thanks Ricardo of the Pink Un, boring though.

It was the usual good attendance tonight with perhaps even a few more than last year. The evening began with questions on the Annual Report and election of officers. The inevitable question on "what does Stephen Fry do" was first in the list and we were told about his contribution re his contacts and his celebrity status in the entertainment business and his 8 million twitter followers which gave us tremendous reach in several commercial aspects re kit sales and videos etc. Stephen was re-elected as was McNally, albeit with one or two nay sayers.

Bowkett then gave us his usual thorough run through on the financial figures. Income last year was ?95.5 million but relegation means that we will be looking at ?40 million less this year. He said the reason we made a ?6.7 million profit last year was mainly due to bonuses that went unpaid due to our relegation and that this year we would be looking to break even. His remarks about the future were that "its not looking too rosey" but costs were being reduced by ?33.4 million although at some stage we would need a ?3.6 million overdraft in order to manage cash flow. On the plus side Bowkett revealed that all players were on a 40% reduction and that McNally had insisted on this for every player that we had signed last year.

McNally then gave us his usual report on the clubs mission statement which to paraphrase is "all profits to be ploughed back into football",

All players out of contract had been resigned so nobody can leave except for a fee and that unlike many other clubs that have been relegated we did not have to sell anyone against our wishes.

Apparently at the end of last season they sat down and produced a new vision for the club because so many people had been disillusioned with the negative style that Hughton had played. We were now going to play the "Norwich way", which means play to win in an attractive attacking style and entertainment would be at the forefront of the clubs approach. They would also continue to invest in top class facilities for players and fans.

Whilst we could not do anything about the loss of the TV income we could expand other areas and the plan was to double our controlled income. This means catering, retail,commercial etc.

We then watched a short film about "the Sporting Light Appeal",narrated by Stephen Fry showing the good work the club does in the community for disabled and disadvantaged people. It was notable how very involved the players and staff are in this project, the players have given 141 hrs of their time in visits to hospitals etc. Now Ricardo can be a cynical old sod but I have to say that is was moving to watch and it gives me a sense of pride that my club is leading the way in this venture. It's something we should all be very proud to support.

Bowkett next apologised for the mess last season and admitted something that many of us thought at the time, they thought Hughton would keep us up. He noted several games where if just one had been different we would have been ok. (beating WBA OR Hull or Villa) and also Sunderlands remarkable finish.

The questions began with one about the seats Radio Norfolk were vacating and then onto the fair play rules. The first doesn't affect me and the second won't affect us.

Inevitably the timing of the sacking of Hughton came up and we got the usual answers which amounted to.........nobody suitable was available when we wanted them and we thought he would keep us up anyway.

Then there were questions about Phelan, he was coming in a coaching role as a direct replacement for Robson. We also heard that the reason we lost Joe Royle was because of his wifes illness. This was followed by a bit of argee-bargee regarding why nobody was appointed sooner.

Someone then commented that he didn't think the players were busting a gut because they had had a wage cut but Adams dismissed this and said he didn't see it in training. McNally chimed in saying that six or seven players had offers to go to Prem clubs but all wanted to stay and help the club gain promotion.

There were then a few more complaints about the way we let things go at Forest and various opinions were offered. Neil Adams gave all his replies in a frank and courteous manner and didn't shirk any of the tough questions although not everyone on the floor agreed with them.

Someone thought the squad was too big, Adams didn't. Someone thought Redmond didn't score enough, Adams agreed and said he had spoken to Nathan today and was encouraging him to come infield more when the ball was crossed from the opposite wing. Another questioner thought we lacked a leader like Grant Holt. Adams said that to an extent he thought this was true and that some of his players are too quiet.

There was then a bit about Bassong and Neil said that he didn't play him at Fulham last year because he wasn't playing well enough and that during the summer break he didn't feel that Seb's heart was fully committed to the cause. On the question of loaning him to a rival he said you can't chose where to send him and that otherwise we would be paying him big money not to play.

At the end we heard that Ryan Bennett is back in training and hopefully available for selection after an under 21 game. Also there will be money in January should we need to buy.

If I think of anything else I will post it later.

Posted By: lovely old job, Nov 25, 22:50:45