Nice Article on Delia..

[Blurboy1980 36]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/jim-white/article/18101/Sorry I do not know how to do the link thing.

[YankeeCanary 0]

Delia''s Norwich coming nicely to the boil

by Jim White of The Daily Telegraph

Fri Mar 26 11:28AM

Judging by her most famous half-time appearance, Delia Smith has always enjoyed the hospitality at Carrow Road. But this week, she revealed that she wasn''t all that happy with the catering on offer.

After 40 years as a television chef, for the first time she had signed up to do a series of commercials, with the supermarket Waitrose. She was quite open about her motive: she needed the money to keep funding Norwich City, a club she and her husband had been propping up for years. Besides, she added, part of the deal was that Waitrose would sponsor the food and drink at the ground, something, she said, that needed freshening up.

Tomorrow Norwich entertain Leeds United in a crucial League One promotion stand-off. How their visitors, the fallen aristocrats of the game, could do with their chairman signing a deal to promote the poshest of all food outlets.

Trouble is, Leeds are a club who have tumbled so far from their former pinnacle that these days they would be lucky to secure an agreement with Lidl. Norwich too have sunk from their mid-Nineties height: they were up there challenging for the first ever Premier League title, then famously beat Bayern Munich away in the UEFA Cup. But embarking on the slow process of recovery from embarrassment is about the only similarity between the two promotion rivals.

It would have been hard to imagine, back in August, that Norwich would be anywhere near the top of the table. Back then, the only direction the club appeared to be heading was towards the morgue. The defining image of that opening day was of a couple of well-upholstered fans chucking their season tickets at the hapless manager Bryan Gunn as out on the pitch his team were being humiliated 7-1 at home by Colchester.

But then Delia showed that her nous extended beyond simply knowing what to do with a cranberry. She and her husband simply did the obvious: they sacked Gunn and poached the Colchester manager Paul Lambert. Since then the transformation has been extraordinary.

Lambert is the latest of the long line of west of Scotland coaches who appear to have been handed an ability to manage with the birth certificate. Following in the footsteps of David Moyes, Owen Coyle, Billy Davies, Alan Irvine and the granddaddy of them all Alex Ferguson, he appears to be the master of all he surveys. Polite, distant, cool, unflappable, he is precisely the sort of person you want in charge as squeaky bum time approaches. No wonder Celtic apparently covet his services: the man is destined for the big time.

Which is what was being said about Simon Grayson when he took his Leeds team to Old Trafford in January and beat Manchester United in the FA Cup. It wasn''t a fluke, that result. It was not a case of parking the bus in front of goal and watching their hosts pepper the woodwork. United weren''t unlucky, they were well beaten. And Grayson, whose team at the time seemed destined for a smooth and easy promotion, was reckoned to be the man.

Almost since the moment Jermaine Beckford silenced the Stretford End, things have not gone according to the script. While Lambert''s Norwich have soared, Grayson''s Leeds have stuttered. Never mind the League One title, even automatic promotion no longer seems a certainty.

And in such circumstances, you begin to wonder how much influence the owner has on affairs. Never mind a drizzle or a pinch, Delia has poured a torrent of her own cash into Norwich. She has stuck by them through their fall; as revenues have tumbled, so has she increasingly brought out her chequebook. I sat behind her at a cup game this season, and her passion for the cause is obvious. She lives every kick. If she has previously been rather too indulgent with the boardroom refreshment, it was surely only to calm her nerves.

Ken Bates, on the other hand, is not quite like that. The Leeds chairman appears keener on extracting cash from an organisation than donating it, preferring to construct a forest of off-shore companies to obscure true ownership than putting his hand in his pocket; he would rather pick fights with previous board members than invite everyone to unite with a lengthy cry of "let''s be having you".

This may be horribly unfair, but you imagine as the season reaches its climax, at Norwich the owner can barely contain her enthusiasm and excitement, while at Leeds the consequences of failure to gain promotion will hang thick in the air, articulated at every opportunity by the chairman. If nothing else: who would you prefer to be running your club? Everyone''s favourite mother figure or a bloke who could pick a fight with his shaving mirror?

According to David Gold, co-owner of West Ham, a chairman can only have a small influence on what goes on out on the pitch. I may be wrong, but I suspect when Norwich take on Leeds, the two respective owners'' influence will be loud and clear for all to see.

[YankeeCanary 0]

I posted this for you Blurboy but it won''t be appreciated by the usual suspects, and may well ruin their Sunday roast. It will probably cause Mello to spit out his Yorkshire pudding.  

[Blurboy1980 36]

Thanks for doing that...I need one of your shirts since I am here in the States too.

[Woman in the Stands (WITS) 0]

What a refreshing change to read an article about Norwich and Leeds that''s not all about them! Very positive and I for one am glad we have Delia along with her passion for the club despite the moaning minnies.

[Mello Yello 2,273]

Delia and Micky sacked Gunn? Er, ok. 

After stating at a Capital Fan forum that they backed Gunn.....then 3 days later, changed their mind.

I think Mr Bowkett and Mr Mac need to take a back-seat.....Delia and Micky have it all under control.

