Ricardo's report AGM 2023

[daly 503]

23 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

She actually had very little to say. Essex seemed to get more mic time. Knapper and Attanasio had most to say. @Parma Ham's gone mouldy summed some of it up on the Attanasio thread.

 

Got the feeling Delia took my advice and got the Morrison Sherry offer

Muddled up Ben Gibson with Steve Gibson

 

[essex canary 496]

On question 9 which somebody else asked and I joined in, the broad result of the shareholders poll was a turnout of around 34,000 from about 158,000 shares with a result of 83/17. I was keen to draw attention to around 8,000 or so Canaries Trust block vote shares albeit they didn't swing the overall result. The low turnout wasn't impressive but expected.

The question from me at the start concerned whether Attanasio was actually going to be paid £565,000 cash interest on the C Preference Shares next January as page 71 may give that impression. The answer was that it wasn't the intention and would be rolled over.

The presubmitted question from myself not referred to in the OP was why put season ticket prices up when the slack in casuals means that overall the Club makes less money and can't they do more to incentivise season ticket holders to trade more to fill the empty seats. I think the answer suggested that options were being pursued through the OSP.

[......and Smith must score. 1,343]

1 hour ago, TIL 1010 said:

The second question of the night threw them when some daft woman was upset she couldn't buy Golden Goal tickets anymore and why were we offering vegan pies for sale !

Gods truth that was the question.

The vegan pie question was asked by a bloke I went to school with and is now a big cheese in Norwich CAMRA. He complained that the one he’d eaten had damaged his taste buds for weeks.

Bad news if you’re a beer connoisseur…..

 

 

[If wed kept Howie.. 208]

1 hour ago, ricardo said:

Perhaps we should turn it off.

what makes you think you can turn it off...

or even if you could.. what makes you think it will let you........

[canarybubbles 1,920]

Thanks for doing this, Ricardo. Much appreciated.

"Listening to the Board's flannel so that you don't have to."

[Dr Greenthumb 750]

6 hours ago, unique said:

I can only imagine players are lining up to join the ‘injured list’.

Player reputations soar the longer they are injured!

Sargent is now regarded as a ‘20-goal a season’ striker……

Barnes is seen as an important talisman, despite having little threat to actually finding the back of the net….

Hanley is now seen as the great missing link, despite being as culpable as the clowns who currently hold the fort, when it comes to making stupid errors…

Forshaw was seen as an inspired choice to play the defensive midfielder role, until he actually played a game. Supporters suddenly realised they had been conned, and he was in fact one of the worst footballers to sign for Norwich in recent times…

Nunez’s absence ensured his reputation grew. His return to the pitch has been little short of woeful….

etc,etc…..

This rotten run began after the news of Sargent needing surgery, I’d say he is a vital cog

[Bert 236]

So no hope for this season and an inevitable drift to relegation 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,400]

8 hours ago, ricardo said:

Perhaps we should turn it off.

I’m afraid, I’m afraid David…my mind is going…daisy, daiseeee

[Iwans Big Toe 312]

9 hours ago, ricardo said:

Perhaps we should turn it off.

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

 

 

[ricardo 7,395]

41 minutes ago, Iwans Big Toe said:

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

 

 

Indeed, it does feel like we are out of control.

[Indy 3,300]

10 hours ago, ricardo said:

It was a cold night but there was a decent enough turn out as we kicked off just after 7.00pm. All the usual suspects were in attendance and it was good to see Mr Attanasio had bothered to make the trip.

After a short video we moved on to formal business with the re-election of Tom Smith and MWJ. I had heard rumours of a boycott but both were elected with only a handful of disenters.

Tom Smith kicked off with some prepared questions.

1 .Could the Board provide a Financial Presentation to shareholders?

they seemed reluctant and quickly fobbed this off. They are happy debt is now held in house.

2. What did Marks company expect to gain from association with Norwich City and how would it help the club.

mainly it would help to raise the profile.

3. Amortisation of 23 million last year (players)

picture would look better next year

Questions from Floor

4. Re Womens game, what experience could Napper bring

Involved at Arsenal from the start, was keen to progress this

5. Match Day Experience, unhappy with end of Golden Goal tickets and Pies not up to scratch.

Oh dear, lots of laughter but no answer.

