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Parma Ham's gone mouldy

Why Neil Adams is the exception to the rule

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Neil Adams was the brave choice. The Board knew the reaction that appointing him would have. He has something. He will be no soft option. Every great manager must start somewhere.

05/05/2014, 1:27 PM

Parma Ham''s gone mouldy

Re: Adams. YES or NO?

Let us factor in what we do know and weigh it against the probabilities of what we don''t know.

The Board showed evangelical belief in Hughton and wanted him to succeed. They gave him every opportunity to achieve and he repaid the faith with repeated backs-to-the-wall results as repeated weaknesses threatened his position. Negativity and fear had permeated stands, team and tactics as a defender reverted further to defensiveness and found danger around every tactical corner. Adams was a last-minute popular plaster for 26,000 sold-out seats. Euphoria at who he wasn''t and a one-of-us frenzy could have made a difference. It was late, the players mental conditioning was heavily set and change was not change enough. The goodwill towards Adams was tempered by the distant doubt in the minds of even Hughton''s harshest critic, that perhaps the players that we had invested so much hope in had actually never been good enough. That Hughton''s tactics were the product of a calculation of the abilities of the resources at his disposal.

Ray and Morty both make valid points from contrasting directions. The external appearance of an Adams appointment looks parochial, yet Adams is more than this. Those who know him know a steely character with an edge. To portray him as the easy, cheap option is factually true, though ironically he is perhaps the exception. He is ambitious, cares deeply about Norwich, though retains a northern directness and no lack of self-confidence.

We are not - now - going go attract a rather attractive Dutch option, something both catchment area, value-for-money, style of play and existing squad had looked a good, progressive option.

We are also not going to attract a high class name, big money option. We are not that kind of draw in the championship, if indeed anybody is.

We are going to lose better players, not attract them. We will have a greater need to give youth a chance. Our income is going to reduce dramatically. Our best option is to work to retain better-than-championship (but suitable for it) performers such as Howson, Johnson, Olsson, Snodgrass, hooper, turner, Redmond, Martin and add some more youthful pace and fearlessness.

Available and/or theoretical options look thin and imperfect. The most mentioned of Mackay and Lennon carry baggage of their own and a period of disunity needs to be healed. 26,000 will inevitably turn up in div 3, which is fabulous, though when all the tickets are sold there is an inevitable tendency to "give em what they like to eat" and those who win twitter votes or get the most vehement support on canary call do not necessarily a great manager make.

The irony here is that - on paper - the appointment of Adams looks like little old Norwich. On grass - in the circumstances - Neil could be a good and brave gamble.

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Let us assume that Zola, Lennon, Mackay and Adams were the options. Perfection was not offer.

Adams started turning the ship. He understands what the customers want to see. He has had a trial period and recognised the changes required ahead of the summer. He can hit the ground running and not gave a Moyes-esque look and see, give everyone a chance, clean slate hiatus.

He will be entirely prepared to work with a Technical Director, which I believe will be a critical appointment for the club. He will communicate directly and clearly to the fans, who will come round to his open, inclusive (Norwich) way.

He knows the level of the first team. He has had time to assess characters (some of whom acted more honestly / openly around him than they might -should - have, thinking ge might not be permanent). He knows the level if the youth and will fast track those who deserve it and will promote to pro status those who might. There are huge costs in modern football with 3rd choice and back up players. Far better in the champ to hope to stay relatively clear of injuries, use the money to retain superior 1st team quality and rev up some youth to fill the emergency gaps. Neil knows all of thus. He us very media savvy and far, far tougher and more direct than people give him credit for. Having travelled the world I have no desire to reinforce little Norwich syndrome. Ironically, despite superficial appearances, this is a good decision. He can do it. He has something. I don''t say that about many.

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It''s a gamble. It''s always a gamble.It''s just how much more of a gamble is it - if it is indeed more of a gamble

anyway.

I must say I really didn''t want McKay, Sherwood or Lennon. Why? A reason, probably spurious to most of you, but matters to me.

They''re all miserablists. Sherwood probably the worst; a more bitter, sneering object I''ve yet to see.

