P.J. Davitt's Blog, page 6

City earn £100m from Premier League fund

Norwich City’s cut of Premier League funds topped £100m from last season’s relegation.

The Canaries were the first club to ever finish bottom of the table to bank that figure, made up of broadcast revenue (facility fees) and merit payments (league position).

City were awarded £100.6m in a total Premier League pot of £2.5bn, comprising domestic and overseas television rights.

Champions Manchester City earned a total payment of £153.1m. Each of the 20 Premier League clubs who contested the 2021/22 season received £87.5m as an equal share, coming from domestic rights £31.8m, overseas rights £48.9m and commercial revenue £6.8m.

Each league place was worth an extra £2.1m, a point City head coach Dean Smith highlighted regularly over the run in last season, once relegation had been confirmed at his old club Aston Villa.

Norwich’s £100.6m payment compared with the £97.5m Sheffield United banked for finishing bottom of the Premier League in 2020/21.

The Canaries, along with Watford and Burnley, are now in receipt of parachute payments following their latest return to the Football League.

Sporting director Stuart Webber recently underlined the importance of such a facility, amid a wider debate in the game around an unfair competitive advantage for the relegated trio.

“A necessity,” he said, speaking on Michael Calvin’s Football People podcast. “This quote ‘it is a reward for failure’ no, I flip that and say it is ‘reward for success’. What people forget is, I worked at Huddersfield previously and we got promoted to the Premier League but without a parachute payment. When Norwich got promoted in 2017, we were not a parachute payment club.

 

“I get annoyed when I hear other clubs talk about this. I think it is a really easy excuse to go, ‘we can’t get promoted because we don’t have the money’. If you didn’t have it, then unless you had an incredibly rich owner, clubs who did go up wouldn’t spend because if they come down they have this incredible wage bill and they go bust.

“That is really unhealthy for the Premier League if the three who came up every year didn’t have a go. I get the argument but I don’t think there is enough balance on both sides.

“As a football pyramid what we need to do is the Premier League and the Football League need to communicate more about what is best for our game, not an individual league. We need to distribute money better, we need to promote our product better.”

PODCAST: Turning up the volume at Carrow Road

The latest edition of the Pinkun podcast reflected on why Norwich City’s steady Championship progress still leaves some fans unconvinced.

Host Connor Southwell was joined by Paddy Davitt and Samuel Seaman for episode 507 in our long-running podcast, which was recorded hours after the hard-fought 1-1 Carrow Road draw against West Brom on Saturday.

The panel discuss another home outing that left more questions than answers around Dean Smith and his squad, and assess if that cuts to the heart of the matter around why more and more are questioning the lack of excitement and atmosphere at home.

“Going to Carrow Road this year has just felt very flat for me,” said Southwell. “And I don’t want to blame anyone necessarily for that. Because I think again, there’s a lot of factors and a lot of reasons to dissect as to why that might be the case.

“But it does feel partly because of what they’re seeing on the pitch at the moment. Would you agree? And would you agree that Carrow Road has been slightly flat in terms of atmospheres?

“We are talking about 19 points from 21 and for Norwich the second best start to a season in 10 years or something ridiculous like that. It doesn’t feel like what maybe the league table suggests it is. I guess it probably comes down to how much you believe this Norwich team is going to get better, because everyone is hoping it will click.”

“Under Daniel Farke fans came to expect a certain type of football team to support,” added Seaman. “They were able to say this is what I’m going to see from this Norwich team. that’s not Dean Smith style.

“And you know, there are plenty of managers, probably the majority of managers across the Football League, who have that same attitude of doing whatever it takes to win games.

“I don’t think he (Smith) goes to bed thinking about pressing, or possession or anything. He simply looks at the opposition and says these are their weaknesses, these are our strengths. And this is the best way to beat them this weekend.

 

“I don’t have a problem with that. Under Daniel Farke, Norwich fans got used to the idea of supporting a football club, going to the ground, knowing how the team was going to play, knowing what it’s going to look like. And they haven’t had that under Dean Smith.

“Allied to that, It feels like a bit of a holding year, really, because even if they get promoted, it’s like, ‘so what?’, Norwich fans have seen this story loads of times now and they fear what is on the other side. You can understand why the atmosphere is a bit flat.”

– You can listen to all episodes of the Pink Un Podcast in the sidebar – and don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE button to ensure every episode downloads via your chosen podcast provider.

Paddy Davitt: The holding pattern before the big reveal

Dean Smith is too long in the tooth to worry about appeasing the court of public opinion. But he knows Norwich City must step it up in the Championship.

