Norwich City director Delia Smith. Photograph: Andrew Parson/PA
Three days on from what someone on the radio rather inanely described as 'Deliagate', the debate over Delia Smith's half-time rallying cry to Norwich City supporters at Monday night's game against Manchester City rumbles on.
Some people seemed to thoroughly enjoy what they saw and heard, while others cringed and suggested that everybody's favourite mild-mannered chef - and Norwich's joint majority shareholder - might have been fuelled by a certain amount of liquid refreshment.
Generally, when newspapers use words such as "outburst" or "rant" in a football context, the chances are they're talking about a manager's post-match assessment of a referee. But did what Delia said really qualify as either an outburst or a rant? Not to my ears - it seemed far more of an impassioned, if not necessarily immaculately judged, attempt to get things going for the second half of a match the club she loves couldn't afford to lose.
Let's recap: Delia took to the pitch to make a <a href=""plea to home fans after the Canaries had defended chaotically to lose a 2-0 lead and go into the break level at 2-2. Microphone in hand, she stood in front of the Barclay stand, the most vociferous end of Carrow Road, and said: "A message for possibly the best supporters in the world. We need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be having you! Come on!"
Not much of an outburst really - and, Delia insisted the following day, certainly not fuelled by too much wine. And as things turned out, Norwich succumbed to a last-minute 3-2 defeat that means relegation from the Premiership will be almost impossible to escape.
Those of us who support Norwich know Delia is disinclined to hide behind any kind of directorial veneer. She is, first and foremost, a fan, and on Monday - albeit on live television – she acted like one. There was little difference between what she said and what a frustrated supporter might say to people around them when their team needs lifting but the crowd has gone quiet during a pivotal match.
We also know just how much we owe her and her husband, Michael Wynn Jones. Their dedication and financial support played a huge part in saving a club that was on the brink of meltdown only a few years ago.
Delia has admitted that she might not have chosen "the best words", but if the tone of some of the coverage is to believed, you'd have thought she had been guilty of far greater sins than that.
According to Oliver Holt's column in the Daily Mirror yesterday, what she said was as serious an issue as the Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's provocative gesture in front of Liverpool fans at the weekend's Carling cup final. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think a gesture to opposition fans during a highly-charged final is the equal of a slightly rambling half-time plea to your own crowd - especially when that crowd holds you in the highest esteem. Perhaps Holt thought Delia was somehow paving the way for psychopathic Monday night bloodshed throughout Norwich, but only he would know how.
I'll go with what Roy Blower, the chairman of the Norwich City Independent Supporters' Association, had to say: "Perhaps when she reflects on it, she'll probably think it wasn't the right move - but she has a heart as big as a barn door, and she passionately believes in her football club."
Exactly. And what's wrong with that? Now can everyone just leave it there?