Zola I would have liked. I don''t know how good the chances of promotion would have been with him, but I bet most of us would have enjoyed the ride

Adams I instinctively like. PHgm sums him up well. His personality seems to include the right ingredients for success. He needs a lot more than that of course, but I was encouraged by one or two things he did in his short tenure; he learnt very quickly against Liverpool & I believe he got the tactics dead right against Chelsea. And he''s prepared to try something different - Redmond as an out & out attacker against a tiring team is an excellent tactic.

Choosing BJ over Tettey though .... hmmm. Still, it''s early days.

Good luck to you Neeyul!!

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My concern is, and Harry Redknapp summed it up well whilst talking about Tim Sherwood, that if you appoint a guy too soon, or as in Sherwood''s case a means to an end, you end up losing a great youth coach when it all goes wrong.I worry that it''s a massive gamble.

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"Our best option is to work to retain better-than-championship (but suitable for it) performers such as Howson, Johnson, Olsson, Snodgrass, Hooper, Turner, Redmond, Martin and add some more youthful pace and fearlessness"

Yup. I''d add Ruddy and delete Turner, but otherwise agree.

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Like PHgm, I do think that there could be something special about Neil Adams. I thought there was a freshness in some of those last 5 games and the players certainly bought into what he wanted them to do. I''m not saying I''m happy about the decision, as I think it''s a huge gamble - but it might just work.

I remember feeling something like this when Mike Walker was appointed. That worked out all right. I''m willing to wait and see.

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For me, the right or wrong with Adams'' appointment rests on just how good the young players under his previous control are, and just how ready they are to play Championship football.

If Loza, the Murphys and the like are exceptional young players, then Adams is the right man. If they are not, then Adams is unlikely to attract players to the club of a calibre compared to Lennon, Zola and Mackay, and it could prove harder to retain the more important squad members.

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At last I have found a thread with a degree of sanity in it. Some of the vitriol flying around on all boards is disgusting. Adams is not Gunn Mark Two. I will admit that I was surprised by his appointment but can see what the board are thinking about. He has the nucleus of a very good championship squad plus he totally knows the youth products. With the culling of players in the next few weeks and a few good acquisitions, I can see that we could well be in a very strong position. His overall attitude about the job is reassuring.

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All the candidates that were in the frame had limitations & short comings of one sort or another & therefore they were all risks.Adams is also a risk but for me is was always the best option & always the most likely to get the job because he already had it.

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[quote user="unique"]For me, the right or wrong with Adams'' appointment rests on just how good the young players under his previous control are, and just how ready they are to play Championship football.

If Loza, the Murphys and the like are exceptional young players, then Adams is the right man. If they are not, then Adams is unlikely to attract players to the club of a calibre compared to Lennon, Zola and Mackay, and it could prove harder to retain the more important squad members.[/quote]

Yep, I agree. This is the key.

Adams will be handed the task of bringing through youth from the FA cup winning team, get rid of overpaid foreigners who dont perform, play more attractive football to keep attendances high, and ultimately, take us back up, during his 3-year contracted time at the club.

Adams, without a proper Technical Director, will not be able to "pull" big names. Therefore the appointment of Technical Director will be critical. Maybe therefore Adams was chosen...as he was willing to accept transfer dealings being made by the TD? Not sure Mackay and others would accept that, being "a bigger name" as they seem themselves...

I for one is quite positive about Adams'' appointment. He needs to find the players who buy his ethos though. He needs to find the midfield mix of passing skills and muscle.

I dont think he fancies Tettey, and I think Fer will go anyway, so my fears is that Johnson will play more than he deserves. Johnson is in my view the perfect example of a type of player we dont need.

Adams will understand the need of pace on the wing. Likely convert Snodgras to a no 10 behind the striker(s). Redmond and Murphy on the wings.

Should need a new rightback, but he will likely spend money on other areas, like central midfield and striker, if RvW leaves.

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And yes, we need some defenders with pace.

At least 1 central defenders who can outrun most forwards, and certainly a new rightback. Martin/Whittaker is not good enough in my eyes.

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Good post grefstad, i do want to see our own talent coming through AND us being successful. Why some posters seem to think those things are mutually exclusive is interesting, many presumably would prefer to waste sheds of money on imported flops.

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McN was quoted as saying that the Board liked the way Adams conducted things during the fateful run-in.

