I’ve got no ill will in my heart towards David McNally. He was certainly a marked improvement on the laughable Bruce Langham, but the glossy picture painted by the Eastern Daily Press at Norwich is a little too selective for my liking.
McNally’s four years at Fulham meant that the Airness kit fiasco occured on his watch. The shoddy deal with Nike that saw club shop control evaporate followed and there’s no mention of McNally’s biggest blunder. Replacing Coleman as we sleepwalked towards relegation was a no-brainer. But the success of a decision like that depends on the quality of the successor. Lawrie Sanchez didn’t exactly guide us towards safety as watch as our rivals slipped closer to the abyss and McNally rewarded him with a full-time job.
Raking over the money Sanchez squandered in the transfer market is too painful. Since McNally was placed on gardening leave last June, he can’t claim too much of the credit for Hodgson’s very successful season. Going from a mooted job at Arsenal to chief exec at Norwich must be a bit of a come down. But I wish him all the best.
