldwide, to go for Webber if he’d been an overall failure.

But.... Webber was highly critical of our business dealings under McNally. 

But relied on the sales of Maddison and Godfrey to achieve his two promotions. 

Both signed under McNally, think they came in the same window that we signed Naismith.

[Midlands Yellow 3,988]

3 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

There was a hole in the accounts to be filled, and the Maddison sale - possible because we had a policy of bringing in young talent with a view to selling on at a profit - filled it. It is an odd argument I have seen here sometimes that somehow we were lucky to have a player like that to sell to plug the gap. Luck had nothing to do with it.

If for some reason we had not been able to sell Maddison then we would have sold other players and probably had to cut back on bringing players in. Of the by my count four times we have supposedly been on the verge of administration since World War Two I believe this was the one when the verge was furthest away.

As to Webber, despite some mistakes he is still comfortably in credit in my view. It would be odd for Chelsea, with the pick of talent worldwide, to go for Webber if he’d been an overall failure.

 

So, if the Maddison injury at Hillsborough had been long term all would still have been ok? 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

39 minutes ago, horsefly said:

This is the squad that got relegated from the PL before Webber arrived:

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG John Ruddy 2 DF  SCO Steven Whittaker 3 DF  NED Mitchell Dijks 4 MF  SCO Graham Dorrans 5 DF  SCO Russell Martin (captain) 6 DF  CMR Sébastien Bassong 7 FW  SCO Steven Naismith 8 MF  ENG Jonny Howson (vice-captain)[5] 9 FW  POR Nélson Oliveira 10 FW  ENG Cameron Jerome 11 MF  ENG Matt Jarvis 13 GK  ENG Paul Jones 14 MF  IRL Wes Hoolahan 15 DF   SUI Timm Klose 17 MF  NED Yanic Wildschut

I mean, that's half the squad.

And Djiks, Oliviera and Wildschut were signed after our relegation.

[horsefly 4,301]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

But.... Webber was highly critical of our business dealings under McNally. 

But relied on the sales of Maddison and Godfrey to achieve his two promotions. 

Both signed under McNally, think they came in the same window that we signed Naismith.

I suspect he would rather have not needed to sell either of those two but was forced to because the business dealings of McNally left us with considerable debts to pay off. That he helped mastermind two promotions without those two "key" players, goes rather to the point of what impresses some of us about his career at NCFC.