NFFC Critical Thread

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I was the first to start a thread about Modesto and recruitment, I wasn't happy but can't people see that he's now having less of a say? Regarding Vrentzos what has he done wrong? He's negotiated some great fees for players that have been sold and also been instrumental in keeping us out of trouble with FFP etc. That's his job he's not invloved on the playing side. There are reasons why PL clubs are sniffing at him.

All Taylors articles do is fan the flames on social media etc. We don't need that S**t going on at our club, dividing the fans etc.

Vrentzos. 70 players recruited in 3 years. Very few returned a profit, that is from the academy. Only 1 now plays in the PL.  Many have got rich, contributed little and disappeared into obscurity.
The season ticket affair and communication of has been a shambles too.

Modesto. Less of an influence? 13 players recruited, half of which are unnecessary, the team that finished 7th dismantled. Is that all Lamouchi’s doing then?

OK lets sack the owners then and get somebody else in.

Becareful what you wish for though...

[ThePromisedLand]

Daniel Taylors job is to get people hooked on to paying subscriptions and making himself money.

Never forget that is his job.............. if he were writing boring stories with no "exciting details" then he would not be where he is.


Personally I am happy to see Lamouchi go.

Players look unfit.

Players look confused.

I got fed up with his interviews, never answering questions as it appeared he did not understand what the question was.


Things will get much better now with Chris in charge.

Spot on JWJW.

These type of articles are exactly why we don't get any interviews from the owners and Vrentzos etc. They help nobody.

I also remember when Marinakis first bought us all the cheap articles about alleged drugs and alleged match fixing etc and then people wonder why they don't communicate and give interviews.

Both D. Taylor and P. Taylor can do one. They are part of the problem and want to fill their pockets in the process.

And another thing. Why don't they grow a pair and tackle the owners directly about it?

I have no respect for them taking cheap shots via their articles.

Sorry Sniff. I fundamentally disagree.
When you buy a football club you buy into everything that goes with it.
Someone has to speak to the fans - they have failed consistently to communicate.
I really don’t care who’s fault it is - Marinakis. Vrentzos. Modesto. Randall - they’re all culpable to various degrees.
As I’ve said before they’ll get plaudits when earned - but they deserve brickbats when they f**k up.

Mr Marinakis has been good for the club. No one disputes that. But he still has an awful lot to learn about running a football club in England.

[PsychoStooge]

If things were that bad behind the scenes Chris Hughton wouldn't be here imo, he's supposedly had plenty of offers over the last few months and decided ours was an offer worth taking. I'm not surprised, he's walking into a very strong squad.

One or two things are undoubtedly questionable but I don't think it's as bad as it's being made out to be. I'm in two minds about any of them doing interviews as well, it could help to hear what Vrentzos or Modesto have to say, especially with regards to player recruitment but I also tend to think the best and most successful owners and directors in football are seen and not heard.

[pennhillred]

I just think there’s a place where we can support the owners but also question what’s going on behind the scenes. Especially when we aren’t getting any communication from the club - even if it's just an occasional update from Randall.

Daniel Taylor is a hugely respected journalist & is the only one doing the talking. That’s why it gets our attention.

It’s our responsibility as fans to question the owners. No one else will. But that’s a good thing & should lead to positive change.

For the record, as sad as I am that it went wrong for Sabri & I genuinely liked him, I think the owners have made the right decision & made the best appointment we could have got.

I’m hopeful that Hughton’s the one to bring everything together.

Looking forward to a week on Sat vs Blackburn. Think we’ll see a much better performance.

[Reds73]

If things were that bad behind the scenes Chris Hughton wouldn't be here imo, he's supposedly had plenty of offers over the last few months and decided ours was an offer worth taking. I'm not surprised, he's walking into a very strong squad.

One or two things are undoubtedly questionable but I don't think it's as bad as it's being made out to be. I'm in two minds about any of them doing interviews as well, it could help to hear what Vrentzos or Modesto have to say, especially with regards to player recruitment but I also tend to think the best and most successful owners and directors in football are seen and not heard.

Fully agree, when Fawaz was in charge we had experienced managers ala Hughton turning us down left right and centre.

Hughton would not walk into a shitstorm, he has enough contacts to have done due diligence. 

Ultimately the club has taken big steps forward post Fawaz.

Jan however was a disaster and blot on the copybook. They appear to have changed the recruitment process and are going with experienced proven championship players, alongside an experienced proven championship manager. That to me says they are learning.

Let’s see what the next 42 games bring, I’m quietly optimistic

[Jean_claude_killy]

There is no doubt that Marinakis has transformed the Club; certainly more off the pitch than on.

