Neil Doncaster's EDP column

[Pete Raven 276]

http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/sport/commentary/NeilDoncaster.aspx

[Karl Pilkington 0]

YESSSSSSS. Been waiting for this all summer. I have so missed it.

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

Does he share a ghostwriter with David Milliband?

[Evil Monkey 52]

I could have written that for him about 2 months ago, he''s so predictable....

[Grando 269]

No mention of Cullum, which strikes me as odd. Don''t mention it and maybe we can pretend it never happened.

Still, no worries because:

"But with Delia Smith, Michael Wynn Jones, Andrew and Sharon Turner and Michael Foulger together stepping forward to underwrite the substantial seven-figure cost of bringing the likes of Arturo Lupoli, Wes Hoolahan and Dejan Stefanovic to Carrow Road, these directors have personally financed a large part of Glenn Roeder''s revolution."

Which seems to somewhat go against the earlier picture he paints of Carrow Road and its "positive progression". How can it be positive that the club, after releasing numerous players, with 20k season ticket holders and numerous off-the-field activities, still can''t afford to sign players from its own resources?

Strange.

And are we really that gullible to now be bowled over by the Board''s fishing of small change from its collective pockets that we''re supposed to wash away Cullum''s memory in a revisionist sleight of hand straight out of Solzhenitsyn''s Soviet Union?

[Robert N. LiM 4,464]

Respec'' to you, Grando. On a board where most people can''t spell Doherty, you can spell Solzhenitsyn. Awesome stuff.

[Ian 1,136]

And how many other clubs fund their players from their own resources? I would expect it is probably the norm that directors finance big players from their own personal finances (e.g. look at Chelsea) - but I think it would be interesting to find out exactly how many clubs, Prem and Champ, have bought players financed directly by personal wealth this season, and how many have solely used their "own" funds as it were...

[Old Boy 0]

[quote user="Grando"]....Which seems to somewhat go against the earlier picture he paints of Carrow Road and its "positive progression". How can it be positive that the club, after releasing numerous players, with 20k season ticket holders and numerous off-the-field activities, still can''t afford to sign players from its own resources?

Strange.

And are we really that gullible to now be bowled over by the Board''s fishing of small change from its collective pockets that we''re supposed to wash away Cullum''s memory in a revisionist sleight of hand straight out of Solzhenitsyn''s Soviet Union?[/quote]I don''t understand that either. Presumably this "underwriting" is loans which increase further the debts which any would-be purchaser will have to clear, or the loans will be swapped for shares which increase the directors'' share of the equity. Is the implication that we have to sell to survive? With a big proportion of the first-team players being loans, that would not seem to be sustainable.