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Pete Raven

What is your message to the Norwich City board?

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Norwich City is a vacuum for trust and honesty right now. The board, managers and players are all accountable for years of failure; and yet still there remains a hopelessly out of touch arrogance around the club. By keeping supporters in the dark over so many vital issues related to our club, they have destroyed any trust and belief that I once had in them.For the good of the club, the supporters and the community I sincerely hope that Neil Doncaster steps down from the board with immediate effect, followed (with whatever dignity they choose) by Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones. Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones would have my thanks for their unswerving support of the club, but there apparent disspearance from any public matters since relegation has disgusted me. As they no longer claim to have funds to support the running of the football club, their no longer remains a role for them.

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In the last 12 years you''ve changed everything else at the club to improve things and make it work.....only one constant remains the same in that time.....YOU.

Time for the final change to be made and for the fault in the circuit board that is Norwich City to be corrected at last. Leave now.

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Admit you got it wrong, write off your loans, do everything possible to attract investment, invite somebody with a knowledge of football onto the board and appoint a manager who knows what it takes to get out of League 1 (preferably in the right direction [:D])

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Norwich City Football Club did not ''die'' when were relegated on Sunday, it has been dead for quite a while.

I was not as upset or affected by relegation as I thought I would be.  Yes I still love the club, no I could never support another club.  That special ''bond'' (perhaps unique) that I believe many canaries fans had with the club, for me, started to fade at least 3 years ago.

I don''t know why this happened? 

- The Board - perhaps because the board gradually lost touch with the fans, with Norwich even?  Making bad decisions, not communicating honestly with the fans, and I would go as far as saying patronising them on several occasions.  The spin, all that spin, the promises that did not materialise.

- The ''Managers'' who came and went, and the board who kept appointing poor managers, so much so, you would have that been forgiven for thinking a poor manager was part of the selection criteria.  The complete lack of managerial stability, someone who understands the club and Norwich, but who is also a half decent manager.

- The players - the lack of leaders on the pitch, where are the players who have come up through the youth ranks?  What about those with a love and a passion for the club? - the last one a certain Mr. Huckerby was treated disgracefully, we used to have several, but perhaps now none.  The loan players, all those loan players, how was it ever going to work?

I don''t believe Norwich City Football Club ''died'' on the pitch at Craven Cottage.  I believe we ''died'' in the 6 months to a year following this.  I know all clubs don''t always ''bounce straight back''.  But we had a decision to make, we should have got rid of Worthington sooner, oh and we also had parachute payments, which, if spent on the team could have seen us bounce back or at least challenging for promotion.  I still don''t know where these parachute payments went?  Whenever the club have mentioned parachute payments in recent years, it is to bemoan the other clubs that have them and how we can''t compete, yet they forget or choose not to mention that we had parachute payments once!  I can only guess that they were either wasted on a restaurant or suchlike, as I just can''t see where they were spent on the team and if they were, I would say that lots of people took ''Little old friendly, family, cosy, Norwich'' for a ride.

I know it is not as easy as just walking away for the board, so I do not just hope, I also pray (which believe me is something considering I am in no way religious), that the board have not only learnt from their mistakes, but also have the ability and capacity to act on them.  And if not, and in the absence of new, significant investment, can appoint the right person who can move this club forward and back to Championship and endear it to the fans.

OTBC

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Thank you for ruining our club. For taking it over and simply stripping all we once loved. For replacing hope with despair and passion with apathy.

And for what? The whim of a fading celebrity and her entourage? Delia didn’t save the club, the fans did. One of our greatest fans, the much missed Mr Watling saved us in our darkest hour, and all Delia and co have done since taking over those shares is build an empire - we have the finest dining in Norwich, but what about the team? You are all a joke, but no one is laughing.

Your so called “togetherness” is nothing more than fancy words and quite simply a myth. None of you have ever faced the reality of where the club was going, yet continued to plough the same old furrows, use the same tired old excuses while the club, the team we once had pride in has collapsed around us. You are clueless, without any long term planning and five people who will not appoint fit for purpose people to the board to change this club for the better.

What did we have when you came in Delia? A debt, and a bunch of fans, divided over the demise of the previous inhabitant, and what do we have now? A much larger debt and fans still divided, only difference being we no longer have a team. It make me weep to think of the great players we once had.

Now, we have a team full of misfits, don’t cares and not good enoughs. Own goals as top scorer says it all. You are all a complete disgrace and should be ashamed.

At least admit you got it wrong, but no. Instead you continue to counter fans’ questions with the usual spin, bluff and retorts. Half the fans resent every one of you, the other half are brainwashed into supporting Delia FC. Frankly you five have done a marvellous job of ruining the great club who once stood for something in the world of football.

