Where do we go from here? (long)

[Yelverton Yella 0]

I don’t post on here very often as I

generally prefer to keep my own counsel but the current situation has prompted

me to try to give some rational analysis to where we are as a club and what the

implications are for the future. This is actually as much to try to clarify my

own thinking as anything else but I share it with you for what its worth. The

major caveat of course is that I have no ‘insider information’ and can only

make judgements from what is public knowledge.

 

Although I have no official connection with

the club, I have, like many of you, met and talked to some of the Board and

major shareholders in business and social situations outside football and I

have to say that my overriding impression of each of them is that they are

decent characters who are passionate about the success of NCFC. The follow on

from this observation is that I don’t hate them, wish them ill or desire to see

them bankrupted or hounded to the point of breakdown.

 

Amidst the maelstrom of protest, screaming

headlines and insults it must be difficult for the current incumbents to even

think, let alone act, rationally. Much of the support system they have relied

on has been stripped away- Cullen, Doncaster, Mumby et al- leaving those remaining as the rabbits in the

headlights. The trouble is that this is precisely the image that they are

projecting at the moment and their recent actions reek of sheer panic.

 

The truth is that the level of bad feeling

and lack of confidence amongst their ‘customers’ (fans) had, following

relegation, reached the point that whatever ‘the management’ had done would

have been pilloried.

 

As it was, reacting to the baying for blood

and the clamour for swift action, led to the ritual slaughter of Doncaster and Mumby and the re-appointment

of the incumbent managerial team. Perhaps the sackings were necessary but the

managerial appointments, whether or not they are correct in the long term, were

premature and rushed and should have been left for a short time until a new

Board structure was in place and a proper strategic plan had been devised.

 

Where do the Board/ owners go from here?

 

I believe that the first thing they should

do is to buy some time to avoid being railroaded into making more mistakes.

There needs to be an honest and sincere public statement that mistakes have

been made, that problems are severe and a new strategy will be adopted. A commitment

made to seek and accept new investment or ownership and to strengthen the

Management Board while also offering formal representation to the fans.

 

I would suggest that:

 

A short-term freeze is put on player

purchases or sales (nothing we can do about those without contracts of course)

unless the financial situation is so desperate that money has to be generated.

 

A job description and person spec. is drawn

up for a Chief Executive and a proper, professional, recruitment exercise

conducted. In brief, I would look for a seasoned business person with strong

investment contacts who has a successful record in both strategic and

operational management. It should be made clear that this person will have the

freedom and authority to devise a proper strategy and, once agreed, make

whatever decisions are necessary to carry it out without undue interference

from the present owners.

 

Arising from the above, and in view of the

inexperience of the Manager, I would expect a ‘football expert’ to be appointed

by the CE to advise the Board on football matters (but not to take any control of

day to day training, team selection etc.).

 

In the short term, I would suggest an interim Chief Executive is appointed

immediately; somebody who could be brought in and act as a ‘mentor’ and calming

influence to the current Board, become the spokesperson and help with the above

recruitment whilst, maybe, starting the strategic review process.

 

I could go on but this is too long already

and, besides, I usually charge for consultancy! Seriously though, I do hope

SOMEBODY at Carrow Road is giving some logical

thought to the current crisis.