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Punting Canary

Doncasters parting shot.....

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For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  It is becomming fairly clear to me from what I have heard, read, and seen over the last year or so that Cullum was hoping to buy the club on the cheap.  For those that have seen the ruthless methods he has used to make Towergate become one of the leading insurance brokers in the country I still have major concerns about him ever becomming involved.  The Towergate method was to buy up struggling insurance brokers for very small amounts, with their client lists etc, effectively putting the opposition out of business (staff included), and building up a sizeable business with little regard for those he has bought up.

On the flip side two years ago (its gone downhill a bit since) they were one of the fastest growing business'' in the UK, and their customer services were 2nd to none. 

Many people might wish to have this kind of ruthlessness at the helm at Norwich, and in many ways it probably is what the club needs.  The Turners wanted to run the club as a non loss making business (tickets up to £40, food and drink prices up etc but this was voted down by the rest of the board), hence their departure.  However its hard not to imagine that Cullum would not run the club in a similar way.

Given how ruthless he has been in making money, and for all he is a fan, reading between the lines from Doncasters comments I can''t help but think Cullum was looking to buy the club on the cheap, strip it down, potentially saddle it with further debt, and sell it on for a profit.

I hope if he was to ever buy it I am proved wrong.  But be careful what you wish for......

Doncaster tells fans to be careful what they wish for

Neil Doncaster''s final column

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and how much more are we in debt now than a few years ago ?

the cost of relegation was 6 or 7 million .

i dont think the man can preach really .

doncasters prudence with ambiton approach hardly worked .

this club has gone from bad to worse , i dont think anyone could go a worse job than the people at the helm at the moment .

and i certainly dont believe a word that man says ,history proves that .

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and how much more are we in debt now than a few years ago ?

the cost of relegation was 6 or 7 million .

i dont think the man can preach really .

doncasters prudence with ambiton approach hardly worked .

this club has gone from bad to worse , i dont think anyone could go a worse job than the people at the helm at the moment .

and i certainly dont believe a word that man says ,history proves that .

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It''s alright Delia saying that he helped the club re-finance itself after the ITV digital fiasco, but that was, what, 7 years ago?

What has he done since? And how much debt have we accumulated in those 7 years?

The man''s no good. Good riddance.

And to think he was a front runner for the F.A. position, a job that would''ve included helping to decide the next England manager!

That in itself shows everything that is wrong with the Football Association and the game in this country in general.

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If you read my first line, and any other of the posts I have written about Doncaster you will see I am one of his biggest critics.  He reminds me of Alastair Cambpell and it doesn''t get much worse than that.  And in my opinion the performance of any business is determined by those that run it on a day to day basis, and for that Doncaster has to take the blame.  Compare Mr Doncaster to Gordon Bennett and you see what an incredible man we had before Doncaster took over.

Regarding the Turners, I have a number of friends whilst not high up in the club who do get to hear what is going on.  The reason they left was just a clash of business cultures with Delia and Micheal.  The family club, keeping prices down vs. running the club like a business, and relying on brand loyalty, and the non elasticity of demand of a football fan to squeeze more out of them. 

Would you be prepared to pay £40-£50 quid a ticket to watch Championship football?

 

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]

If you read my first line, and any other of the posts I have written about Doncaster you will see I am one of his biggest critics.  He reminds me of Alastair Cambpell and it doesn''t get much worse than that.  And in my opinion the performance of any business is determined by those that run it on a day to day basis, and for that Doncaster has to take the blame.  Compare Mr Doncaster to Gordon Bennett and you see what an incredible man we had before Doncaster took over.

Regarding the Turners, I have a number of friends whilst not high up in the club who do get to hear what is going on.  The reason they left was just a clash of business cultures with Delia and Micheal.  The family club, keeping prices down vs. running the club like a business, and relying on brand loyalty, and the non elasticity of demand of a football fan to squeeze more out of them. 

Would you be prepared to pay £40-£50 quid a ticket to watch Championship football?

 

[/quote]

Right about now I would happily pay £50 a game to watch championship football next season - can it be at Carrow Road?

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[quote user="rjwc22"]

Right about now I would happily pay £50 a game to watch championship football next season - can it be at Carrow Road?

[/quote]Dont forget your prawn sandwiches.

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]

For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  It is becomming fairly clear to me from what I have heard, read, and seen over the last year or so that Cullum was hoping to buy the club on the cheap.  For those that have seen the ruthless methods he has used to make Towergate become one of the leading insurance brokers in the country I still have major concerns about him ever becomming involved.  The Towergate method was to buy up struggling insurance brokers for very small amounts, with their client lists etc, effectively putting the opposition out of business (staff included), and building up a sizeable business with little regard for those he has bought up.