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My message to the board is simple. Your utter incompetence, lack of ambition, poor judgement , over zealous prudence, and utter failure to listen to the fans, has resulted in our current demise. The damage has been done, and we now need a courageous and knowledgeable board with vision, whose main aim is to rescue and nurture the footballing side of our beloved club. You have all reached your ''sell by'' date, so please do the honourable thing, and step down gracefully before the damage becomes totally irretrieveable.

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This has been coming for four years.Its not Gunns fault,he was only a small part in a huge four year failure of NCFC,both on and off the pitch.Unfortunately,maybe relegation is what has to happen to sort this club out,starting at the very top,all the way down to those who are paid thousands of pounds a week to play a sport.I hope these players realise how much the supporters are hurting and are ashamed and embarrassed when they receive their next fat pay cheque.last sunday was a disgrace.sweeping changes are needed,and i dont claim to have the answers,i just know it cannot carry on like this.

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My message to the board reiterates many of the points made by others and would be:

Never in my lifetime have we been consigned to such a low level in the football league but, if things carry on the way they have been going for some time under your collective stewardship, we may not have yet reached our lowest level...and that is a prospect that deeply angers and distresses most fans, I believe.

If you search your hearts can you honestly say that this is not of your doing and that people with proper footballing credentials could not have done any better?

What we need now is a manager who can manage in true footballing terms, with a CV to back that up, and a board with the footballing nous to make the correct decisions in order for this great club - our great club - to go forward.

There is a lot of good sense in the maxim: ''if you love someone (something) set them (it) free''.  It;s time to show some tough love now so that we can turn this canary into a phoenix!

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The only constant over the past four pathetic seasons are the board and their mistakes,at some point the people who make the wrong decisions must make the right one and leave!! Time for change.

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Cheers for bailing us out, youve stayed too long, you are now an embarrassment to our club, find someone with a bit of cash (enough for the Championship at least) and leave with the little fragment of dignity you have left.Of course i may be more rude to Doncaster :)

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I love you all, we owe you all so much and you have done so well for us over the years. Keep up the good work, I hope you all stay for a while yet.

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It probably wouldn''t have come to this - if you had kept your eyes "On the Ball - that is City"....Unfortunately, you seem to have conveniently forgotten what a ball actually looks like....as it doesn''t come served on a plate, isn''t manufactured from concrete for corporate or conference - or contain any curtains, carpets, or cutlery.....

 

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The board has displayed a lack of moral fibre with regard to dealing with manager selection.  The Grant mistake was one thing, but standing back and letting Roeder strip out the club and create ill feeling was just plain wrong.  To top it all, the Peoples'' Manager was just a car crash waiting to happen. Then when the proverbial hits the fan, the board start briefing against the team, (players whose purchase was presumably sanctioned by the board), forgetting that it''s the manager''s job to motivate them and put out the most effective 11.

Time to put down the fiddles chaps and chappesses of the board, as Carrow Rd is being damped down by the ever present custodians - the fans.

The table doesn''t lie; the fans deserve better and this board is clearly not fit for purpose.

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My second message to the board is take the time to read this whole post.

Rightly or wrongly you have alienated the very people you should be closest to.  As a board your actions and omissions,  statements and unsaids have created a mystery and source for blame.  You have to face your part in the blame culture that sits within this very thread.  People are angry that your leadership has taken the club to a place no fans of NCFC ever thought they would be before.    It is your shame that you ARE culpable for leading the club there.

Your responsibility as custodians of the club is to start to regain that trust;  that means brutally honest.  First and foremost to yourselves.  Once you have done that you can start to recognise that you still have time to address the clubs issues.   You can then start to re-engage the fans,  not with more rhetoric but with your actions and deeds,  with the budget and openness about your strategy.

You took on a club with gates of 10-14k per match and have doubled that.  That says there is a club that fans are proud to be associated with.  While our financial situation is currently dire,  imagine where the club would be if the downturn continues and we return to the dark days of 16,000 crowds.  You could then be responsible for not just a league one team,  but an insolvent one.

I have already stressed where I feel the recovery plan needs to start;   its about getting the right people in place,  for the commercial side and the playing staff.   

Challenge yourselves, Can you be ruthless for the sake of the fans and the club, if not stand aside for someone who can,  if you can then now is the time to show that your have the ability to be On The Ball City.   

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the board are decent people working hard for NCFC but in my opinion in the best interest of the club - they should step aside...the boards strategy has clearly failed...following the ''charlton model'' got us relegated,,,but couldn''t get us back up - and although I admire the board for sticking for their business principles the traditional small family orientated club has had its day - in order to compete in todays football it seems every club needs a ''sugar daddy'' prepared to invest and lose...but it seems last summer the board couldn''t even do that properly - so when peter cullum cooled his interest and the turners walked - they were left holding the baby - the black hole in the accounts meant we had to sell shackell and bring in siberski at the 11th hour - and the rest is history...to me - getting in gunn was a gamble,,,and both he and the board should pay the price.  For the future...maybe like jack heywood did at wolves - the majority shareholders should sell the club to a wealthy benefactor for £1...because thats the way of the football world now - whether we like it or not...

