OldRobert
Well-Known Member
Glad that rubbish is over, roll on the cricket.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
To add to that, Norwich are always going to struggle to match a lot of teams in the Prem for individual player quality so any Norwich manager has to be able to get a bit extra from that group.
AN hasn't found that extra. Infact we look a worse team now than the one that got promoted. He has not improved us in any area.
AN hasn't found that extra. Infact we look a worse team now than the one that got promoted. He has not improved us in any area.
Gaffer
Active Member
How about investing the money on decent transfers instead of frittering it away on players like Naismith? If he couldn't make it work this season what makes you think he'll ever make it work? The squad now needs a massive clearout and complete rebuild. Who can honestly say they have faith in Neil to do that?
OldRobert
Well-Known Member
Not sure it's just the squad that needs a massive clearout and rebuild. Should we not look at the Boardroom as well?
KeiranShikari
New Member
Boardroom won't be changing, bar the new CEO. Hope the huge wages we'll offer attract somebody of at least the calibre of McNally.
Alex Neil will be here and honestly do you trust the board to replace him with better right now? I don't. I'm personally glad we'll be sticking with him.
Squad has good Champs players so now it's all about refreshing it and bouncing back. Sorry about the cliché. Get it right and we'll be in great position next season.
Alex Neil will be here and honestly do you trust the board to replace him with better right now? I don't. I'm personally glad we'll be sticking with him.
Squad has good Champs players so now it's all about refreshing it and bouncing back. Sorry about the cliché. Get it right and we'll be in great position next season.
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Dubai Mark
Active Member
Today was what I expected, and I would rather judge the players on the Watford performance to be honest. Next season will be about who comes second to Newcastle, and my guess is that we will be there or thereabouts, regardless of who is CEO (and they will choose wisely) or Manager (whoever he is, he will have one of the best squads in the league once again)!
Gaffer
Active Member
I'm sure Cardiff, Fulham and Wigan all felt the same way. Players who have done it for us in the past are aging (like Hoolahan) or will be sold (like Redmond). We need to get the transfers right this summer and Neil has no form in doing that.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Yes it would be nice to be able to judge the players on the Watford performance. Unfortunately all the other recent performances are a fairer reflection.
Din
Well-Known Member
Neil has said that recruitment in the summer was an issue, as did McNally before he went. Whilst Neil has to take a bit of responsibility for that it's not his main responsibility as manager. Naismith should be doing better considering his performance levels at Everton for the last couple of seasons, again Neil has to take some of the blame for bringing him here, but Naismith really should take a lot of responsibility for his performances. Unlike a lot of our squad he was someone who had proved he can do well at this level, and he just hasn't.
I think he can make it work because he's a young, inexperienced manager who would've undoubtedly of learnt a lot this campaign. He showed last season what he's capable of at Championship level, he just needs to keep developing as a manager and he'll get there.
I have faith in Neil to do that. The fact that most of the stadium were singing 'There's Only One Alex Neil' after the game last week, as well as during today's game suggests that the majority of the fans have faith in him to do that. And judging the comments of various board members recently it sounds like they have faith in him as well.
OldRobert
Well-Known Member
My problem is I don't trust the Board to get it right, but I admire your optimism. I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
If the fixtures had been in a different order and we had played Watford before Sunderland and Man Utd and so our last 2 home games were defeats do you think those chants would have happened?
Not a chance.
But because we had been on such a terrible run people got carried away in the moment.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Absolutely.
Din
Well-Known Member
Do you remember when we beat West Brom 4-0 at home, after a truly awful run of results thus securing our safety?
And do you remember at the end of that game when all the supporters sang 'There's Only One Chris Hughton'? No, me neither.
Fans don't just change their whole opinion on a manager because of one win. In that game against West Brom nobody sang about Chris Hughton, even though he'd just kept us up, whereas Neil and his team had just been relegated and the fans were singing about him. The fans as a whole still overwhelmingly back Alex Neil, and the reason is that, whilst he has made mistakes, he bought us up this season, and it's not really his fault that we're going down. I think a lot of supporters recognise that we're simply not good enough for this level as a team, and there's not a lot Alex Neil is really able to do about that. Lambert was an exceptional manager, who got his players to play above themselves. Is Neil at that level yet? Not quite. However considering his age and potential is there a good chance that next season, with a bit more help from his recruitment team, and having learnt from the mistakes of this season, could he begin to develop into a manager who can make players play above themselves and further? Absolutely.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
We never had a run as bad as what we did under AN. Hughton also didn't have the leftover goodwill of Wembley, he had to come in after Lambert which was something of a tough act to follow.
So how about this, what would people think of AN if he had just replaced Lambert?
It's a worry for me coming out of this season that you can't see a clear idea of what kind of team AN wants us to be. You could see it with Bournemouth that Howe had something he stuck to - which has kept them up. And then you look at Burnley and you can see that Dyche has stuck with something even though it got them relegated it has got them back up.
What are we under AN? He's talked up being an attacking manager but actually his approaches have often been conservative and involved getting numbers behind the ball.
Trying to build a Premier League defence around Russell Martin (CB, RB and "sweeper") is also a worry. So is the way he didn't make the best use of Redmond. So is the way he clearly didn't see quickly enough how many goals Rudd was costing us. So is the way he doesn't seem to be able to react to the changing momentum of a game.
