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Mick Dennis- Where is your objectivity

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[quote user="Jarabe"]I think the key comment is "whenever my work allows", which i assume mean you miss many games but still spout forth in the media as if you are the font of all Norwich knowledge. Yes I will be at Brentford. Yes I have a season ticket despite living 4 hours from Norwich. Yes I always pay my way. No I dont think Delia is a saint. Yes we need new owners with new ideas.[/quote]

I think the key comment is leaving the EDP so as you don''t get stuck with the same stuff year after year.

My mind was made up after being drafted in to cover the Suffolk Show and being sent to Maldon to write an advetorial on Ernest Doe & Sons.

Whatever turns you on or off!

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It should be obvious that Mick Dennis is nothing but honest.............

He has opinions.......... people can agree or disagree..................

Having read a number of his articles and watched him live virtually every week on Sky Sports News (SSN is live here in the US at 1am US/7am UK time on Fox Soccer Channel)

There is no doubt in my mind that when he writes or says something that is his honest opinion.

The point he makes about Delia investing a substantial percentage of her personal wealth is a good one...........

People forget she isn''t among the super rich.

The way that some idiots portray her as Darth Vader running some evil empire, bilking billions from the club is just laughable.

There is an ironic twist to our many failures..........the fact that in either complete failure or magnificent triumph it produces interest from the fans in a club, be it open top bus parades or organized protests........

People ask.......... How do we get 25,000 through the doors.......... maybe, just maybe, the journey and hope of one day trning it around is part of the interest............

The alternative is Crystal Palace who after literally numerous years of boring mid-table mediocrity managed to attract 3,100 fans to Selhurst park on Tuesday.

Sounds like their fans just don''t care anymore.  

 

 

 

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 I like your reports but we are quickly getting down to the nitty gritty, cue violins on the Titanic.

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[quote user="Houston Canary"]Is Mick Dennis a reporter or a columnist?  If he''s a columnist, he certainly should not be unbiased.  Columnists write their opinions.[/quote]

 

But only if that opinion coincides with the message board.[:P]

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He seems to have just made it worse:http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=4818

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[quote user="ref89"]He seems to have just made it worse:

http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=4818
[/quote]

Thought that was a decent article to be honest. Can''t disagree with much of what he says on the match or the squad

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I was referring to the pop at the pinkun forum[quote user="Jim Smith"]

[quote user="ref89"]He seems to have just made it worse:http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=4818[/quote]

Thought that was a decent article to be honest. Can''t disagree with much of what he says on the match or the squad

[/quote]

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Mick, you come across as a decent person as i am sure D and M are, but in your latest piece there is another example of why your articles often infuriate people.  From memory "Delia once again reiterated that ticket income wasn`t sufficient to cover player wages- even at division 1 level".  Yes, she did indeed say that but surely it is your job as a journalist to do a bit of research and find out whether a statement is actually true or not, rather than just parrot it as an undeniable truth? 

I assume you are a shareholder?  If so take a look at ticket income vs. player wages in the last two annual reports and let me know which figure has been greater (it`s ticket income...).  Then ponder the extent to which a large chunk of player wages have been subsidised by year-on-year profits in the transfer market.  Then ponder the fact that our ticket income will not fall significantly this season (with 19k season tickets), yet player wages undeniably will- making the gap between ticket income and player wages even greater.

Delias statement is nothing more than a nice, pithy, easily digestible lie and i have to question your honesty and integrity in going along with it.

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Good post Mr C - but there is hardly anyone in the media  - including the quality broadsheets who ever bothers to do their own research.

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[quote user="Camuldonum"]

My mind was made up after being drafted in to cover the Suffolk Show and being sent to Maldon to write an advetorial on Ernest Doe & Sons.

[/quote]

I bet you had great fun doing that. [;)]

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[quote user="Camuldonum"][quote user="1st Wazzock"][:D][:D]

[quote user="Mick Dennis"]Erm, freebie fan? I am typing this in a dodgy Travelodge outside Yeovil. I paid to stand on the terrace. I pay to watch City home and away whenever my work allows, and have done for 31 years, since I left the EDP and moved away from Norfolk. I know I shouldn''t be so sensitive but the idea that I don''t understand because I accept an invite to go to Carrow Road as a guest a couple of times a season is bonkers. See you at Brentford? Some great chants tonight, by the way. I loved: "Sit down if you hate the scum." I am so relieved after watching an away win -- was the last one QPR? I paid to watch that as well -- that I am going to write a column for Waghorn before sleep.[/quote]

You are undoubtably scum of the earth, your pitiful rant after the fans diplay of discontent after the worst display from a Norwich team in living memory (Charlton  FA cup replay last season) was nothing short of a joke.

