Daniel Brigham 0 Posted February 13, 2015 Alex Neil''s public criticism of Martin Olsson shows he''s brought some much-needed mongrel to the dressing room. But was it wise? By Daniel BrighamThe cricket World Cup starts tomorrow. Australia are favourites. It is ever thus in cricket. A big tournament rolls around, the Aussies begin it as favourites and end it as winners. The rest of the cricket world gets a bit annoyed and moves on. This time, though, it is a little different. Their status as the world’s best one-day international side marks a drastic turnaround over the last 18 months. In 2013 Australia had gone soft. The team that had dominated the last two decades of international cricket had forgotten how to win, were routinely taken apart by England – England! – and were often tripping over themselves and stumbling into petty off-field arguments. It was so unaustralian as to be almost English. Then things changed. Darren Lehmann came in as coach. As old-school Australian as XXXX lager, barbecues and utes, the man with a ciggy in one hand and a tinny in the other relocated the one special ingredient that had gone missing in the national team: the mongrel. Mongrel is at the centre of Australian sporting expression. It is something of the outback: wild, untamed. A will to survive, a kill-or-be-killed mentality. As soon as Lehmann got Australia brawling again, with the snarling, provocative David Warner as his chief conduit, they remembered their birthright: winning at sport. In Glasgow they don’t call it “having a bit of mongrel”. Maybe they call these sort of characters street-fighters. Or wee b*stards. Either way, after just four weeks, it is clear Alex Neil has brought a bit of mongrel with him.Norwich needed it. A talented squad has, it seems, a mushy centre. Neil Adams, by all accounts a Very Nice Man, had replaced Chris Hughton, not just a Very Nice Man but also the Nicest Man in Football. David McNally, a man not overly-labelled as nice, had had enough. After two avuncular managers sculpted in the image of Delia Smith, he turned to a man more in keeping with his own image. A man prepared to upset people for the good of the team. On Tuesday night Norwich fans got to see Neil’s mongrel in public for the first time. Martin Olsson – who’d had a very good game against Blackpool following his aborted Premier League move – had been at fault for certainly one Charlton goal, possibly both. Despite two substitutes rescuing three points, Olsson must still have been anticipating a rollicking when he returned to the dressing room.What he probably didn’t expect was that the rollicking would start on the pitch. As soon as the whistle went, Neil had one thing on his mind: berating Olsson. You certainly couldn’t imagine Hughton or Adams – the kind of men who would probably apologise if a waiter spilled a bowl of soup over them – doing that. In fact, you can’t imagine many of the football league’s 92 managers doing something similar. The Number One rule of football management is don’t criticise your players in public. It’s why Arsène Wenger never sees bad tackles by one of his players and why Jose Mourinho criticises the referee, the linesmen, the media, other managers and other players rather than ever publically admit one of his own men had done something untoward.Public criticism is rare and rarely looks good. Paolo Di Canio made – and then lost – a management career out of doing it. Aside from his Tenerife Tan, Phil Brown will only ever be remembered for forcing his Hull players to sit in a circle on the pitch at half-time against Manchester City in order for him to furiously wag his finger at them for three minutes. He now manages Southend in League Two. By most accounts, Neil’s words with Olsson was a controlled talking-to, rather than a limb-flailing loss-of-rag. This was no absurd ego trip for the manager, as it was for Brown, nor was it a melodramatic loss of emotion, as it always was for Di Canio. Instead, it was for the good of the team. But we won’t really know if it will backfire on Neil until we see how Olsson plays on Saturday – if he is picked. Perhaps, though, Neil was correct to do it publically. All season Norwich have pinballed from brilliant to comically mad and bad, as if someone has a voodoo canary to stick pins into as soon as things start going well. Whatever has been said in the dressing room throughout the season hasn’t prevented this from repeatedly happening. Perhaps Neil felt it was last-resort time: a spot of public shaming to finally get the message to sink in. Whatever the reaction from the players, they will be under no illusion about the nature of their new manager. That they responded to letting a two-goal lead slip by then regaining control of midfield, digging in and finding a winner suggests some of Neil’s mongrel may already be rubbing off on them. And, with four season-defining matches coming up against Wolves, Watford, Blackburn and Ipswich, we may be about to find out exactly to what extent the mongrel has been unleashed. Daniel Brigham is a sports journalist and editor. He tweets at @dan_brigham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bury Yellow 2 Posted February 13, 2015 Excellent piece and a decent observation of AN the man.Looking at the Norwich TV video, I didn''t think it was clear how the after match discussion with Olsson evolved. Initially it looked as if the ''verbals'' were instigated by Olsson. Either way we sure have got ourselves a feisty character and yet what impresses me so far is his calmness, clarity and assured approach when interviewed.I just hope this promise develops into something special. