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Indy_Bones

The Hardest Thing...

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One of the hardest

things many people find to do is admit that they are wrong, and to

offer an apology for their mistake, because it''s never easy to think

that you were incorrect, that you were too hasty to make a judgement,

or that you simply said something out of turn.

In the case of Alex

Neil''s appointment – I was wrong.

Whilst part of me would

still have liked to have seen a bigger international name like

Guidolin or Bento join (even if they were somewhat unrealistic

targets), it''s impossible to criticise the work Neil has done so far,

nor the turnaround in our performances since his arrival.

I was too quick to

dismiss an ''unknown, unproven manager from the Scottish equivalent of

League 1'', I unfairly dismissed the attributes he could bring to our

club, and was worried that there wouldn''t be enough respect given to

the man by either players or fans – particularly if results weren''t

going well.

Thankfully, I''m

delighted that he''s proved me wrong so far.

There''s a new dynamic

about the team, a belief that we absolutely can win games, that we

can get back to the prem this season, not to mention the far improved

performances from many of our players who had looked lacklustre under

the management of either Hughton and Adams (or both for that matter).

Bradley Johnson has

looked like a man possessed this season, his newer role on the left

side has given us a much better balance in the midfield, not to

mention his excellent contributions from a goalscoring perspective as

well. If he doesn''t get POTS, then there''s something badly wrong

IMHO.

Similarly, Grabban was

on a horrendous lean streak not seen since RVW''s poor first season

with us, yet in the past month or so he''s been almost unplayable at

times, giving us width with his movement and pace, putting the ball

in the net more often than missing, and giving us a genuine outlet

that allows others like Hoolahan, Howson and Johnson to push up and

support more.

We''ve also seen the

return of Bassong from the cold, and he''s rewarded Neil''s faith in

him with some strong displays that have also helped stabilise what

was a pretty shaky back line in many games without him, which also

appears to have had a knock on effort on the form of John Ruddy who

isn''t being forced into making as many desperate attempts to save us

every single game, and looks like he''s getting back to his best again

due to this.

Even Olsson who looked

on the verge of a move away is now getting his head down and putting

in a better shift each game, which has also been helped with

Johnson''s reposition, and in truth I''d argue that part of this is

also down to a new found belief that we CAN get back into the prem

this year, which is clearly where he wants to be and feels he should

be – something that he clearly didn''t feel was the case under Neil

Adams.

We still have a long

way to go however, and it would be foolish to count our chickens

before they''ve hatched, but there''s an awful lot of reasons to be

positive at the minute. We''re on a good run of form (Wigan game

aside), have a squad with enough quality to cover the odd injury

between now and the end of the season, and the added buoyancy from

the fans at both home and away games will given even more motivation

for the players to perform to their best each and every game.

I very much doubt that

our manager reads this forum, much less pays attention to the

criticism that has taken place at times, but if you are reading this

Alex – I was wrong, and I''m sorry.

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My name is Indy, and I was a disbeliever :)

Joking aside Indy, that was a very honest post, and although I am a glass half full merchant, I was saying that AN''s appointment could have found us with the ''next Paul Lambert'' , but also that there was an element of risk, as I felt that the team needed tweaking, to progress. Obviously we on here, have to bow to the Board''s knowledge and it is certainly going in the right direction, with heaps of positives, that were not here before.

Overall, I seriously doubt you could find anyone on here, who was 100% shouting from the roof tops at AN being given the job

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similar post recently, and I''m sure we all agree with the sentiments, as a Scot exiled in Norfolk for many years, but still have family north of the border who are football crazy, I admit to not having a clue about Alex Neil (even though I watched his side beat Hibs (hate them as much as I do Ipswich) I had to ask for background on him, and even then I still thought it was big risk, not now though.

And have to take my hat off to the board, done their homework and were prepared to forget the usual suspects (include Malky in that), lets hope AN continues to make his mark and take us to new heights.

Good op Indy.