[/quote]

 

It''s smashing being scum of the earth (I had to rewrite some of Charlie Catchpole''s showbiz but that''s irrelevant although not to Kelvin at the time.  (FFS what does that mean?  (I am sure he has fond memories like me.)  "Look,  just ****** turn it round.  Roy, there''s a rewrite coming on that Catchpole crap.[:D])

What Mick wrote was an inside colour piece on GR and the effect as he attempted to do after the Colchester game.  It is a side of football which is rarely covered. 

I am sure he wouldn''t expect to get plaudits from a football message board but you write what you want and hard ******* luck to anyone who does not like it.

PS: We''ve just destroyed another MP''s career this end.  Monstrously good feeling.  [:D][:D]

The MP won''t like it either but hard ******* luck.

Upset a message board.  Upset an MP?

Go for it!

[/quote]

Cam,

Can you translate this for me?

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

Mick, you come across as a decent person as i am sure D and M are, but in your latest piece there is another example of why your articles often infuriate people.  From memory "Delia once again reiterated that ticket income wasn`t sufficient to cover player wages- even at division 1 level".  Yes, she did indeed say that but surely it is your job as a journalist to do a bit of research and find out whether a statement is actually true or not, rather than just parrot it as an undeniable truth? 

I assume you are a shareholder?  If so take a look at ticket income vs. player wages in the last two annual reports and let me know which figure has been greater (it`s ticket income...).  Then ponder the extent to which a large chunk of player wages have been subsidised by year-on-year profits in the transfer market.  Then ponder the fact that our ticket income will not fall significantly this season (with 19k season tickets), yet player wages undeniably will- making the gap between ticket income and player wages even greater.

Delias statement is nothing more than a nice, pithy, easily digestible lie and i have to question your honesty and integrity in going along with it.

[/quote]

I like the first paragraph Mr Carrow. Seems a good idea to me to get a respected journo onside in an attempt to do a bit of research to uncover some facts about issues that divide some fans on here. But in the last paragraph is an example of things you post that infuriate some of us. To brand Delia a liar on the strength of what is surely hearsay is hardly fair is it?

 

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[quote user="Desert Fox"]

Cam,

Can you translate this for me?

[/quote]I think what Cam is saying is that journalists write whatever they want to write provided they can get someone to publish it.  And in return they get thought of as scum or parasites by some, but they''re a tough bunch so they don''t care.  Mr Dennis on the other hand has shown that he does care, and is right to, when it comes down to people having a go in the street.  It comes down to exposure I suppose.  Cam is safely ensconsed in his Cubby hole somewhere in Essex and says what he likes.  Mr Dennis is a "known" Norwich supporter who goes to away matches and meets fans.  Which makes his rather fragrant views of the board less understandable to Joe Public in a way, as he has to endure the same steaming crap that we''ve had to for the same period of time.  At least the board themselves have started to try to polish the turd, maybe we''ll see it shine in the next few weeks.

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I didn''t actually know that Mick goes to games off his own back and that he was a fan, I just thought he went when done a piece on us! If he''s a fan and has that as an opinion, regardless of whether or not he is Delia''s friend or not (But, let''s face it, she''s a nice lady, even if we don''t agree with some of her doings etc etc), then he has full respect from me. I''m withdrawing that comment from above. Welcome to the board, I hope you continue to post, not just on this thread.

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1st Wazzock - We all have our opinions and one of mine is that you''re a complete tit.  Could you please explain what it is that Mick Dennis has said to suggest that he is "undoubtedly scum of the earth"?  There are people that genuinely deserve that designation and I would venture that MD is probably not one of them

Jarabe - Get over yourself.  Do you think you''re the only one who lives outside of Norwich and has a season ticket?  I do not know Mick Dennis from Adam but the man has clearly stated that he has supported City for over 30 years and pays (yes pays) to watch them up and down the country.  Your comment that he is a ''freebie fan'' who is not interested in the best interests of the club only serves to demonstrate the measure of petty ignorance.  Here''s a tip - if you have nothing sensible to say then don''t say anything.

