When Norwich dramatically thumped the self-destruct button at Forest a fortnight ago, pressure, blame and rather unanimous disappointment was directed at Neil Adams. While Hughton’s reign regularly split the vote – those for, and those against, Adams has managed to attract the full fury of the Norwich fan base, in a fraction of the time. Many claim, and did so at the start of the season, that Adams is out of his depth. An easy assumption to make with the youth team manager’s lack of experience (in professional management), but a fiery beginning of the season silenced many views…until now. One win in the last eight; the ship has started to plummet towards the Championship sea bed; goals hopelessly gushing through a leaky midfield, and a leakier defence.
Man over board: Mark Robson was made to walk the plank when he was fired by McNally, with the exact reason being unclear. A deflection of the blame? No doubt things weren’t going well, but of the Adams-Robson combo, who’s to say the latter was truly at fault? At first it seemed like it was the board’s way out of immediately sacking Adams (as many fans had suggested – some less tastefully than others).
Over the international break, McNally adeptly utilised the periscope to seek out Norwich’s answer. A new manager? A director of football? Someone to replace Robson? Canary fans had to wait until today, Thursday 20th November, to find the result of the board’s efforts. Ex-Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan was unveiled, and he will work closely alongside Neil Adams as first team coach. For five years Phelan worked tirelessly as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, and so will have had some influence on the 4 Premier League trophies, 2 League Cups, 1 Champions League trophy, and 4 Charity Shields won during that time. He’s got the coaching experience that Adams hasn’t – and is highly thought of in the football world. On paper, it looks like David McNally has done pretty well to tempt Phelan to the Championship, especially with the limited options available. Phelan will act as the wise head that Joe Royle promised to deliver, before cashing in on a better offer.
Could this be the boost that’s needed to revitalise the season? Unfortunately, his expertise won’t be circling the Norwich camp until next week, and so Saturday’s game against Brighton could be a continuation of what we have seen so far.
That’s not to say he’ll be an instant success, or a success at all, but there’s a fairly conclusive feeling that Norwich have a squad capable of promotion, and hopefully this tinkering will set the cogs back into motion.
