Boardroom notes....

Boardroom notes ahead of Reading fixture
FIRST-TEAM
1 hour ago

Each home game, executive director Zoe Webber provides supporters with an update through her boardroom notes in our official matchday programme, OTBC.

Here are the notes ahead of tonight's fixture against Reading:

This is an important moment for the club to talk about the reasons behind the decision to part company with Dean Smith and his coaching staff after our defeat at Luton Town on Boxing Day.

Dean desperately wanted to succeed as Norwich City’s head coach and we supported him in every way possible as we searched for the winning formula.

He is an honourable man — a person with integrity, class and respect, and it is important for us to recognise these qualities.

We were able to see first hand a person who dedicated his professional life to building a team that could win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

Dean and his coaching staff leave with our best wishes and we hope that, in time, he will look forward to returning to our home as a guest of the club, or in his capacity as head coach of another team. He is a good man and we maintain a great deal of affection for him.

These are always very difficult decisions to make for a football club’s board and it was only made after a thorough review of performances and after exhausting all the potential possibilities to put things right with Dean in charge.

We know that in this interim period we are in safe hands with Steve Weaver, our head of football development, and Allan Russell, our set-piece coach.

The process to find and appoint Dean’s replacement is underway and we hope to be able to provide an update on this search in the coming days.

We recognise that this is a huge responsibility but it is also a great opportunity for the next head coach.

Although we were concerned by the performances and the recent run of results, we are still in a strong league position as we enter the second half of the season.

This is a prestigious job and the quality of applicants reinforces our belief that this is one of the most respected coaching positions in English football.

It is a unique position for the next head coach to inherit because they will be taking over a team that is still in contention near the top of the table.

Their goal will be to unite the fanbase and give the team a vital lift in the remaining months of the season.

We believe that this can be done.

With your total support we are convinced that our objectives can still be achieved this season.

We have a passionate and loyal fanbase, and we want to reward this by asserting ourselves and dominating matches, particularly at Carrow Road.

With two games at home in a short period of time, against this evening’s opponents Reading and Monday’s fixture against Watford, we have an opportunity to do this.

Enjoy the game,

Zoe

Posted By: DrDublin, Dec 30, 17:08:09