A suggestion. Get writing, get emailing - let the club know how you feel

[thebigfeller 200]

Both on here and on WOTB, the hour and a half or so when it looked like Gunny had been given the job demonstrated perfectly how most on the two boards would feel about it. Given he''s not been appointed - yet - there''s now a window in which we can all make our views known. Get writing, get emailing: let the club know how crazy appointing him would be.

The official statement made very plain how deep our financial problems are becoming. Maybe there are talks with buyers and investors going on: they can''t appoint a manager until they know what his budget will be, after all. But if investment isn''t found, it must not be an excuse for just appointing people who "know the club". In fact, chronic lack of money makes an experienced or at least proven manager even more vital. This is, truly, no time for a novice. Jim Gannon has achieved wonders with a club in such strife, they''ve just headed into administration. Ian Holloway came through horrendous financial problems at QPR which threatened their continued existence. Mark Robins has achieved miracles with Rotherham; Steve Tilson''s done superbly on a small budget with Southend.

All of these individuals could do the job - and neither Gannon nor Holloway would entail a pay-off to another club. These are the sorts of people we should be looking at - so let the board know!

[ACE 0]

Yes but apparently the argument amongst the head in the sand brigade is that all the members of the two biggest NCFC forums in the age of every home havin an internet connection is a poisoned minority, and the masses just sit huddles around their fires mumbling about how its all going to be ok soon....

[quote user="thebigfeller"]

Both on here and on WOTB, the hour and a half or so when it looked like Gunny had been given the job demonstrated perfectly how most on the two boards would feel about it. Given he''s not been appointed - yet - there''s now a window in which we can all make our views known. Get writing, get emailing: let the club know how crazy appointing him would be.

The official statement made very plain how deep our financial problems are becoming. Maybe there are talks with buyers and investors going on: they can''t appoint a manager until they know what his budget will be, after all. But if investment isn''t found, it must not be an excuse for just appointing people who "know the club". In fact, chronic lack of money makes an experienced or at least proven manager even more vital. This is, truly, no time for a novice. Jim Gannon has achieved wonders with a club in such strife, they''ve just headed into administration. Ian Holloway came through horrendous financial problems at QPR which threatened their continued existence. Mark Robins has achieved miracles with Rotherham; Steve Tilson''s done superbly on a small budget with Southend.

All of these individuals could do the job - and neither Gannon nor Holloway would entail a pay-off to another club. These are the sorts of people we should be looking at - so let the board know!

[/quote]

[whoareyou? 0]

It''s a very very good suggestion.

In fact i have already let Doncaster know how i felt when i read that SSN were reporting he had got the job. He is in no doubt now how i would if feel such an appointment were made!

Gunn is a NCFC legend as a player, let''s leave it at that shall we, Board!

[thebigfeller 200]

Bump. C''mon folks, you know it makes sense. And oh for an edit post button so I could shorten the title too...

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

Already have done. More than once. Not sure if it will do any good - or if it has done in the past - but if there IS a way to influence the directors it is through rational argument.

[Badger 0]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"]Already have done. More than once. Not sure if it will do any good - or if it has done in the past - but if there IS a way to influence the directors it is through rational argument.[/quote]You might be right but I don''t think that they will get much from here - do you?

[Metatron 0]

Excellent, practical suggestion from thebigfeller.

(Even keyboard warriors can join in!)

[Big Slob 0]

Give me an email address and i will..

[thebigfeller 200]

[quote user="Big Bob"]Give me an email address and i will..[/quote]

Here you go Bob (and anyone else):

neild@ncfc-canaries.co.uk

[Robert N. LiM 6,274]

Done.

Dear Neil,

 

I am sorry to add to the no-doubt enormous number of emails in your inbox all saying the same thing, but as a season ticket holder and City fan of 25 years, I implore you not to re-appoint Bryan Gunn as City manager for next season.

 

Gunny is probably my all-time City hero, and no one associated with the club will ever forget his part in City''s greatest-ever side. But his brief tenure as manager has been disastrous, and he has shown no evidence that he is suitable for the job. While I appreciate that he inherited a team whose spirit and morale were shattered, he also inherited a squad of players easily good enough to stay up, had they been properly motivated and organised.

