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writeronthestorm

Alex Neil BBC Interview about his time at Norwich

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No sympathy for him, should have gone last Summer! Makes me laugh how people think he will be a good manager somewhere else! On what basis do people say that? I know he got us promoted but he also got us relegated too because he didn''t even know what his best team was ffs!

If he''s that good why''s he still out of a job?

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He admitted he should have had a clear out last summer, but bottled it. i''m afraid to be a successful manager requires huge strength of character (which can sometimes come close to insanity). I''m not sure he''s got it.

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Needs a few more years plying his trade and more time in lower English leagues to, perhaps, kick on elsewhere.

Even had we got rid of the ''dead wood'' how would we have recruited anyone else when our scout were headed by Spearing and Darnborough, the latter having failed at Burnley some few seasons before.

People laud McNally for his past decisions, and rightly so, but the appointment of Neil was a huge gamble that didn''t pay off... or not really in the long term anyway. Wembley however was amazing and I thank him for that!

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If he now admits keeping the players on was a mistake, why didn''t he play the youngsters like, Maddison, Canos, Pritchard etc?

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Always has been a straight forward guy and tells it how it is, Maybe if

he said that whilst still manager, the fans may have understood and he

could be still in a job.

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@Greavsy

If he now admits keeping the players on was a mistake, why didn''t he play the youngsters like, Maddison, Canos, Pritchard etc?

Exactly this Greavsy, didn''t understand his comment on that, maybe he is just being politically correct to keep within any compromise agreement which is linked to his severance pay ;-)

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[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]@Greavsy

If he now admits keeping the players on was a mistake, why didn''t he play the youngsters like, Maddison, Canos, Pritchard etc?

Exactly this Greavsy, didn''t understand his comment on that, maybe he is just being politically correct to keep within any compromise agreement which is linked to his severance pay ;-)[/quote]

I suspect he was referring more to the defence (Turner, Bassong, Whittaker etc).

Might find out a bit more tomorrow on Sky, he''s their studio guest for the game.

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I think he was a manager with severe limitations which were exposed when we were in the PL.  Obviously I''m not expecting he''ll admit that in an interview.

 

Tactically he was limited and often out-thought by other managers.  He was unable to coach/organise the defence properly.  In attack, the team worked well in his first season but gradually got worse until during this season it was totally hit and miss, score a super goal and get in front and we''d click into place but sometimes the players struggled to mesh together properly.

 

His management style was pretty one-dimensional "my way or the highway".  That worked really well when he first arrived, I think the players needed someone to come in and lay down the law.  Unfortunately in the Prem, his limitations became clear (tactically ) - see for example the comments by Naismith after we lost at home to Liverpool.  Which I think undermined the respect of key senior pro''s such as Naismith and Klose.  Without confidence in him, his approach came over as just bluster and lost its force.

 

So I think he has a lot to learn and the job with us was probably too much too soon.  Ironically it would probably have been better if we''d done a Watford and sacked him after promotion, he could have then moved elsewhere without the negative baggage he now has.  Can he learn and improve ?  Time will tell, he certainly didn''t this season....

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I have no doubt that he is going to be a great success as a manager...although he may find himself as a short term solution for clubs, unless he can learn and improve from experience. I think that only then will he become a viable long term manager for a club.

I agree that he hasn''t necessarily shown a willingness, let alone, the skill to learn and improve from his time at Norwich although to be fair to him, the Premiership and subsequent season in the Championship are intense places to be trying to learn and improve. For me, he moved away from what brought us success and as he lost faith in his players, they lost faith in him and for all his bluster, I think he was wracked with self-doubt during the tough periods of our season in the prem and this season which would not breed confidence to get through it.

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Completely agree with ICF''s 3rd para re ''my way or the highway'' and the senior pros lack of respect for him after that. If he''d shown he could learn from those situations or change his tactics, things might have been different.

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I agree with all of the posts above that talk about AN''s lack of tactical ability (just look at the ineffectiveness of 99% of his substitutions and see how he was out thought at Bristol City) and his inability to learn.

I see his interview as bluster and back-side covering. By effectively saying he didn''t make a massive and brave decision to let go of some of the senior players (I suspect he means those who didn''t buy into his philosophy), all of the other problems were somehow negated.

Garbage, I''m afraid. Even with some weaknesses in the squad, it was obvious that he wasn''t getting anywhere near the best out of them. This is more evidence of an arrogant man, who cannot see it any other way than his way.

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[quote user="Scot-e-dog"]I agree with all of the posts above that talk about AN''s lack of tactical ability (just look at the ineffectiveness of 99% of his substitutions and see how he was out thought at Bristol City) and his inability to learn.

I see his interview as bluster and back-side covering. By effectively saying he didn''t make a massive and brave decision to let go of some of the senior players (I suspect he means those who didn''t buy into his philosophy), all of the other problems were somehow negated.

