Does the board need to ask for outside help?

[Canary Jedi 610]

In 1995 after relegation the board enlisted the help of Jimmy Armfield in an advisory role to find a new manager. It led to the appointment of the up-and-coming manager Marting O''Neil. Unfortunately thanks to Chase he didn''t hang around, however the point is the board felt they didn''t have the ability to do it themselves, and quite rightly asked for help. We ended up with a manager who could have been the Messiah, and went on to prove his worth at other clubs.

Should the current board do the same? Aside from Lambert (which with hindsight may well have been luck) they have a track record of choosing the wrong man.

Big companies commonly work with external consultants on all matters concerning strategic and operational decisions. There is no shame in asking for help. In fact it is a sign of maturity as a business. Given that our board has their heart in the right place, but lack footballing nouse, should they appoint an expert to headhunt a manager with experience and the right "fit" for Norwich City?

[mrs miggins 0]

good call Jedi.

[Katie Borkins 1]

It''s the "right fit for Norwich City" that has been the stumbling block. Time we stopped thinking of our club as a "special case" and accepted we want professionalism and success, much like every other club, and you don''t need to have played for us or "understand" us to get a chance at making us successful.

The "right fit" questions should be:

Are you ambitious?

Can you motivate players to get them playing to their potential?

Can you get a bunch of individual players to perform effectively as a unit?

Do you like winning?

Not "do you know who Mister Carrow is?" or "what time do we stop for tea and biscuits at Colney?"

[Canary Jedi 610]

Agreed BBB, and this is where fit comes in - to find a manager that can work with the players we have but in a way that fits in with the tradition of how we have played in the past and should play now.

No point bringing in an experienced manager whose style will make our fans unhappy in the longer term due to unattractive football, regardless of results. But pragmatically we need to turn it around in the short term while building for the future.

Therefore priority 1 has to be to get the best out of the players. Priority 2 is longer term development and crowd pleasing (once back in the premier league).

Perhaps this person does not even exist - but if he does I don''t have complete faith in our board to find him!

[Ray 111]

Jedi,

Not against this but what are we paying our CEO such exorbitant amoumys of mone for? Should the cost of such an exercise comes out of his pay cheque

[Canary Jedi 610]

Good question Ray. McNally is paid to make the right decisions related to the running of the club and to ultimately increase its value (and success I would hope!) A CEO in a football club does more than just appoint the manager (communications, internal operations etc) and he is paid for a wide range of responsibilities.

A good CEO should ensure that relevant experts are involved in making key decisions. The choice of manager is one of the most important decisions in any football club.

Past managerial appointments suggest the right expertise for finding a suitable manager does not exist inside Norwich City. Therefore asking for outside help because this knowledge gap exists is not only reasonable, it could be argued that it would be incompetent not to ask for help!

To quote Albert Einstein: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

We need a different approach this time!

[Ray 111]

Jedi,

I agree that maybe the expertise does not exist within the club, but my question is, if it doesn''t what exactly are we paying our CEO such a large salary for. I appreciate there is a great deal more to running a club than appointing a manager but I suspect (although I don''t have facts) that our CEO is one of, if not the highest paid CEO in the league, so if my feelings are correct, what exactly are we getting for our money (I also appreciate it is not our money but you know what I mean). There is also the money expended on the Football Board, if this included the expertise then I could understand its purpose but at the moment, as far as I can see, there has been no visible output from this ''experiment''.

[Canary Jedi 610]

Fair point Ray.

In theory you are right for the money he is getting McNally should know his eggs.

But in reality...?

Interesting with the current speculation about Alex Neil. Assuming this is McNally''s own research I wonder if an expert outsider would have reached the same conclusion

[kantata soul 0]

Not many Scottish managers are a success in England these days, but most who do go south end up in the lower English leagues. Many have tried their hand down here but ended up returning after failing to repeat their successes south of the border (eg Jimmy Nicholl, Jim Jefferies).I would have thought that most external footballing consultants would have recommended people like Rosler or Robinson instead of out and out gambles like Alex Neil. There''s a somewhat more favourable risk/reward ratio with their experience. Alex Neil''s situation is totally unlike Martin O''Neill who had been managing (at a lower level) in England for some years before coming to Norwich.There''s also the fact that Alex Neil''s wife desperately wanted to go back to Scotland when he played in England, so I''m not sure how happy she''s going to be with him managing down here.Anyway the whole appointment (assuming it goes through) smacks of McNally trawling through Wikipedia in search of a new manager rather than taking the advice of an outside consultant.

[Canary Jedi 610]

Ha ha Estrada I love the vision your post gave me of McNally in his darkened office in front of his computer using "Managers R Us" search engine to seek out the next ncfc manager!

Imagine the search criteria:+angry Scottish bloke +cheap +no managerial experience in England +likes tv chefs

[Indy_Bones 444]

Outside help - maybePsychiatric help - almost certainly...

[Ray 111]

If Alex Neil is appointed then has our CEO had a stroke of genius or just a stroke, only time will tell I guess!

[ca 1]

I dont think this board needs to ask for any help from anyone, seems to be really busy at the moment, traffic must have gone through the roof this past week lol

Good to see it so busy .

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="cityangel"]I dont think this board needs to ask for any help from anyone, seems to be really busy at the moment, traffic must have gone through the roof this past week lol

Good to see it so busy .[/quote]Unlike some I could think of...............[;)]

[ca 1]

[quote user="OldRobert"][quote user="cityangel"]I dont think this board needs to ask for any help from anyone, seems to be really busy at the moment, traffic must have gone through the roof this past week lol

Good to see it so busy .[/quote]Unlike some I could think of...............[;)][/quote]

Are you suggesting that there''s unmentionable Norwich sites that aren''t so busy as this one, if so that''s very naughty of you [:)]

[OldRobert 38]

[quote user="cityangel"][quote user="OldRobert"][quote user="cityangel"]I dont think this board needs to ask for any help from anyone, seems to be really busy at the moment, traffic must have gone through the roof this past week lol

Good to see it so busy .[/quote]Unlike some I could think of...............[;)][/quote]

Are you suggesting that there''s unmentionable Norwich sites that aren''t so busy as this one, if so that''s very naughty of you [:)]

[/quote]I couldn''t possibly admit to that, it would be so unfair..................[;)]

[ricky knight 0]

A shrink might help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!