On the flip side two years ago (its gone downhill a bit since) they were one of the fastest growing business'' in the UK, and their customer services were 2nd to none. 

Many people might wish to have this kind of ruthlessness at the helm at Norwich, and in many ways it probably is what the club needs.  The Turners wanted to run the club as a non loss making business (tickets up to £40, food and drink prices up etc but this was voted down by the rest of the board), hence their departure.  However its hard not to imagine that Cullum would not run the club in a similar way.

Given how ruthless he has been in making money, and for all he is a fan, reading between the lines from Doncasters comments I can''t help but think Cullum was looking to buy the club on the cheap, strip it down, potentially saddle it with further debt, and sell it on for a profit.

I hope if he was to ever buy it I am proved wrong.  But be careful what you wish for......

[/quote]To be fair punting you''re gonna struggle to find a successful businessman who doesn''t have that capacity for ruthlessness to which you refer

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]

For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  [/quote]

Have I missed something?  What did he say?

 

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]

If you read my first line, and any other of the posts I have written about Doncaster you will see I am one of his biggest critics.  He reminds me of Alastair Cambpell and it doesn''t get much worse than that.  And in my opinion the performance of any business is determined by those that run it on a day to day basis, and for that Doncaster has to take the blame.  Compare Mr Doncaster to Gordon Bennett and you see what an incredible man we had before Doncaster took over.

Regarding the Turners, I have a number of friends whilst not high up in the club who do get to hear what is going on.  The reason they left was just a clash of business cultures with Delia and Micheal.  The family club, keeping prices down vs. running the club like a business, and relying on brand loyalty, and the non elasticity of demand of a football fan to squeeze more out of them. 

Would you be prepared to pay £40-£50 quid a ticket to watch Championship football?

 

[/quote]

If every penny was spent on buying players I would certainly be prepared to pay more for my ticket, I have long since felt that season tickets are far to cheap at this club. If each season ticket was a hundred pounds more I think they''d still be relatively cheap, I know there''s people who couldn''t afford to pay an extra hundred quid but to me the maths are all wrong when there is a shortfall in the money needed to run the club and the season tickets remain so cheap.

The main reason so many season tickets are sold is because they are so cheap, even Ipswich tickets are more expensive than ours and even though they sell less I''m sure their gate reciepts are higher because they also sell a lot more casual tickets which in turn are even more expensive.

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[quote user="canary cherub "][quote user="Punting Canary"]

For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  [/quote]

Have I missed something?  What did he say?

 

[/quote]Just found it myself.Doomys goodbye and good luck letter

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Interesting that Doncaster says that investors "always want something valuable in return".  Absolutely.  In Delia''s case it is her name plastered around the ground, increased media publicity, increased sales of her books, and a stack of shares (the latter which has backfired on her now).  She''s had plenty in return and could still get some.

One of the main reasons the Turners left Norwich was because the set-up was too cosy and too much of a clique (fact).  I don''t think even they (as regular fans) would have been naive enough to hike tickets as much as people are alleging.

 

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Ticket price rises were part of the review the Turners did of all business practises at the club about 6 months after joining the board,  and once it was clear that the suggestions they had, this being only one of them, were going to fall on deaf ears they decided they didn''t want to be part of it any more.

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[quote user="Buckethead"][quote user="canary cherub "][quote user="Punting Canary"]

For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  [/quote]

Have I missed something?  What did he say?

 

[/quote]

Just found it myself.

Doomys goodbye and good luck letter
[/quote]

Thanks very much [Y]

How interesting that Punting Canary should interpret Doncaster''s comments as a swipe at Peter Cullum when he speaks of "wealthy non-supporters" always wanting something in return.  PC is a City supporter and always has been. 

Doncaster''s other comment about the best way forward being "wealthy supporters and local businesses" sounds rather like an endorsement of PC to me. 

One thing I''ll say for Doomy, he''s consistent.  As always he''s chosen his words very carefully so that they can be interpreted in a number different of ways.

 

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]

For all he was a man I never had time for, and was told by people who had dealings with him that he was full of his own "**** and self importance", its interesting to see Doncaster firing a broadside clearly in the direction of Peter Cullum.  It is becomming fairly clear to me from what I have heard, read, and seen over the last year or so that Cullum was hoping to buy the club on the cheap.  For those that have seen the ruthless methods he has used to make Towergate become one of the leading insurance brokers in the country I still have major concerns about him ever becomming involved.  The Towergate method was to buy up struggling insurance brokers for very small amounts, with their client lists etc, effectively putting the opposition out of business (staff included), and building up a sizeable business with little regard for those he has bought up.

On the flip side two years ago (its gone downhill a bit since) they were one of the fastest growing business'' in the UK, and their customer services were 2nd to none. 