Tracking at two points per game tends to end in a place in the Premier League. Smith is on target to achieve that mission. But a grinding few days at Carrow Road does nothing to convince some who perhaps crave the footballing aesthetics of his predecessor.

That conveniently overlooks many hard truths about Daniel Farke’s tenure. Pertinent to the current situation is the gruelling nature of the club’s most recent Championship tour.

Norwich did not cut a swathe through the division in 2020/21.

It was incremental, it was stodgy at times, it was a season packed with one goal wins and much more focus on a defensive base than the combustible creative genius of Teemu Pukki and Emi Buendia to power another gloriously uplifting title triumph.

Those who want a return to 2018/19 will be left disappointed. Smith is a pragmatist but he is no lover of functional output. That is another misconception.

City’s most inventive force on a frustrating afternoon against West Brom was Aaron Ramsey, as he has been for many of the previous six league wins.

A player Smith enticed from his old club, Aston Villa, on a season long loan. A player with the vision, imagination and speed of thought and deed to really add a new dimension to Norwich’s attacking urges.

Smith’s willingness to welcome Todd Cantwell back into the fold was another signal, albeit Cantwell has had to defer of late while Smith tries to tweak and refine in a quest for more control, more composure and more polish when Norwich do have the ball.

Understandably, given the mess he inherited last season, his primary focus was on City’s defensive structure. Concessions such as Dara O’Shea’s free header, to slot the Baggies in front, may suggest otherwise, but overall Norwich do look more solid and less prone to the vulnerability that has plagued them at the highest level under Farke and latterly Smith.

The Canaries’ head coach tellingly opted to link both the midweek Bristol City win and this latest draw during his post-match media duties, and point out the relentless nature of the opening phase of this season.

That should be taken neither as a cheap excuse, or a bid to distract; not when you see how sluggish and laboured essentially the same starting roster – bar Gabby Sara replacing Cantwell – looked in trying to press the Robins, or press the issue against the Baggies.

Steve Bruce openly admitted in his search for wins to match performances – a mantra we heard from Smith after Norwich’s opening three winless Championship affairs – the visitors had sought to frustrate and hit on the counter.

O’Shea’s early gift helped embellish such a gameplan, and Norwich lacked the guile and physical and mental freshness to deconstruct the problems in front of them.

Yet they picked up four points from two home tussles, and sit in the automatic promotion spots after 10 league games. How it feels and how it looks may jar at present but the evidence is there in the league standings.

Smith knows they can play better and they must play better. His post-match reveal Isaac Hayden is due to train over the international break may have got lost in the search for answers. But it was a key footnote.

In an area of the squad that was woefully short in the Premier League, Hayden’s summer signing, Smith’s first at the club and following a personal appeal from the Norwich head coach, marked a step in the right direction.

It was an acknowledgement of what he felt was lacking. It is also why Liam Gibbs was fast-tracked into the mix before his recent injury blow.

Kenny McLean has dropped into that deeper-lying midfield role, in front of a back four, in the past two home games. But the Scot’s natural urges are to break forward.

His partnership with Olly Skipp in the previous Championship title winning season worked because the Tottenham loanee knew the position and the demands; and his fire-fighting instincts blended with McLean’s all-action style.

Smith will be loathe to fast-track Hayden into frontline service immediately, but there is no question City still lack that streetwise operator and, by definition, the control and composure to make life much easier in the Championship grind.

It would heap undue pressure on Hayden to label him the balm to soothe underlying concerns, or the glue to bind what defines this head coach’s preferred method.

Dimi Giannoulis’ own return from injury can bring the natural defensive balance, width and attacking thrust Smith has also highlighted recently.

But undoubtedly Hayden’s experience, quality and leadership are key components in how his boss envisaged Norwich would go about the task in the second tier.

It is much easier to revolve and rotate attacking midfield options around Teemu Pukki when you have a player who offers both defensive ballast, and the ability to progress the ball.

Until he is available this feels like a holding pattern before the big reveal.

Mark Attanasio: In his words

Mark Attanasio has mapped out why he wants to be part of Norwich City’s future.

The Milwaukee Brewers’ owner’s investment in the club, first revealed by the Pinkun earlier this year, was confirmed by the Canaries on Wednesday morning.

The 64-year-old US sports tycoon, and his group, have bought a minority shareholding in the club, with Attanasio joining the board ‘with immediate effect’.

Here are the key points from his first club interview.

Why Norwich City and why football?

