AGM - from a distance (sorry, but long)

(With apologies to Julie Gold/Bette Midler)

I was all geared up to provide a full scale blow-by-blow account of proceedings and took a good few pages of notes but much has been covered by posts last night by myself and other Wrathers, so if you want to know more just skim last night's board.

The 4 hour drive home with just a couple of cappuccinos and a McDonalds 'Festive Feast' for company give one time to reflect and the opportunity for greater perspective, and so...

However, just a few choice moments worthy of comment;
The three questions I was armed to ask, were asked by others so I was able to save my breath and not trouble the microphone,
1. Why were shares sold to Delia's nephew at £1 when everyone else had to pay £100 or £25 in recent years?
2. What was the £90k remuneration for Ed when he was filling an unpaid position?
3. How much did we actually get for the coffee shop sponsorship before it folded?
They were all answered fairly and, to be frank, they only served as interesting to me as an accountant/financial controller... no need to use them as a sh*tty stick to beat the board up with.

Ed Balls - liked the joke about being bottom of the table for 10 weeks and that not being a good example for the team. He's an engaging character and a well-schooled, media-savvy politician and public speaker... some key skills to possess if I were appointing a Chairman.

The Murphy-bomb - yes of course it was pure staged tent-inducing theatre... but why not in their position? Perhaps good news should just be viewed as good news without trying to deconstruct the communication strategy and their view on its impact upon stakeholder engagement criteria 😮

The question "what's wrong with Kyle Lafferty" needed to be asked much earlier than with 45 minutes to go if a full answer was required!! I have played more minutes on the Carrow Rd pitch in the last 2 years than he has... and I'm 20 years past my best 😱

Jez Moxey - I suppose the jury is out but I felt he came across pretty well. He's experienced and I feel he was genuinely surprised at fans loyalty, passion and commitment over the long term.

ALEX - I admired his honesty and openness and I've always liked the fact that he doesn't fall into the bland manager-speak trap. Sure a few comments could have been phrased better but with the pressure he's under, I can forgive him a bit. I'm not an Alex apologist, but he and his can of pledge are as likely to be able to polish some of the t*rds here at the moment as anyone else so, for now, I vite stability.

How do I feel? Do I trust them all? That's the £72million (or £30 million without promotion) question!
In general I have to give them the benefit. Poorly judged and Ill-timed interviews aside, even if the context was edited out, I'll back them and some of what they are trying to stand for.

As a supporter since the seventies I'm as passionate and as in love with the club as ever. I'd love to still be a 50+ game a season man instead of the 15-20 I can do now but I'm still as proud of my yellow and green blood and the canary on my arm as I always have been. Would I want to be any of the other 91 teams, have their money or success? Never! Norwich City is special and transcends the 1st team results for so many reasons.

Do I wish us in the Premier? Of course you have to but I will probably rue the day we join the long-term mid-table mediocrity where we pay a kings ransom to be set dressing for a media circus full of overinflated egos for the consumption of a worldwide TV public... income £10m gates and £70m media... who's pulling the strings?!

I want to be Norwich and if being Norwich brings success then fantastic. If it doesn't, then what a ride where there is always excitement and trepidation in equal measure. My pride and passion are based on Norwich being the club it is and the club it has always been. It's in the feel of the place and the unique fanbase. It's in our own sense of humour and an ability to roll with the punches and keep getting back up. Small time? Little old Norwich? Not necessarily but feel free to disagree.

Let's stick together and get through this. I may be heady in the lack of sleep but I think the board to feel similarly. Sure mistakes are made, we're all human, but no one is going to work thinking they'll try to make everything terrible for everyone else.

On the ball City! Over and out from the South coast
Love you all 😘

Posted By: Worthing Yellow, Nov 24, 02:27:02