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Daniel Brigham

The great Norwich manager mystery

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As speculation increases about Norwich''s new manager, Daniel

Brigham''s head is telling him something different from his heart (and

his gut).
Everyone loves a good mystery. From Kojak to Jonathan Creek, Miss Marple to Cluedo, pop culture is obsessed with whodunits. Intrigue, the fear of the unknown and plain nosiness make humans suckers for stringing clues together in search of answers. Norwich

fans have spent the last week engrossed in their very own manager

mystery. Will it be Malky Mackay in the library with a candlestick?

Gianfranco Zola with a dagger in the dining room? Neil Lennon with a

pint glass in a Glaswegian pub? Tim Sherwood with a gilet in an empty

room?It''s impossible to second-guess the conclusion. Leaks are

at a minimum. Unless you''re in the inner sanctum, clues are hard to

gather. As we all play our roles as mini Columbos, the wait is

doing strange things to different parts of my body. My gut says it will

be Lennon (probably bad but who knows, as I wrote in February),

my head wants Mackay (good but dull), my heart wants Eddie Howe (good

but unlikely), my spleen says Sherwood (bad but entertaining). Away

from bodily parts, I''ve heard a couple of times that Zola tops the list

of targets. But my confidence in that being correct is built on

quicksand. It is impossible to predict whodunnit.Blurry

pictures, fake twitter accounts, bookie odds and newspaper speculation

are all we have to go on. All of this guessing and debating is fun

though. In fact, the search for a new manager is, possibly, the most

exciting thing that has happened to Norwich all season. There

are also nerves. Of course there are nerves. After all, it is a huge,

make-or-break decision that will determine how the entire next year will

go, like naming your first-born (you can cross ''Ricky'' off that list

now) or a girl choosing her dress for the prom.Then you remember

the search is for a manger to lead Norwich in the Championship, not the

Premier League. Some of that excitement dissolves. It''s not a prom

dress we''re looking for but a top to wear for a scuzzy night at The

Waterfront. Prom or no prom, it remains a vital decision.

Experience or youth? Short-term or long-term? British or foreign? Style

or substance? As David McNally sits in his mountain lair, stroking his

cat and repeatedly watching Downfall (coincidentally also the name of Norwich''s end-of-season DVD), these are the choices he has to make. My

own choice wavers. The pragmatic, logical approach would be Mackay. I

wouldn''t have wanted him in the Premier League – Mackayball is far too

similar to Hughtonball – but the most important thing right now is

appointing a manager who gives Norwich the best chance of returning to

the top division at the first attempt. Mackay has yet to experience

failure, did a good job at Watford and won the Championship with

Cardiff. It''s an enticing mix and I''d be happy if he was appointed.But

... Well, we''re all a bit sick of negative football (and, despite what

some say, Mackay did set his teams up just as unadventurously in the

Championship as he did in the Premier League). Can we put up with

another season of it? Well yes, probably, if it leads to plenty of goals

and lots of wins. Mr Spock would choose him. McNally, however,

isn''t a Vulcan (although we shouldn''t rule out Klingon). On a short-term

basis, Mackay is the logical choice. Long-term? Perhaps not so much.In

hindsight, the biggest mistake McNally has made was appointing Hughton.

Not because he''s a bad manager – the 11th-placed finish partly

justified the appointment – but because Hughton drastically changed the

culture that Paul Lambert had installed. A legacy of winning, of a

particular way of playing, was dissolved overnight. It was like Jamie

Oliver launching a range of frozen chicken nuggets. If Mackay is

appointed, and does return the club to the Premier League, how long

until the fans will grow tired of the defensive football? McNally will

be well aware of this. He will be wary of making the same mistake twice.