When you are a professional sports owner in the United States, folks reach out to you. We probably had our first outreach in five years to look at various soccer clubs. This is the first one that really resonated with me. The only one of at least half a dozen that we actually went on a site visit.

Interestingly Teddy Werner’s dad, Tom, was involved with the Fenway Sports Group (at Liverpool) that John W Henry controls. Teddy always had a passion for football with Liverpool and ended up being the conduit for us to take a look at this. It gathered momentum very quickly.

My son Mike and another of my colleagues did a video call with several of the management, including Stuart and Zoe (Webber). It gained a lot of momentum from there.

What is your relationship like with Delia and Michael?

Much like at the Milwaukee Brewers and the Bud Selig family, who owned the club for 30-odd years. He cared a lot about who was taking it over. So do they. I had to get through a gauntlet of the management, not only the economic aspect, but that there was also a personality fit.

Making sure we had a similar approach to things, because it was almost like dating but there was no contact directly. It was more through intermediaries and we found ourselves almost pre-approved.

It is interesting. A very close friend from college of mine, Richard Ressler, is also investing in this with me. We were actually nervous to go and meet them because we knew this was a really good situation. Even though on paper they were terrific people maybe culturally you don’t meet up.

Her husband Michael (Wynn Jones) being a historian had some wonderful stories about travelling in the United States in the 1960s and interacting with people like Robert Kennedy, who are icons in our history. It was a great long weekend.

Outline the nature of your financial commitment at this stage to the club?

We looked at different structures. Michael Foulger was willing to sell his shares to give a toe hold investor an opportunity to come in, if Delia and Michael wanted this to happen. Then we looked at other scenarios with the club. There may be some other small shareholding at some point but Delia and Michael are in charge.

They control the board. I will have one board seat. They are firmly in charge and it gives me the opportunity to learn, to help if asked. I don’t walk in after the first few meetings and mouth off. That is not my style.

One of the great benefits of buying the Brewers was the founder (Bud Selig) was a commissioner in major league baseball at the time. So I had this huge fountain of knowledge not only about the team but the community. So for the first three or four years I probably called him twice a week for advice.

This is a similar situation. It is a huge benefit to me to learn the sport. Not just from them but the management team, who are exceptional.

Zoe, Stuart, Anthony (Richens). Everything is there.

What else can you bring?

I don’t think I can add anything from a football standpoint. But I do know what has worked in our sport in terms of nutrition, analytics, how to train and there might be a cross-pollination of ideas. Not only that but maybe things I can take from the club and apply to the Brewers in terms of our methodology.

Regarding finance, and I call it my day job, I have built a money firm with a couple of partners and we manage about $42 billion. From the financial sophistication standpoint, I feel very comfortable in that area. I mentioned Richard Ressler. He has built a big real estate group, so in terms of real expertise he will have a point of view to funnel in.

The club has already been working with ‘Legends’ which is a top notch sports and entertainment company. I won’t be chiming into Stuart Webber to ask whether the young Brazilian he got is the right choice.

How hands on will you be?

I actually live in Los Angeles. I have to balance how we watch the Brewers’ games. We play 162 in 180-odd days. So 5pm in LA the game comes on. I see a number of their games on the road. I would expect to do the same. Maybe pick fun matches to come to.

We have an office in London, so when I am in London on business, absolutely. We might time some of those trips for when I want to be around the club.

I am sure I will watch every minute. There is nothing like being at a match. The passion and the energy. The passion and energy at an English match matches the play-offs over in the US. Every game counts.

In terms of our ownership of the Brewers, and we are now into our 18th year, we are stewards not owners. That is clearly the case with English football. It is the fan and the community. Families grow up and you stay a lifelong fan. I have met folks now in LA, once this thing become public, who are fans of Norwich City.

They were excited to meet me, not because I own the Brewers or a money management company, because I was looking to get involved in an English football club.

Did Norwich City’s relegation from the Premier League make you rethink your plans?

Things changed with the first board call. At that stage the team had about 15pc chance of staying in the Premier League but the Zoom call got me completely engaged. That was the light switch. It was eerie how parallel that was to the situation here at the Brewers.

We bought into this team when they were at the bottom. I had people telling me, ‘Are you crazy, they are no good?’ and I looked at the stadium and the management team and Rick Schlesinger, who was working on the Norwich deal, and everything about it was good. Other than the team’s performance.

While it is disappointing to drop they are right near the top of the Championship this season.

You just need a tweak here or there and some luck to get back up. I met the coach as well, by the way, and I liked him. I liked everyone I met, and I don’t say that lightly.

How much do you relish the challenge of getting the club back to the Premier League?