 

Clearly individual team selections and substitutions are a matter of opinion, so I won''t go into them here. But the fact remains that we were not in the relegation zone when Gunn took over; we eventually finished FIVE points short of safety. When it came to the crunch against Ipswich, Reading and Charlton, the manager was utterly unable to convey his undoubted passion for the club to the players.

 

Norwich City''s problems clearly run deeper than Bryan Gunn, and it brings me nothing but sadness to write this email, but he failed in the job this season and has done little to suggest he would not fail next season. While appointing any manager is a gamble, you can at least limit the extent of that gamble: there are plenty of managers with experience of success who would surely be tempted by the job of managing this great club: Robins, Gannon, Tilson and Boothroyd are names that immediately spring to mind. Please show that you have learned from the horrendous experience of the last few seasons and do not repeat the gamble on inexperience that you took with Grant and Gunn that has cost the club so dearly.

 

On the Ball City.

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

Robert, that is exactly the kind of rational letter that needs to be written, and which will get you a hearing.

[Tim Allman 1]

I wrote to Neil Doncaster on Tuesday morning about Gunny’s reappointment (or not) as the City Manager. I received a polite non-standard reply within a couple of hours referring to the upcoming board meeting where Gunny’s reappointment and other NCFC state of the nation issues would be addressed. Here it is: -

Neil

I know your in-box must be full with mail this morning, so my apologies for adding yet another to the un-read items.

I was very surprised to hear of Gunny’s appointment at the start of the year (although my daughter wasn’t!), and wrote in the PinkUn that I thought it was a huge risk for both Gunny and the NCFC Board at the time. Unfortunately my fears were correct, although I take no pleasure from being proved right.

On the plus side, he’s made some decent decisions, eg how he dealt with Fotheringham and there’s been a better atmosphere at Carrow Road. We’ve also managed to sell a number of season ticket renewals on the back of the appointment, myself and Gemma included.

On the down side though I have been mystified also by some of Gunny’s tactics and selections. Not selecting Alan Lee against Sheffield Wednesday, moving Alan Gow out to left wing when after he had won man of the matches a striker. We had the ridiculous formation away at Swansea where no-one seemed to know what they were doing. Subs always seem to be in a reactive as opposed to a proactive way, and often made changes far too late. I’ve lost count of the number of times we have come out at the start of the second half almost asleep and surrendered the initiative, such the Southampton 2-2 draw. I’m sure there are plenty of others examples I’ve not mentioned.

He might be a decent bloke, and a club legend, but tactically he’s struggling with the basics.

The Charlton game was the final straw, not being able to motivate a team for the most important fixture of the season, and the selection of our most consistent centre back at left back against Charlton when we had a better option at left midfield.

I was prepared for relegation, but not prepared for the spineless first half capitulation that I saw on Sunday.

The responsibility for managerial appointments rests with the NCFC Board, and after your catastrophic failure to remove Nigel Worthington when you should have done so in November 2005, the disaster that was Peter Grant, and Glenn Roeder’s spiteful regime, please do not compound these errors with yet another one.

We need a manager experienced in the Championship or League 1 who will bring some stability to playing side. I won’t trouble you with names as I’m sure that you know who they might be.

My view is that NCFC should issue a statement thanking Gunny for his efforts and he should stand aside with dignity. Unfortunately as he’s already indicated that he wants the job, and if he is not re-appointed it will appear as if Gunny’s been sacked, although I know this will not be the case.

Already it’s looking like another fine mess.

Cheers and OTBC

Tim Allman - Capital Canaries

 

[Big Slob 0]

Hi Neil, i presume you get hundreds of these emails a day, but thought i should let the club know my feelings.

If the club keep Gunn as manager for the upcoming season, we the fans are going to experience another season just like the one we had. I appreciate he loves the club, and is probably cheaper than a Jim Gannon or Msrk Robbins, two managers who unlike Gunn have experience in lower leagues, and know how to get the best out of players, and perform well with a very small budget. Surely you can see he isn''t the man for the job, and him staying as manager will just make matters worse in League 1. Gunn has the worst record of the past 5 managers only averaging 1 point a game (0.8 if you don''t include the Barnsley match in which he was caretaker) compared to Grant''s 1.2 and Roeder''s 1.1. These two were both deemed as failures. I''m sure if Roeder had stayed, then Norwich wouldn''t have gone, although i accept he had to go with the fans on his back. Don''t forget when Gunn took-over we were actually outside the relegation zone. I hope either Gannon or Mark Robbins gets the job, although i have an awful feeling it will be Gunn. Don''t get me wrong Gunn is a Norwich legend, and i would hope he would remain at the club, just not in a managerial position.