This board is over-run with people who happily post any old nonsense as though it were substantiated fact where in reality there isn''t the merest basis in fact.  People need to grow up and get a life.

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By the way, I regret posting the comment above, I shouldn''t have based my opinion on the man on the basis of a few articles I''ve read.

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Balham Yellow - the only reason I mentioned my season ticket/travel time was in response to Dennis'' barbed - "see you at Brentford?" comment which was clearly made to suggest he would be there and I wouldnt. Read the posts before spouting off.

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A city fan who disagrees (Mick Dennis) with your view is "scum of the earth" ?

It is these posts (yes I know that we are all entitled to a opinion)  that will have those in charge at Carrow Road saying it is only "the baying mob" having a go at us.

"Scum of the earth" are child molestors, murderers & rapists not  fellow City supporters who see things differently.

I still think even after last night that Bryan Gunn is the wrong choice as our manager but I will be the first to put my hands up and say I was wrong if he leads us back into the Championship.

Surely that is what we all want. 

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[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

Mick, you come across as a decent person as i am sure D and M are, but in your latest piece there is another example of why your articles often infuriate people.  From memory "Delia once again reiterated that ticket income wasn`t sufficient to cover player wages- even at division 1 level".  Yes, she did indeed say that but surely it is your job as a journalist to do a bit of research and find out whether a statement is actually true or not, rather than just parrot it as an undeniable truth? 

I assume you are a shareholder?  If so take a look at ticket income vs. player wages in the last two annual reports and let me know which figure has been greater (it`s ticket income...).  Then ponder the extent to which a large chunk of player wages have been subsidised by year-on-year profits in the transfer market.  Then ponder the fact that our ticket income will not fall significantly this season (with 19k season tickets), yet player wages undeniably will- making the gap between ticket income and player wages even greater.

Delias statement is nothing more than a nice, pithy, easily digestible lie and i have to question your honesty and integrity in going along with it.

[/quote]

I like the first paragraph Mr Carrow. Seems a good idea to me to get a respected journo onside in an attempt to do a bit of research to uncover some facts about issues that divide some fans on here. But in the last paragraph is an example of things you post that infuriate some of us. To brand Delia a liar on the strength of what is surely hearsay is hardly fair is it?

 

[/quote]

What exactly are you calling hearsay nutty?  This is Mick`s quote: "Delia and Michael stressed at the Capital Canaries question and answer session on Monday night that our impressive Carrow Rd attendances do not generate enough income to pay the wages of even a league one squad".  Do you think he misheard or misunderstood?  Or are you describing what is printed in black and white in fully audited accounts as hearsay?

We know that our ticket income this year will not be much less than the £7.7m of 2008 because we`ve sold most of the tickets already.  We know player wages in that year (with Hucks, Dublin etc.) were £6.8m.  In order for the statement above to be true player wages will have actually needed to go up!  Do you believe that in league 1 with a squad of lower league players?  And that`s not even addressing the point that every year since the Prem player wages have been massively subsidised by profits in the transfer market (and again this year).

The problems at the club were exposed in the "Preston cost £10m less to run than NCFC" thread, showing that Preston could afford to spend far more of their much lower income on their team because their non-football costs are miniscule compared to ours.  Mick Dennis purports to care about the club yet to my knowledge has never addressed these points or the reasons why we have such a crippling debt (fixed assets).  Until he does i believe he is treating supporters as idiots by peddling lazy untruths and will stay with the opinion that either:

a., He is aware of the underlying reasons for our decline but is peddling a dishonest line to protect his friends.  Or,

b., He hasn`t bothered to look indepth into the deeper problems at the club and feels comfortable branding caring supporters "ingrates", even though he is ignorant of the merits of their arguments and concerns.

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

Mick, you come across as a decent person as i am sure D and M are, but in your latest piece there is another example of why your articles often infuriate people.  From memory "Delia once again reiterated that ticket income wasn`t sufficient to cover player wages- even at division 1 level".  Yes, she did indeed say that but surely it is your job as a journalist to do a bit of research and find out whether a statement is actually true or not, rather than just parrot it as an undeniable truth? 