It is all about the challenge. At my very first press conference at Milwaukee they asked, ‘Is it you love to win or hate to lose?’ and I hate to lose. I hate to lose.

Why is there a trend of American ownership, or investment, in English football clubs?

I talked to John Henry and Tom Werner in some detail about all of this. I know Wes Edens very well who is involved with Aston Villa. I know Gerry (Cardinale) at Red Bird, who has just bought into AC Milan. We all talk about this. The world has got smaller. I am able to watch all of the Canaries matches on television.

You couldn’t do that 10 years ago. I watched every match of the Premier League at the end of last season. It was perfect in terms of the time zone. Get up, get some coffee.

It has to do with that. There is a financial aspect to all sports. Live sports is as engaging as there is in the world. I still have a lot to learn but I can still follow the game.

It is a passion, not an investment. It is a passion for Delia and Michael. But it is not fun to lose, so if you are going to do it, you want to win.

Norwich have operated within a well-documented self-funded model in recent years. Will that change?

Teams, whatever the sport, have to be run well. I know sometimes that is hard for fans to hear. It was interesting to me that even Tottenham, for all their success, have made similar public statements. The money they make, they put back into the team.

It is not a perfect correlation but the teams who have financial problems tend to go into a downward spiral. The further you spiral, the harder to move back up. It is one of the reasons in America teams try to build to a World Series and then end up having to rebuild.

I am not interested in rebuilding because it is not so easy to climb back up. The team has to be run responsibly. I spoke to Richard Scuadmore (who used to run the Premier League) and one of the things he pointed out was how Delia and Michael run the club.

They put themselves in a position to succeed every year. You can’t control what happens on the field. But you can control making sure you have great facilities. I have studied a couple of Premier League clubs that have made bad investments in players and that leads to this downward spiral.

You have to be careful but you also have to take risks. If you don’t you probably are not going to succeed. They do take risks at Norwich City, but they are measured risks.

You can get very emotional as an investor. But one of the things I like about this at this point is it is more about board participation. Hopefully learning more about the sport and bringing some of our knowledge.

The Fenway Sports Group found a lot of what they did with the Red Sox was transferable to Liverpool. I know what it is. We have all of that same knowledge here in our baseball club. In terms of analytics, training, different methodologies.

Norwich have got the virtual reality (Soccerbot) machine. We don’t have that. When you are looking to do something like this, you look for reasons not to do it, rather than the other way around.

You get passionate, it is a lot of time, and if the deck is stacked against you, which is really isn’t for this club. It has strong management. Stuart has made a lot of smart moves. Great facilities, passionate owners, a great community.

We spent a couple of nights going out to dinner away from Delia and Michael at her restaurant and just walking around the town. It was great. Really nice people. It reminded me a lot of this community (in Milwaukee). A place you want to be.

Did you follow a ‘soccer’ team before Norwich?

 

 

I was interested in Liverpool, because of Tom and John. I followed World Cup games. I cheered for Italy. Actually I was in Italy the year they got to the final. That was pretty exciting. Maybe more at that regard than a particular club.

Why Webber still trusts in the process with Canaries

Two promotions from the Championship. Two relegations from the Premier League. Life has not been dull since Stuart Webber arrived in 2017. But the sporting director still believes Norwich City can buck the trend.

Webber spoke to Michael Calvin in a wide-ranging interview for his Football People podcast.

Many now label Norwich City a ‘yo yo’ club. Is that a blessing or a curse?

Probably both. I am sure there are maybe 70 clubs who would swap places with us, to have two of the last three years in the Premier League. The biggest league in the world.

But it is also a curse as well and something we have to work very hard as a club to get back to the Premier League, firstly, then to stay there and to sustain ourselves at that level.

That is our work every day, that is all we are aiming to achieve. We are the ones in control of trying to get rid of that tag. But it is a curse.

As soon as we got promoted the last time we were written off, and it becomes a real tough noise to deal with and a tough psychology to get everyone’s head around that. But we are in control of that process.

We need to work differently, work smarter to achieve that ultimate objective.

How tough was that second Premier League relegation for you on a personal level?

Dealing with it is horrible. It is the closest thing to a death of a close family member. I know people will think that is a bit dramatic but when you work in this industry, when you do this, it means that much to you.

When people say it is only a game, it doesn’t matter, no, you dedicate your life to your craft and your industry.

When relegation happens, it is horrific. I can only talk about myself but you walk around feeling like you have let people down, people look at you differently.