To build a culture, it needs to be one that the masses accept – and

that involves an attractive style of football. Which is probably

why Zola''s name keeps being mentioned (mostly in conjunction with Neil

Adams). Zola''s teams play good football. The problem is that he hasn''t

always married style with substance and, if it went wrong, we’d just be

back to hearing pundits say ''oh, but he''s such a nice man''. He would be a

big risk.To a lesser degree, so would Howe – the man my heart

is saying should be Norwich''s next manager. But he is highly respected,

young and innovative. He is the perfect leader from which a new legacy

and sustainable culture can be built. There is, as always, a

problem. His name has barely been mentioned in connection to the Norwich

job. He appears happy at Bournemouth, and that is where his heart lies.

He almost certainly won''t be coming.But a good old-fashioned mystery wouldn''t be the same without a plot twist or two, would it?Daniel Brigham is features editor of The Cricketer. He tweets at @cricketer_dan

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I don''t consider us a faliure yet. I think nowadays, you go into the championship with a kind of last chance reprieve. I Don''t want to see a drastic change to be honest. We just need a few more tougher players (Deeney, Ameobi etc) and we can get back to where we were and put last season down as a blip.

I think the time for all this "Change in culture" comes if we haven''t got back first time of asking.

For that reason, I want Malky and I''d love him to bring Deeney with him. I wouldn''t mind if he cost £7m either, he''d be worth it.

Maybe next summer if it hasn''t worked out (any appointment is a gamble) we can look at footballing cultures and all this and that. For now though, we have a massive advantage over the rest of the league and we shouldn''t underestimate how effective our current players could well be in this league if they are played in the right set up and we get to be on the front foot more this year. The likes of Fer are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest in this league and if he''s provided some decent options around him, he can do to the championship what Yaya Toure did to the premiership. I see us more as a Newcastle 2010 than a Derby 2008, put it that way.

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I firmly believe that things will start moving quickly very soon. I don''t think Malky wants this job. I think Lennon does. I think it''ll be Neil Lennon. We will start hearing things within the next few hours I reckon.

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Good piece Daniel. I and many others have made a few threads recently saying the same thing about the culture-destruction that Hughton brought about.

If we''d appointed someone who agreed with Lambert''s philosophies, we wouldn''t have had to rip up what was already a successful team so much. This is why Swansea (and I expect Soton will prove to be similar over the years) are to be admired. They have a strict culture in place, which every manager has to adhere to. The club picks the new manager to fit into their philosophy. This means the squad develop together for years, all learning the same ideas and philosophies. But at clubs like Norwich, the new manager comes in and suddenly players are having to forget everything that''s been drilled into them for the past 18 months, and start all over again. It also means less player turnover, which can only be a good thing.

I really hope we get another young manager who wants to play the way Norwich fans think we should - on the floor, and with no fear.

I agree about Eddie Howe, but my first choice would be Oscar Garcia. Either for me. Failing that, Adkins.

I won''t be disappointed with Mackay or Lennon though, just slightly underwhelmed but with an open mind.

I will be disappointed if it''s Adams, Zola or Warnock though.

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Also, Jimmy I totally agree with you. However, I don''t think Fer will be here in August. If Tettey is open to a move, don''t expect Fer to be showing any loyalty.

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[quote user="Daniel Brigham"]My

own choice wavers. The pragmatic, logical approach would be Mackay. I

wouldn''t have wanted him in the Premier League – Mackayball is far too

similar to Hughtonball
– but the most important thing right now is

appointing a manager who gives Norwich the best chance of returning to

the top division at the first attempt. Mackay has yet to experience

failure, did a good job at Watford and won the Championship with

Cardiff. It''s an enticing mix and I''d be happy if he was appointed.But

... Well, we''re all a bit sick of negative football (and, despite what

some say, Mackay did set his teams up just as unadventurously in the

Championship as he did in the Premier League). Can we put up with

another season of it?
Well yes, probably, if it leads to plenty of goals

and lots of wins. Mr Spock would choose him. [/quote]I don''t buy this Mackay-Hughton comparison. There is nothing wrong with defensive football (some of the best teams practise it) if it is effective and a starting-point for counter-attacks.The point about Hughton''s defensiveness was that it didn''t work. We still let in plenty of goals; our goals conceded per game ratio was actually worse when he was sacked than it had been for the previous season.Nor did this defensiveness, when it did work, help us score, because the Hughton idea was if we attacked too quickly and too often it would leave us vulnerable. So while letting in more goals than before, our goals scored ratio was way way down.There is a difference between defensiveness with a purpose (which Mackay certainly seems to have achieved in the Championship) and Hughton''s forelock-tugging defensiveness. Football management Uriah Heep-style.

