Originally Posted by
valefan0719
Norman would fall out with an empty room. In one of his woe is me diatribes at a Vale official supporters club meeting he admitted never really having any friends. He's a toxic narcissist. The following was posted on our forum by a highly respected, ITK lady who does so much volunteer work for Vale she more or less works there full time.
I was told earlier this week that our previous owner had an interesting way of dealing with his creditors. He would write out a cheque to cover the debt, look them in the eye and say "This is your money", then he would tear the cheque up and drop the pieces on the floor. I imagine he is the sort of bloke who spent his childhood pulling the wings off flies. Anyone who is still foolish enough to think he was anything but an unpleasant stain on the history of the club must be completely mad.
You could be describing Norman there. His tenure was an absolute disaster, he interfered in football matters as a matter of routine signing dog**** players over the managers head, but then expected a buyer to pay for his mistakes. The absolute arrogance of the weasel. God help you if he gets near Notts County. I'd only wish it on Stoke!
Below are quotes from Micky Adams' autobiography. Says it all.
I wanted Norman to make good on the promise that Paul had made about a new contract as I had one year left on my existing one. Unfortunately, however, I wasn’t going to get it. The meeting didn’t go exactly how I thought it would. It was amicable to start with, but then he dropped a bombshell. He told me that any contract offer would not be forthcoming, and he was shelving any talk about fresh terms and that we should continue as we were. I’ll be honest, I was seething. He then he hit me with another verbal right-hander: ‘I need your help.’ So, he took away the contract I was supposed to be getting and now he’s saying that he needs my help! He went on, ‘I don’t know how to run a football club.’ I replied, ‘So let me get this straight. You aren’t going to give me the contract
that the club indicated I would be getting and now you are asking me for my help. You are talking ********.’ I got up and walked out.
Norman had issues. He wasn’t happy with the kit deal we had with Sondico and decided he was going to end it. He didn’t have a shirt sponsor, either. A bit of background for you: all the kit manufacturers talk to each other and Norman couldn’t secure a deal for love nor money. So the club has no kit. And no shirt sponsor. I introduced Norman to Paul Kenny at the GMB. They thrashed out a shirt sponsorship deal and Paul also agreed to put the union’s name on one of the stands at Vale Park. I then introduced him to Fabrizio at Errea, a friend of mine from my Brighton days. We travelled out to Italy to sort out a deal for the kit, too. So, just to reiterate, Norman’s taken my contract away, and I’ve got him a kit deal, a kit sponsor and a sponsor for the stand. He has done all right out of me, has Norman.
My contract was again on the agenda as the campaign came to a close. Norman kept saying he wanted me to ‘go on to bigger and better things’ and I took that to mean he wanted to get rid of my wages and earn himself some compensation at the same time. Perhaps I was just being cynical.
I was happy enough to leave Norman to deal with [the Jordan Hugill transfer] until I received a call from Peter Ridsdale who I knew from my days at Leeds United. Peter picked up the phone to moan to me about Norman. He said the deal was off unless someone else dealt with it, so I had to step in and negotiate a sale that looked to be heading for the rocks. A deal, incidentally, that might still benefit Vale if Jordan goes on to bigger and better things.
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