Phelan seemingly to stay

[PurpleCanary 6,386]

I may have missed it among all the threads but I haven''t seen this piece of news from the EDP specifically posted:

City supporters had been left wondering where that leaves the likes of Phelan, fellow coach Gary Holt and goalkeeper coach Tony Parks, but the 33-year-old says he intends to keep the trio and add his Hamilton assistant, Frankie McAvoy, to the mix.

“I’m looking to bring my first-team coach down, assistant manager Frankie McAvoy, but Mike Phelan, Gary Holt and Tony Parks will certainly be part of the team as well and I’m looking forward to working with them,” Neil told Norwich City TV.

“So, not looking to make wholesale changes, just looking forward to making sure the team can function properly and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

[Newton 0]

Hi Purple

Not quite sure what your view is (nothing changed their then) , but suggest we need to keep Phelan and move Holt to something like grass verge cutting which is more in line with his skill levels

[Absent Friend 0]

"move Holt to something like grass verge cutting which is more in line with his skill levels "

No idea how you think you can justify that Newton.

Holt did well as manager of Falkirk, just not quite as well as Alex Neil at Hamilton.

He joined us, reportedly, because he was attracted by the chance to work with Neil Adams. My bet is he''ll stick it out this season with us, and give it everything he can - he''s that sort of guy.

Come the summer though I reckon he''ll return to club management in Scotland , and probably do very well there.

[Newton 0]

Going same way as Crook - complete waste of money - sentimental appointment approved by the cook (she loves these)

Thank you Gary but u out of your depth - close the door on the way out

[? 20]

Newton, that''s an utterly moronic attitude to have towards a guy who has given his all to us as both a player and assistant manager.Really, what is up with these so called ''fans'' our club has?Give me strength...

[mrs miggins 0]

Newton wrote the following post at 09/01/2015 11:11 PM:

Thank you Gary but u out of your depth - close the door on the way out

--------------------------------

*sighs* the irony

[Horse Renoir 1]

Great news! Why wouldn''t Neil want him? He''s one of the most highly thought of, established, respected coaches going. I didn''t want him as manager but like everyone else I''d be thrilled if we can convince him to stay a few years in a coaching/assistant role!

I still can''t believe we attracted such a talent to perform the same role he did at the biggest club in the world in the Championship!

We now have an exciting young, proven winner of a manager who deploys the type of football we like and will get our under performing ''stars'' going alongside one of the most intelligent and skilled coaches in the country in Phelan, I don''t see how this can fail?

Opposition fans who see Ales Neil as a nobody won''t care, but I bet other Championship boardrooms are extremely jealous of the talent we now have leading the club.

People often bump posts from when Lambert was appointed to highlight just how well he did compared to supporter opinion at the time. Well my prediction: We''re going up in second place behind Bournemouth (Who we''ll get at least a point against today) we''ll surprise everyone again in the Pl and finish mid table twice before Neil get''s poached by Everton or Sprurs and we''ll all say fair fu(ks to a man who came out of ''nowhere'' and joined left us for a big club.

Yes, I''m jumping the gun massively, but, when people start bumping negative threads/posts after we start doing well, I want to make it clear I knew he''d do well from the start! xD

[Theres only one Martin Peters! 0]

Great news that Phelan is staying, his experience will be invaluable to AN. I am pleased with his appointment notwithstanding it being a bit left field. What he has achieved so far has been outstanding and he deserves a chance to show what he can achieve on a bigger stage.

[Jim Smith 2,610]

Potentially good news but for me it depends on whether he was in for the job and if so how he reacts to being overlooked. If his attitude is poor because he resents Neil getting the job then may be best not to have him around but if he is content to stay in the No.2 role then clearly a useful guy to retain. I struggle a bit though to see how its going to work if Macavoy is coming in who was clearly Neil''s right hand man at Hamilton.

[damn that Ralph Coates! 74]

McAvoy (aged 40) looks like he''s eaten all of Delia''s pies, and so Phelan might well have faster feet on the training pitch.......

[canarycop 232]

I feel that Phelan could be a huge part of what we try to achieve in the future. His contacts within the game could mean he is the perfect link between Neil and the CEO when it comes to targets. Although Neil says he is his own man he would be foolish not to take anything on board from Phelan. Phelan has worked with the greatest manager of all time and the chance to help build a reputation for a younger guy I feel may be perfect for him. The CEO must have made certain promises to Phelan when he came here and surely,if he wasn''t in on this appointment,he would have gone straight away.

The fact we offered MP a route back into football is one I do not think he will throw away

[Mr Jenkins 0]

damn that Ralph Coates! wrote the following post at 10/01/2015 9:00 AM:

McAvoy (aged 40) looks like he''s eaten all of Delia''s pies, and so Phelan might well have faster feet on the training pitch.......