I remember speaking to Eddie Jones about this and when he was coach of Australia and they lost the rugby World Cup to England he said he walked to the shops and people were looking at him as if he had killed someone. I had the same feeling.

I was walking through a car park at the stadium and people were almost avoiding me. Super tough but it makes you more resilient.

But once we get over, let’s call it that mourning stage, we then analyse why it happened, what did we learn from it and how do we get better.

One of our values as a club is growth, and we talk every year about how we can grow more. Did we grow more last year?

Yes, we did but not to the ultimate success we all wanted, which was to remain in the Premier League, but there were still some shoots we are going in the right direction.

Is it possible for Norwich City’s current model to achieve Premier League sustainability?

Our aim is to work out a way within our constraints, which are different to other clubs and some don’t like to hear that but it is a fact, but working out how we become even more successful in the Premier League in this model.

And not for one year, because you do a lot of damage staying for one year and getting relegated.

I always talk about Southampton as a great model and Burnley under Sean (Dyche) before it ran out for them. If you spoke to any of the bottom 10 in the Premier League at the start of every season their first objective is to try and stay up.

Those squads are only maybe two or three bad injuries from not being great. Or bad decisions from being relegated – signing the wrong player, selling the wrong player, the coach leaving.

People lose sight of how good the Premier League is. There is a reason why in the final stages of European club competitions English clubs are there. That is the outstanding quality of the league.

The quest for ‘marginal gains’, and why it is so important

We started a data and innovation department a year ago not to focus on the usual data routes, like how many kilometres does a player run, but can we look years ahead to the trends in the game.

Can we analyse, via data, players’ behaviour on the pitch which tells us is someone a leader or not?

Can we use data to analyse coaches, so when we talk about player development, what is the work being done to make players better?

These are things we need to be ahead of the curve. If we do the same things as every other club, with the greatest respect, we are maybe 30th in the country for our size.

We appointed a set piece coach this summer because we looked at it and we were probably 20 points short in the Premier League.

 

If you look at Brentford, they scored 16 goals from set pieces last season. We scored two. If we score another 10 goals that might have been 10 to 15 more points. If we could have scored 15 goals from set pieces, that is the equivalent of finding a £30m striker.

It is trying to think differently, maybe not better always, but you have to try.

Hayden to miss start of the season after knee op

Isaac Hayden will miss the start of Norwich City’s Championship season, after surgery to ‘clean out the knee’ that sidelined him at Newcastle United.

Dean Smith confirmed a fresh injury blow for the defensive midfielder after Tuesday’s 2-0 friendly win at King’s Lynn.

Hayden was Smith’s first signing of his Carrow Road tenure on an initial loan deal that could become a permanent move.

The 27-year-old made his last Premier League appearance for the Magpies in December 2021. Hayden sat out City’s opening two friendlies and was not able to join full team training last week in Germany.

“Isaac went to see a specialist yesterday,” said Smith. “His knee had been swelling up, which I mentioned at the weekend. They flushed it out and I don’t expect to see him before the early part of the season.

“The consultant was really happy with what he did and that will be good news for us. He had a week’s really good training and for some reason then got swelling on his knee, so that has been flushed out. Just a minor operation.”

Kieran Dowell has also had a hernia op, but is targeting a return for the upcoming friendly at Hibs. Smith also provided an update on some other notable absentees at The Walks.

“Kieran had an operation on a hernia but we expect a short turnaround,” said the City chief. “Gunny (Angus Gunn) jarred his knee in training on Monday. So that one was just precautionary. Sam Byram, likewise.

“Adam Idah will play 45 minutes for the 23s on Friday against MK Dons.

 

“He has been training with us the last three or four days but we don’t want him to be travelling to France with us. There will be some others who play in that game on Friday.

“Pierre (Lees-Melou) rocked his ankle on Monday. A couple of days and he will be back in training.”

Gabriel Sara: The inside track

Gabriel Sara is the real deal but forget the Emi Buendia comparisons – that is the message from south American football expert Juan Arango.

Norwich City look set to confirm Sara as their second summer signing, pending a medical in the coming days, with Brazilian media reporting the 23-year-old midfielder is now due to fly to Europe.

Sara is viewed as one of Sao Paulo’s best assets, and respected broadcaster Arango has charted his rise from the youth ranks.

City plucked Argentine Buendia from the third tier of Spanish football, and moulded him into a Championship title-winning talisman before his club record sale to Aston Villa.

Buendia’s goals, assists and special relationship with Teemu Pukki were key factors in the club’s recent success, but Sara is a work in progress warns Arango.