I assume you are a shareholder?  If so take a look at ticket income vs. player wages in the last two annual reports and let me know which figure has been greater (it`s ticket income...).  Then ponder the extent to which a large chunk of player wages have been subsidised by year-on-year profits in the transfer market.  Then ponder the fact that our ticket income will not fall significantly this season (with 19k season tickets), yet player wages undeniably will- making the gap between ticket income and player wages even greater.

Delias statement is nothing more than a nice, pithy, easily digestible lie and i have to question your honesty and integrity in going along with it.

[/quote]

Sports journalists haven''t got a clue when it comes to the finance side of football clubs but then thats no surprise. They should stick to the football.

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[quote user="Jarabe"]Balham Yellow - the only reason I mentioned my season ticket/travel time was in response to Dennis'' barbed - "see you at Brentford?" comment which was clearly made to suggest he would be there and I wouldnt. Read the posts before spouting off.[/quote]

But will he be at Hartlepool,  Tranmere, Oldham etc?

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[quote user="Mick Dennis"]I am "scuttling off" to Yeovil soon, but let me try to say some of the things I would have liked to have said when I was sworn at on Saturday.

I plead guilty to having been "booted and suited" and having accepted a kind invitation to be Delia and Michael''s guests at the game. I had already bought tickets when I got the invitation, so I gave my tickets to my son.

After the game, my wife and I popped out briefly to see our son. I was sworn at and my instinct was to have a "discussion". My wife (a city fan long before we met, incidentally) urged me to keep walking and I think, in retrospect that she was right. It would not have been possible to have a reasoned discussion when we were all so upset and angry.

As I have said in today''s Express, I can cope with being sworn at, but I don''t think my wife needed to hear it.

As for the central charge in these posts (that I lack objectivity), well, I certainly accept that knowing Delia and Michael reasonably well colours my view of what they have done. I agree as well that, when you look into the eyes of the manager''s family and see the hurt it is impossible not to feel empathy and sympathy.

But I also understand that the club is at its lowest footballing ebb for 49 years and has just suffered its worst ever home defeat. At last night''s agm of the Capital Canaries (I''ve been a member for 30 years), Delia and Michael accepted that they have made mistakes and that they endorsed mistakes by managers.

But my views are coloured by two other things. The first is that I cannot and will not boo Norwich. I think that damages the thing I care about. I think it makes it more likely, not less, that things will get worse. Some of you disagree, but at least don''t discount my right to have a view on that.

Secondly, for 34 years I have been a sports journalist and in that time I have been able to get close to a lot of people in football and to have privileged access to the inner workings of lots of football clubs -- good and bad.

I have never, never, never met any owners who care more, work harder or give a higher proportion of their own money to a club than Delia and Michael.

I am proud that they might consider me their friend. I do not apologise for it.

Some of you want to drive them out and so will never agree with me, just as I will never agree with you. I expect to be abused on this forum and to my face. I make a living from expressing opinions, so can''t complain when people make it clear how they feel about me.

But allow me to make one last point: Charlie Catchpole, who is mentioned in this thread, is a friend of mine. He worked at the EDP before me and we were employees of Murdoch together in the 80s. We disagree about some aspects of NCFC, but we are able to put aside those differences when we meet because each of us accepts that the other cares passionately about the club.

If any of you are at Yeovil tonight, or Brentford next week, perhaps we can have a discussion on the same basis.

