There comes a point when the best way to get yourself out of a hole is to stop digging - Stuart Webber and executives at Norwich City must now heed that advice.
When Webber first arrived at Norwich in 2017, he was very vocal and regularly conducted media. Supporters would hear from him through a range of different channels and he was excellent in delivering the club's messages.
He made a huge impression with the fans and even if they didn't always necessarily like what was being said, they understood the reasoning behind certain decisions being made and could rally behind the general direction of the club.
But now there is just a radio silence because of things that have been said or that he has taken objection to, he picks and chooses which media he does and who he wants to talk to. Those lines of communication with the support have been severed.
I think that is an issue for Webber and it's one that he needs to rapidly resolve. If it carries on, then the fans are just going to stay away.
The first step is to let everyone know what is going on, draw a line in the sand and speak to the support. There is a lot of anger and he is never going to 'win' whatever he does from here - but there will at least be an appreciation that he has fronted up and been transparent.
It is true that not every club's sporting director speaks openly about their plans but Webber went out of his way to do so. He isn't being compared to others in his profession but merely to his own standards that he set in 2017.
If it was so important then, why has it been completely disregarded now? Unless you start talking about things, nothing will improve, and the wedge between the club and the supporters will only grow.
Every day that goes by without communication, the anger that already exists among supporters will only increase.
I can understand why you wouldn't want to talk amid criticism - I was similar when I was a player.
When I was at Norwich, I couldn't put a foot wrong but I had to take a lot of flak before I'd even kicked a ball at Blackburn. I didn't like it. Nobody likes criticism - some of it has been way over the top, personal and I disagree with that.
But it is a minority that have overstepped the mark. You're always going to get idiots and people who shout at you in the streets - that is sadly part of having a job in the public eye and society more broadly.
The majority of Norwich City fans, however, have been respectful and considered in their criticism. They are wondering where their club is going and want to hear a plan. At the moment, nobody knows and it is all on the head coach to explain those things.
If he had come in with that approach, then maybe it would be a bit more understandable. But he didn't. That makes it more frustrating for fans and that aspect clearly needs to change.
There is nothing wrong with doing media on club TV channels, but it is a party political broadcast and supporters are capable of seeing right through that. They need to talk to the fanbase - if you lose them then you lose everything.
Give them some hope. Tell them the plan. Address the failures. It has to be the first step.
They have to be transparent instead of cutting off all lines of communication. Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones have been brilliant servants to the club and they must understand more than anyone how important that contact with their lifeblood is no matter how hard.
Fans are quite within their rights to want to understand what is going on and the plan for the future. They pay a lot of money during a difficult time where inflation is through the roof, bills are going up and there is a cost of living crisis - but the club don't have the decency to let them know where they are heading? That has got to change.
My view on the approach with the local press is that they have always been supportive of the club.
They have been gentle on the whole. There was one particular headline and other bits of coverage elsewhere that would have upset him and I can understand that but they are the conduit between the fans and the club - the strategy to go away from them in the last two years hasn't worked. Fans still feel disconnected.
I have a huge amount of sympathy for Webber. It is a really tough job. Norwich are trying to attract players from a gamblers market.
He got a lot right in the early days - Teemu Pukki, Emi Buendia - but there is no getting away from the fact that a lot of the problems now stem from the fact that he got a lot of the transfers brought in for the Premier League wrong.
There isn't anything to be ashamed about. He had a go with what he had and he got it wrong. It's an impossible market, and you have to get on the right side of it. People understand that and if they don't, then they aren't worth listening to anyway.
They are never going to attract players like their counterparts - so there is always an element of risk to their strategy - so own it.
What has gone wrong at Norwich this season is a collective. It isn't just Webber. But he is in charge of footballing operations so the buck stops with him.
The next step Webber takes is a really important one but it's not going to get any easier if he remains silent and just does an interview on the club channels. It would only take a slow start to next season for it to quickly descend into carnage again.
The time for talking is now.
- Chris Sutton's columns are available to Pink Un + subscribers. Take out your free trial here
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here