6. Questioner unhappy with dramatic decline and ageing side.

They were aware and will address, Napper mentioned January transfer window. No real answer other than that.

7.  Written question re conflicts of interest on the Board.

Answer, Board aware of legal implications.

8. A question on number of football employees going up from 139 to 161

Explained as a reallocation of staff

9. Someone wanted the exact numbers of voters in the September resolutions.

I didn't hear a clear answer to this.

10. A question re USA involvement and respect of our system of promotion and relegation.

Mark answered that there are 35 clubs with some sort of USA involvement. He fully respected that promotion etc was an integral part of the English game.

11. Dire 2.5 years, terrible mismanagement. protracted take over, we need hope.

Delia mentioned Covid losses (£30 million) she also got a bit passionate about negativity and there was a bit of back and forth from the floor.

13. re a report that Wager was safe for season

apparently a rumour from TNC

14. Why is Wagner not here?

the usual reply that coaches don't get invited. (untrue re Farke, Lambert etc) seems to me they do get invited when things are going well.

15. Womens Game

more waffle

16. Re changing coach and system

Napper replied, only in job eighteen days, he will evaluate in his own time.

17. How can we reduce financial losses.

Attanasio has contacts with financial institutions and would approach third party if needed.

18. Womens game again re away travel.

They would look into it.

19. Age profile and players not good enough.

Neil Adams said they were aware of weaknesses and would look at options. Delia mentioned injury situation.

20. Resposibility for recruitment.

Napper said ultimately it was his responsibility but the coach must have an input.

21. Injuries, why so many.

Napper was concerned about soft tissue injuries and would investigate.

22. Communication between Board and Supporters poor.

Zoe explained they did several Q & A sessions out in the county last year.

23. Finacial position horrific, parachute payments ending.

Attanasio said they would continue to finance as a prospective Premier club and we were ok for a couple of seasons

 

Thats it in brief.

 

As always thanks for great report.

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,431]

3 hours ago, canarybubbles said:

Thanks for doing this, Ricardo. Much appreciated.

"Listening to the Board's flannel so that you don't have to."

100% and thanks to @ricardo . As said in a previous thread  I attend far too many such pre planned presentations and pitches to drag myself to hear this old clap trap. But I do appreciate someone doing it . 

Ben has got his work cut out both externally in the cut throat world of football ( I sincerely hope he has adequate connections in the game) and internally dealing with what is undoubtedly a very odd dynamic in the Club. 
 

MA saying all the right things, DS going off track after a glass or three , BK asking for time after 5 mins in the job . A fan asking about Golden Goal tickets . Questions not being answered . All sounds standard stuff. 
 

[Grando 260]

Did nobody ask about whether zorb is coming back at half-time? Or indeed, whether we could dispense with the normal football and just have 90 mins of zorb instead. 

[GMF 747]

12 hours ago, ricardo said:

3. Amortisation of 23 million last year (players)

picture would look better next year

 

Amortisation is a product of the write down on the costs spent of acquiring players.

The reply is disingenuous. Of course it will be less next year, as we spent considerably less, both last season and this season, than we did in the Premier League.

How wet is the wall, Stuart…

[ricardo 7,395]

40 minutes ago, Grando said:

Did nobody ask about whether zorb is coming back at half-time? Or indeed, whether we could dispense with the normal football and just have 90 mins of zorb instead. 

It finished before we got to the important questions.

[essex canary 496]

24 minutes ago, GMF said:

Amortisation is a product of the write down on the costs spent of acquiring players.

The reply is disingenuous. Of course it will be less next year, as we spent considerably less, both last season and this season, than we did in the Premier League.

How wet is the wall, Stuart…

Indeed. That question was a bit of a nightmare. In a sense disingenuous isn't the right word, more like irrelevant because they manage the Club on Cash Flow and Amortisation isn't cash. It does nonetheless, as you are implying, represent a downhill trajectory

 

[TIL 1010 4,748]

12 hours ago, Year of the tiger said:

True it was the question but was asked by a man ( name could be supplied)

I couldn't see who it was but in my defence he sounded feminine. All those questions about womens football pickled my brain.