Many people might wish to have this kind of ruthlessness at the helm at Norwich, and in many ways it probably is what the club needs.  The Turners wanted to run the club as a non loss making business (tickets up to £40, food and drink prices up etc but this was voted down by the rest of the board), hence their departure.  However its hard not to imagine that Cullum would not run the club in a similar way.

Given how ruthless he has been in making money, and for all he is a fan, reading between the lines from Doncasters comments I can''t help but think Cullum was looking to buy the club on the cheap, strip it down, potentially saddle it with further debt, and sell it on for a profit.

I hope if he was to ever buy it I am proved wrong.  But be careful what you wish for......

[/quote]

FFS.

This "Cullum wanted the club on the cheap" thing really winds me up.

It. Is. Worth. Nothing.

Wolves were sold for a £1.

GET REAL.

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be carefull what you wish for ? okay doncaster a few years ago whilst i was a small child and norwich were playing premiership football and beating the mighty liverpool everton , and in europe i wished some failure to run the club in spiral into debt and end up in the three tier of english football , with no players either.

i didnt wish for that ?

 

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[quote user="singing canary"]

be carefull what you wish for ? okay doncaster a few years ago whilst i was a small child and norwich were playing premiership football and beating the mighty liverpool everton , and in europe i wished some failure to run the club in spiral into debt and end up in the three tier of english football , with no players either.

i didnt wish for that ?

 

[/quote]

The first game I saw at Carrow Road was also against Liverpool.  You lost 2-1.   You were both in the Second Division.  Roger Hunt got both their goals in the second half.  They went on to win the League that year and Chelsea were relegated from the First Division.

 

http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1961-62.html

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[quote user="Punting Canary"]Ticket price rises were part of the review the Turners did of all business practises at the club about 6 months after joining the board,  and once it was clear that the suggestions they had, this being only one of them, were going to fall on deaf ears they decided they didn''t want to be part of it any more.[/quote]

Well that could be true, but it seems to me a tad simplistic to suggest that they had a big falling out over a suggestion which was "only one of them".  We`ll probably never know....

As for getting the club on the cheap, i`m sure you`re right about that.  No-one sensible is going to pay over the odds to go into the bear-pit of running a football club and Delia certainly didn`t.  In truth alot of Doncasters article is just more of the same spin and scare-mongering- just who are all these clubs that have been raped and pillaged by ruthless owners?  The money in football is in the Prem.  That is what the investors at Sunderland, Derby, Cardiff, Stoke, Ipswich, Preston, Hull, Coventry etc. are looking towards and if they get there for a few years they will probably market their clubs to foreign owners and try and make a profit.  What`s wrong with that?

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nothing at all , i agree .

i just read doncasters article as more spin , yet he still cant see just how low he has taken this club .

hes just defending himself , and yet again to come out with that comment just shows how pathetic he is .

i would have cullum here any day of the week , clever man and made plenty of money ,

who would you rather have ... a ...doncaster who has been involved for the last ten years and the club has fallen through the floor financially.

b... cullum who still through a global crissis, has made a massive profit .

i know who i would rather have .

i know the is more to it than that , yet this club is on the brink of meltdown , through very poor decisions .

how can he justify his coments ... wood and trees spring to mind .

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ITFC, what was the first senior position go under Evans? Thats right the CEO.

Doncaster may have a point but do we want to be a ''nice'' ''family'' club in Championship 1 or a winning team in the Prem?

The world of ruthless business will hit NCFC wether we like it or not.

Thats life

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[quote user="Spineless Fooks"]It''s alright Delia saying that he helped the club re-finance itself after the ITV digital fiasco, but that was, what, 7 years ago? What has he done since? And how much debt have we accumulated in those 7 years? The man''s no good. Good riddance. And to think he was a front runner for the F.A. position, a job that would''ve included helping to decide the next England manager! That in itself shows everything that is wrong with the Football Association and the game in this country in general.[/quote]

Really? In which case we would have had Peter Shilton, Ray Clemence or maybe David Seaman!

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I''ve only just picked up today''s EDP and can''t believe that a man who was kicked out of his job because, at the end of the day, he was a failure, could have the arrogance to produce a ''Goodbye'' article for the local rag and tell us what we should and shouldn''t do in the future without him to guide us. Thanks for all your help Doncaster and good riddance. Obviously the page in his dictionary which contains the word ''humility'' must be missing.

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[quote user="singing canary"]

i would have cullum here any day of the week , clever man and made plenty of money ,

who would you rather have ... a ...doncaster who has been involved for the last ten years and the club has fallen through the floor financially.

b... cullum who still through a global crissis, has made a massive profit .

[/quote]Towergate, Cullum''s company, made a loss of around £13m for the latest year for which it has issued full results.

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