The introduction of deep fried Mars Bars into the players diet sheet will have an instant impact on energy levels, particularly movement in the mid field. 😊

[Herman 11,136]

There isn''t that much on the web about McAvoy but what I could glean was that he had a part in setting up their academy as well as AM. His record is pretty good and could be a very good addition to our backroom staff. Big beasty of a man as well. Nobody is going to mess with him.[url]http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2012/11/12/hamilton-academical-the-future-of-scottish-football-is-here.html[/url]

[Jim Smith 2,610]

My concern is not whether Phelan has much to offer as clearly he does but more whether he (or Holt) will work under Neil and possibly Macavoy. Whether there is a distinction to be drawn between head coach (which I think Macavoy is) and Assistant Manager which appears to be Phelan''s role I don''t know.

[ricardo 8,034]

The coaching staff will look heavily overmanned so I expect it will be thinned out fairly soon.I wouldn''t bet that Holt or Phelan will stay long term.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

I hope that Phelan will stay but with so many people involved different views and conflicts are bound to emerge.

I imagine for Phelan this whole appointment is about whether he is enjoying his role, he has achieved everything else a coach could wish for in his career.

I still am unclear if he applied for the managers job, the latest events put a myth to the thoughts that he was being brought in to take over from Adams.

My suspicion is that he isn''t really interested in management but gets his satisfaction from the interaction with players on the training ground. With another coach in the set up that''s going to be harder for him to do.

[norfolkngood 1,174]

I posted this last week when MP came here I asked a coach I know from colney and he told me straight that MP was not after neil adams job he is happy being a coach doesn''t like all the media interviews etc happy doing what he does best !

maybe that''s why he hasn''t got a managers job before maybe it doesn''t interest him at all lets think he has a job for life here as a coach but as a manager maybe 2 years !

I don''t blame him either maybe the money is not much different also the pressure is far less you don''t know what goes on in peoples lives maybe he cannot handle stress ??? ( a guess ) maybe something else but I do know at the moment he is happy doing what he is doing

and I think what others have said he will be the building block for our manager he will tell him straight and AN will learn more from MP in the next few months that will make him even better than he is now

MP will say XYZ is not happy lets try this or he was out of order or he hasn''t got it or attitude is not right he will give AN a insight to football he has never had before and I believe he can only be good IF AN takes his advice

[Indy_Bones 444]

I''m of the opinion that Phelan will be staying longer term (unless he has a major fallout with AN), but that Holt is likely to move on in the summer if not sooner.Adams is due to return in the summer in regards to some form of Youth/Academy role and with McAvoy, Phelan and him, there''s little room for Holt IMHO.Whatever happens with Holt, he still deserves full credit for what he did as a player for us, and then more recently in a coaching role.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,462]

06/01/2015, 1:50 PM

Parma Ham''s gone mouldy is online. Last active: 10/01/2015 12:04:53 Parma Ham''s gone mouldy

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Joined on 13/11/2003

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The Master Plan

06/01/15

Neil Adams was never intended to be so isolated.

The appointment and subsequent loss of Joe Royle unbalanced the envisaged Football Board structure. Joe Royle was the acceptable face of non-executive support at the outset, though an over-arching philosophy and theme running through the club was - and is - desirable.

The Head Coach is often the Lightning rod for unrest, often taking with him Coaches, back room staff, money and even favoured players.

Endlessly repeating this process can only lead to instability and regular losses of significant funds as purchases and the hard-earned Company capital is flung around by transient individual acting to increase their chances of sitting in their seat a little longer.

£100m businesses cannot act this way. Not even in football. at least not on the more meagre offerings below the top tier.

Phelan is ideally suited to perform the de-facto Director of Football role, overseeing transfer spend,bling-term playing methodology and practical on-the-grass day-to-day evaluation of training and matches. He is now too valuable to be made manager. Though he may regularly end up performing this function on necessary occasions. His contacts and access will also be valuable to the company and can be better utilised in a revised role.

This will also necessitate the new Manager or Head Coach working within the Football Board structure. That it can now be de-facto enshrined - with more appropriate pieces in more appropriate places - in practice is a step forward.

Parma

[PurpleCanary 6,386]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]My concern is not whether Phelan has much to offer as clearly he does but more whether he (or Holt) will work under Neil and possibly Macavoy. Whether there is a distinction to be drawn between head coach (which I think Macavoy is) and Assistant Manager which appears to be Phelan''s role I don''t know.[/quote]I have posed this question on a Hamilton fans'' forum:Alex Neil has said that the two first-team two

coaches we already have, Mike Phelan and Gary Holt, will stay and work

alongside Frankie McAvoy. On the face

of it that looks like overkill with the potential for an overlap of

responsibilities, so I was wondering what kind of role Frankie had with

you. Was he very much the first-team coach, which was what Phelan had

become, or was he perhaps the kind of fixer or eminence grise that some

managers like to have nowadays?One fans has replied with this:Frankie quieter guy on the sidelines with Alex very much the shouter but

his key role was in developing/encouraging younger players and those in

the first team he had known for years. I imagine Alex is taking him as he is a guy he knows and trusts - a friendly face among a lot of strangers.