We now have a Club being run with financial prudence, with professionals installed at every level, and a coherent plan to move us forward.

We have also made progress on the pitch despite getting through four managers since the Club came under his ownership.

Four managers in the last four seasons is a lot, but unfortunately it is about par for the course in a division where the life expectancy of a manager is around ten Months; it is also worth noting that one of those managers walked after receiving tremendous financial support.

So good progress off the pitch and moderate progress on the pitch; that may be fine for some of the supporter’s but it clearly is not for the man who matters.

Everyone knows that it is his money and he is entitled to do whatever he wants with it, but, there are still levels of optimism among supporters that whatever he does, he is doing it for the good of the Club.

The one area where the Club and the Supporters are being let down is in how the Clubs hierarchy communicate with their customers; there is a growing tendency to remain silent on issues which the supporters think are important, and it is creating unnecessary resentment.

We all know that things are done differently in Greece; the press are polarised with stories given to friendly journalists and it works fine; given the partisan nature of the press there is probably no other way of doing things.

The big problem with taking that approach in the UK is that it never has and never will work; if you do not meet the press head on they will find some way of printing a story; if that means getting information from someone with an axe to grind, that is exactly what will happen.
Someone at the Club should be more than aware of that and should be urging EM to change his way’s; certainly Johnny Owen and most probably Nick Randall.

It does not mean that EM has to give interviews or TV appearances but someone definitely has to start building bridges with the media; it is not as though we have not got the people with the expertise do just that.

I think a lot of people are making too much out of the article penned by both Taylor’s; they are both journalists with links to Forest and will have a contractual obligation to cover big stories like Sabri’s sacking; and not only that, both are supporters who care a great deal about the Club.

You can be certain that both of them would have pestered the Club for a story and looking at what has been written, nothing has been provided in terms of information; that leaves them to contact the people they know.

The guts of the story is information which has been in the open domain for a while; the revelatory parts look worse because they have come from un named players; that situation could and should have been avoided; someone at the Club could have given them both the run down with it being embargoed pending the Official announcement.

It seems pointless going to the lengths that we are in improving the Club only to go and create ill will by having a poor communications policy.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Daniel Taylors job is to get people hooked on to paying subscriptions and making himself money.

Never forget that is his job.............. if he were writing boring stories with no "exciting details" then he would not be where he is.


Personally I am happy to see Lamouchi go.

Players look unfit.

Players look confused.

I got fed up with his interviews, never answering questions as it appeared he did not understand what the question was.


Things will get much better now with Chris in charge.

Spot on JWJW.

These type of articles are exactly why we don't get any interviews from the owners and Vrentzos etc. They help nobody.

I also remember when Marinakis first bought us all the cheap articles about alleged drugs and alleged match fixing etc and then people wonder why they don't communicate and give interviews.

Both D. Taylor and P. Taylor can do one. They are part of the problem and want to fill their pockets in the process.

And another thing. Why don't they grow a pair and tackle the owners directly about it?

I have no respect for them taking cheap shots via their articles.

Sorry Sniff. I fundamentally disagree.
When you buy a football club you buy into everything that goes with it.
Someone has to speak to the fans - they have failed consistently to communicate.
I really don’t care who’s fault it is - Marinakis. Vrentzos. Modesto. Randall - they’re all culpable to various degrees.
As I’ve said before they’ll get plaudits when earned - but they deserve brickbats when they f**k up.

Mr Marinakis has been good for the club. No one disputes that. But he still has an awful lot to learn about running a football club in England.

They won't forget all that S**t that has been written about them in the past TPL. They won't just sweep it under the carpet. The journos only have themselves to blame for that. Unfortunately though it's the fans who suffer most from the silence but it's the journos fault. All those allegations the journos made about them when they took over just to fill their column inches and to fill their pockets were absolutely disgraceful.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

OK lets sack the owners then and get somebody else in.

Becareful what you wish for though...

I have always been extremely respectful of EM, he owns the club has invested heavily and is hugely ambitious. My criticism is solely aimed at those he has appointed to run the club.

There are some parallels with the Doughty era maybe. ND absolutely committed, true fan, solid gold person. Unfortunately he put the day to day running of the club in the hands of Mark Arthur who probably wasnt good enough. The sad thing is the criticism rightly levelled at Arthur worked its way up to ND who eventually had enough.

I dont think that would happen here but you have said yourself EM doesnt accept failure. I think it is time for him to act, maybe appointing an English DOF would be a start.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I am not against the idea of appointing an English DOF SM.

