Is Adams Under Pressure?

[nutty nigel 7,514]

I think it''s a bit early for all of this to be honest Indy. Have you honestly thought through the whole process of replacing a manager at this point? Would you replace him again if we were bottom half after Christmas? How many sackings this season would be your maximum before you let them stay ''til next season? We are unlikely to change the manager until we a) lose about 5 games on the trot or b) the crowd turn in the stadium. If the board acted everytime a few people on here wanted them to we''d be sacking them once a month indefinitely....

 

 

[Mello Yello 2,287]

Not sure if Neil''s ''under pressure''.....Although I do seem to remember that Queen and David Bowie were.....

[Indy 3,290]

Nutty I''m not saying that I asked you a question would you have been as unforgiving to the board & results if Adams was coming outside the club .

The point as asked by some who said a non league side would not have employed adams with his cv and experience.

So if he didn''t have any connection and got this job how happy would you have been?

[nutty nigel 7,514]

Indy, I''m not being forgiving. I totally support the board in their appointment and totally support the management team they appointed. If that changes then your question would have some relevance.

So what are you like when you''re not being forgiving?

[Indy 3,290]

You would make a great Labour polition Nutty you swerve more than than a shoppung trolly with a dodgy wheel.

Night matey.

[Highland Canary 76]

I suspect he is not under pressure but he remains a bizarre choice. Apart from Wolves, I''ve been to every league game this season and Ibeen somewhat surprised as to the seemingly low quality of many of the sides we have faced thus far. We do have the players to finish in the top two but, regrettably, I see no reason to change my pre-season view that we shall finish mid-table. We lack ideas, penetration and guile. That''s why experienced managers are in such demand. Unfortunately, we''ve missed Neil and Lennon but, yes, I would take Pulis like a shot.

[nutty nigel 7,514]

I have not deviated from that point of view all season Indy. Its you that''s once again all over the place. Cheerio now...

[lappinitup 629]

[quote user="Highland Canary"]I see no reason to change my pre-season view that we shall finish mid-table.[/quote]Blimey, you''re becoming a happy clapper Highland, you''re normally predicting relegation. [:D]

[ron obvious 1,501]

Don''t forget, ours is a new squad in this league & the opposition weren''t certain how we''d play or exactly what our threat would be.

Teams learn quickly these days - they have to - & they have duly noted our preferred modus operandi & negated them accordingly. Neil''s challenge is to be able to change tactics to stay one jump ahead - & he''s got 23 other teams to learn about. It''s a very steep learning curve.

It was a rubbish stream today, but even so we appeared to have an awful lot less skill in our team than the opposition, which is very strange indeed. Most of their players seemed capable of taking on ours & tricking their way past them. We were reluctant to take them on, usually failing if we did so. I really can''t believe our players have such limited abilities, & I do wonder if Adams needs to instill a bit more confidence in the players.

[Holtcantshoot 0]

PRESSURE! Pushing down on me, pressing down on you, no man asked for...UNDER PRESSURE!And yes of course he is. It''s a high pressure job and your employers throwing around statements about the club having the best squad in the division whilst you''re on a run of 1 win in 7 matches is certainly not going to help alleviate it.

[Maccys Back 0]

Hungry like the wolf- I am afraid that McNally has once again backed the wrong horse. The appointment of PL seems more and more like a stroke of luck rather than judgement. We should be asking serious questions about Adams given the recent record and players at his disposal. I like NA as a person but he is looking like the wrong choice - out of his depth. Our form is really worrying. No wins in October against very average opponents. A half-decent manager and we would be clear of the rest at this point. We can see what is coming and the future''s not bright if we persist with Adams IMO. I would be surprised if he was sacked before Christmas - especially if we are hanging around the lower playoff places.

That''s spot on after McNicey, Delia and hubby well and truly took their eye off the ball with who-ton I''d have thought they would try their hardest to rectify it the following season right? Wrong, they went with Adams after "leaving no stone unturned even further afield than europe" yeah course you did.

Also one thing the last two seasons has taught me is that, there are far far to many on this forum that just can not see what''s right infront of their eyes, comment such as what about the 10 game unbeaten run, mcnally knows what he''s doing, we won''t go down it would take to many teams to pick up form and us to "not regain" ours. Unfortunately even if Adam''s doesn''t get a point in the next 10 games there''s people on here that would be certain it''s all going to change round, the " we''ve come across some keepers bang in form" sort of comment earlier in the thread sounds awfully familiar to me BUT not to them, short memories maybe as in very very short.

