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'Witch Hunt'

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From Paddy Davitts tweets post game-

''#ncfc AN: ''2 months ago I am manager of the month, Then there was a witch hunt around me.''

I really want to like Neil but he really doesn''t help himself sometimes.

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I agree. I think there is an underlying arrogance there and he still does not think he has been st fault for our troubles this season.

That said some signs in the last two games that he has listened to someone and learnt something. At last.

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"Witch Hunt" was certainly not the right phrase to use. You''ve been the manager who''s managed to lose 8 out of 10 with one of the best squads available, and yet still keep your job. Best bet is for him to pipe down on those kind of things.

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It''s more like a fox hunt. The cunning little blighter has managed to escape and is now free to continue being a pest.

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He is always honest in what he says and he hopefully won''t change that.  People will have to get used to it......players and fans.   Some don''t like hearing the truth, but that is their problem.  We''ve laid to rest a few ghosts now - clean sheets are there, we have a genuine goal scorer, we''ve beaten a top ten team - convincingly - the players ARE playing for the manager, despite all the social media/message board nonsense which says to the contrary. We look as good as anyone when on song - so the future is bright. AN keeps a level head - doesn''t get too carried away with wins, doesn''t lose his head at setbacks. A good example to all of us, imo. 

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LDC, please just look at what you are posting (or at least research), before you press the ''Post'' button, otherwise you are setting yourself up again.

It wasn''t ''nonsense'' that the players were not playing for the Manager. For a start, I know someone, who has been in the Players Lounge, after games this season, who has talked about players, and their feelings towards each other, AND the Manager, so please dispel that one. I am not the only one to put stories like that from people ''ITK''.

We KNOW the Manager is always honest, but , at times, over the last couple of months, we, as fans, have needed something different to the ''keep working hard, honest'' ethic, to enlighten us, why stuff is going wrong, for such a long time (blips, are just that, and can be tolerated by fans, but this was FAR more than that)

BUT, a great win, making a Top 6 side look ordinary, is something to be applauded

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LDC, sometimes, just sometimes! Do you actually live on this planet, I must admit to thinking that you are out of this world, literally?

If you were sat behind him on match days I promise you, you would never have used the phrase ''keeps a level head'', although he did keep himself more under control yesterday, so he is maybe learning something from someone. If anyone didn''t like hearing the truth it was AN, and that became our problem, hopefully those days are behind us?

His statement is in keeping with his, it is never my fault mindset, so it is now the fault of a witch hunt.

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See, it doesn''t come across as ''level headed'' or ''honest'' to me LDC. Instead it comes across as thin skinned and a touch arrogant - as if this one win has erased the last 11 games.

We''ve still only take 10 points from the last 36 available and while yesterday was a drastic improvement it''s going to be a while longer before those sorts of comments are valid.

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Ray - AN is a strong character - and tries to keep a level headed view of things - you only have to listen to the way he talks in public to see that. Emotions run high during a match and are understandable, especially if you are Scottish.  Nothing wrong with that.  Or would you prefer a Hughton style approach?  As for players talk - well they are human, aren''t they?   A whole range of things will be talked about in private and within public hearing and they will have good and bad things to say about a manager.  I prefer to take the evidence as I see it.  Off the pitch a well spoken intelligent manager, speaking the truth as he sees it, on the pitch a young scottish manager letting his emotions out .  You or others can think that is wrong, but that is who AN is. It worked for Alex Ferguson......

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I thought the ''Witch Hunt'' comment was pathetic and ill advised considering the situation. What was he trying to prove? I can now see why some players weren''t exactly giving their all if that sort of language is being used.

Nobody was intentionally out to get Alex Neil. He was failing to get anywhere near the best out of his squad after his MOM award, week in week out. Is that the fans fault?

There will have to be a lot more yesterdays for me to be convinced that he is the man for this club and I''m still very much in the Neil Out camp because we need a manager with a cool head who commands respect from all. Two areas where Neil is not scoring 10/10.

That said, if he can turn this around then he''ll deserve the credit, but I fear we will have the fickle nature of the Norwich Fan on Cabbage Call wanting his head one match and wanting his babies the next.

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I noticed the witch hunt comment too, unfortunately it''s typical of AN and the Club as a whole.

I posted recently regarding customer expectations and the use of comments like ''witch hunt'' is exactly what I was referring to.

Of all the thousands of words in our language, AN has chosen those which shift the blame for the pitiful performances onto the fans.

So in his mind, he bears no responsibility for the past 12 months worth of garbage on the field of play.

It''s not my fault.

Poor management unfortunately, we can only logically assume that the way he manages the media / supporters reflects the way he manages the players, woeful.

Yes, I''m very happy with the performance against Derby, we all know that our players can do the business, but it''s papering over the cracks.

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Since when did being Scottish make you more emotional?

Anyway the point you are missing LDC is that the concern about these types of remarks from Neil is that it suggests that he does not accept any fault/blame for the horrendous run we are on and thinks he has been unfairly criticised.

Yesterday''s performance was an improvement but in my view is only likely to turn into a longer term upturn if the manager has genuinely learnt a few lessons and perhaps had a long, hard look at himself and how he has been doing certain things. If he hasn''t then there is a good chance that the same old issues will arise again in the future. If, however, he has genuinely had his eyes opened by his recent chastening experiences then it may be that we could see a long term improvement. Quotes like that though do not encourage.

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Heaven forbid we should have a manager with some personality!

I prefer to hear that than the bland mutterings of Hughton.