I think it would be a smart move.

[ThePromisedLand]

Daniel Taylors job is to get people hooked on to paying subscriptions and making himself money.

Never forget that is his job.............. if he were writing boring stories with no "exciting details" then he would not be where he is.


Personally I am happy to see Lamouchi go.

Players look unfit.

Players look confused.

I got fed up with his interviews, never answering questions as it appeared he did not understand what the question was.


Things will get much better now with Chris in charge.

Spot on JWJW.

These type of articles are exactly why we don't get any interviews from the owners and Vrentzos etc. They help nobody.

I also remember when Marinakis first bought us all the cheap articles about alleged drugs and alleged match fixing etc and then people wonder why they don't communicate and give interviews.

Both D. Taylor and P. Taylor can do one. They are part of the problem and want to fill their pockets in the process.

And another thing. Why don't they grow a pair and tackle the owners directly about it?

I have no respect for them taking cheap shots via their articles.

Sorry Sniff. I fundamentally disagree.
When you buy a football club you buy into everything that goes with it.
Someone has to speak to the fans - they have failed consistently to communicate.
I really don’t care who’s fault it is - Marinakis. Vrentzos. Modesto. Randall - they’re all culpable to various degrees.
As I’ve said before they’ll get plaudits when earned - but they deserve brickbats when they f**k up.

Mr Marinakis has been good for the club. No one disputes that. But he still has an awful lot to learn about running a football club in England.

They won't forget all that S**t that has been written about them in the past TPL. They won't just sweep it under the carpet. The journos only have themselves to blame for that. Unfortunately though it's the fans who suffer most from the silence but it's the journos fault. All those allegations the journos made about them when they took over just to fill their column inches and to fill their pockets were absolutely disgraceful.

Goes with the territory Sniff.
No excuse.
We’ll beg to differ on this one I’m afraid.

[Jean_claude_killy]

Daniel Taylors job is to get people hooked on to paying subscriptions and making himself money.

Never forget that is his job.............. if he were writing boring stories with no "exciting details" then he would not be where he is.


Personally I am happy to see Lamouchi go.

Players look unfit.

Players look confused.

I got fed up with his interviews, never answering questions as it appeared he did not understand what the question was.


Things will get much better now with Chris in charge.

Spot on JWJW.

These type of articles are exactly why we don't get any interviews from the owners and Vrentzos etc. They help nobody.

I also remember when Marinakis first bought us all the cheap articles about alleged drugs and alleged match fixing etc and then people wonder why they don't communicate and give interviews.

Both D. Taylor and P. Taylor can do one. They are part of the problem and want to fill their pockets in the process.

And another thing. Why don't they grow a pair and tackle the owners directly about it?

I have no respect for them taking cheap shots via their articles.

Sorry Sniff. I fundamentally disagree.
When you buy a football club you buy into everything that goes with it.
Someone has to speak to the fans - they have failed consistently to communicate.
I really don’t care who’s fault it is - Marinakis. Vrentzos. Modesto. Randall - they’re all culpable to various degrees.
As I’ve said before they’ll get plaudits when earned - but they deserve brickbats when they f**k up.

Mr Marinakis has been good for the club. No one disputes that. But he still has an awful lot to learn about running a football club in England.

They won't forget all that S**t that has been written about them in the past TPL. They won't just sweep it under the carpet. The journos only have themselves to blame for that. Unfortunately though it's the fans who suffer most from the silence but it's the journos fault. All those allegations the journos made about them when they took over just to fill their column inches and to fill their pockets were absolutely disgraceful.

It just does not work like that over here Sniffer.

EM is definitely not that stupid that he will start some kind of war with the media; Billy and Jim Price attempted that under Fawaz and got destroyed.

They should have attempted to build bridges with the Press from the minute he took over; and its not like they do not have the people around them who know how the land lies.

If they shut the Press out they will just go to anyone who has a story whether it is true or made up; and with all of the S**t in the Greek press the last thing he wants is the UK press repeating it over here with bells on.

[Paplane]

The thing is, none of that shite would've been written had Sabri won a game or two this season. So it was just an opportunistic pile on really.

And I actually think EM was right to stick the boot in on this infamous zoom call. He probably let them know that they are privileged to be employed by him and that if they thought that last years capitulation was acceptable then they were wrong.

From what I've heard, read, seen in the last 24 hours, Sabri, unfortunately, was mortally wounded after the Stoke defeat. EM's biggest mistake might have been to stick with him for as long as he did. I didn't think I'd be saying that two weeks ago.