Any body who says Adams wasn''t an out and out gamble by the club are deluded. Which shows either just how little the board know about football or just how little they think of the fans, a serve them anything and they shall be happy approach. Its pathetic and I think we deserve more than that after two years of utter pish. I hand on heart believe Lamberts appointment was a gamble again (that did pay off) however mcnally''s dined out on that long enough now and his strike rates looking to be 25% positive in management appointments. Now of course any managers a gamble however steps are usually diligently done to minimise the gamble being under taken. Can we really say that about Adams. I personally like the bloke and would love him to get us promoted again but he really is just cutting his teeth but with OUR club. I don''t blame him though it''s the job of a lifetime who would of said "I''m not up to it yet" when might the next chance to do it come round if ever. The blame for this very Lackadaisical approach lays far higher up than Adams. I hope not but this has Gunn mk2 written all over it. Just I hope it''s stopped well before the Gunn and hughton appointments were but history suggests otherwise. I just hope it''s not happening all over again while fans clap on and defend the indefensible week in week out.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="ron obvious"]Don''t forget, ours is a new squad in this league & the opposition weren''t certain how we''d play or exactly what our threat would be.

Teams learn quickly these days - they have to - & they have duly noted our preferred modus operandi & negated them accordingly. Neil''s challenge is to be able to change tactics to stay one jump ahead - & he''s got 23 other teams to learn about. It''s a very steep learning curve.

It was a rubbish stream today, but even so we appeared to have an awful lot less skill in our team than the opposition, which is very strange indeed. Most of their players seemed capable of taking on ours & tricking their way past them. We were reluctant to take them on, usually failing if we did so. I really can''t believe our players have such limited abilities, & I do wonder if Adams needs to instill a bit more confidence in the players.[/quote]

Sorry Ron. Although we were poor for the majority of today''s game Shef Wed looked utter garbage throughout. No way you can say their players had more skill or better technique than ours.

[? 20]

Unfortunately, he is under a bit of pressure, yes.But only because some of our fans are morons who refuse to learn from experience and who seem to think that we have a divine right to win the league. They''re probably the same idiots who bought the ''On Loan to Division One'' shirts, back in ''95. And no doubt they think Cellini is a decent owner.It''s early days, we have a good squad, but Adams is still learning the job. Do you people actually expect City1st''s 100 points and 100 goals?! We''re three points off top, yet you''re suggesting sacking the manager. Deary me.

[Maccys Back 0]

Just to clarify this comment ( I just hope it''s not happening all over again while fans clap on and defend the indefensible week in week out) is not now at this moment in time I think Adams is doing better than some far more experienced managers in the league. But if by Christmas and we''re mid table then there''s problems surely. The board shouldn''t of put Adams in the job yet, they didn''t learn from Gunn. Adams has 3 places for us to be in for the fans to be happy and that''s a lot of pressure on a bloke just learning the ropes. He most definitely should of been learning off a more experienced manager and then taken over from them when they left. This season will certainly reflect far more on mcnally than Adams as far as im concerned. Mcnallys pedigree is under the spot light it''s either an utter masterstroke or a poor attempt to do it on the cheap and taking the easy option. Come on Neil get the lads fired up again

[Making Plans 936]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]you say "too many people though it would be a cakewalk"...[/quote]But they did, and I would include myself in that belief to some extent. Go back to this board in June/July & the general opinion was that due to a combination of our summer transfer signings & being able to keep a large proportion of last seasons squad, we would have more than a good chance of automatic promotion. Pre-season expectation was high.These expectations were further enhanced by the start we had over the first couple of months - playing gung ho football, banging in goals, making great comebacks, beating the Scum (which as it turns out was probably a better result than we thought at the time) and being top of the league on several occasions. Happy days were here again & it was all going to be easy.At that stage many people could not see us failing to win promotion, in fact many people could hardly see us getting beat. Promotion was done & dusted. After all we are only playing against inferior Clubs made up mostly of inferior players to our own. We were going to be invincible. Even now we still have people saying we should be 6, 8 or 10 points clear.Of course the truth is that those sort of results and sort form was never going to continue week in week out until May & there was always going to be a reality check, sooner or later, somewhere along the way. And it''s probably a good thing that it''s happened now.Even with this extended blip we are still well in contention so it''s what happens next that matters. Overall, we are still more than capable of winning this league outright and the only thing that''s changed is the realization that it won''t be as easy as people thought 2 months ago.

 

[Indy 3,290]

The funby thing is those who can see the issue also saw theissues last season and those who are defending the club in giving Adams the job were defending the club for sticking with Hughton last season.

Clearly Adams must be learning his job as would anyone in their first year into a new job. Is this the right league and club to have given a novice the top job?

