Totally agree with this. I reckon the reason Delia et al wanted to have a manager for 10 years was inorder to build on a strategy, to recruit to that strategy and improve as a result. That didn't seem to happen with Neil or his predacessors. For all the reasons CC states above. The buying of Pritchard being the prime example of the mixed up approach. To buy him was an error given our options in that position. Having bought him, to then not build the team around him or at least give him the chance from the start was just weird! All of this strategy could have worked, with the right manager/tactics/luck with injuries. I still think some of the players people are writing off can be a success for the yarmy. So many players seemingly improve when they leave City, how about some improvement at City, a City side with a good HC, with Webber pulling the strings. Naismith and Wildshutt could both still come good. They have shown quality before. Bah!
He'll need to stay somewhere for 2 or more years otherwise a reputation will be gained. Could we be that place? Depends on his success or failure. Our board not F'in it up! Bah!
Ricky Martin, Lee Darnborough and Tony Spearing all to have contracts terminated, this guy certainly ain't pissing about !
Norwich City move is perfect for Stuart Webber, says former Tottenham and Liverpool director Damien Comolli http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...d-liverpool-director-damien-comolli-1-4970770
Some excellent posts from canario, RER and the General whilst I've been out and SW is on record as saying he only wants to recruit a player who 'is right for the team', not recruit a player simply because we couldn't recruit who we wanted to due to our offer being too low/not willing to pay inflated wages/not wanting to move to Norfolk (delete whichever doesn't apply!!). I think this post from canario was bang on - 'We have failed to move on enough players, particularly older players that formed no significant part of our future plans.' <hitsnailonheademoticon> I also particularly liked this post from the General - 'So many players seemingly improve when they leave City, how about some improvement at City, a City side with a good HC, with Webber pulling the strings. Naismith and Wildshutt could both still come good'. Something I think RER mentioned and I'm sure all fans would love to see it happen.
Surprised about Ricky Martin getting let go. He's been involved for so long. I don't think he is a bad person to have at the club. I think with our cheap set up, he was probably promoted to a position he wasn't comfortable with. Same is Neil Adams. He was doing so well, well respected, doing really good stuff in his position. Then has to take over as manager, (coz they didn't want to think/find a manager) then then have the sack him. We lose a great youth coach.
Well things are certainly moving on. While I'm still not convinced that SW is looking for a long-term stay at City, even if that is true he has to make an immediate impact if this is to work out while he is here. IMO, it was McNally rather than Delia who was behind bringing AN in with a view to building a 'dynasty' to move the 7 year plan on further. As for Pritchard, IMO he was the next on the list if our bid for McCormack failed (and thank God it did). We needed a long-term option behind Wes and AP was well suited to that. He also faced competition from Naismith, especially when our strikers lost form and we needed goals in October and November, but it's also true that AP took time to settle here. I think Martin, Darnborough and Spearing leaving is more to do with the new structure in which SW takes over as both Technical Director and Director of Recruitment and he may want a more experienced person for Spearing's role as well. The key appointment will be the HC and SW seems to be laying the groundwork for that.
IMO, part of the reason AP took 'time to settle' was that he was playing '2nd fiddle' to 'teacher's pet' ie Naismith in starting games (we can agree to disagree on that Rick!!) and I think it was Brentford where AN played both together and we scored 5!!! PS - Basil also STARTED that day!!! Some excerpts from Chris Lakey's article yesterday - "It seems there are titles everywhere, head of this and head of that. Only the furniture will change: Webber is also looking for heads of recruitment for the UK and for Europe. Recruitment is king and however you wrap it up, it has been banana republic time at Carrow Road in recent years. Change was needed, and inevitable." IMO, there are exciting times ahead at CR/Colney and all we can hope for is that we have a brighter future ahead and it may well take more than next season for us to be seriously in the promotion mix!!
Does the creation of Webber's role not make these positions sort of obsolete? It was my understanding that his role was created to take control of these areas.
That's what I was trying to say, Suffolk, but obviously not very well! With the CEO job now split between the MD and the SD, the latter will have the role of TD and DofR effectively built into his job in a way that McNally and Moxey never did. To me, that's a big step forward and the HofRs for the UK and Europe will report directly to SW who also made it clear that the final decision still rests with the HC though, as it should. This is what has been missing in our recruitment, leading us to pay large sums of money for established players rather than recruiting hidden gems much of the time. There have been exceptions, however, like Oliveira, Pinto, and Dijks, for example. A club like ours needs to build a squad of hidden gems who then bring in a large return on the original investment when they move on. What we have been left with is expensive players who nobody else can afford to take off our hands. That's the recruitment failure, not the actual players who have come in. My one caution is that with all this emphasis on recruitment, our young players could be denied opportunities.
As 'Wallace' would say, "Cracking post" Rick. From what I can remember in recent years, our only 'hidden gem' was Grant Holt and IMO, he was part of the triumvirate that propelled us from League 1 obscurity to the PL!!!! I think SW is also on record somewhere as saying that one of the reasons that enticed him to come to NCFC is our Cat 1 academy and I believe he also believed in using youf where possible at Huddersfield.
My comment is probably more regarding the article about Webber 'wielding the axe'. Surely he isn't wielding the axe, he has been brought in to replace these people in the newly created role, if anything the board have 'wielded the axe'.
Sadly Suffolk, we're all guilty of misreading posts and don't get me started on misreading text messages!!! I think as I said in a previous post, I'm liking the harmony and general agreement on this board since SW was appointed - LONG MAY IT CONTINUE!!!!
Hoolahan was hardly a hidden gem. I remember him running riot against us for Blackpool on more than one occasion. Which is probably why Roeder recruited him.
It was for that very reason. Remember his debut for us (against Blackpool ironically) and Arturo Lupoli missing the biggest open goal chance I have ever seen.