[Stephen Hawkings Football Boots 0]

i emailed him and all he said was thanks for my thoughts. bet he didnt even read it

[JJ 0]

[quote user="thebigfeller"]

Both on here and on WOTB, the hour and a half or so when it looked like Gunny had been given the job demonstrated perfectly how most on the two boards would feel about it. Given he''s not been appointed - yet - there''s now a window in which we can all make our views known. Get writing, get emailing: let the club know how crazy appointing him would be.

The official statement made very plain how deep our financial problems are becoming. Maybe there are talks with buyers and investors going on: they can''t appoint a manager until they know what his budget will be, after all. But if investment isn''t found, it must not be an excuse for just appointing people who "know the club". In fact, chronic lack of money makes an experienced or at least proven manager even more vital. This is, truly, no time for a novice. Jim Gannon has achieved wonders with a club in such strife, they''ve just headed into administration. Ian Holloway came through horrendous financial problems at QPR which threatened their continued existence. Mark Robins has achieved miracles with Rotherham; Steve Tilson''s done superbly on a small budget with Southend.

All of these individuals could do the job - and neither Gannon nor Holloway would entail a pay-off to another club. These are the sorts of people we should be looking at - so let the board know!

[/quote]

Consider it done.  I feel a lot better now!  [:D]

 

[Mtv 0]

I also sent a polite but firm email to that man!

[First Wizard 0]

[quote user="olej"]i emailed him and all he said was thanks for my thoughts. bet he didnt even read it[/quote]

Done, and no, I don''t expect a reply.

[nolegs 0]

I''ve sent him several in the past,they''ve always been replied to.......but never answered!?!

[Syteanric 1]

I dare someone with a b it of gift of the gab to send him an email posing as a recruitment agency and saying "with your pending redundancy please find these links useful" lol!

jas :)

[Big Slob 0]

Same olej, thanks for your thoughts, OTBC Neil.

[Robert N. LiM 6,274]

[quote user="Big Bob"]Same olej, thanks for your thoughts, OTBC Neil.[/quote]

I got one saying "Thanks for your excellent letter. It has totally changed my mind. We''re going to appoint Robins tomorrow, just because of you."

Only joking.

[Big Slob 0]

Yes i kind of guessed it was a joke, you didn''t need to put "only joking"...No use of capital letters or punctuation too. Perhaps it wasn''t him who answered it.

[First Wizard 0]

Standard ''Thanks for your thoughts'' reply.[:S]

[Robert N. LiM 6,274]

[quote user="Big Bob"]Yes i kind of guessed it was a joke, you didn''t need to put "only joking"...[/quote]

On this forum you never know. At the start of the season some posters thought Mr Chops was actually Robert Mugabe.

[canarynotsonew77 0]

I have e-mailed Doncaster plenty about my desperation that Bryan Gunn is not made manager of this football club. The e-mails are always replied to, but never answered. My last e-mail was on Monday night after the fans forum where I told Doncaster exactly what I thought of Gunn and his pathetic behaviour at the fans forum, getting involved in little arguments with the fans etc. He didn''t comment on Gunn''s behaviour, just thanked me for the e-mail.

I won''t e-mail again before any appointment as I''ve said my piece. I will e-mail after Gunn is appointed though and in no uncertain terms tell them exactly what I think of it. I have already typed the e-mail, it''s ready to send once they announce Gunn has the job.

[blahblahblah 2]

[quote user="Robert N. LiM"]

[quote user="Big Bob"]Yes i kind of guessed it was a joke, you didn''t need to put "only joking"...[/quote]

On this forum you never know. At the start of the season some posters thought Mr Chops was actually Robert Mugabe.

