I totally disagree with Tricky's post below

Of course I agree that we are financially f**ked, no doubt about that. But to reason onwards from that fact towards saying either (a) that the appointment of Gunn was inevitable or (b) that there can't be any investment is just poor thinking, in my view.

As to the appointment of Gunn, why on earth should our lack of money mean that we have to reappoint the bloke who just took us down? If Delia is 'fighting tooth and nail' to make a go of the club, then she has to have a manager. She has to pay him wages and she has to give him a budget. So she can choose who gets that money. And that should be a choice made with great care because the manager is the single most important appointment in the club.

Now, the money available sure as s**t will be a lot less than last year (and HUGELY less than during the parachute years). But unless we're giving up completely (we're not), there's still money going to be spent. And it's going to be more money than most clubs in Div 3 are going to have, and more than any club in Div 4. So while our money is far less than it was, it is still better than most of our new competitors'.

Given that there's going to BE money spent, then, what, makes the Big Man the right person to get it? There are going to be managers in the lower leagues who have already proven themselves at that level who will be thinking 'I'd love that job at Norwich - big ground, big crowds, more money'. Because remember there are lots of Div 3 and 4 clubs who operate on an absolute shoestring and would regard our budget as a significant improvement.

So to take Tricky's line of "We're so f**ked that it was quite out of the question to appoint anyone other than Gunn is just fantasy" seems to me to be rubbish. There's money going to be spent; the choice of person as to who gets to spend it is crucial; why is Gunn the best man for the job?

Outside investment is harder because you need to get lucky with someone. But the Piswich story shows that it can happen. They were going to hell in a handcart before Evans took over. And there were two CRUCIAL elements in Evans taking over.

First was the decision of the major creditors to sell their debt to Evans at a deep discount. So he was able to acquire the club without having to pay off all its debts. The second was the decision of the old Piswich grandees - Sheepshagger and the Cobbold remnants - to sell out for relatively little. They'd had enough.

We need a similar conjunction. The selling of debt at a discount has been made far harder by the securitisation: for as long as season ticket sales remain so high, the creditors don't feel at risk. Their debt still feels good. It won't be till we drift down into junk status (as Piswich had) that they will decide to offload at a discount. Piswich were defaulting on their debt; we aren't, because of our loyal fans. Until the debt look iffy, there won't be a discount.

Similarly, for new investment we need Delia to get to the point where she will sell for a ?1 (or at any rate, for a lot less than she's put in). Tough on her and you can see why she's hanging on.

Basically, I'm not holding my breath for new investment, but it might happen.

Sorry this is so long. It would be much easier and more enjoyable to thrash it out over a beer. But I really didn't agree with the "we're doomed so nothing matters on the managerial front" line.

Posted By: Old Git on May 15th 2009 at 11:23:08

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