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If we are to change manager then make it happen sooner rather than later. We cannot afford for an appointment to drag on through the summer as rebuilding the team needs to happen as soon as possible. I dont want to hear the usual "nobody does any business in June/July".

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To the board.....the doors open would the last board member please close it on the way out of the club.Just so you know that i have put up with so much shit from fans of other clubs today and will do so for the forseable future.Its not that it bothers me i will give as well as take.I am a loyal fan of 31 years now my two sons both follow the city with me.This is the lowest ebb of my footballing years and i blame you the board for the way you have treated us the 24 thousand fans who turn up week in week out,no matter how far they travel they come.The thought of Wycombe wanderers away doesn''t fill me with excitement neither does Swindon at home,but i will be there.The peoples trophy anyone? can it get any better?Delia you embarressed us before but you have gone to far this time.......Fuck off back to Suffolk and bake cakes for the WI or the scum if they will have you back.

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[quote user="hurricane"]

If we are to change manager then make it happen sooner rather than later. We cannot afford for an appointment to drag on through the summer as rebuilding the team needs to happen as soon as possible. I dont want to hear the usual "nobody does any business in June/July".

[/quote]

In effect, it''s true.....as our bunch of no-body''s at the helm, never did any business in June/July....

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Big hugs and kisses to Delia, love you. Take no notice of these nasty people as they are all in denial. What you have done for our club gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, Norwich always needed loads of new places to eat and you kindly put them all in one place.

These nasty people don''t understand that your career is more important than their little ole football team, and you kindly even let them have a few pence to try and keep them happy but they just don''t get it. I''m sure all the people you entertain at the little ole football club understand us Delia, they know that when you tell them how you are the saviour of those thugs little team it makes you the queen of all puddings. So what if you drink a few too many cooking sherries every now and then and make them look a little silly in front of the entire nation, i''m sure loads of them do silly things after drinking beer.

How were you supposed to know a bloody road was going to cost that much to build, don''t those nasty football fans realise your just lovely ole Delia off the telly, I bet if it had have been a gingerbread road you would have known the real cost.

Our good friend Mr Doncaster says all those lovely things in the paper but they just sneer at him, just last week he told them everything was just great but they didn''t believe him did they and then over this very weekend you both  provided them all those lovely new places to travel to during their next silly football season and they get all upset over it. Some people hey, they just don''t like to change their habbits. You would have thought they would have been fed up by now going to Ipswich every bloody year but no, they still want to go there.

Well Idisagree with those nasty thugs and think Stockport would be great day out.

And as for all those nasty people in that there premiership who like a load of ole sheep went along seeking all the investments they could find and yet not a single one has realised that the future of football is in resturants around the grounds, fools. None of them will have the pleasure of a trip to Brighton to sit in the sleet on a Wednesday night next January will they, ha, they are all too spoilt anyway and would not apreciate the culture of the whole thing.

Thankyou Delia for showing us lucky ones the future of football and I agree with what you said on the radio on Sunday, we should all muddle on the best we can,it''s surely the best way.

Oh and Delia watch out for that nasty Cullum man who tried to steal your family venue last year as he may come back, if he does my love, do like you did last time,pretend he didn''t[;)][;)]and he will go away again. He just wants to be like those sheep in that there premiership who haven''t yet realised that food is the future.

Your ever loving celebrity groupee........Inchy.

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Although I am sure that everything has been done with the best of intentions, the reality is you have run this club into the ground. Everybody makes mistakes, sure, and that is to be expected - but the refusal to acknowledge and learn from these mistakes, the arrogance, the increasing secrecy and the sheer PR disaster that has typified the last half a decade or so has reached its sad but inevitable conclusion.The writing has been on the wall for some time but now we find ourselves at our lowest ebb for half a century and you are wholly responsible for that. This fantastic club, and its magnificent support (which you have constantly taken for granted) has been short changed big time, and it is about time our loyalty and patience was rewarded. You have failed this club, put simply, and we need a fresh start - new owners, new board members, new management, new players - from top to bottom now is the time to start from scratch and hopefully get the club back on its feet once more.

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Like most clubs NCFC is run by a small number of well meaning amateurs. You have the best intentions of course, but, due either to an extraordinary run of bad luck or complete incompetence the Club finds itself in it''s worst situation for nearly 50 years. The latter is surely true.

Roger Munby is a likeable man but the fact remains that, as Chairman, he must  ''carry the can '' for this horrible fall from grace and resign forthwith. Likewise Neil Doncaster, a man who has presided over two relegations in only four years. To coin one of his favourite phrases this is '' unhelpful ''. Mr Doncaster in my opinion works hard but his ample salary must, by inference at least, be partially success based. On this element he has failed abysmally and he too must either fall on his sword or be dismissed.