[/quote]He is, isn''t he ?  [:o]

[PurpleCanary 6,381]

At the risk of stating the obvious, Neil Doncaster is hardly going to reply and say that appointing Gunn was a mistake and that keeping him on would be another mistake. But if there IS a way of influencing the decision then it is by way of sensible, rational emails such as those sent by such as Robert Lim, Tim Allman and Big Bob.

[Big Slob 0]

Thanks Purple canary... and haha at Blah.

[Chewbacca 0]

I too agree with Bigfeller that this is one way that we can attempt to make ourselves heard, here is my offering, complete with tabloid style subject heading!!

Subject: I''d rather have a Gannon in our artillery than a Gunn‏!

Dear Neil

I write to you as a dismayed Norwich City FC Season Ticket holder.

These are obviously dire times to be a Norwich City supporter but I think one thing that we, as club absolutely rely upon is a strong relationship and atmosphere of goodwill between the club and supporters. It''s inconceivable to suggest that the actions of the current board members have been intentionally damaging to the club, but they have been damaging nonetheless. In current circumstances I fear this relationship will become increasingly strained.

Again, despite what are undoubtedly good intentions the permanent appointment of Bryan Gunn as manager of Norwich City Football Club will act as a catalyst in severing the goodwill between club and supporters. Bryan has rightly been hailed as a legendary player and superb ambassador for our club but such sentiment must be cast aside when deciding upon our next management team. After Glen Roeder left, he added not only another colossal failure to his managerial background, but a feeling of disillusionment among supporters that I''d never experienced before. Whilst the introduction of Bryan and his team of city fellow city legends highlighted a special bond between the management and supporters the failings on the pitch have been glaring, culminating in our relegation to League 1. I personally believe that Glen Roeder''s regime is more to blame than the actions, or ''inactions'' of Byan Gunn for this, but the inability to impact upon results sufficiently since his appointment has been catastrophic.      

The only way for our club to progress will be for the board to show a clear understanding of the dreadful situation we are in and appoint someone deemed suitable to address it. A manager who has played and managed in the lower leagues, boasting a degree of success with scant financial backing is Jim Gannon, recently made redundant by Stockport County due to their administration procedures. I''m sure I don''t need to run through a list of candidates or offer any more information on Jim Gannon but an appointment of this ilk; someone young, hungry, qualified and previously successful may restore what scraps of faith we as supporters have left in our once great club.

[thebigfeller 200]

Really good to see how constructive so many of the emails have been. If you haven''t emailed the club yet, do so: you can''t complain about the club not listening to you if you don''t make your voice heard in the first place.

This was mine:

Dear Mr Doncaster,

Having read the club''s official statement released tonight, I''m writing to express my immense relief that Bryan Gunn has not, as yet, been appointed full-time manager. I appreciate how difficult the club''s financial position is: the statement makes that abundantly clear. But that being the case, and in the absence of new investment which we all dearly wish to see, it is simply imperative you do not entrust the first team''s fortunes to a novice: and one who has already failed at that.

We all love Gunny the man - but mark my words, his reputation at the club will be destroyed if he is appointed. For an hour and a half or so earlier, it appeared he had been given the job; and I have never seen an online response to compare with it. Literally 99% of posters on either the Pink Un or Wrath of the Barclay boards were disbelieving, dismayed and outright disgusted: the board will be playing with fire if Gunn gets the job, as I''m sure you''re already aware. Jim Gannon has done a fantastic job in horrific financial circumstances at Stockport; Mark Robins has worked similar miracles at Rotherham; Ian Holloway came through problems which threatened QPR''s continued existence. While in an ideal world, I''d love either Adrian Boothroyd or Paul Ince to get the job, if the club is facing the kind of financial constraints many of us suspect, Messrs Gannon or Robins are the sort of individuals you should be looking at: people who have already proved themselves, or at least gone a long way towards doing so.

The board has made many huge mistakes in recent years. The last thing it can afford to do now is alienate the supporters. So I write to plead with you not to commit what would constitute a grievous blunder: far and away the biggest to date. You may have read the post/article I wrote last week setting out the board''s responsibility for where we now find ourselves: I know a number of people emailed it to you. Regardless of how much criticism I expressed, or how many people agreed with it, we all desperately want this to work. There is, still, plenty of goodwill from the supporters towards those in charge - but you simply have to get this one right. For all our sakes.

Yours,

Shaun Lawson.