OTBC[/quote]Hello Mick,Fair play to you for coming on here and replying. I don''t doubt some City fans must give you a hard time; but the thing is, it''s eminently justified if you ask me, and you largely bring it on yourself, often incorrigibly so.Many a time in the past, I''ve watched you as a pundit on, say, C5''s football show and been impressed. You always fought our corner, and very well too. But in the last couple of years, it''s as though you''ve become totally oblivious to the club''s many faults, and the reasons why we''ve fallen to such a miserably low ebb - and to my mind, that can only be because you''re compromised. As a result of your friendship with Delia and Michael, you quite clearly can''t do your job properly when it comes to reporting things NCFC - and that''s incredibly frustrating, largely because you''re the one national media voice the club seems to have.Sympathy for Glenn Roeder''s wife? Where was your sympathy when he sacked NCFC employees left, right and centre? Sympathy for Delia and Michael? I take it you also sympathise with directors of other clubs when they make a total pig''s ear of it? Thought not: because if it did, it''d again prevent you from doing your job. When football club owners are incompetent the world over, they have to be called on it: and it doesn''t matter how well intentioned they might be, or whether their heart is in the right place. Where have those qualities got our joint majority shareholders? Answer: to the point whereby they oversaw our plummet into the third tier of English football.At the Caps AGM, Delia and Michael accepted they''d made mistakes, as you say. But do they have any clue why they made them - and hence, any chance of not making similar ones in the future? I doubt it; because to my mind, they made their biggest mistake yet when giving the job to a total novice in May. Many of their mistakes over the past five years have defied logic - and it''s not hindsight which leads me to say that. Many people on here spotted them when they were made in the first place: none of it has been anything approaching rocket science.On the bright side, we at least have some new directors now - and especially a new CEO who, I hope, will brook no further nonsense. But could you explain something to me? How, on the one hand, can Delia Smith openly admit to knowing nothing about football, and on the other, play a huge role in the appointment of the club''s manager? She''s not qualified to do this; just as, surprise surprise, Bryan Gunn isn''t qualified to be a manager either. Are people in your profession appointed by people who don''t know what they''re doing? In your field, is an excuse of "but they care - and mean well" countenanced when someone is patently out of their depth?I can only assume Charlie Catchpole has arrived at similar conclusions to many of us. Frankly, they''re the only reasonable ones anyone with any objectivity could reach. Your friends Delia and Michael have, I''m afraid, turned Norwich City into a pathetic soft touch riddled with sentimentality: an attitude which betrays over 25000 fans, and stems from the very top. It''ll take years to rid ourselves of this - but sadly, Delia in particular continually encourages it, which is manna from heaven for our rivals. No wonder the club attracts so much praise: why would our many competitors in the most ruthless of industries want us to wake up to ourselves and where we''re going wrong? It''s such a shame: indeed, that Delia and Michael apparently care so much is, I''m afraid, very much part of the problem. Some day, in private, I hope you have the guts to tell them that.

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"][quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="Mr.Carrow"]

Mick, you come across as a decent person as i am sure D and M are, but in your latest piece there is another example of why your articles often infuriate people.  From memory "Delia once again reiterated that ticket income wasn`t sufficient to cover player wages- even at division 1 level".  Yes, she did indeed say that but surely it is your job as a journalist to do a bit of research and find out whether a statement is actually true or not, rather than just parrot it as an undeniable truth? 

I assume you are a shareholder?  If so take a look at ticket income vs. player wages in the last two annual reports and let me know which figure has been greater (it`s ticket income...).  Then ponder the extent to which a large chunk of player wages have been subsidised by year-on-year profits in the transfer market.  Then ponder the fact that our ticket income will not fall significantly this season (with 19k season tickets), yet player wages undeniably will- making the gap between ticket income and player wages even greater.

Delias statement is nothing more than a nice, pithy, easily digestible lie and i have to question your honesty and integrity in going along with it.

[/quote]

I like the first paragraph Mr Carrow. Seems a good idea to me to get a respected journo onside in an attempt to do a bit of research to uncover some facts about issues that divide some fans on here. But in the last paragraph is an example of things you post that infuriate some of us. To brand Delia a liar on the strength of what is surely hearsay is hardly fair is it?

 

[/quote]

The problems at the club were exposed in the "Preston cost £10m less to run than NCFC" thread, showing that Preston could afford to spend far more of their much lower income on their team because their non-football costs are miniscule compared to ours.  Mick Dennis purports to care about the club yet to my knowledge has never addressed these points or the reasons why we have such a crippling debt (fixed assets).  [/quote]

Good post Mr Carrow. 

Will this club get to grips with the non football (overhead) costs? 

 

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[quote user="ref89"]He seems to have just made it worse:

http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=4818
[/quote]

Really? I agreed with virtually everything he said in that article................

Although I chuckled when he said since he has been watching we have had only 4 great keepers...............(I agree BTW)

I agree all 4 were great keepers (Keelen is my fav player of all time) but prior to Marshall those 4 have played the vast majority of games except for a few Hansbury/Baker appearences

I just checked and those 4 keepers had 1658 appearences between them.......... thats a huge chunk of ALL appearences over that time period.

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[quote user="Tangible Fixed Assets anyone"]Sports journalists haven''t got a clue when it comes to the finance side of football clubs but then thats no surprise. They should stick to the football.[/quote]Yep! And accountants who know nothing about football should stick to financial sites!

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