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I agree to a certain extent Purple. But Hughton''s defensive tactics worked in the Championship just as well (if not better) than Mackay''s did (albeit with a stronger side). It''s palatable as long as your team is scoring goals and winning games - which both managers achieved in the Championship. Neither managers like their teams to break quickly. In the Premier League, Mackay''s tactics were relatively successful, although they found goals hard to come by - similar to Norwich in 2012-13.

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[quote user="MancCanary"]If we''d appointed someone who agreed with Lambert''s philosophies, we wouldn''t have had to rip up what was already a successful team so much. [/quote]

If we''d appointed someone with Lambert''s philospohies, we would be in pretty much the same boat as we are in now imo. He''s hardly proved his philosophies work at Villa..........

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I''m unsure why.. But I found that a good read and pretty much summed up most, I also would like a end to the manager shenanigans, so we can start moving forward with the newly appointed manager (which i think will be Lennon).

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MancCanary

That''s the first time i''ve seen Adkins name mentioned.

For me, he is the standout choice. 4 promotions with both Southampton (twice) and Scunthorpe (twice)

Teams played attacking football, signed Jay Rod. for Southampton.

I thought was unlucky to lose his job at Southampton.

Couldn''t save Reading with 8 games left last season but got pretty close to play-offs this season despite losing players and a lot of injuries to key players during the season.

Not inspired by any of the other names.

 

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Excellent point PC.It can be observed that cavalier crowd-pleasing football may be possible in the Championship, but it isn''t likely to be sustainable beyond the nothing-to-lose first year up [if indeed then].For the period that you are inferior to half of the Premier League [years], an ability to defend effectively is utterly crucial and unavoidable. Hughton became obsessed by danger and strangled any attacking ability, Mackay knows that team must be hurt or at least feel threatened by your own weapons.You are right to also note that elements of Hughton''s approach had validity, 12 clean sheets in a league season is rather good and entirely desirable. Lurching from one extreme to the other, or desiring something diametrically different from what you just lost / rejected / got hurt by is typical human psychology,  but not good business practice.

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I don''t get all the fixation with "defensive" and "offensive" tactics being continually discussed.  Neither will work, it''s all about the right balance of both.

Lambert was sucessful here in league 1 and champtionship playing attacking football and as we had enough players in the squad to smash the balls in the net we reeped the benefit from his style.  In the prem it became more of a struggle when the likes of Chris Martin didn''t come up with the same ratio - no fault of their own.  We finished a good 12th though.

He goes to Villa and employs the same attacking culture but it hasn''t worked through them not scoring enough hence his struggle.

Hughton on the other hand always seemed to get the tactics wrong, setting us up with attacking formations and players in games which should have been more defence minded and vice verca.  Keeping it tight at the back is a must but you can''t just rely on that, you have to score goals to win games thats never changed and never will.

Fergie at Utd played what you''d call balanced football, yes they attacked more than they did under Moyes but certainly knew how to defend and keep the ball out of their own net.

12 clean sheets means nothing if you go 15 games without scoring!

We need a manager who can tighten us up and cut out the clumsy mistakes of the team but also give us the confidence and desire to stick the bloomin thing in the back of the net isntead of extra touches - we aint Barcelona!

For me that man is Lennon, I base it on his Celtic career before anyone asks and am not fusssed he hasn''t managed in English leagues.  It''s his phylosophy I am interested in - Lambert with a bit more understanding of the defensive side of the game.