Personally, after a win like that I think he''s perfectly justified to snarl back at the polls and chants ... we''re all thick skinned enough to take it aren''t we?!

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Im a badge carrying happy clapper but the criticism was totally correct of Alex Neil

I don''t mind him firing off at the press though. I don''t get offended by what he says and frankly a bit of fire has got to be a good thing

I''m sure there''s plenty that of the "studying his body language on the radio" types that will hold a grudge and take every word he says personally but I care about the way we play and results

If he wants to create a siege mentality that''s totally fine by me

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[quote user="Jim Smith"]Since when did being Scottish make you more emotional? [/quote]I didn''t say or mean the Scottish are more emotional, just that if you know scottish people, you will know that they tend to show their emotions more readily than other nationalities.  Is that stereo typing, I don''t know, but it is fairly accurate in my experience.

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He just can''t help wanting to sound hard done by or that he''s been made a scapegoat.

I think he made a comment about him preparing the team no differently which, again, was shifting the blame to the players for the poor form.

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[quote user="GJP"]He just can''t help wanting to sound hard done by or that he''s been made a scapegoat.

I think he made a comment about him preparing the team no differently which, again, was shifting the blame to the players for the poor form.[/quote]Why shouldn''t he blame the players?  Hughton used to make excuses all the time for poor performances - that didn''t work because he just came across as weak.  The manager takes ultimate responsibilty and AN knows that - all he is saying is that when the players cross the line on to the pitch it is up to them to get it right. And if they don''t get it right, why shouldn''t he say so? He is just being honest.

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Yeah, it''s about proportioning things, LDC.

The players have to take some responsibility and maybe the poor run means AN needs to make a public comment about the players. But if you do that you must at the same time acknowledge your own responsibility. He has made as many mistakes as the players in recent weeks.

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It''s a major concern if he really believes the poor performance over the last few months is not his responsibility to any degree.  Because I think it''s mainly down to him, and if he really can''t see that, it''s going to be hard to overcome the problems consistently.

 

To take one example, the poor way our team was setup against Barnsley was totally down to AN.  Our poor first half performance was the result.  He re-shuffled the pack at half time and we played better but not well enough to get anything out of the game.  It''s not a witch hunt to criticise the manager for that.  He needs to be learning lessons from those poor performances so he can do better.  If he thinks it''s not his fault, he won''t be learning and we''ll continue to see mixed performances, especially given plenty of other managers in the division are able to look at the way we setup as a team and adjust their team selection and tactics accordingly.

 

Like GJP said, if he can get a run of winning 8 out of 10 (and for me, without the obvious defensive fragility we had earlier this season, even when we were top of the league) then I''ll be willing to think he''s started to turn things around.  One decent home win is nothing to crow about !

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Couldn''t give a monkeys tit what he says as long as we keep playing like we did yesterday.

If we lose I will analysise and critique each word though.😀

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[quote user="hogesar"]Yeah, it''s about proportioning things, LDC.

The players have to take some responsibility and maybe the poor run means AN needs to make a public comment about the players. But if you do that you must at the same time acknowledge your own responsibility. He has made as many mistakes as the players in recent weeks.[/quote]

And he has admitted when he has made a mistake, the team selection against Barnsley for instance. And other "mistakes" that people think he has made, may not be mistakes in his eyes - substitutions, for instance, are not something that you can easily say one way or another.

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Re substitutions LDC, we call it a lot at games, way before AN does and me and my gang, are not the only ''experts'' in the Stadium!

Re mistakes, we all make them, but with the Team/Squad we have had, since the start of the season, we should not have made anywhere near the amount we have this season.

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Yesterday is the level that this Norwich team should be at 70% of the time. Being a manager is more than just tactics you have to create the right atmospere within the squad.

if Alex was as honest as you make out he might be a little more humble and accept that. He was manager of the month when we had a winning run against lower half sides and then was slated when he had a losing run against the top sides, he can''t have it both ways.

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[quote user="Crabbycanary3"]Re substitutions LDC, we call it a lot at games, way before AN does and me and my gang, are not the only ''experts'' in the Stadium!

Re mistakes, we all make them, but with the Team/Squad we have had, since the start of the season, we should not have made anywhere near the amount we have this season.[/quote]

But that just brings us back to the players.  Too many mistakes, yes, but the gist of the season, from a player''s point of view, seems to me to have been  a sequence of -1. "We''re going to play our way back into the premier league", followed by -2. "uh-oh, this is going to be harder than we thought", followed by - 3.  "sh*t, we aren''t up to this", followed by -4.  "come on lads we''ve got to sort this out", followed by -5.   "this is more like it, we''re starting to get to grips with this", followed by this yesterday -6.   "yep, we''re up and running".  No 7. has to be "right we''ve proved we are good enough, now lets get on with it."

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In my opinion, players like a manager who has got their backs. AN doesn''t come across like one of those.

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LDC

Emotions run high during a match and are understandable, especially if you are Scottish

???? I''m Scottish,and right now can feel my emotions stirring..............

Time for help, Doctor he is out of bed again, and he has found that bloody keyboard.

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[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]LDC

Emotions run high during a match and are understandable, especially if you are Scottish

???? I''m Scottish,and right now can feel my emotions stirring..............

Time for help, Doctor he is out of bed again, and he has found that bloody keyboard.[/quote]Lol. I''m half Scottish and knowing that side of the family has shown me quite a lot about Scottish and the way they show their emotions......

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