“Are you getting the finished product? No. He needs to find that change of gear to his game but his versatility is very desirable,” said Arango. “Under Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo coach) one of the core principles is playing out from the back, so you need a player who can drop deep to collect the ball, or push on and win a second ball.

“He can do that but his role might depend on what they do in the wide areas. They like to play with possession at Sao Paulo, they like players who can make those darting runs with good rotation.

“He can play the eight, the six or the 10 but to be honest you don’t want that. He is not a stop-gap type of player.

“He is a player who is important on transition and winning those second balls. You can see from a few goals Sao Paulo have scored where the ball starts at the back, they attack with pace, and he arrives in the box. He understands where to run and who to run off.

“That makes him much more valuable. He can play behind or off a striker and is able to find the space to set himself up with one or two touches in the box, before he gets his shot away.”

Sara has not played since an ankle injury in April but the demands of the English Championship will not pose a problem.

“One thing I am seeing is a suggestion he will have to adapt to the rigours of the Championship. Let me tell you one thing, in two years he has played 119 matches,” said Arango. “Brazil only has three weeks when they are not playing. They start in January, they go through to December. They take Christmas off and start again. Some players play up to five or six tournaments a year.

“Sao Paulo play the state championship, the Brazilian cup, the national tournament. If you look at their calendar in 2022 they will play 66 matches – if they get to the final of the Sudamericana.

“The only issue is his lack of recent game time. He had ankle surgery after damaging it in April and he still hasn’t returned to playing. The speed of the game in England is also a different challenge. Not in terms of transition but in general play. His speed of thought will have to be quicker to handle that compared to Brazilian football.”

Norwich may have struck at just the right time for a player who only established himself during recent seasons.

“Maybe those closer to that club felt this was a long time coming,” said Arango, speaking on the Hodge on Nodge podcast on the Hodgeythehack youtube channel and podcast players, hosted by Stuart Hodge. “One of the realities of south American football is when these type of players emerge and establish themselves many clubs look to sell. Fans do not end up enjoying a player long enough.

“Julian Alvarez is the same thing. He started at 18 but moved to Manchester City at the age of 21 this summer. Once they are 23 and they are good, they are going to Europe. Whether they are fully developed or not.

“That is the change with maybe 10 or 15 years ago, when they were the finished articles. But sooner rather than later he was going to leave.

“He was part of the Sao Paulo youth system. It just took him a little while longer to get into the first team, but they were buying a lot of players, and there was a lot of turnover in coaches. For a young player they can get put to the side, and it can harm their development. When you get your chance, it is sink or swim.

 

“He had a lot coaches, including Hernan Crespo, who knows about playing in England. Now Ceni has returned and given a lot of younger players an opportunity.

“Sao Paulo need to generate money from transfers. They have a player called Welington, who plays on the left side, and he is attracting interest from Fenerbahce.

“There was a report recently that claimed they estimate by the end of this year they will have generated €25m from selling players, while still being able to invest in the squad to contend to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, and a strong showing in the national championship in 2023.”

EXCLUSIVE: Kieran Maguire on US investors eyeing City

Norwich City’s talks with US investors could help them escape their ‘purgatory’ between the Premier League and the Championship, for leading football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

The highly-respected academic, author and co-host of ‘The Price of Football’ podcast insists the Canaries are an attractive proposition for potential investment.

Milwaukee Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio, headed a delegation who visited Carrow Road and Colney for discussions with City officials on a flying visit to Norfolk around the Premier League finale against Tottenham.

The Americans are believed to be interested in acquiring shares, although neither Attanasio’s circle or the football club will comment publicly while discussions continue.

Maguire believes City have the right people in place to avoid some of the pitfalls associated with outside investment.

“The small print of any new deal is absolutely critical. And you would hope that the present owners of Norwich City would be aware of that,” he said. “The Norwich finance team, in my opinion, are extremely professional and would be able to show the merits and negatives of any financial consequences of a deal.

“The important thing ideally is that if there is any deal, it doesn’t involve the club being loaded with debt.

“What you don’t want is a situation similar to what we’ve seen at Burnley. They were taken over by people who borrowed money against the club’s own assets in order to fund the deal.

“And there was a clause in that lending arrangement that should Burnley be relegated they’ve got to pay back almost all of £65m borrowed over the course of the summer immediately following relegation.

“That’s put Burnley into an uncomfortable position.

“Norwich are in this sort of this ‘purgatory’ that they’re going too good for the Championship, struggling in the Premier League. The additional revenues, or additional investment, potentially could give them that bit of breathing space that you need to survive in that first season in the Premier League.

