It would be surly to bemoan the appointment of the new Norwich City directors. Things at the club have been in steady decline for more than a decade, many will say, so new faces must be given a chance to blaze their own trail. As my colleague states though, a few niggles are already in place. Hopefully they prove without foundation, but it is difficult to accept things prima facie after such a chequered history with the Norwich City Football Club (NCFC) Board, and the various comings and goings of directors and investors. The first thing that seems odd is the appointment of the Chief Executive as a director. It was a major niggle with Neil Doncaster – how can it be right to make a person his own boss? The Chief Executive is appointed by the Board; he or she is accountable to the Board for his or her actions; the Board holds the power to dismiss the Chief Executive. The rule of the NCFC Board is that every decision must be unanimous. So, theoretically, the Chief Executive is answerable to nobody but himself because he only has to abstain or vote against any matter where his actions are in question. Then, as has already been stated, the appointment of a senior figure with our local Press, already monopolising the newsstands hereabouts, can only spread further doubts about the neutrality of the local papers. There is little secret regarding my thoughts on how the editorial control has drawn the teeth on biting comment on the club’s actions or inertia. Will the Archant foot soldiers receive assurances that they can deliver the bad news with equal weight as the good news? Will they still be permitted to let that little bit of “Norwich City Supporter” into their writings? As for the new Chairman, again there is no getting away from the fact that even when criticising the Board as an “Associate Director”, Allan Bowkett ill-concealed his admiration for Delia and Michael. While it may be true that Smith and Jones are nice people and genuine fans, ordinary supporters don’t get to see anything of them except in their roles as joint-majority shareholders, and the disastrous events that have evolved from the Board. Things like the still-inexplicable resignations of Andrew and Sharon Turner, or the enigma that is the Peter Cullum saga. Barry Skipper; Bob Cooper. The closest to a reason for resigning, and most telling, was the Turners who told us they left for “...footballing reasons...” Whatever those reasons might be, the sceptics have their opinions and merely wonder how long it will take for previous admirers to become disenchanted with the status quo. However, just as with any new signing on the pitch, the new directors must be given time to make their mark. For they hold the dreams of thousands within their grasps, and they must learn to be bold or suffer the criticisms they will invoke. Oh, and did anybody else notice that the news of these appointments were not matched with news of individual injections of additional cash. Or is it a case that Roger Munby’s and Neil Doncaster’s share holdings were so great that it took three people to buy up those shares and left no spare cash? Perhaps we should appoint Harold Steptoe to the Board. He could go out and get us a few bob collecting rags and bones on his cart. |
