elliott bennett to norwich?

[Betfair Bozo]

We will see. Will two successive promotions change your mind about that? Or not? Sounds Martin O'neill-esque to me.

Aye, you could always offer £4m for Marlon Harewood? That's Martin O'Neillesque as well.

 

[supaseagull]

Last year we reached an agreement with banks to suspend loan repayments and instead invested that into the playing squad, the result was promotion, living within our means would have been a false economy, we would have been stuck in League One.

and there is your proof that you're gambling with your future. You're not living within your means - instead you're no better than the likes of Portsmouth because you're robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Surely who ever you owe money to is going to call in that debt at some point in the future and this is where your problems start because, yes, you will probably get promoted to the premiuer league but you won't be able to sustain the pressure of repaying your loans and this will end up in your best players being sold to repay your debts (Sound familiar? It's always happened at Carrow Road!)

This will end up in you struggling, like West Ham at the bottom of the premier league with a team no one wants to manage or support and then the next stop will be the Championship which is when you will be forced into repaying the loans that the loan company deferred because they will want their money off you before you go into Administration which will sadly be inevitable because you won't be able to afford to pay any of your other debtors. This will lead to a 10 point deduction and ultimately relegation again to League 1 and probably a further points deduction the following yeat as per Southampton & Leeds. However, Norwich doesn't have the fan base or the financial clout to attract good investors and so you'll end up going down exactly the same route as we did in the 90's where you'll be forced into selling Carrow Road for peanuts and ground sharing with Peterborough.

So good luck with that - You're going to need more than Delia to get you out of that shit!

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Sure I will answer that. We have actually posted a net profit more years than we haven't for the past ten years but had a clueless Chief Executive who appointed three awful managers in a row and simply didn't know how to run a football club. The result was plenty of investment into the playing side but plenty of extremely expensive flops.

We now have a new board of directors and a new Chief Executive, the former Celtic and Fulham chief executive McNally. Last year we reached an agreement with banks to suspend loan repayments and instead invested that into the playing squad, the result was promotion, living within our means would have been a false economy, we would have been stuck in League One.

Our revenues are expected to reach £22m this year, £5m increase. Our net debt was paid down to £20.8m (Was £22.9m in 2009). This season we expect to make our biggest profit since 2007, and that will be used to further pay down debt by £1m.

We are sitting at 3rd in The Championship, making an operating profit, with the countries most talented young manager and with debt falling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way that this club is currently run. It should be noted that this is a football club who have NEVER taken the easy way out of debt, Administration. We have never missed a HMRC payment either.

There are plenty of football clubs which are not run properly, Norwich City are not one of them. Clubs that settle HMRC debts at 10 pence for every £1, they cost society money. Clubs that settle supplier debts at 1p in the £1, they lose people jobs, make local firms bankrupt. From no stretch of the imagination could anybody claim that this club is run poorly.

You only have to look at Charlton and Southampton, who were relegated with us, to see that we are run the smart way. Relegation to League One, investing in playing squad, and promotion at first attempt, all whilst paying down our debt? That sounds like a fairytale in football terms, but we did it. And all without a sugar daddy.

So then Norwich is not run properly. You've agreed with the banks to suspend you debt payments which were amassed by mismanagement whilst gambling on promotion by using the money that should have going to the banks. This paid off but was a gamble nevertheless. You hope to reduce your debt by 1/20th this year and I trust that there's no interest on the debt. i wish my bank would have done that to me when my business was in debt but still making a small operating profit, alas it didn't.

Fair play on not going into admin. but it was certainly being banded at one point.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Largely because the Stadium development costs to date (£3.6M ish) were included as an asset on the books, instead of as an annual charge.

I know but don't tell everyone

 

[mike79]

and there is your proof that you're gambling with your future. You're not living within your means - instead you're no better than the likes of Portsmouth because you're robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Surely who ever you owe money to is going to call in that debt at some point in the future and this is where your problems start because, yes, you will probably get promoted to the premiuer league but you won't be able to sustain the pressure of repaying your loans and this will end up in your best players being sold to repay your debts (Sound familiar? It's always happened at Carrow Road!)