Last year we all pretty much said at the start of the season on paper we had tge best squad ever at Norwich yet it was the most boring season I have ever experienced and ultimately relegation which was something MacNally stated was not acceptable.

After relegation we got more bullshit from some of the board with "scoured all europe" remark only to give the job to a total novice.

That said there isn''t one of us City fans who didn''t want Adams to be a success, but no matter what people say on here we are certainly not where we could have been had we got the results.

The true measure of any manager is based on the clubs boards expectations and demands on the manager and in that respect I believe Adams is here for some time. Other boards would maybe be considering his position and be putting more pressure on him than ours, but I don''t think there would have been many other clubs giving a novice a go in the first place.

And before we gat the same old faces giving it somethat Adams played football and managed the youth team which he did great success, he is still a novice manaer.

[gabba 0]

[quote user="ron obvious"]It was a rubbish stream today, but even so we appeared to have an awful lot less skill in our team than the opposition, which is very strange indeed. Most of their players seemed capable of taking on ours & tricking their way past them. We were reluctant to take them on, usually failing if we did so. I really can''t believe our players have such limited abilities, & I do wonder if Adams needs to instill a bit more confidence in the players.[/quote]Wednesday were quite handy yesterday and could have easily gone in at half time one or two goals up. We by contrast looked rusty, almost like a post-clearout newly assembled team that hadn''t played together before.The trouble with trying to play a fast, relentless, direct game is that the basics of moving the ball around are lost. There were a lot of passes that were too short and without purpose, players seeming to not have any idea where to move. Wednesday often looked a lot more natural and fluid, and went forward with ease.Even if we''re not playing well we shouldn''t look at terrible as we did yesterday, and we''ve see this sort of thing too often. Those who know their football will have seen these warning signs and will expect trouble ahead. We''re not seeing a normal drop off in form or run of bad luck.There are bound to be good results, like there were under Hoofton, but things are looking ominous.

[ron obvious 1,501]

I would also add that the biggest single failing I noticed was that we too often put the ball behind players, rather than into their path. Single easiest way to slow an attack down.

[Sussexyellow 55]

The question has been asked would NA have been given the job if he were outside the club. A more relevant question might be would he have been given the job if he had not been asked to step into the breach for the last 5 games of last season?

So we are experiencing the knock on effect of the panic decision to sack Hughton. Yes there was a sense of relief at the time but the unanimous view was that NA had no chance of keeping us up. In which case we might as well have stuck with Hughton. This is relevant because having a caretaker manager in place who presumeably had been told he had a shot at the full time post looks to have led to the hurried appointment of a manager after the end of the season. I would suggest that there was time then for refflection and some measured thought - as opposed to don''t worry everybody we will have somebody in place come Sunday!!

Yes NA is under pressure. All managers are, NA possibly more so because the expectations are so high.

But I very much doubt that his job is under threat from the board because our posittion remains far from a disaster. In fact it is not too bad!

That said I am concerned, increasingly so, and the points about there being some ominous signs out there are well made. Our season could still go anywhere from here and we are getting, with justification, somewhat nervous.

[City 2nd 191]

In response to the original post and after attending yesterday''s match, my thoughts as to ''is Neil Adams under pressure.'' Yes, he is, and I think his team selection yesterday showed just that. Why when going to somewhere like Sheffield Wednesday, beaten at home 3-0 last week, and whose own supporters tell us ''can''t score to save their lives'', do you decide to play the wide open expanses of Hillsborough without (recognised) wingers, but three holding midfielders and a creative central midfielder as a makeshift right winger.

As a result we created minimal chances, and we met (according to Neil) a keeper in form. Yes, he made four very good saves, but isn''t that what he is there for? And Neil states that once again we had the bigger ''percentage of possession.'' Yes, we did, we played it sideways, backwards, to the keeper, any which way but to attacking football. Predominantly because there was NO wide outlet, zilch. Whittaker, who was dire, just appalling in everything he did, offered nothing. Ollson did better, but often the final ball did not beat the first defender. Jerome and Grabban had little support other than what they gave one another, Grabbans work rate was commendable, but otherwise he was poor, and continually offside to the extent of it being ridiculous how easy it was for the centre backs of Sheffield to play him.

And when Neil did have the opportunity to change it at half time, after a dire first half, (that if Sheffield had taken their opportunities would have seen them in the lead) he introduced another midfielder!

Now that indicated to me that yes, he is under pressure, and for all the attacking intent he talks of, continuously, he did not want to lose the game. What concerns me is the now continuous selection of players out of position - Martin, Lafferty, Howson, Grabban for example. And playingg three holding midfielders together beggars belief. Lampard and Gerrard for England did nothing for successive managers, and Johnson and Tettey are the same! Neither are creative.

