Norwich City's top brass will be held accountable by shareholders tonight as they host the Annual General Meeting at Carrow Road.
Shareholders will gather in the Norfolk Lounge (Gunn Club) at Carrow Road at 7pm on Wednesday, with the club's board of directors and executive committee expected to sit at the top table.
Local press, including this organisation, will be in attendance for the meeting - but are prohibited from delivering full quoted updates, but are permitted to provide running coverage throughout.
There will be an opportunity to speak on the record with Attanasio afterwards. That interview will be released online from Thursday morning.
After the conclusion of the formal business that includes the re-election of Attanasio and Webber to the board, the floor will be opened to questions from shareholders in attendance.
There are likely to be several key topics that surface throughout the evening - we have picked out a few of the likely talking points.
New era
This is the first graphic illustration of the transfer of power at Carrow Road, with Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones not set to form part of the top table after they stood down as directors after 28 years on the Norwich board last month.
In their place will be Mark Attanasio and Richard Ressler, who head up Norfolk FB Holdings, who are set to assume overall control of the club from March 1 when their shares are allotted to make them majority shareholders.
Other board members Tom Smith and Zoe Webber will join Attanasio and Ressler, who watched the Canaries' defeat to Bristol City on Saturday.
They will be joined by the executive committee that includes sporting director Ben Knapper, finance director Anthony Richens, technical director Neil Adams, commercial director Sam Jeffery and head of legal and governance James Hill.
Ahead of any significant talking points or questions, the visual difference in the panel will serve as a fresh reminder of the changes at the top of Carrow Road.
It will be the first time since the process to begin the new American era in NR1 that shareholders will get to hear from Attanasio and pose questions to the new regime about the finances, football and the future.
Among some of the questions will likely be the development of Carrow Road stadium, the debt position of the football club which has been largely internalised by Attanasio's group and football questions around recruitment, strategy and recent results.
Attanasio's schedule during his visit in Norfolk will be extensive and will include touchpoints with Knapper and Thorup ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.
The Milwaukee Brewers owner, who has increased his involvement steadily since first joining the board in September 2022, will see his shareholding move to 80.8pc next year as he strengthens his grip on power at Carrow Road.
Future plans
Attanasio’s first AGM will offer the chance to step out of the shadows of Smith and Wynn Jones to outline his future vision for the club.
The expectation is that won’t be a period defined by lavish spending, but one of increased investment on key strategic areas design to improve the long-term prospects of the football club and ensure they are ‘perennially competitive’ every season.
City have spent recent years making key infrastructural improvements at the club’s Colney training base that has included a new recovery hub, the SoccerBot and construction of new buildings.
Much discussion has surrounded whether City would commit to the renovation of Carrow Road, including potentially increasing the capacity, but investigations have shown eye-watering costs. Ressler is understood to be leading on those consultations and an update may be offered tonight.
City have conducted feasibility studies into extending the capacity and Attanasio has previously overseen development work at the Milwaukee Brewers stadium during his over 20 year tenure there.
But there will also be a want to explain any strategic shift. How will Attanasio's group prevent City from struggling in the top-flight? Why will it be different under their stewardship? How will they progress the club?
Attanasio, on behalf of his Norfolk Holdings Group, will get the chance to explain his long-term vision and how he plans on getting City back into the Premier League and into a position to remain there beyond a single season.
Recruitment questions
Despite some managers and one head coach in Daniel Farke attending previously, Johannes Hoff Thorup will not sat at the top table tonight.
Ben Knapper will be representing the football department given he heads it up, and any questions relating to that area will be tackled by the sporting director, who recently celebrated his first anniversary in the role.
Knapper utilised the meeting last year to outline his vision to bring down the average age of the squad and need to reconnect the academy, a process that has unfolded in the following 12 months.
That meeting was one of Knapper's first touchpoints with City supporters, who will now be able to ask questions about his decision-making and first summer window in charge of the club that saw Norwich alter the squad with plenty of ins and big-money outs.
City recruited a lot of development talent to form part of their squad, but that has seen the levels of performance drop amid a concerning injury crisis that has involved Marcelino Nunez, Angus Gunn and Josh Sargent.
There may even be a willingness to hone into the reasoning behind that lengthy list of absentees and whether there is internal work ongoing to review their practices with nine first-teamers sidelined.
Norwich have made a change of head coach since last season, and Knapper has appointed key staff in other positions to shake up City's football operation. The expectation was always to build for the long-term rather than focus on short-term success.
The meeting will be a chance for City’s key players to outline their January plans and roll the pitch as to what fans can expect.
City head into this meeting off the back of three successive Championship defeats, with the international break providing some respite to review and reset after a difficult run of matches.
Financial position
As the AGM is primarily a meeting to update on the financial position of the club, City's annual report will also be a key subject of debate.
City reported a £14.4m pre-tax loss in a set of accounts that displayed the importance of Attanasio's funding.
Attanasio-led Norfolk FB Holdings provided the club with its key source of funding throughout the last financial year, with loans totalling £58.6m as of 30 June 2024. Recent shareholder letters also revealed a further £8m in cashflow funding post-year-end, some of which contributed to their summer transfer window business.
City's owed interest will be a talking point for Attanasio, with the total interest rising from £6.8m in 2023 to £8.6m in this year's accounts. That, in total, means City recorded a total comprehensive loss for the year of £14.4m - down from £27.3m in the 12-month period previous.
It marks a significant change to their self-financing policy of previous eras, and Attanasio will get the opportunity to outline how he sees that relationship working during his premiership in charge of City.
Financial models for the future are also expected to be put under the microscope, as well as where Attanasio could opt to invest in the future outside of player recruitment.
The club’s auditors will also also be re-appointed and Richens will afforded the opportunity to expand on the accounts and take questions on its subject matter.
- We’ll be at Carrow Road this evening for the AGM. Follow our channels for all the coverage from 7pm
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