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thebigfeller

A bold, brave, ambitious appointment

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Naysayers, of course, will say there''s a fine line between bravery and madness; some naysayers will now simply start waiting for things to go wrong. But I don''t have that feeling at all. I''m excited. And to those naysayers, I have one simple question:

Name me another club in the whole of Europe which is punching above its weight more than Hamilton Academical have under Alex Neil?

Because you see, I can''t think of one. There isn''t one. Hamilton''s natural level is that of a Scottish Championship or even at times League 1 club. Until only recent years, if they ever got into the Scottish Premier, they were found horribly, embarrassingly wanting: 21 points in 1987. 14 points in 1989. And that stood to reason - for they''re a tiny club with next to no resources and only a small fanbase.

That is the backdrop against what Hamilton have achieved under Neil. What Billy Reid started, Neil has continued and improved; and he''s done it playing proper, positive, enterprising, exciting football. 3rd in the league, only 3 points behind Celtic in January? That''s incredible.

Is this an enormous step up for him? Sure, of course it is. Could it go wrong? Yes, absolutely. Any managerial appointment can go wrong at any club, because there''s so many intangibles involved. How do the players respond to him? What''s his relationship like with them, and with other key figures at the club? Do egos and personalities clash? Is everyone on the same page? How many bad apples are there in the squad? What''s the situation like off the pitch? How lucky or unlucky are you with injuries? Etc etc etc.

But does he have a chance - a major chance actually - of being successful? Yes, he does. It''s not that he talks a good game; it''s how he talks it. Articulate, balanced, focused, clear-headed, likeable, and cliche-free. Someone who won''t take any nonsense and has that vital quality, perspicacity, essential to almost all successful managers in the modern age.

Peter Grant, to draw a parallel, so rarely thought through the impact of anything that he said; he just wore his heart on his sleeve at all times, burning vital bridges all over the place. He did that because he had no managerial experience. Well, Neil does; he won''t make the same mistakes, and his comments overnight showed just how well he knows his own mind too.

Do I expect him to get us into the top 6 now? I certainly hope he does and believe he can - but no. What I''m looking for are clear signs of progress, a real plan coming together in how we play and where we are headed as a football club. That may take time. If there are bad apples in the changing room, they''ll need to be shipped out; if he has completely new ideas, it''ll take time for those to be implemented.

But we have a chance now. We really do. He may well be here for the long term too. Last weekend, I pleaded on air for this club to finally think outside the box; well, we have. With bells on. Big, big credit to the board for that: thankyou for putting a little spring back in my step, and that of thousands of other Norwich City fans. We have something and someone to believe in now.

Finally, memo to the players. Fame costs, and right here''s where you start paying... in sweat. Good luck Alex Neil - all the best mate. And above all...

OTBC!

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I like the board''s decision here. Seems like a guy with a lot of ambition and potential who''ll be hungry to prove himself here. But then if I''m honest I thought Hughton was a good choice at the time. Have to wait and see how he does.

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BF Great post but please do not try and compare this new post with Grant - the only thing that is identical is gender & accent - nothing else

McNally chanced his arm on a massive gamble which if it works will save Delias skin and we will all be cheering her at the end of the season

Even tho I feel she needs to move on for the long term benefit of the club - I am genuinely excited by this post - come on Neil

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Exactly.."a massive gamble" and one that surely everyone hopes will work out, but also have every right to be sceptical about as its such an extreme decision.

Great OP

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Great post OP! Any true Norwich supporter will agree with your sentiments. I have longed for the time we get a manager that is young ,ambitious,not previously linked to club and who could build a dynasty at Carrow Rd. Thought Lambert was that man but was not to be. I wonder now if he realises his error in forcing a move.

Neil could be the real deal. We owe it to ourselves as NCFC fans to give him the opportunity to succeed.

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I thought they would go for the safe option of Phelan but it seems McNally fooled us all and already had other irons in the fire. It will be interesting to see how this all sorts itself out over the coming weeks. If Alex Neil brings in his No 2 the management side is going to look more than a little top heavy so I expect that there will be further leavers.

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[quote user="ricardo"]I thought they would go for the safe option of Phelan but it seems McNally fooled us all and already had other irons in the fire. It will be interesting to see how this all sorts itself out over the coming weeks. If Alex Neil brings in his No 2 the management side is going to look more than a little top heavy so I expect that there will be further leavers.[/quote]This is right. I fact I think there will be some serious changes required across the whole piece before we see if AN can do the business. His young and hungry team at Hamilton looks completely different to what he is inheriting and there will be some casualties in the squad . I doubt he will suffer any Billy Big Boys. Interesting to see if he can manage "Premier League" Internationals , it was always leveled at Lambert that this was his weakness. As for the committee and the coaches expect big changes. The bench isn''t big enough for three assistant coaches, I think we might see that it  is Phelan that he struggles with. AN is completely different to Patriarch that MP found huge success with.  Could even see MP move to the sort of position that McNally first hinted at in the summer as a Technical Director/ Director of Football. One thing Phelan has is a wealth of contacts. It''s just a shame it has come at this time. If AN is to work, it will need time, and the whole season would have been preferable. Unfortunately we just had to get this nonsense of appointing Adams out of our system first.

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