Why has Neil bought into this Hughton trait? Are the tactics of our previous manager still ingrained at the club? Martin is not a centre half, when he plays there we appear unbalanced, he is a far better right back than Whittaker. So because Martin suggests he likes playing centre half because he plays there for Scotland, should our manager play him there? Why did we sign Hooiveld, Cuellar, Miquel? We have Bennett? We had Bassong? All recognised central defenders!

We have creative midfielders, we have wing options, we have your talent in the U21 (Cameron King for example) and yet Neil, who talks a good attacking game, persists with this core of players. And we fail to beat the likes of Birmingham (8-0 losers yesterday) Leeds (who are in disarray) Rotherham, Charlton, Bournemouth, Fulham, and Shresbury (in the cup).

We have failed to score in the first half of TEN matches, and we have not won in seven, or is it now eight? And that it has to be said is not conducive to promotion from any league, not just the championship. And we have the better sides to play, like Forest, Derby, Middlesborough, which could see us drop further down if we continue in the same vein of the previous eight weeks.

And is the pressure further ramped up after the announcements regarding last years profit of 6.5 million, with Bowkett stating that we are geared up for promotion and well equipped for it with the strong squad Neil has, and McNally suggesting the same, only that it may take two years!

In essence, yes the squad is strong, but only if it is utilised in the right way, and Neil picks those to play on merit, not favouritism, or because they want to play in a particular position. He is ramping the pressure up on himself, I do not see him getting the sack, and nor do I think he should, and the statement of McNally suggests that he won''t, certainly over the next two seasons, but his naivety is beginning to show, and like Mrs Miggins, maybe an experienced shoulder (in the mould of Royle) to lean on is required as a way forward.

[Dubai Mark 0]

City 2nd, one of the best responses I have read on here for a long time, that''s saying it how it is. But, I actually do see him being moved on, latest by the January window if we are not well positioned, the stakes are just to high for the club not to take necessary action.

Personally, even though I did not agree with his appointment, I actually want him to succeed, prove me and a few others wrong, as we need stability....but not at the risk of not getting back in to the EPL for NEXT season.

So, on answer to the question...YES, he is under huge pressure, more than the majority of the other managers in this division and rightly so.

[Highland Canary 76]

If ever there was a season not to appoint a manager to practise it was year one after relegation, with maximum parachute payments and a squad pretty intact. That scenario will not remain in place if we fail to gain promotion this season. Had an experienced manager been in post we would be walking towards automatic promotion with our squad. Another totally avoidable, egregious error.

[gabba 0]

The biggest concerns regarding the managerial selection process must be the issues of actually keeping an eye on the market for candidates and having a sense of the style of football that we are aiming to play.We were most attractive to a potential successor the summer after Hoofton''s first season. This was less the case around the turn of the year but we were still attractive enough for someone to come in, spend during the window and be able to keep us up. I seem to recall McNasty saying that he was always looking at alternatives before Hoofton got the boot, yet according to Delia nobody was available. Taken at face value it looks to me like we hadn''t really searched Europe at all, so therefore had no choice but to let Hoofton continue.Appointing Adams as caretaker was a gamble at a time when it probably was genuinely the case that there really wasn''t anyone available. Adams and Robson at least knew the players better than any external appointment would have. What''s bad is that onwards from the time of Adams'' initial appointment the club almost certainly continued to fail to look at the European managerial market. Instead we seemed to be content to sit back and look at the usual flotsam and jetsam British managers.A big problem is that the board are clueless about football, at the very least they were unable to consult and organise any kind of search round Europe. It''s this lack of organisation and planning which led the board to fall back to the same old process of sifting through the CVs of the usual suspects.We left things to the last minute and had to make do with getting in the least bad manager of those seeking work, and let them dictate whatever style they wanted to the players.We should be picking a candidate who will play a style of our choosing, and this style should primarily be a continental passing one in keeping with the club''s heritage instead of the anti-football horror show that Adams is presently treating us to.

[Footy Bloke 0]

Negative Negative Negative! Are we creating chances... Yes! This is a competitive league and whether we like it or not the truth is this league will throw up unforseen problems ie teams defending deep and with numbers behind the ball. We are a big club so there is always pressure with this job. Especially when you have fans who, it seems, expect us to win every single game! Football doesn''t work like that. Hughton was experienced but he wasn''t great was he? Adams has the players playing for him, we are near the top of the league, we are creating chances so I''d put my money on us being back on track sooner rather than later! I can''t see into the future but given the evidence it seems to be a reasonable assumption. Stop slating Adams! What do you negative fans want! You never seem happy!

