I am a huge fan of development football and follow it with great interest. I feel development football gives you a chance to take a trip in the time machine and see what the starting 11 will look like in 5 year’s time – of course many players won’t make it from U21 teams, but a small handful will. It gives me great excitement knowing that some of the players I watch now at the age of 18 could one day be captaining the first team. Everyone knows the talent that graced the Carrow Road surface against Chelsea U18 in that incredible F.A Youth Cup run which we eventually won at Stamford Bridge. From that team the majority are doing great things and are developing well, but the most famous promotion from that setup is of course manager, Neil Adams.
Neil Adams made our U18 team one to beat and one opposition winced at before they took to battle. He was able to take hungry talented players and calculate winning formulas on a regular basis, we saw that in the FA youth cup where we faced such contrasting opposition but still he rose above it. It seemed that the Norwich City board had the same faith in Adams as me, rightly so due to his achievements at this football club.
Many people argued that the appointment of Adams was the wrong one – the cheap option. I backed the decision though and thought it refreshing to see us give the man who has given us so much, a chance to prove himself on the biggest platform. This challenge was going to be a big one for Adams and much different to being a youth team manager which he really did excel in. There wasn’t really a perfect replacement for Chris Hughton and there wasn’t a man who would effortlessly take this team back to the Premier League and have us in Europe within 3 seasons – no, Tony Pulis wouldn’t have. Neil Adams certainly wasn’t the fans choice for Chris Hughton’s successor but we all knew he would work his ass off to get this club back to where we deserve to be and have the polar opposite philosophy to what Chris Hughton did; surely that couldn’t be bad?
After 18 games we now lie in 10th place after being top of the table for a large chuck in the early stages of the season. The game at Nottingham Forest epitomised our season perfectly, the better team for the majority but when we needed to change we were too late to see it and were evidently punished for our tactical naivety. It seemed like Neil Adams was being eaten alive by the ruthless game that is football. Mark Robson was given his p45 while Adams kept his job, an interesting decision made by the board.
We are now left in a situation that we wanted to avoid at all costs, Adams under criticism and Norwich agonisingly close to becoming a club that are engulfed in mediocrity. With the squad we have you would think we could have strolled back to the Premier League and laugh as we smashed 5 past opposition every week but it’s turned out very differently.
We are now left with a decision that will define the season – boy do I wish I could get in that time machine again and move to the end of the season to see what happens. We either sack Adams and bring in someone who can bring instant success or keep Adams and let him mature into a great manager at a club that loves him so much.
I am a changed man after the Hughton era and in the back of my mind is the thought that this club is not a charity for mangers to learn their trade but one that should be competing at the very best level. I love Neil Adams, but until he starts putting together another good run of form and finding that sacred Plan B I am cautious to give my full backing.
We don’t have time, and at this moment, that is exactly what we need; time to try and work out what is best. As we attempt to make these season defining decisions, clubs around us just move forward. Football is a game that doesn’t stop for the weak.
In the perfect scenario Adams will turn this around and stay at this club for the foreseeable future giving us both stability and success, the perfect formula for any club.
