Time for change - at ALL levels of the club

Dear all,

It is now clear that, both on the field and off it, our club is in deep trouble: the most serious since at least 1996, and with arguably its worst team since Archie MacAulay, for my money City's greatest ever manager, led us into the Second Division in 1960. League One looms as it has barely done before in our recent history, and our Chief Executive has told us more player sales may well be necessary.

First things first: the manager. To be honest, I feel sorry for him in many ways: he clearly has passion to burn, a genuine love for the club, and tremendous desire to succeed. But the truth is, he's in over his head - random selections, square pegs in round holes, and fallings out with players such as Huckerby, Martin, and (before they departed) Safri and Colin all leaving the impression of a man who is simply not making the best of a bad job.

Peter Grant has, I would suggest, two matches in which to save his job, in which he needs a minimum of four points from six to survive. If we lose on Tuesday, it could already be over: history repeating itself as a managerless City travel to Loftus Road one year on from the chaos of early last season. But in truth, it's a damning indictment of the board that they gambled on a man with no record of success in management in the first place - and if he goes, then whether we replace him with an experienced campaigner such as Joe Royle or Paul Sturrock, someone who knows his way around this division like Micky Adams, or a young, up-and-coming boss such as Steve Tilson or Martin Allen, it still won't change the reality that something very fundamental is wrong with how the club is being run.

Last Monday, Neil Doncaster told us bluntly that, with our parachute payments having run out, Norwich City face a "very challenging future". It's easy for us to imagine that, with English football more cutthroat and fiscally ruthless than ever, a club such as ours just can't compete - but it isn't true. Actually, a big reason for our desperately poor fortunes on the pitch is our wage bill, which is slightly below average for our division. And why? Because at least 40% of season ticket sales every single year go towards non-footballing activities, such as land speculation, building roads and paying off interest on debt: money that the fans put into the club, but doesn't go towards the team.

It's also necessary to point towards the likes of Scunthorpe, Blackpool and Colchester: all performing better than us despite much smaller budgets. But these three clubs are run within their means: and although our wage bill on players isn't particularly remarkable, the charge against our current board is that we are not. By securitising the Jarrold Stand against future season ticket sales, the board committed exactly the same disastrous blunder as their counterparts at Manchester City did when working together with the local council in building their new stadium at Eastlands: it has left us with an enormous millstone around our necks for many, many years to come.

As a result, the Blues could not afford the calibre of player commensurate with a club of their standing, attendances fell, and those fans who remained became more and more frustrated with their young, passionate, unproven manager. Sound familiar? Stuart Pearce was the cheap option, as was Peter Grant: neither City nor Norwich could afford more. In the end, the only way out for them was by way of takeover, hence their ecstatic response when Thasksin Shinawatra became interested in buying the club; and a takeover, in my view, is the only way out of this mess for the Canaries too.

This is not - repeat not - a personal attack on Delia Smith, Michael Wynn Jones, Roger Munby or Neil Doncaster. That our club is as open and fan-friendly is a good thing, and I do not for one moment doubt the good intentions of any of them. I do, though, doubt their competence hugely: and in particular, can see no real plan or strategy to lead us out our present travails other than the sale of further players. It is also deeply disingenuous for any of them to claim, as they often do, that "little ole Norwich" just can't compete with richer clubs: a club with our remarkable attendances damn well should be able to compete, and it is thanks to their blunders and continued purchases of land that we cannot.

So, much as in the case of Nigel Worthington two years ago, my feeling is one of "thank you - but it's time to move on". There is no point or justification in just yelling abuse at any of the board: they haven't done this deliberately, and are probably as demoralised by all this as we are. But we must - repeat must - now begin campaigning for a change at the very top. We need to establish the Turners' true intentions: are they biding their time, and waiting for a manager who they themselves have chosen before providing any further resources? Is their ultimate aim to take over, and have Delia and Michael lined them up in this regard? And moreover, how on earth can we not be looking further afield for an investor, be they British or foreign, to step forward? It's what helped Portsmouth, a very comparable club to our own, to break out of continued relegation battles in this division and become an established Premier League club - and new investment is the only way we can get this massive financial burden off our backs.

Although I realise this won't be a popular suggestion, I think any campaign should be conducted soberly, and in conjunction with the NCISA. Kathy Blake herself said on the PinkUn board that questioing the off-field behaviour of the club is now right at the top of her priorities - it should be ours too. There's no need for this to become poisonous or divisive - but a campaign for real change is now plainly necessary, and I'd suggest it needs to take the form of a total clearout for us to move forwards again.

OTBC

Posted By: thebigfeller, Oct 1, 01:35:10