Malky isn''t an out and out defensive manager, he set his team up to be the most effective he could at the time - they scored plenty of goals in the championship.  I believe he would try and get the right balance here - comparing him with Hughton is unfair - Hughton had the balance of a one legged tight rope walker!

A balanced approach adopted and we will be fine whatever league we play in (hopefully 2015/16 that''s back in the Prem)

 

OTBC

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LDC - I know what you''re saying - but it was working very well at Norwich. It suited us, and we were building on 3 years of success with it. It''s about continuity at the same club, and I believe Lambert left the club in a good way, with a team of players who really believed in his methods. The board, perhaps scolded by his departure and the ensuing legal disputes, overlooked the fact that he had built a great thing here, which should have been

If a manager with similar footballing beliefs came in, the players wouldn''t have had to try to forget all the old coaching methods, and adjust to a different, more conservative tactics and mindset.

Clubs like Norwich bang on about continuity being vital, and sticking with your managers, citing Ferguson, Wenger and others as examples. But if you''re smaller club like Norwich who is quite likely to lose their manager to a bigger rival, why then ditch the idea of continuity and totally turn your club upside down by appointing a manager who is the polar opposite to your previous?

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Boyer9 - there''s a few people on here who want him as first choice. But strangely, he doesn''t get a mention in anyone else''s posts!

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I''d forgotten about Adkins, that''s not the worst shout! He''ll be expensive to lure from Reading though and he might not see the point in a sideways move.

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Jimmy

Financially at Reading things are up in the air. I could see a move being very appealing.

It was not too long ago he was being linked with the West Brom job.

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[quote user="Parma Hams gone mouldy"]Excellent point PC.It can be observed that cavalier crowd-pleasing football may be possible in the Championship, but it isn''t likely to be sustainable beyond the nothing-to-lose first year up [if indeed then].For the period that you are inferior to half of the Premier League [years], an ability to defend effectively is utterly crucial and unavoidable. Hughton became obsessed by danger and strangled any attacking ability, Mackay knows that team must be hurt or at least feel threatened by your own weapons.You are right to also note that elements of Hughton''s approach had validity, 12 clean sheets in a league season is rather good and entirely desirable. Lurching from one extreme to the other, or desiring something diametrically different from what you just lost / rejected / got hurt by is typical human psychology,  but not good business practice.[/quote]Indeed, Parma. To be strictly accurate 11 under Hughton and one under Adams. And, from memory, two more overall than last season How then did we end up conceding more goals per game?! The answer lies in another statistic which backs up your comment about Hughton strangling any attacking ability.We were the only team in the bottom half of the table (ie, crucially, of all our relegation rivals) who did not fight back to get at least one result away from home after falling behind. Every one else got a at least a draw and in some cases a win. Not us. If we went behind that was it. We lost. We didn''t even go a goal behind, draw level, and then go behind again!And this was an obvious consequence of Hughton''s over-emphasis on the danger of attacking the opposition. The theory was that if we didn''t over-press we would eventually equalise. The reality every time was that either we didn''t equalise or the opposition scored again. And our players knew this. Hence the collapse of morale and the conceding of more goals in away games.

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I don''t any Reading fans but I do know two Saints fans who still speak highly of him.

What don''t you like? style of play, personality, ability to sign good players?

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[quote user="Boyer9"]I don''t any Reading fans but I do know two Saints fans who still speak highly of him. What don''t you like? style of play, personality, ability to sign good players?[/quote]

My dislike of him is slightly personal, but that is another story.

 

I do think he is tactically weak and doesn''t know how to alter a game if his original plan isn''t working. As for signings, he wasn''t in charge of that at Southampton so I wouldn''t regard any of the successes they''ve had in the transfer market his. I know he worked poorly with a DoF (a large part of the reason he was removed at Southampton) and alienated and upset a lot of the players at the club. This is apparently happening again at Reading.

 

Wouldn''t want him anywhere near Norwich.

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Bethnal

I''d not heard about the probs with Saints DOF before.

Who is your first choice?

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