Jez Moxey’s post-deadline day interview causes concern for Norwich supporters

Following the underwhelming conclusion to Norwich City’s summer transfer window on Wednesday evening, supporters demanded answers. On Friday afternoon, newly appointed Chief Executive Jez Moxey presented himself to the local media in an attempt to provide such answers. Unfortunately, judging by the reaction of the majority of City fans, his interview served to only strengthen discontent and I take a look at the points raised by Moxey that caused most concern:

“Nelson Oliveira was a hugely expensive signing”

Perhaps most concerning was the fact that Nelson Oliveira, who joined from Benfica last week, was described by Moxey as a “hugely expensive signing”. According to the City chief, the club decided to “put their money” into the signing of the Portuguese striker and as a result we were not able to make any more additions. If reports are to believed then, in bringing in Oliveira, we parted with £4m. Of course, this may be inaccurate, but I have no reason to believe that his price-tag would be much more than this. To describe £4m as a “big money signing” suggests that Moxey and the board are completely out of touch with the realities of modern football - today, even in the Championship, this is not a huge amount of money. If parting with such a relatively small sum of money is going to be such a tough commitment going forward, then we aren’t going anywhere. This concern was furthered when Moxey stated that, in the window “Norwich City used every single resource available” to strengthen the squad - a rather unbelievable claim considering we only signed three outfield players! The majority will accept that we cannot financially compete with the top teams in the Premier League, but being unable to compete with the top teams in the Championship is a completely different ball game.

Recruitment

There is no getting away from the fact that, for one reason or another, the club’s recruitment over the last few years has been poor. Too many players, the likes of Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Steven Naismith, have been bought in for large sums of money and failed to deliver, whilst we have been seemingly incapable of unearthing any lesser known gems. When asked if there were any issues with recruitment and scouting network at the club, however, Moxey seemed to suggest the opposite. He stated that he had been “very impressed” with the work of the scouting team and that “the three outfield signings and two goalkeepers prove that they are not bad at spotting players that can come in”. To claim that signings our signings prove that our scouts are a talented bunch is, quite frankly, stupid. Signing highly-rated youngsters from Tottenham and Liverpool, one of whom featured in the PFA Championship Team of the Year in 2014/15 and the other who starred in the Championship for Brentford last season, is hardly left-field. Meanwhile, Nelson Oliveira played for Nottingham Forest in the Championship last season, whilst anyone who vaguely followed Euro 2016 would have been aware that Michael McGovern was a half decent goalkeeper. In all honesty they were quite obvious signings and it would hardly have taken an elite scout to identify any of them.

Ownership?

A final issue raised by Moxey was one that has been rumbling on for several years - that of investment and ownership. It is no secret that many City fans feel that the current owners, Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones, are not wealthy enough and that investment or a change of ownership is needed. In an attempt to try and appease such supporters, the owners have tended to tread carefully in recent years by suggesting that they would be open to investment, but only from someone that has the football club’s best interests at heart. Despite this, there was doubt among supporters about whether there truly was any such ‘willingness’ to sell and these doubts seem to have been confirmed by Moxey. “This club is not for sale. Realistically, no-one will invest in the club without being given full control - full control that Delia and Michael are not willing to give.”, he said on Wednesday. I have always been quite happy with our owners - they are immensely loyal supporters of Norwich City and have, from the outside, always tried to do their best for the club. That being said, I always believed that they were open to investment and being taken over if the situation was right - something that Moxey has stated is simply not the case. Can Delia and Michael really claim to have the club’s best interests at heart if they are not, in any circumstances, willing to give up their control of the club to a wealthier individual? Sadly, it will always be extremely difficult for City to progress to the next level (more than a yo-yo club) without investment, and, given what Moxey has told us yesterday, this isn’t going to happen any time soon.