With Knapper in charge then judging by his recent signings it’s going to cost far more than our owners ever anticipated.
I think it’s a classic case of talk the talk but maybe not walk so well.
I just hope things pick up soon.
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We’re almost in pre-season.
You do know the purpose of pre-season is to be irrationally optimistic don’t you? 
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You haven’t followed Norwich for long enough.
Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it usually does…
Said every football fan ever.
Attanasio is a monied but very sensible owner. There was never going to be a big bang or sudden turnaround. Building blocks will be put in place slowly and in the long term it will look sustainable, clear-headed and successful in relative terms given what you’re now competing with. Some people want everything fixed “now” and catastrophise when it isn’t. In reality life goes on and failing things get slowly replaced.
Not how life works.
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I wouldn’t expect everything to be fixed overnight.
However, it would be a pleasant change to see indications that the new owners are taking steps to improve pretty much everything that is wrong with us at present.
The Delia era was very secretive at times but you usually had an idea of the clubs longer term aims & ambitions. Attanasio has said virtually nothing at all & appears to be happy keeping fans in the dark at a time when too many things appear to be going wrong at once.
As for ‘said every football fan ever’, true. However, I do feel we are probably as much entitled to claim this as any other team since I have supported them from 1979. We have turned triumph into disaster probably more often than any other side in the top two leagues during this period.
I think the thing to remember here is that, despite the existence of fans, clubs are a business. They owe fans zero updates and zero explanations. Having seen my club accelerate in 4 seasons to where it planned on being in 8 to 10 we have massive infrastructure gaps. One of our podcasts is pushing their recent exclusive with Ryan. He’s asked very explicit questions about things like our search for a training ground. He avoids them all. I actually don’t think that’s an issue because he’s no longer at the coal face. They appointed really good people to drive things along and all those people are doing is quietly driving things along.
Granted our supporters are (arguably) less anxious about a lot of this stuff because things are going okay on the pitch. There are whole areas fans are massively frustrated/angry about (the omnishambles that is match day food and drink for example) but you won’t get to hear about that because we’re headed by two people who can use their media profile to attract money and distract from outstanding issues. Some of our bigger issues will take 3 to 5 years to come to fruition.
Your owner is in many ways a much more serious man so he’s no media profile to exploit and he won’t be creating one soon. If you look at how he conducted his US sporting business then you’ve all the information you need. He’s not interested in a model which throws money at the first team to achieve success which generates money which then attracts investment and allows developments. He does the reverse. Slowly get to grips with all the deficiencies; start putting people in place to remedy them; slowly builds infrastructure as it becomes affordable and then… on the pitch success follows.
I do find it amusing how @JohnF has banged on about debt levels for a few seasons. This is what reducing that looks like. It doesn’t produce results on the pitch but it does produce genuine sustainability on multiple fronts. Barring a disaster you’ll be addressing all this from arguably your natural level of the Champipnship. Things would look very different if you were in L1 or 2 but you’re not.
Once you read about how he does business it’s actually massively reassuring but in the world in which fans think their not knowing “everything” or indeed “anything” is calamitous rather than people just learning a business and doing their jobs quietly he’ll never have the relationship our owners allegedly have with our fans and I for one think that’s actually very okay.
I wouldn’t disagree with your comments regarding Attanasio. In fact I’m very happy with him as an owner.
When I banged on about debt it was because under Delia it was getting out of control and no signs of action to control it. I’m sure we were heading for administration.
What concerns me currently is whether we have the correct people in place.
I expect some further effective action to take place in the near future, which is probably what you were alluding to in developing structures.
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maybe, but no fans, no business.
Covid suggested otherwise to some extent.
Really? As you know, most of the money comes from tv rights rather than ticket sales and it’s the fans paying for Sky etc?
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Thus the words “to some extent”.
fans don’t watch on tv? No fans, no tv.
If you look at the end of year accounts fans are no longer the contributors they once were.
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yes, but only true for leagues with fat tv contracts.
Illustrates my point.
In the UK that would apply to all five top divisions in England.
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Not seen any Sunderland fans here but here’s hoping. Congratulations on rescuing a poor end to the season and restoring some sanity to the idea Lamiard might be a competent manager.
I’m torn now. Had a soft spot for Coventry after one of the away days of my life for that magnificent cup tie. That evaporated as soon as they dumped Robins in favour of Lampard.
Would like to see Sunderland back in the EPL but equally equally would like to at least get to visit with Wrexham before they get there.
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Just read in the local press that Martin is not interested in becoming Norwich manager which is a blessing as I’ve had enough of tip tap football with players not up to the job.
It did lead me to wonder who would be interested in managing Norwich.
Every likelihood the best three players, Sargent, Nunez and Sainz will depart which removes thirty five goals, creative midfield and leaves one of the worst defences.
I think we’ve made a mistake in not appointing Wilshere, as despite being inexperienced appeared to make the most of a bad job and the players responded to him.
I honestly can’t see anybody worth their salt applying for the job.
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Can’t see how you could possibly judge that. A mere two games and players who were less likely to be responding to him and more likely to be looking to play well enough to either secure new contracts or show what they could do in the shop window.
There’s a phenomenal number of unemployed managers and lots of really good coaches.
History repeatedly shows that the shorter the window you judge a manager over the more likely you are to get it wrong.
Three Welsh examples.
We once replaced the best manager in our history with a brilliant but old winger with zero managerial record. History is very clear that we did so because he was the cheapest option available. He didn’t win a game until the eighth game of the next season. By the end of the season he’d delivered the best team in our history, the greatest season in our history and what was until now our only promotion to what’s now the Championship.
Cardiff put Riza in as temporary manager after sacking Bulat. The uptick was instant. An unbeaten run was compiled. Fans demanded his appointment. Cardiff sank steadily after his appointment and finished the season in last place.
Welcome To Wrexham has a Sliding Doors moment in Season One, which I think all football fans should be forced to watch on repeat.
We’ve let Keates go and brought in Parkinson along with Mullin and multiple others. There is no immediate sign of improvement. Fans are expressing their discontent. The owners are very aware. McElhenney asks whether enough is enough and Parky should go because the fans are unhappy etc. Reynolds responds that twelve games is a nanosecond. Reynolds prevails.
Wilshere is a coach. He may turn out to be a brilliant one. He may or may not be a brilliant manager. It would be insane to appoint him because of two meaningless games with other motivations at play for all concerned and you’ve completely misunderstood Attanasio if you think he’s a reckless gambler in any sphere.
I could see you with Simon Rusk, currently treading the boards with my lot, and ambitious.
In Venn diagram terms, where Simon Rusk’s skills and style are A and your owners desires are B, it will depend upon A U B, ie, the degree of overlap.
Edit: sorry I have just read that back, and talk about stating the obvious! But I’m sure you get it. Hope it works out, whoever gets the nod.
Things went badly wrong for him at Stockport. He had ownership support; a football template and money to spend and it ended badly.
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