Mr Foulger, incidentally the only director from Norfolk, is a bit of a mystery to most of us and appears to be over-shadowed by his fellow Board members. On this lame basis I feel he is less culpable than his colleagues. I understand that he works hard on behalf of Norwich City Football Club, particularly in fund raising efforts, and I think he should remain.

Last but not least we turn to the two main shareholders, Delia and Michael. I''m certain they are dis-illusioned and will abandon ship at the first opportunity. But that won''t happen until their shares can be off-loaded or we go into administration. For the former we could be in for a long wait. Both are well intentioned but I find myself agreeing with Mike Walker who, on being brutally sacked shortly after the death of his wife, observed that " You can have an opinion as long as it''s the same as Delia''s ". Sour grapes from him perhaps I feel but the whole episode didn''t exactly enhance Delia''s '' touchy-feely''  image. I can well imagine other Board members voting in favour of a measure that Delia has suggested as it''s not worth the aggravation in dissenting. I suspect this was the reason the Club became a laughing stock over the preposterous attempt to re-appoint Nigel Worthington following the Glenn Roeder debacle.

Whatever the restructuring, if any, in the coming days and weeks I fear it will be some time before we''ll be knocking on the Championship door once again.

But action must be taken now or we suffer the awful prospect of all too soon finding ourselves in the Football League basement.

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My second post on this thread and apologies if this is a repeat.

Relegation release clauses -

Please answer this, I know you aren''t going to say who, therefore how many of our players have relegation release clauses in their contracts? 

Obviously this works both ways.  You wouldn''t want to lose good players for hardly anything, likewise you don''t want to be stuck with underperforming high wage earners in League One.

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Even though you have reduced the club to its lowest position in 50 years you still do not demonstrate any urgency to make the necessary changes. Unbelievably you still believe that you are the club''s best option to get us out of this situation. You are not. Admit that you have failed miserably and move aside to allow a competent board with the required skills to come in. To the majority shareholders your time was up at least two years ago. Your shares are worthless - pass them on to a fit and proper person who can overhaul your culture of mediocrity and overspending.

Most importantly these changes must happen quickly. There is much rebuilding to do. Leaving us little time to prepare for the new season would be the final insult you could bestow on this great club of ours.

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Here are a few of my thoughts which I would like to see after the board meeting. The following needs to happen by the end of the week:

1) Neil Doncaster should explain his "future is bright" statement then fall on his sword.

2) The current board should look for a new CE with proven success in a similar role within football.

3) The owners should relax thier constraints imposed upon potential investors. I would like to see a statement about open mindedness towards any future owners/board members.

4) The manager. This is not straight forward because ideally we would have a new CE in place first but we don''t have time. Therefore I would like the position of manager advertised and see who shows interest. BG can/would need to apply if he want''s the job. A decision could then be made on the basis of whats available/affordable. Again, proven success in a club in a similar position to us would be a prerequisite. The new manager to be in place by the end of May latest.

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As the board of directors you have made wrong decisions as it is. You have turned away investment, appointed awful managers and have given nowhere near enough financial support for players which instead you spend building conservatories for colney and restaurants and colour scoreboards. The chairman and chief executive both need to go as in any other line of work when a business fails the person at the top gets the chop.

But if you are going to stay I beg you to not appoint Bryan Gunn as manager! Dont get me wrong Gunny is a legend at this club but he is not a manager, he has no experience what so ever and managing in the lower leagues. You as a board really have got to get this one right. Jim Gannon, Steve Tilson, Mark Robins etc. Someone who has a lot of experience in those lower leagues!

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The board has managed to take our club back 50 years and it is now time for significant change. We desperately need a Chief Executive who takes a positive attitude towards what is possible. Instead we are treated to the repetitive mantra that we cannot compete with more monied clubs. Quite how Burnley, Preston, Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackpool, Doncaster, and Barnsley to name just a few can compete does not appear to cross the mind of this business maestro.

Furthermore the owners must let it dawn on them that FC stands for football club and not football catering. Like most fans I don''t go to games to eat but to watch my team play. My team means players who are on regular contracts with the club rather than getting fit or match experience for the benefit of another club.

Finally the board must toss their selection procedures into the Wensum and actually appoint a manager with experience and credibility for the level we are at. The club''s odd-job man is not the answer.

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To the Board.You let the wrong man leave in Lee Clark. You appointed the wrong man in Bryan Gunn. Please dont make another mistake.Mark Robins or A N Other please. Not Mr Gunn.

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from one chef to another Delia this is one burnt cookie if you wont swallow it dont eat it..........where are you we need a 12th diretor out here, come on lets be having you

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