This will end up in you struggling, like West Ham at the bottom of the premier league with a team no one wants to manage or support and then the next stop will be the Championship which is when you will be forced into repaying the loans that the loan company deferred because they will want their money off you before you go into Administration which will sadly be inevitable because you won't be able to afford to pay any of your other debtors. This will lead to a 10 point deduction and ultimately relegation again to League 1 and probably a further points deduction the following yeat as per Southampton & Leeds. However, Norwich doesn't have the fan base or the financial clout to attract good investors and so you'll end up going down exactly the same route as we did in the 90's where you'll be forced into selling Carrow Road for peanuts and ground sharing with Peterborough.

So good luck with that - You're going to need more than Delia to get you out of that shit!

no the debt is subject to agreements

it cannot be simply called in

 

[Caveman]

Sure I will answer that. We have actually posted a net profit more years than we haven't for the past ten years but had a clueless Chief Executive who appointed three awful managers in a row and simply didn't know how to run a football club. The result was plenty of investment into the playing side but plenty of extremely expensive flops.

We now have a new board of directors and a new Chief Executive, the former Celtic and Fulham chief executive McNally. Last year we reached an agreement with banks to suspend loan repayments and instead invested that into the playing squad, the result was promotion, living within our means would have been a false economy, we would have been stuck in League One.

Our revenues are expected to reach £22m this year, £5m increase. Our net debt was paid down to £20.8m (Was £22.9m in 2009). This season we expect to make our biggest profit since 2007, and that will be used to further pay down debt by £1m.

We are sitting at 3rd in The Championship, making an operating profit, with the countries most talented young manager and with debt falling. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way that this club is currently run. It should be noted that this is a football club who have NEVER taken the easy way out of debt, Administration. We have never missed a HMRC payment either.

There are plenty of football clubs which are not run properly, Norwich City are not one of them. Clubs that settle HMRC debts at 10 pence for every £1, they cost society money. Clubs that settle supplier debts at 1p in the £1, they lose people jobs, make local firms bankrupt. From no stretch of the imagination could anybody claim that this club is run poorly.

You only have to look at Charlton and Southampton, who were relegated with us, to see that we are run the smart way. Relegation to League One, investing in playing squad, and promotion at first attempt, all whilst paying down our debt? That sounds like a fairytale in football terms, but we did it. And all without a sugar daddy.

Well done and.... ?

 

[Curious Orange]

I thought the stadium wasn't costing the club anything until 2023, now you are saying that it has already cost you £3.6m?

Apologies for the confusion - you need to separate the football club from the stadium company. The £3.6M is the money that the football club spent getting the planning permission. The stadium company effectively owes this money to the football club.

 

[Sam Ovett]

Bennett is not leaving Brighton.

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

and there is your proof that you're gambling with your future. You're not living within your means - instead you're no better than the likes of Portsmouth because you're robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Surely who ever you owe money to is going to call in that debt at some point in the future and this is where your problems start because, yes, you will probably get promoted to the premiuer league but you won't be able to sustain the pressure of repaying your loans and this will end up in your best players being sold to repay your debts (Sound familiar? It's always happened at Carrow Road!)

This will end up in you struggling, like West Ham at the bottom of the premier league with a team no one wants to manage or support and then the next stop will be the Championship which is when you will be forced into repaying the loans that the loan company deferred because they will want their money off you before you go into Administration which will sadly be inevitable because you won't be able to afford to pay any of your other debtors. This will lead to a 10 point deduction and ultimately relegation again to League 1 and probably a further points deduction the following yeat as per Southampton & Leeds. However, Norwich doesn't have the fan base or the financial clout to attract good investors and so you'll end up going down exactly the same route as we did in the 90's where you'll be forced into selling Carrow Road for peanuts and ground sharing with Peterborough.

So good luck with that - You're going to need more than Delia to get you out of that shit!

We reduced our debt last year, we will reduce our debt this year, which part of that precisely don't you understand? We didn't increase the debts, their was no robbing Peter, we just paid a bit back to Paul.