At this moment I don't really see the "potential" other than he's young. But being young doesn't mean he is going to get that much better.
We shall see. If we have a great season and get promoted I will happily hold my hands up. And I expect you to do the same if we don't.
So how about this, what would people think of AN if he had just replaced Lambert?
It's a worry for me coming out of this season that you can't see a clear idea of what kind of team AN wants us to be. You could see it with Bournemouth that Howe had something he stuck to - which has kept them up. And then you look at Burnley and you can see that Dyche has stuck with something even though it got them relegated it has got them back up.
What are we under AN? He's talked up being an attacking manager but actually his approaches have often been conservative and involved getting numbers behind the ball.
Trying to build a Premier League defence around Russell Martin (CB, RB and "sweeper") is also a worry. So is the way he didn't make the best use of Redmond. So is the way he clearly didn't see quickly enough how many goals Rudd was costing us. So is the way he doesn't seem to be able to react to the changing momentum of a game.
At this moment I don't really see the "potential" other than he's young. But being young doesn't mean he is going to get that much better.
We shall see. If we have a great season and get promoted I will happily hold my hands up. And I expect you to do the same if we don't.
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KeiranShikari
New Member
Considering the fact he tried to sign another central defender in the summer it's safe to say he wasn't planning on building a Premier League defence around Russ. He had to work with what he had come the end of the window.
Most of the season wasn't beautiful but it was certainly more enjoyable than the Hughton seasons, for me anyway. Last and Hughton's first there were certainly similarities, that Sunderland game was as important as West Brom. There were some awful decisions but I honestly can't see him leaving his best attacking players out of a game of Sunderland at home's magnitude ever again. I think he did lose his way a bit after the Newcastle game but I personally believe he'll find that again over the summer. Had Klose stayed fit I think he'd have 'gone for it' a bit more towards the end of the season.
Anybody would struggle to replace Lambert after what he did but I don't think different reactions to Hughton and Neil have anything to do with this. The club started to go backwards under Hughton and now Neil is in charge of stopping that slide.
There aren't many managers I'd trust more to get us out of this than Alex Neil. If you offered me Lambert to replace him now I'd say no.
Most of the season wasn't beautiful but it was certainly more enjoyable than the Hughton seasons, for me anyway. Last and Hughton's first there were certainly similarities, that Sunderland game was as important as West Brom. There were some awful decisions but I honestly can't see him leaving his best attacking players out of a game of Sunderland at home's magnitude ever again. I think he did lose his way a bit after the Newcastle game but I personally believe he'll find that again over the summer. Had Klose stayed fit I think he'd have 'gone for it' a bit more towards the end of the season.
Anybody would struggle to replace Lambert after what he did but I don't think different reactions to Hughton and Neil have anything to do with this. The club started to go backwards under Hughton and now Neil is in charge of stopping that slide.
There aren't many managers I'd trust more to get us out of this than Alex Neil. If you offered me Lambert to replace him now I'd say no.
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eatonparkboy
New Member
Watching Derby and Hull last evening, I could identify the style and tactics of both teams. Indeed the same with Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday. But for the life of me I cannot identify what our style is under AN. Agreed we have just played in a higher division against stronger clubs. But we were told we entered last season with "no fear" which most believed to be the high tempo attacking game that had seen us promoted. Since the Newcastle away game, we played with nothing but fear. Fear of losing. And for the majority of those games, we allowed the opposition to dictate the tactics. In fact, I believe the worst thing that occurred was beating Swansea, a team in turmoil at the time, with a game plan that had us sitting back and countering.
I believe too many are pinning their hopes on a repeat of what happened from January 2015 until May 2015. And that period was exciting and good entertainment. But that has now become the reason that so many, including pundits, are declaring that AN is a bright young talented manager.
I hope that belief is right and he gets us playing the way we remember right from the start next season or else I fear we will only be back to the same problem of our board looking for a new manager.
I believe too many are pinning their hopes on a repeat of what happened from January 2015 until May 2015. And that period was exciting and good entertainment. But that has now become the reason that so many, including pundits, are declaring that AN is a bright young talented manager.
I hope that belief is right and he gets us playing the way we remember right from the start next season or else I fear we will only be back to the same problem of our board looking for a new manager.
ZLF
Well-Known Member
The fear of conceding became all consuming and something he couldnt change with the resources to hand. Once a fear has won and you compromise its very rare to turn things around.
Whether he can change that over the summer is one of his two big challenges - the other being how quickly we look to evolve the squad & introduce potential prem quality over our capable championship players.
Get back to playing his preferred 4141 with graft & pace and a defence capable of looking after itself.
Whether he can change that over the summer is one of his two big challenges - the other being how quickly we look to evolve the squad & introduce potential prem quality over our capable championship players.
Get back to playing his preferred 4141 with graft & pace and a defence capable of looking after itself.
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Gaffer
Active Member
In an interview Neil said he'd been telling the lads about the importance of who gets the first goal. All right, that sounds reasonable but what effect does that have when we concede first? The players think 'the game is lost' and throw in the towel. We saw that often this season. The 'you score, we score' attitude was much more realistic and successful for us. Just another example of poor management.
KeiranShikari
New Member
Will give you that one. Yeah, I'm surprised he reiterated that so much. Everybody knows it's true but it wasn't something that needed to be said each week. Although I do feel it was probably more a part of his media script than anything he directly tells the player. A weird choice though that's for sure.
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