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I was right about Alex Neil :D

Wrong about Neil Adams and Paul Lambert through mind you..... I didn''t realise NA was a ''just go out and play, 442, simplistically don''t change a winning team'' man and I thought Lambert was a daft appointment setting us up for L1 consolidation

Every appointment is a massive gamble, thankfully the board got it right this time! I much prefer us doing our homework and keeping tabs on candidates than short-listing the obvious available ''names'' like every other club seems to

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Had an open mind when he was appointed and looked to see what  his record was, what people said about him and the way he talked to people in interviews - and liked what I saw.    That would have all meant nothing if he hadn''t achieved any results - but right from the second half at Bn''mth it was plain we have a real leader and long may it continue.  Of course he is getting the accolades at the moment, but we have to continue our good form right to the end of the season because a manager is only as good as his results and we need to continue to do well, not only to still consider him a good manager, but to get promotion in the process.   His progress as a manager and our  progress as a club are intertwined.   So far so good......

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No problem at all with people having doubts and uncertainty over appointing a new manager, the only issue I have is SOME of those people deciding to not give the guy a chance and slam the club for having no ambition, going for the cheap option etc etc and all that rubbish we had to endure

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I''ve found it best not to criticise managers or players without a reasonable chance to see their abilities. It''s okay to have misgivings towards a decision, after all it would be a very boring forum if we didn''t have something to debate, many people even sensible ones were saying they didn''t know what to make of his appointment, I certainly had my doubts.
The key is that at the end of the day I don''t care whether I''m right or wrong so long as Norwich are succeeding. I am especially happy to be proven wrong if it means Norwich success, hopefully by the end of this season all the previous doubters will be proven wrong, including me [:D]

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It''s early days but the outlook for promotion is promising, and if we don''t finish in the automatic places then I''d fancy Alex Neil to at least get us into the play off final. In a short period it''s fair to say that he''s proved wrong those who wanted Neil Adams to remain in the hotseat.AN has taken over something of a mess left behind by the previous incumbent but managed to fix things by making small changes and injecting confidence into a demoralised squad. Apart from playing two up front against Wigan he''s not done a lot wrong given his top six mandate. He''s got the results without conceding a hatful of goals and led the team on a fantastic run.But the circumstances AN has inherited means that if he achieves promotion this season then he will have done so without having time to build. This in turn means that we might have play to survive instead of building up a more sustainable playing style which makes the most of our relatively meagre resources. Pragmatism will be more important than attractiveness.For obvious reasons the money would be most important given our previous failures, mismanagement and the ensuing underinvestment. We need to give AN at least a season in the Premier League and maybe then assess whether he''s the right man to take Norwich City forward. He might need more time to get Norwich playing a modern passing game, but for the foreseeable future he''s doing what''s required in a somewhat tight situation.If we don''t go up then AN is obviously a good bet to get us up next year. He''s earned the right to at least another season in the job regardless of whether we achieve promotion.

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[quote user="93vintage"]If we don''t go up then AN is obviously a good bet to get us up next year. He''s earned the right to at least another season in the job regardless of whether we achieve promotion.[/quote]
Totally agree, I don''t see why AN should in any way be punished for the below average first half of the season, when he came in many of us believed the automatic ship had sailed so to only be one point away from it is already an achievement. I think we''ll get at least a play off spot, the squad is good enough for the top two, can only hope we get the necessary luck but it is somewhat of a lottery to a degree now, everything is very close and almost impossible to predict.

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[quote user="Hopeful Canary"]indeed Ginja it is very close a bit like Derby and Nottingham. Whats your excuse for not doing that game!![/quote]
No excuses required I went to both games and Birmingham and Shrewsbury and Wolves and Sheffield.

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Mackay and Zola were being touted by several on here - Mackay is heading for League 1,and Zola has been sacked by Cagliari after just two wins in twelve games.Just goes to show that selecting the right manager for your club can be a complete minefield, but McNally''sjudgement on this front is proving to be way above average.

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Before Adams was appointed permanently, I wanted Rosler. He''s since been sacked from his post, so what do I know.When Adams was sacked, I just assumed Phelan would be appointed. I assumed that''s what he was brought in for. I was perplexed when Neil was appointed. I described it as the ballsiest appointment I''d ever seen given our position. It was a proper ''boom or bust'' appointment.I''d hate to have seen the reaction from fans if it had gone bad.

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