Are you telling me that YOUR business had debt? I suppose you took administration then? And that it was a Ltd company? And thus people lost out because of your financial mismanagement and the risks that you took in business? I think that your comment says all that I need to know about you as an individual, HMRC write off some debts did they? So effectively, I paid your tax? I symphasise, I really do, but man your horse is high. Thoroughbred?

We reduced our debts by almost 20% last year, will reduce by 10% this year, that is steady progress in football. Hope your suppliers managed to pay the mortgage, buddy.

The vast majority of our outstanding debt is owed to DELIA SMITH. I look forward to seeing out 10 point reduction, you realise that you have to enter administration for that? When was the last time you saw a profit making business enter administration? Seeing as loan repayments are accounted for before calculating net profit?

Administration, pah, so last year. That rumour has been and gone, the last people to state that we were going into administration (News of the World) were sued for Libel and settled out of court. I suggest that you pipe down before they publish your little prediction and put you in the spotlight.

Norwich City | News | First News | First News | LEGAL LETTER TO NEWS OF THE WORLD
BBC News - Norwich City sue News of the World over 'debt' story

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

Apologies for the confusion - you need to separate the football club from the stadium company. The £3.6M is the money that the football club spent getting the planning permission. The stadium company effectively owes this money to the football club.

Fair play, as long as you get it. Does this stadium company cease to exist, after 2023? Or will it always be held as a seperate business?

 

[supaseagull]

why not? it's a debt

come on I'm waiting for the "Science bit"

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

why not? it's a debt

come on I'm waiting for the "Science bit"

So are you, or are you not, categorically stating that risks you took for profit resulted in individuals, businesses, HMRC, and the banks losing money that you spent... in your pursuit for personal gain?

And if you are saying that, then what gives you the damn right to comment on the financial situation of any business or individual who hasn't cost society money? Despite the fact that you haven't even read a copy of the publicly available accounts?

It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that you struggle in business, and 6 years isn't long enough. Go and read about McNally, understand what kind of person he is, understand what he did at Fulham and Celtic. And then, come back and give me a prediction as to whether Norwich will become a) debt free or b) go into administration.

 

[Curious Orange]

Fair play, as long as you get it. Does this stadium company cease to exist, after 2023? Or will it always be held as a seperate business?

I have no idea how the company structure works now to be honest, but certainly the Football Club is a separate legal entity to the company that owns the stadium (and the stadium itself is on land leased from the City Council and Brighton University) - I think that originally the stadium company was going to be co-owned between the Club and the City Council, but that has probably changed now that Tony Bloom has injected the funds to build the thing rather than it coming from a bank loan.

 

[hitony]

I'm not responding to any one post, but there has been a reported post, so just play nicely please boys and girls

 

[NorwichLeJuge]

We write in respect of the article published in today's "News of the World" on page 96 under the title "Canaries on brink" ("the Article"), which states the following:

"NORWICH CITY are the latest club teetering on the brink of financial meltdown. The League One high-flyers could go into administration by Thursday if they cannot find major new investors. Financial experts Ernst Young and KPMG have both been called in as potential administrators. The moves come despite a season in which Paul Lambert has led the club to the summit of the promotion race for a return to the Championship. Carrow Road crowds have averaged around 25,000 as Lambert's side impress but the club's 2009 accounts showed a £5million loss. Delia Smith is unlikely to invest any more money after putting about £8m into the club over the past 13 years. Norwich now desperately need new investment to stave off administration."


We further note that the Article was simultaneously published in the online version of the News of the World at News of the World: The Best for News, Showbiz and Sport Exclusives| News Of The World and News of the World: The Best for News, Showbiz and Sport Exclusives| News Of The World where it remains accessible to the world at large.

The title of the article is "CANARIES ON BRINK OF ADMINISTRATION……Norwich facing financial meltdown". The article purports to be written by one Martin Hardy and to be an "Exclusive".

The remarks in the Article (in so far as they are factual) are untrue and (in so far as they purport to be comment) are without any foundation. They are also defamatory. Specifically:

• Our client is not on the brink of administration
• Our client is not teetering on the brink of financial meltdown
• Our client will not go into administration by Thursday 28 January 2010 (or any other date) if they cannot find major (or any) new investors
• Neither Ernst Young or KPMG nor any other person or firm has been "called in" as a potential administrator; and
• Our client does not desperately need new investment to stave off administration.

