The Norwich City chairman, clearly delighted at Hughtonâs arrival, also took the chance to reiterate the clubâs new-found health off the pitch as City look to stabilise in English footballâs top flight for the first time in nearly 20 years. While Cityâs support held remarkably strong through the clubâs fall to League One and its subsequently dramatic rise, the financial strain took Norwich to the brink of administration. This year will see the Canaries enjoy successive Premier League campaigns for the first time since the early 1990s, while astute management in the corridors of power has also helped improve the books at Carrow Road. That is something Hughton will benefit from, as he is handed the purse strings and the responsibility to build the squad he wants come August â once Paul Lambertâs replacement has his feet securely under the desk following his arrival last week. âAs I have told the previous manager and I have told this manager, we will have the biggest expenditure on football we have ever had,â said Bowkett. âThat is down to the fantastic commercial success of the business. When we were in League One we had a turnover of £18m. This year we will approximately have a turnover of about £75m â and that is only £5m short of Everton, who have been in the top division all their life.â Those figures make more than interesting reading given the clubâs previously parlous financial state â and should ensure Hughton has money to spend this summer, busting the £13m summer pot Lambert had at his disposal this time last year. âWe want to invest in the squad,â said a smiling Bowkett. âWeâve got a very strong squad as it is, but we want to improve and therefore we will be looking again in the transfer market. âOur skill is in terms of implementing our strategy. To do that we have to have the financial resources and the human resources. âPaul did an amazing job for usâ¦but with Paul you get a package. You get an outstanding football manager, but he is ruthlessly ambitious and possibly the most impatient man I have ever met!â Hughtonâs ability to work with a budget was partly why City wanted to lure him away from Birmingham, but his successful spell dealing with the demands at Newcastle and taking the Blues into the Europa League group stages also stick with Bowkett. He added: âClearly Chris has experiences we hope will be useful to us in the future.â .
Christ! I thought you meant CH had a £75m transfer budget, I was about to ask where the hell the club came by that sort of money.
"but he is ruthlessly ambitious and possibly the most impatient man i have ever met" says it all in one terse sentence. we were only ever a stepping stone, which we all guessed was the case, but the way it all happened leaves a bad taste.
i'm pretty sure lambert would have got the everton job (assuming moyes goes to spurs) so it was only a matter of time before he left and it was always likely to be this summer by the looks of things! maybe its better it happened early on... it gave us a chance to get sorted quickly
All grist to the "Jumped too soon" mill.Reckon Lambert will regret going to Villa and that won't make him a happy chappie.Dead end city,dead end club.