Critics point to only one point from a possible 15, and you can''t argue with this. On the other hand, at his disposal were two main strikers who couldn''t, a central midfielder who had given up and an error-prone defence. We had good opportunities to score against Fulham and against the other teams, and the defence gave up at Old Trafford, while Arsenal beat us with a wonder goal. We might have had a penalty or two.

He was right when he said of one or two games that we were poor, and equally when he praised out performances in others. With time to sort out the striking and defending performance, and with good young players coming through, Adams could become one of our more successful managers,

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[quote user="Surfer"]"Our best option is to work to retain better-than-championship (but suitable for it) performers such as Howson, Johnson, Olsson, Snodgrass, Hooper, Turner, Redmond, Martin and add some more youthful pace and fearlessness"

Yup. I''d add Ruddy and delete Turner, but otherwise agree.[/quote]

You are going to get such a shock next season, Russel Martin is league 1 at best, Johnson is lower championship player, Only Ruddy, Olsson, Snodgrass and maybe a improving Redmond are anywhere near Premiership standard.

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Parma,

Much is made of the promise of our cup-winning youth team and I hope that is well-placed though I have no knowledge of the frequency with which promising players come through the ranks, as opposed to being transferred at early stages of their careers.

Looking at the ''82/3 cup-winning youth team, only Jeremy Goss seems to have become an established first-team player. Admittedly that was 30 years ago, but have the probabilities changed materially since then?

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I really enjoy reading your posts Parma, I hope you are right.

I have a cautious optimism for Neils appointment, much more than I would have had with Lennon or Malky.

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When you employ staff for your own business, there are a number of unwritten factors that look large:

Will they stay?

Do they really want this job?

Will they fit in with the culture?

Do they have ties to the area?

Do they understand how to do this job?

Do they have the skills to sort out current problems?

Fans desperately crave players that care about the club. That bleed yellow and green. Fans like to their own players brought through as they epitomise these factors. Players that give the impression that Norwich is the pinnacle for them . As it is for the fans, that the players dream is to go on a journey with the club as they grow, get promoted, build. Perhaps going one day to Real Madrid for €50m with the goodwill of CR...

Well isn''t this what you just got as a manager?

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[quote user="Parma Hams gone mouldy"]When you employ staff for your own business, there are a number of unwritten factors that look large:

Will they stay?

Do they really want this job?

Will they fit in with the culture?

Do they have ties to the area?

Do they understand how to do this job?

Do they have the skills to sort out current problems?

Fans desperately crave players that care about the club. That bleed yellow and green. Fans like to their own players brought through as they epitomise these factors. Players that give the impression that Norwich is the pinnacle for them . As it is for the fans, that the players dream is to go on a journey with the club as they grow, get promoted, build. Perhaps going one day to Real Madrid for €50m with the goodwill of CR...

Well isn''t this what you just got as a manager?[/quote]Sunny optimism on a Saturday! I like it. Adams is not Gunn Mk II. I think we all understand that. The worry, based on ticking most of those criteria, is that he may be Peter Grant Mk II.

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Buongiorno Purpurea Canarino.

Grant was the perfect example of the dry, pragmatic need for the new structure that Adams fits into. Grant was the isolated, overwhelmed manager painting the lines and mowing the grass at midnight..

Adams is going to be an important cog in a more sophisticated mechanism that is long overdue. Sometimes the need to effect a strategic and cultural change in an organisation requires solutions for now to establish the long-term principle.

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[quote user="Parma Hams gone mouldy"]Buongiorno Purpurea Canarino.

Grant was the perfect example of the dry, pragmatic need for the new structure that Adams fits into. Grant was the isolated, overwhelmed manager painting the lines and mowing the grass at midnight..

Adams is going to be an important cog in a more sophisticated mechanism that is long overdue. Sometimes the need to effect a strategic and cultural change in an organisation requires solutions for now to establish the long-term principle.[/quote]This sounds positively Machiavellian:"For one change always leave a dovetail into which another will fit."

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You write very convincingly on both this and the other thread PH. A very interesting contribution - thank you.It makes sense to me now and let''s all hope that you are right!

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I have fond memories of my year or so in Italy. That said, Parma must have been at the communion wine before posting - I really can''t share his optimism.

While Nero, otherwise known as Hughton, fiddled while NCFC burned, the board stood around holding their d icks.

Nothing will change until both the management and the structure change. As it stands, I''d rather Purple, Parma and Ricardo be given a crack at managing the team.

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