“But it would have to be on the case of what are the terms and conditions involved, because I would not want Norwich to go through a similar position to what we’ve seen with Burnley.”

Maguire mapped out two paths to potential new investment at Carrow Road.

“You can buy all, or a proportion of the shares, from the existing shareholders. There’s no advantage to the club in that because that’s cash changing hands between individuals,” he said. “The second way is for the club itself to issue shares, and certainly within Norwich’s own constitution that is feasible, and then the cash is injected into the club.

 

“If we take a look at what we’ve seen with Leeds United, they’ve had the San Francisco 49ers, broadly, take a similar approach. They bought some shares from the owner, and they’ve invested cash to top that up as well.

“We’re seeing with West Ham, again, a minority investor, initially, with perhaps an option to take over the club at a later date in time. That can run relatively smoothly.”

Smith insists City will be back after Spurs’ rout

Norwich City head coach Dean Smith is pledging to lead the Championship fightback after a painful 5-0 farewell to the Premier League against Tottenham.

Smith admitted the ‘lap of appreciation’ around the Carrow Road pitch following a final day humiliation is something he never wants to repeat.

But the City chief is adamant there will no top flight hangover after a meek Premier League exit.

“The club has had a couple tastes of the Premier League, and on each occasion we have not been good enough to stay in it,” he said. “But we know how hard you have to fight to get into it, and we will be ready.

“The lap at the end was tough. Really tough. It is not something I want to go through again but I am thankful to the support we did receive from those fans who clapped us at the end. They had every right not to be out there at the final whistle.

Smith, who had never previously been relegated in his coaching career, felt trying to halt Tottenham’s Champions League charge was a bridge too far.

“Listen it has been hard for the past four games. Hard for motivation for players and staff members, when you know already you are a Championship team for next season,” he said. “I thought we got something out of the Wolves game but Tottenham was a step too far for us. They had too much quality.

“The first half probably summed up our season, where we started okay. We gave away two really poor goals. One an individual mistake, one where we don’t cover a deep runner and they get in with a 40 yard run over the top.

“We have made too many individual errors this season that has cost us goals. The quality of the players you are facing week in, week out, they will punish you. We make mistakes, they score. Sometimes when they make mistakes, we don’t score. That is the difference in quality.

“Then when we have moments of our own we don’t take them. We knew that second half could be damage limitation, while trying to see where we could get into it. Again, we allow him to come inside us and bend it in the top corner for the third.

“The quality of their finishing was excellent. But for me, where we are lacking is when we lose the ball we don’t have the athleticism at the moment to win it back quick enough. That is something we will change this summer.”

Tim Krul was involved in a calamitous second Tottenham goal, when his intended pass for Mathias Normann was pounced on by Rodrigo Bentancur, who squared for Harry Kane.

 

Krul’s return to the line up after Angus Gunn’s impressive recent displays prompted many to ponder if that signalled the Dutchman’s final City game.

“(Are people reading too much into it?) Probably,” smiled Smith. “Angus Gunn has done well the last couple of games. I wanted to give him minutes and he didn’t deserve to get left out.

“I am acutely aware there are some internationals coming up and Tim will be involved with Holland and I wanted to give him some minutes.”

Paddy Davitt: Player ratings after the Canaries’ 3-1 Premier League defeat at Liverpool

Here is Paddy’s verdict on Norwich City, who had the temerity to land the first blow but were rocked by Liverpool’s response in a pulsating Anfield contest.

• Angus Gunn         6

Dealt with Liverpool’s longer range threats. Paddled away Virgil van Dijk’s knockdown across his goalline in the 14th minute. Dropped on Sadio Mane’s hit from the edge of the area. Indecisive trying to come for a Kostas Tsimikas corner, but Mathias Normann bailed him out with a goalline clearance from Mo Salah’s flick.

Thwarted Tsimikas who unleashed a rising strike from the edge of the area. Stranded when Salah controlled Alisson’s booming goal kick, and then lost his footing when the Egyptian swivelled and rolled home Liverpool’s second. Denied Salah in the 79th minute with a dive to his left.

• Max Aarons        6

Kept tabs on Luis Diaz for the most part. The Colombian’s goal came from a burst inside Brandon Williams on the opposite flank. Set the tone for Norwich’s aggressive approach in the first minute when Alisson had to tip over his probing cross.

But sucked into his own box by Mane’s initial burst, then compounded the error when he let him drift unmarked into the centre of the six yard box to attack Tsimikas’ header to draw Liverpool level. Skipped past the Greek in the 75th minute to produce a cut back Teemu Pukki stabbed wide.

