Alex Neil

[Jack Flash 17]

Has to be said he has a good record in the Champs - 2nd, 8th and 7th. Maybe we''re a bit too hasty to want rid? Anyway we''re committed to the new structure now, so abandon it and we''re completely shafted.

[Crafty Canary 547]

We did not finish second under Neil.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

I dont think he has signed many players for Preston, when he does it will be interesting to see his track record, pretty poor here with odd exceptions

[norfolkngood 1,174]

Exactly my thoughts Yorkshire

Alex Neil i am sure would come in here and get results with the players we have here now

But when it comes to the summer and he has to build his own team that is where it would go wrong

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Staggering how many of our former players are performing well in this league.

Aaron Wilbraham saving Bolton today

Bennett and Ruddy a big part of Wolves promotion

Pilkington and Yanic part of the Cardiff promotion

Snoddy and Grabban crucial players for Villa

Jerome banging in some vital goals for Derby to get in the playoffs and Johnson a regular for them

Ayala and Howson regulars in a Boro team in the play offs

Hooper started the season strong before injury

Most of these were cast off from us with little ceremony. It''s a worrying trend to see.

[Mason 47 1,924]

It was always about the chequebook with AN.In the Championship it was almost astonishing how he learned from every mistake he made and got better from it- Boro H then Boro W for example. It was only when he got a wedge of cash and didn''t have a clue how to use it properly did things go screwy, which I don''t really think he could work back from. It''s no real surprise that he''s gone to a scrappy underdog team without much money and turned them honest. Something akin to a new-age Mick McCarthy?

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

Testament to the failure of Farke that some of us are harping back fondly to the days of the tinkerman.

Neil learnt quickly and he had a lot to learn.

Farke doesn''t seem to learn much at all, and he had much more to learn.

I hope yesterday serves as a wake up call as some serious thought is needed with regards tactics and playing staff. He has plenty of time to think about things.

Will we see a new and improved set-up from the outset next season or will it be the same old nonsense? We''ll know straight away ... and the manager''s survival is dependent upon improvement in vital areas.

Neil is a fan''s favourite at the End, and rightly so. He has done a very good job. We would almost certainly have reached a higher league position this last season had we kept him on, imo. BUT, I was glad we released him at the time.

Such is footie.

[AJ 1,358]

Tetty''s Jig,

Half of these players were sold due to our premier league status. Wilbraham is not premiership standard although I did love the guy, Bennett be and Ruddy essentially both left as we couldn''t afford to keep them, same with Howson. Snodgrass, Grabban and Jerome all asked to leave. I don''t think any of those guys were pushed out of the club unwillingly anyway...

[capricorn1 18]

I''ve been wondering for a while now how well Neil would do under our current set-up. He seems to do well when he has no or little input in signing the players. It just goes to pot when he''s able to sign them! I guess we''ll see how well Preston do next season when he''s likely to have had more of a say in the summer transfers.

[king canary 8,754]

It will be interesting to see if he can sustain it with Preston.

He seems to have learnt about the defensive side of the game though- Preston conceded significantly less goals than us despite Farke apparently having ''sorted'' the defense.

[KiwiScot 1,684]

What Alex Neil has shown is he can get a bunch of players raising their game which helps in situations like Hamilton where a team in that league start putting in performances and you rise up the table. In Norwich he took on a good team and kicked them up the ass, but got found wanting to maintain that level against stronger competition later on. Preston he took over a good team by championship standards(finished 11th twice in a row) and again has got them playing better(11 more pts than last season, 7th). We are still to see if he can maintain or improve the team or what he can do with a poorer team struggling in a competitive league.

[SwindonCanary 457]

We gave him his BIG chance, he was on a bit of a learning curve whilst here, but it''s clear he''s improved and making less mistakes.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

I think AN was able, by sheer force of personality, to get a Norwich squad (that was one of the strongest in the Champs when he joined) to perform to the level they could and should have been capable of.

 

Tactically/organisationally he was pretty clueless and I didn''t see any sign of improvement to this over his tenure with us.

 

When we''d been promoted to the Prem, his lack of nous was found out, and some of his more experienced signings became aware of this - look at Naismith''s comments after the Liverpool game when we lost after having a 2 goal lead (the Newcastle game was the first time when I think this became widely obvious though).  My take is that this undermined the force of his personal charisma so he was no longer able to inspire the squad and was pretty much a lame duck from then onwards.

 

The following season in the Champs, IMO our squad was one of the top 2 or 3 in the division but after a limited period when the cracks were papered over, AN''s lack of tactical/organisational ability came through (the defensive weaknesses were clear even when we were at the top of the table) and we ended up finishing well below the level that the squad should have been capable of.

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

It''s true though that Preston looked much better organised, when we played them recently, than we did under AN, although that''s not saying a great deal.

[Big Vince 423]

I agree absolutely. Alex Neil was found out during that Newcastle game. The players especially saw that he was not an EPL standard manager. He was never the same thereafter.

The top managers in the game are at the top clubs in the game, just the same as players.

Lambert was another who was found out at a higher level. He could motivate lesser players at a lower level, but not get inside the heads of the prima donnas. In fact, he rather dislikes them.

[king canary 8,754]

''The top managers are at the top clubs.''''

What insight...

[It's Character Forming 1,204]

[quote user="Big Vince"]I agree absolutely. Alex Neil was found out during that Newcastle game. The players especially saw that he was not an EPL standard manager. He was never the same thereafter. The top managers in the game are at the top clubs in the game, just the same as players. Lambert was another who was found out at a higher level. He could motivate lesser players at a lower level, but not get inside the heads of the prima donnas. In fact, he rather dislikes them.[/quote]

 

True.  But I bet you remember the 3-1 playoff semi-final at Carrow Road fondly eh Vince ?  Or perhaps not...

 

Difference with Lambert was that his approach worked with the right group of players in the Prem who were basically still hungry for it.  he struggled when he moved to a club with more established Prem players who had no real hunger at all!

[ZLF 335]

The issue seems to have been a core squad of players that first decided they didn''t like so dropped tools for first hughton then adams and finally Neil after a short bounce.

I feel the suggestion that neil would do better under a director of football has some merit too

That core squad left us in the champs, drained resources from the club and left us floundering and in need of a stinking rich chinese hinvestor then gloat after a successful seaaon having raised their game