[Yellow Bird 0]

Good write there.

Of course Adams is under pressure, but so is every manager. We had a good start and more away wins that we''ve seen for a long time. Adams is still learning, but can we afford to drop points while he does his learning?

We should''ve won yesterday and probably would have done if the players who were on the pitch at the end of the game started. Hooper was on the bench and should''ve taken Grabban''s place who spent nearly the whole game in an offside position.

I can''t offer any solutions but we have dropped a lot of points lately and could have been flying had we turned those games into wins.

[Herman 9,733]

[quote user="Footy Bloke"]Negative Negative Negative! Are we creating chances... Yes! This is a competitive league and whether we like it or not the truth is this league will throw up unforseen problems ie teams defending deep and with numbers behind the ball. We are a big club so there is always pressure with this job. Especially when you have fans who, it seems, expect us to win every single game! Football doesn''t work like that. Hughton was experienced but he wasn''t great was he? Adams has the players playing for him, we are near the top of the league, we are creating chances so I''d put my money on us being back on track sooner rather than later! I can''t see into the future but given the evidence it seems to be a reasonable assumption. Stop slating Adams! What do you negative fans want! You never seem happy![/quote]

Therein lies a large problem. There is a sense of over expectation amongst some fans. The other night i read a few posts saying "I''ve bet on a 6-0 win for City", " I have us down for a 4-1 win" etc. If people are going in with this mentality they are bound to be disappointed every game. A sense of realism wouldn''t go amiss sometimes.

[City 2nd 191]

Footy Bloke wrote the following post at 2014-10-26 3:46 PM:

Negative Negative Negative!......We are a big club so there is always pressure with this job!

If you think that my friend, you are as naive as Adams himself! And just who is slating Adams. And the expectation of the fans is correct, given the ''attacking mandate'' that Neil Adams himself endorsed at the commencement of the season. Did you see the game yesterday. Have you watched the team this season? We have not scored in the first half of the last TEN games, and we have not won in eight. Yesterday he picked a defensive formation to not lose, and we creating very very little!

[Indy 3,290]

No, no one expected to win every game you''re just making that up, but at least one from 5 home games against, Bournmouth, Brum, Rotherham, Charlto & Leeds, thats 5 home games and 4 points from 15 at home. 1 win in 8 games is not great and the longer this run continues the harder this league becomes.

We all knew this is a hard league but all of us agreed we have the strongest squad, so what is the problem?

[Yarmy Charlie 0]

We could be top of the league (again) before November so no need to panic!

I can''t believe fans are saying Adams is worse than Hughton; how many games under Hughton did we NOT even have a shot on goal? We don''t have a given right to win every game. There are some well established teams in this league that have been slowly progressing over recent years (Derby, Forest and dare I say even Ipswich) whereas we have had to regroup. And yes we have an inexperienced manager that isn''t sure of his best starting 11 or formation yet, but we are still challenging for the top spot so imagine when he gets it right!

[gabba 0]

[quote user="Footy Bloke"]Negative Negative Negative! Are we creating chances... Yes! This is a competitive league and whether we like it or not the truth is this league will throw up unforseen problems ie teams defending deep and with numbers behind the ball. We are a big club so there is always pressure with this job. Especially when you have fans who, it seems, expect us to win every single game! Football doesn''t work like that. Hughton was experienced but he wasn''t great was he? Adams has the players playing for him, we are near the top of the league, we are creating chances so I''d put my money on us being back on track sooner rather than later! I can''t see into the future but given the evidence it seems to be a reasonable assumption. Stop slating Adams! What do you negative fans want! You never seem happy![/quote]The problem with Adams is that he''s inexperienced, has a poor footballing record and was likely chosen above better qualified candidates. He''s bound to come under criticism after a shocking performance such as yesterday''s.As I wrote above, we rush into appointments generally taking whatever crap is on offer instead of properly planning for the occasion that a vacancy comes up. In the present case we almost certainly haven''t searched for or even opted for the best candidate.A plastic attitude has pervaded the club. The football is dire but was praised for being exciting and attacking. A poor window was hailed as the best in a long time. Adams was hailed as the next Walker. We had assembled an excellent midfield. Etc, etc.But when the wheels fall off the bandwagon the usual excuses begin to flow and the general defence of things being ''good enough'' rather than excellent is employed, highlighting the lack of ambition. Like with Hoofton, more people are starting to wake up to the reality that Adams isn''t cut out for football management.We might be near the top of the league but the atrocious football suggests we''ll struggle to stay there, and longer term end up going nowhere. The shambolic way the club is run means that we won''t walk the league as we ought to with the squad and resources that we have.