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Jenkins 0 Posted February 13, 2015 Not the first example of AN making public critisism and undoubtedly will not be the last.It''s one aspect of the way he manages the team and manages fans perceptions of him. I''m sure he has many more management strategies at his disposal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canary Jedi 579 Posted February 13, 2015 I like the fact that AN only hints at his displeasure in public about a player. It is good man management because he doesn''t go as far as to humiliate the player, but now the others know thy will not be mollycoddled and protected from the nasty public if thy under perform.So far so good AN... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0 Posted February 14, 2015 Just reads like self indulgent assumption to me .Let''s hope we don''t have a Phil Brown . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daz Sparks 1,151 Posted February 14, 2015 The small snippet of video I have seen looks no more than AN talking to Olson. As for a Phil Brown, Neil looks far too level headed to make those kind misjudgements. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BroadstairsR 2,139 Posted February 14, 2015 I really think we should sell Olsson in the summer. He seems to have had a very disturbed season in many ways and from the very first game, where his performance and behaviour were possibly instrumental in us not getting something from that encounter against Wolves.He''s not that special and £4-5m is a decent return, especially if he is disgruntled and has varying form.Garrido is a more than decent defender and the Olsson money could be used in other areas.Have we a youngster ready to back up Garrido for next season? Whittaker can also play in that position in any case and we will likely have a wealth of central defenders by then (Bennett back and Seb rehabilited) so Martin can revert to lb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PurpleCanary 5,556 Posted February 14, 2015 [quote user="Daniel Brigham"]Alex Neil''s public criticism of Martin Olsson shows he''s brought some much-needed mongrel to the dressing room. But was it wise? By Daniel BrighamThe cricket World Cup starts tomorrow. Australia are favourites. It is ever thus in cricket. A big tournament rolls around, the Aussies begin it as favourites and end it as winners. The rest of the cricket world gets a bit annoyed and moves on. This time, though, it is a little different. Their status as the world’s best one-day international side marks a drastic turnaround over the last 18 months. In 2013 Australia had gone soft. The team that had dominated the last two decades of international cricket had forgotten how to win, were routinely taken apart by England – England! – and were often tripping over themselves and stumbling into petty off-field arguments. It was so unaustralian as to be almost English. Then things changed. Darren Lehmann came in as coach. As old-school Australian as XXXX lager, barbecues and utes, the man with a ciggy in one hand and a tinny in the other relocated the one special ingredient that had gone missing in the national team: the mongrel. Mongrel is at the centre of Australian sporting expression. It is something of the outback: wild, untamed. A will to survive, a kill-or-be-killed mentality. As soon as Lehmann got Australia brawling again, with the snarling, provocative David Warner as his chief conduit, they remembered their birthright: winning at sport. In Glasgow they don’t call it “having a bit of mongrel”. Maybe they call these sort of characters street-fighters. Or wee b*stards. Either way, after just four weeks, it is clear Alex Neil has brought a bit of mongrel with him.Norwich needed it. A talented squad has, it seems, a mushy centre. Neil Adams, by all accounts a Very Nice Man, had replaced Chris Hughton, not just a Very Nice Man but also the Nicest Man in Football. David McNally, a man not overly-labelled as nice, had had enough. After two avuncular managers sculpted in the image of Delia Smith, he turned to a man more in keeping with his own image. A man prepared to upset people for the good of the team. On Tuesday night Norwich fans got to see Neil’s mongrel in public for the first time. Martin Olsson – who’d had a very good game against Blackpool following his aborted Premier League move – had been at fault for certainly one Charlton goal, possibly both. Despite two substitutes rescuing three points, Olsson must still have been anticipating a rollicking when he returned to the dressing room.What he probably didn’t expect was that the rollicking would start on the pitch. As soon as the