• Grant Hanley (C)   6

Strong defending the edge of his penalty area. Held up both Diaz and Mane with perfectly-timed tackles before a key block to foil Mane who had got a shot away in first half stoppage time.

Over-worked in that defining onslaught from Liverpool. Important back post header as Divock Origi rose. But together with Ben Gibson was unable to sense the danger quickly enough when Mane pounced.

• Ben Gibson       6

Mane split City’s central defenders to acrobatically slot home Tsimikas’ knock on. Did get goalside of Salah, as he veered across the Norwich penalty area, but failed to handle the attacker’s change of direction to nudge Liverpool in front. Left an inviting gap for Jordan Henderson to thread a pass for Diaz’s third.

But like the rest of the Canaries’ backline made a prodigious number of blocks and tackles.

Tracked Mane’s run in the ninth minute, and then got the first touch to clear his lines. Superb near post block later in the first half, after Salah’s quick feet had led Williams a merry dance.

•  Brandon Williams          6

All action again from the Manchester United loanee, in direct opposition to superstar Salah. Fine tackle halted the forward in the 34th minute. Got City on the front foot as a counter-attacking force with his willingness to engage and composure in possession. Rolled in Pukki for a major early chance.

Clipped in another cross with the outside of his right foot in the 57th minute that drifted across Liverpool’s six yard box. Was upfield again in the 67th minute, when Salah burst onto Alisson’s booming goal kick to put Liverpool in front.

But on his heels when Diaz darted across him to clip Henderson’s pass over the advancing Angus Gunn.

• Mathias Normann         6

First start since November 27, after surgery for a pelvic-related issue. Brought a composure and quality on the ball in tight spaces. Headed Salah’s flick header off his line in the 20th minute, after Gunn came into traffic.

Went airborne again with a flying clearance inside his own box 30 minutes in, moments after drilling a first time half-volley that set Milot Rashica away. Replaced in the closing stages but a crucial figure for the run in. Imperative he stays fit.

• Billy Gilmour         6

Showed his quality on the ball when Liverpool tried to press high and force turnovers in the Norwich half. Particularly in the first period, when he linked with Mathias Normann and Kenny McLean.

One exchange with his fellow Scot saw them turn defence, on the edge of the City area, into a counter-attack led by Rashica. Not quite on the money with his set piece delivery. Alisson routinely plucking deep balls out of the air intended for Ben Gibson.

• Kenny McLean          6

Engine was in full working order to cover the pitch. Won headers in his own box. Popped passes with Williams and Gilmour in that first half. Also got beyond Pukki on occasion. Surged to the byline in the 33rd minute, but the Finn came short as he rolled a low cross to the back stick.

Unable to keep pace with Salah when he moved through the gears to collect Alisson’s goal kick. Tried to get back on the line but the Egyptian’s cute finish was too precise.

• Josh Sargent     6

Assist for Rashica’s goal, when he drove across the penalty area before showing the awareness to find his team mate. Rose unmarked in the second minute but unable to climb high enough to direct Rashica’s cross on target. No lack of desire to do the defensive side of the job.

But two lapses of concentration.

Tsimikas let him off when he skied over in the fifth minute, after Sargent had failed to sense the danger. Not so fortunate in the 64th minute when the Greek again ran in behind to direct an angled pass into the box for Mane to finish.

• Teemu Pukki       5

Big early miss, when he went with his left foot but directed his effort from Williams’ ball past Alisson’s far post. Lacked a bit of sharpness in his general play. Van Dijk was too strong in their physical duels.

Trademark good movement got him in position but a shot from Aarons’ cutback lacked conviction. Was in again from Jonathan Rowe late on but Alisson was out to smother.

• Milot Rashica       7

His joyful reaction told you what a big moment a first Premier League goal was when Joel Matip stuck out a leg to send his right-footed effort spiralling inside Alisson’s far post from 20 yards.

Just reward for the Kosovan’s willingness to stretch the play with his pace, directness and quality on the ball. Sparked the move for his goal, with the initial diagonal ball for Josh Sargent.

The assistant correctly ruled out his fourth minute finish for offside. Lovely pass set Kenny McLean away, before he later levered Joe Gomez off the ball to slip in Pukki, who wanted an extra touch in the box.

Subs:

• Przemyslaw Placheta (for Sargent, 76)   n/a

• Pierre Lees-Melou (for Normann, 82)   n/a

• Jonathan Rowe (for Rashica, 86)   n/a

Found Pukki, who saw his effort smothered by Alisson.