My Missus bakes my delicious and superb Yorkies in her own special way....doesn''t do ''em like Delia....(they''re probably cheatin'' pre-made Aunt Bessie''s 5 minute warm-ups)...

[|BA 0]

[quote user="Woman in the Stands"] I for one am glad we have Delia along with her passion for the club despite the moaning minnies. [/quote]

Me too, good on her

[Mister Chops 7]

But then Delia showed that her nous extended beyond simply knowing

what to do with a cranberry. She and her husband simply did the obvious:

they sacked Gunn and poached the Colchester manager Paul Lambert. Since

then the transformation has been

extraordinary.

Lazy journalism, anyone?  I think everyone knows McNally gave the board an ultimatum, i.e. "if you want to avoid administration then we need Championship money next season, and Bryan Gunn will not get you out of League One."

Delia & MWJ "slept on it" and then reluctantly concurred.

[Mister Chops 7]

Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.

[Mello Yello 2,273]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.
[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[/quote]She can handel it.

[Mello Yello 2,273]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Mello Yello"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.
[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[/quote]

She can handel it.


[/quote]

It was her idea and suggestion to put Chrissy Boy Martin on....FACT! I saw her shouting to Lambo from the Directors Box...Coz I wuz THERE!

 

[......and Smith must score. 1,331]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Mello Yello"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[/quote]She can handel it.[/quote]Her cake on the Stones '' Let It Bleed '' album cover suggests she''s more of a '' rock ''n roller '' ......

[ron obvious 1,495]

[quote user="Mister Chops"][quote user="Mello Yello"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[/quote]She can handel it.

[/quote]She''s on a Haydn to nothing with some on here...

[ron obvious 1,495]

... but it''ll help if she puts some decent players on her Chopin Liszt ...

[Longy 1]

Yeah nice article but as we all know the people who should be taking the credit on board level aren''t Delia and MWJ, instead McNally should be getting articles written about him. Then again he isn''t a celebrity chef is he?

[YankeeCanary 0]

[quote user="ron obvious"]
... but it''ll help if she puts some decent players on her Chopin Liszt ...

[/quote]

You''re having fun Ron. It was rumoured ( now ) that, once it was clear that Lambert had things under control, Delia told McNally "not to Mendelssohn or I''ll have Doncaster Bach."

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

I know Delia has been accused of Hadyn from fans but this time she was Rachmaninov to admit a mistake over Gunn. Of course Chopin and changin'' managers is a risky business but appointing Lambert looks like being on a short Liszt of her best decisions.

But of course it could still be a Berlioz up if she starts hitting the Schuberts again...

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

Apologies, Ron. hadn''t seen you''d got there first with Chopin and Liszt...

[ron obvious 1,495]

... And we''re much better without all those loan players we Borodin last season ... (& I''ve already had Haydn so nyerr)

[nutty nigel 7,506]

[quote user="Longy"]Yeah nice article but as we all know the people who should be taking the credit on board level aren''t Delia and MWJ, instead McNally should be getting articles written about him. Then again he isn''t a celebrity chef is he?
[/quote]

Indeed! But it works both ways and I didn''t see much written in the press about Doncaster while we were getting relegated. Then again he wasn''t a celebrity chef was he?

That''s one of the prices we have to pay for Delia being Majority Shareholder. Does her financial support make it worth it or would it have been better if we''d beaten ipswich to Marcus Evans as many suggested at the time?

 

 

 

[PurpleCanary 5,553]

[quote user=ron obvious]... And we''re much better without all those loan players we Borodin last season ... (& I''ve already had Haydn so nyerr)Touché![:D] Of course you won''t Khatachurian[;)] me defending the overuse of the loan market...

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

Lets not forget two things:

1) Delia''s support of Gunn at the Capital Canaries meeting on the Monday evening following the 1-7 defeat by Colchester.

2) Having missed out on the £20m from PC. there is the claim that their shares are worthless. In that case why haggle over the valuation of the club?

 

 

 

 

[Blurboy1980 36]

[quote user="Longy"]Yeah nice article but as we all know the people who should be taking the credit on board level aren''t Delia and MWJ, instead McNally should be getting articles written about him. Then again he isn''t a celebrity chef is he?[/quote]And Let''s not forget who hired McNally...Oh yeah that would be Delia.

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

[quote user="Blurboy1980"][quote user="Longy"]Yeah nice article but as we all know the people who should be taking the credit on board level aren''t Delia and MWJ, instead McNally should be getting articles written about him. Then again he isn''t a celebrity chef is he?
[/quote]

And Let''s not forget who hired McNally...Oh yeah that would be Delia.
[/quote]

Are you sure the appointment was wholly down to Delia searching high and low within the UK to appoint McNally?

I thought there was a telephone call from the Fulham manager that played a part.........

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

Anyway McNally has turned out to be a very good appointment.

[dhickl 0]

[quote user="Mello Yello"]

[quote user="Mister Chops"]Can I also point out that you can use the "Find & Replace" tool to swap "Delia Smith" for "The Devil Incarnate" and this might make it more palatable to some of you.
[/quote]

Delia''s not ''The Devil Incarnate''.....She''s ''The Messiah''...

[/quote]She''s not ''The Messiah'', she''s a very naughty girl...

(Sorry, couldn''t resist)