Norwich City Chairman, Ed Balls has been speaking on Tuesday morning about the events of the last few days and how the board unanimously accepted David McNally’s resignation.
‘It`s been a really tough few days,” he told Norwich City TV and the EDP. ‘It was disappointing after Saturday. The players gave their all. On Saturday evening we had David`s resignation. We discussed it on Sunday, we thought hard and decided it was something we should accept. We thank him for all the contributions he made over the past seven years.
“He made a huge difference from League One to the Premier League. He did that while sorting out the finances, and putting a strong executive team in place. Of course he was also responsible for bringing in Alex Neil, who is one of the best young managers in English football. Talking to people within the club and the outside there is a real appreciation of what David did. Financially we were not in good shape when he came in and he made some big changes but he leaves in place a strong club. Look at our season ticket base as well as the great manager we have.”
Director of Finance Steve Stone has taken over as interim chief executive, presumably while the hunt goes on for a new CEO.
“Steve is our finance director and he has been very important in making sure our finances are sound and he is known to the board,” said Balls. “He provides some continuity and experience to deal with a change that has come around quite suddenly. It sends a signal internally and externally we are going to build on our strengths. What we have to do now with Steve is that we start planning for the long term as well as make sure we focus on Watford.”
After all the upheaval of the last couple of days, Balls says the focus must return to football and the visit on Wednesday night of Watford. Even if City win that game though, they will still be relegated if Sunderland beat Everton at the Stadium of Light.
“This is not over,” he said. “The players absolutely up for it, as is the manager. We need a cauldron at Carrow Road against Watford to give us a chance.”
Balls also revealed that the board had met with Alex Neil on Monday after McNally’s resignation was confirmed, to reassure their manager that his position is not in doubt and that it’s very much business as usual on the football front.
You can watch the whole interview by clicking the link to canaries.co.uk below.
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