Garbage, I''m afraid. Even with some weaknesses in the squad, it was obvious that he wasn''t getting anywhere near the best out of them. This is more evidence of an arrogant man, who cannot see it any other way than his way.[/quote]

Hughton couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players on a consistent basis. Adams couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players on a consistent basis.  Neil couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players.   Common factor?  The same core of players.  Not saying the managers are blameless - they all have their faults and shortcomings - but the players have alot to answer for too, as does the club''s recruiting of new players.  As with Hughton, Neil will go on to prove himself as a manager - probably next season and probably to our cost if he takes on another championship club.  

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LDC, I don''t deny the players need to shoulder some of the responsibility. The core has shifted a great deal over the time span you quote, but you accurately point out that there has been a running theme of under performing, although not every season.

I seriously doubt that AN will make any significant impact on the managerial world in the years to come. With the exception of the short, sharp impact he had upon arriving, I didn''t see anything that would convince me that he has what it takes. What did he actually do to sort out the problem of underperforming players (in particular the defence)?

I believe he has absolute faith in is own ability (endorsed by the interview) which was his strength when he arrived and his downfall too. Unless he can shake off that arrogance and be more aware & flexible in his approach, he will ultimately fail wherever he goes.

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As a young manager, he should have built a young team.

I always thought he struggled to hold the respect of the more senior pros, and fully expected him to move them on. Especially when he started to sign players such as Maddison, Pritchard and Canos. Surely this was his intention.

But Somewhere along the way he bottled it, and gave in to playing senior players that I believe he knew weren''t up to it.

Question is, why? Player power? The board? Fan power? I don''t buy his reasoning that they deserved a chance. If you know they''re not up to it, it doesn''t matter whether they deserve it or not.

Signing Klose and Naismith was a massive mistake, and one I believe was made to satisfy the fans. We should have looked to buy players like Chris Wood and Lewis Dunk instead.

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If you''d have said we have the opportunity to sign an experienced Scottish international who had spent years in the Premiership at Everton or Chris Wood, who honestly would have chosen Wood? I''m still not sure about Klose, at times he''s excellent, then he makes silly casual mistakes that cost us goals. Alongside a quick, strong centre half, I''d like to think we''d be more solid.

Signing Pritchard from under Brighton''s nose was an excellent buy, but he couldn''t get in the team in the first few months of the season while we were doing well. Once it started to go wrong, AN decided that he preferred to go with his experienced players and then when he did play Pritchard, he didn''t perform. In the last couple of games, we''ve started to see better performances from him. We''ll see more of Maddison next season I''m sure, but I think we''re handling him properly.

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Signing Naismith was a mistake, both in initial outlay fee and the overall cost of keeping him this season... but... I think, should he stay, he will be integral to the side this coming campaign as an older head and will probably have accepted his fate in staying with us for the foreseeable, meaning we''re likely to get more out of him.

At Preston he was excellent, and hopefully, with a new head coach, he''ll be a signing we can finally get some return on at this level.

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@morgan

I remember being one of those who thought Naismith would be integral this season.

I think he should move on simply as we can''t afford wages like that simply for an experienced pro who puts a shift in.

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I appreciate the wages thing, but at his age, who''s going to come in for him given his inconsistency this season? We''ll definitely make a loss on him if he does go - maybe a swap deal with Villa for McCormack... ;)

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[quote user="lake district canary"][quote user="Scot-e-dog"]I agree with all of the posts above that talk about AN''s lack of tactical ability (just look at the ineffectiveness of 99% of his substitutions and see how he was out thought at Bristol City) and his inability to learn. I see his interview as bluster and back-side covering. By effectively saying he didn''t make a massive and brave decision to let go of some of the senior players (I suspect he means those who didn''t buy into his philosophy), all of the other problems were somehow negated. Garbage, I''m afraid. Even with some weaknesses in the squad, it was obvious that he wasn''t getting anywhere near the best out of them. This is more evidence of an arrogant man, who cannot see it any other way than his way.[/quote]

Hughton couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players on a consistent basis.
Adams couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players on a consistent basis. 
Neil couldn''t get the best out of the same core of players.  

Common factor?  The same core of players. 

Not saying the managers are blameless - they all have their faults and shortcomings - but the players have alot to answer for too, as does the club''s recruiting of new players. 

As with Hughton, Neil will go on to prove himself as a manager - probably next season and probably to our cost if he takes on another championship club.  

[/quote]

As between Adams and Alex Neil, both of them had very strong squads in the Championship and they failed to get them to perform to their abilities.  Alex Neil did better than Adams initially, but worse this season.  I don''t think the fact that Adams was a poor manager too is any help to Alex Neil''s case.


As for Hughton, he''d probably disagree with you that he had the same core group of players.  In Hughton''s first season he got the defence operating solidly while up front, Grant Holt was able to get enough goals for Prem survival.  In his second season, it all went wrong for a whole mix of reasons, but of course that was at Prem level, and the problem with Alex Neil is that he failed comprehensively with the squad at Championship level. 

 

Personally I''d not be at all worried if AN is appointed manager by one of our championship rivals because I think he''s an extremely limited manager.  I suspect he needs a fewer seasons at a lower level to improve his management skills before he''ll be ready for the championship.

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