Our client's financial position is a matter of public record. In common with many other football clubs, our client made a loss last year but for the avoidance of doubt the club's immediate financial position has been discussed fully with its lenders and is secure. There is no deadline of Thursday 28 January 2010. There is no deadline at all. There are no plans or proposals that the club should go into administration and no one has been called in or consulted as a potential administrator. Our client has had no dealings in recent times with either Ernst Young or KPMG.

The Article is entirely without foundation. No attempt was made to contact our client and it seems clear that you thought you could simply publish whatever you thought would serve your own purposes without concern for either truth, accuracy, our client's reputation or the financial consequences that your defamatory publication would have. The Article is totally and unarguably misleading. It has been published to enormous numbers of people (and has today been the subject of discussion on national radio) and has the potential to cause our client severe financial loss since it is published in the last week of the transfer window and two days after our client launched its season ticket sales programme for the 2010/11 season.

In the circumstances, our client requires the following:

1. A full apology in wording to be agreed, to be published in at least as prominent a position in the next edition of the "News of the World" and on the NOTW website; in the same quantity as the offending Article.

2. Payment of a substantial sum in damages

3. Payment of all legal costs incurred to date

4. An undertaking not to republish the article or repeat its allegations.

Should you fail to satisfy these requirements our client will commence an action for defamation. We expect the immediate withdrawal of the Article from your websites and your full response within 7 days.

Yours faithfully

LEATHES PRIOR

 

[Turkey]

Boring.

 

[Smithy07]

Hello. Another Norwich fan here who has been following this board over the last few days to follow the Bennett situation. Will be interesting to see if we come back in with a further offer or the price required scares us away!

Anyway in relation to the comments above re our accounts the majority of the debt is long term and repayable over the next 14 years. Yes its more than we would like but its not really any different to the type of mortgage I suspect ,ost of us have and its manageable. Consequently, whilst we are not loaded, we are also not on the brink as has been suggested.

Anyway my query was more about your backer than our financial position. The posts above suggest that Bloom has put in £93 million to build you a stadium with the money not secured against any assets and no guarantee of any financial return. Call me cynical but even if he is a massive Brighton fan I find that level of unsecured investment incredible? Surely there must be something more in it for him or agreements underpinning this arrangement that mean he can take a return out of the club over the next few years in return for his investment?

 

[The Large One]

Anyway my query was more about your backer than our financial position. The posts above suggest that Bloom has put in £93 million to build you a stadium with the money not secured against any assets and no guarantee of any financial return. Call me cynical but even if he is a massive Brighton fan I find that level of unsecured investment incredible? Surely there must be something more in it for him or agreements underpinning this arrangement that mean he can take a return out of the club over the next few years in return for his investment?

Incredible... but true.

I think it's understood there's a high probability he won't see (most of) that money again. Like he should care.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

All hail Tony Bloom.

 

[Sweeney Todd]

Hello. Another Norwich fan here who has been following this board over the last few days to follow the Bennett situation. Will be interesting to see if we come back in with a further offer or the price required scares us away!

Anyway in relation to the comments above re our accounts the majority of the debt is long term and repayable over the next 14 years. Yes its more than we would like but its not really any different to the type of mortgage I suspect ,ost of us have and its manageable. Consequently, whilst we are not loaded, we are also not on the brink as has been suggested.

Anyway my query was more about your backer than our financial position. The posts above suggest that Bloom has put in £93 million to build you a stadium with the money not secured against any assets and no guarantee of any financial return. Call me cynical but even if he is a massive Brighton fan I find that level of unsecured investment incredible? Surely there must be something more in it for him or agreements underpinning this arrangement that mean he can take a return out of the club over the next few years in return for his investment?

Tony Bloom is a professional gambler. When playing the tables, he backs himself. Likewise, he believes in BHAFC, so is as sure as he can be that his investment, though considerable, is a sound one. He has no doubt that both he and the club will reap the rewards of his investment.