whistle went, Neil had one thing on his mind: berating Olsson. You certainly couldn’t imagine Hughton or Adams – the kind of men who would probably apologise if a waiter spilled a bowl of soup over them – doing that. In fact, you can’t imagine many of the football league’s 92 managers doing something similar. The Number One rule of football management is don’t criticise your players in public. It’s why Arsène Wenger never sees bad tackles by one of his players and why Jose Mourinho criticises the referee, the linesmen, the media, other managers and other players rather than ever publically admit one of his own men had done something untoward.Public criticism is rare and rarely looks good. Paolo Di Canio made – and then lost – a management career out of doing it. Aside from his Tenerife Tan, Phil Brown will only ever be remembered for forcing his Hull players to sit in a circle on the pitch at half-time against Manchester City in order for him to furiously wag his finger at them for three minutes. He now manages Southend in League Two. By most accounts, Neil’s words with Olsson was a controlled talking-to, rather than a limb-flailing loss-of-rag. This was no absurd ego trip for the manager, as it was for Brown, nor was it a melodramatic loss of emotion, as it always was for Di Canio. Instead, it was for the good of the team. But we won’t really know if it will backfire on Neil until we see how Olsson plays on Saturday – if he is picked. Perhaps, though, Neil was correct to do it publically. All season Norwich have pinballed from brilliant to comically mad and bad, as if someone has a voodoo canary to stick pins into as soon as things start going well. Whatever has been said in the dressing room throughout the season hasn’t prevented this from repeatedly happening. Perhaps Neil felt it was last-resort time: a spot of public shaming to finally get the message to sink in. Whatever the reaction from the players, they will be under no illusion about the nature of their new manager. That they responded to letting a two-goal lead slip by then regaining control of midfield, digging in and finding a winner suggests some of Neil’s mongrel may already be rubbing off on them. And, with four season-defining matches coming up against Wolves, Watford, Blackburn and Ipswich, we may be about to find out exactly to what extent the mongrel has been unleashed. Daniel Brigham is a sports journalist and editor. He tweets at @dan_brigham[/quote]One of the arguments frequently put forward here when there is a managerial vacancy is that we should go for so and so because they had a stellar career as a player, or has been a high-profile coach, and so would command instant respect in the dressing-room. There was a strong element of the latter recently, with Phelan being advocated on the basis that because he had worked under Ferguson the Norwich City players would be bound to take him seriously in the top job.I haven''t been a professional footballer but I suspect any such automatic respect lasts about a week at most, with players very quickly working out from the evidence of their own eyes whether the famous new man actually knows what they are doing. And equally about the chap they had never heard of from some league they thought was a joke. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daz Sparks 1,151 Posted February 14, 2015 Purpe? Am I to assume that you mean the players may well have been sceptical about AN''s apparent credentials as manager, but soon found out he needs to be treated with respect and could indeed gain that respect in return? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PurpleCanary 5,556 Posted February 14, 2015 [quote user="Daz Sparks"]Purpe? Am I to assume that you mean the players may well have been sceptical about AN''s apparent credentials as manager, but soon found out he needs to be treated with respect and could indeed gain that respect in return?[/quote]I was mainly talking theoretically but that certainly is one plausible interpretation of what I posted...[;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daz Sparks 1,151 Posted February 14, 2015 I think the way AN handled the Bassong situation is a mark of the man. Bassong is back in the fold and early signs seem to indicate also back to some semblance of decent form and a deal of commitment to the cause, it could so easily have been different, Bassong may must have seen enough in AN to convince him give it a try, remembering that this all occurred when the window was open, and his name was never mentioned once in connection with wanting away from Carrow Rd. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Great Wall Of Tettey 0 Posted February 14, 2015 Pretty clear olsson wants out and his agent hasn''t exactly helped things with his comments.He''s made consistant mistakes this season then again but most of our defence unit has.My only concern is he''s asked to bomb up the pitch for 90 minutes it''s pretty inevitable he''s going to get caught out now and again. He was brilliant in the premier league but was very rare he got over the halfway line? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites