In the wake of Neil Adams resignation, the board are left with the difficult task of ‘scouring the whole of Europe’ for Norwich’s next manager. Hopefully this time, they don’t return from their thorough tour of the continent to assign the Youth coach, or Mike Phelan for that matter. They messed it up last time; please not again – there can be no mistakes this time around.
It’s all well and good getting rid of a new manager, but finding one can be a little tricky. Who is out there? Who’s deserted in the scrapyard of thrown-out toys and spares and repairs managers? Or who, with a little persuasion, will leave their current club in the dirt to try their arm at the Norwich City job? Well, the choice isn’t great, but one of those rusty cogs might just fit the Norwich City machine. A little ignition now is desperately needed after a seemingly stop-start season.
Mike Phelan – ‘The Cheap Option’
Let’s begin with the man whose job at the moment is to keep everything from falling apart. It was always though that Phelan might pick up the pieces when Adams realised he was out of his depth, but despite his overwhelming CV, does a good coach make a good manager? Of course his achievements alongside Sir Alex Ferguson are commendable, but having never actually taken charge of his own team, he’s arguably as inexperienced as his predecessor. At the moment he will remain caretaker manager for the fixture versus Bournemouth on Saturday, but who knows, perhaps the board will take the ‘easy option’…again. As a manager you’ve got to start somewhere – that somewhere isn’t stranded below the Championship play-offs with promotion being the absolute requirement. Personally, I’d prefer if we could keep him on as first team coach and bring in someone far more experienced as manager.
Tim Sherwood
Like Mike Phelan, Tim Sherwood is another who has previously played for Norwich, meaning he’s already ticked the board’s favourite box. The similarities continue, with Sherwood also lacking in managerial experience. His debut came on the big stage, when he promoted – like Adams – from a coaching role to first team manager after a successful caretaker period following André Villas-Boas’ dismissal. He was originally given an 18 month contract, but survived a mere five. Rather ironically, he left White Hart Lane with the best games-to-win ratio than any Spurs manager since the start of the Premier League. He can also hold his head high – he managed what few could: he got Adebayor scoring again! Perhaps beginning slightly lower down the ladder will allow him to climb without falling so quickly.
Karl Robinson
A name that’s been floated about a fair bit. As managers go, he fairly young, only 34, and it wasn’t that long ago since he was making appearances for the likes of Warrington Town. As a manager, he’s earned his reputation at MK Dons, who he has been with since May 2010. During his stay he’s yielded a win percentage of 43%, and with draws added in, it correlates to 1.6 points per game. Not too shabby, however his progress in League One has faltered.
In his first two seasons, where he was the youngest manager in The Football League, he managed 5th position twice in a row. 12/13 and 13/14 proved more of a struggle, finishing 8th and 10th respectively.
In the current season however, MK Dons are sitting pretty in 4th position, three points off top, and eight ahead of Bradford who chase at their heels. They sport the best goal-scoring record so far this season, as well as the second strongest defence, culminating in League One’s best goal difference. Impressive stuff…but could he really replicate that in the tier above?
Neil Warnock
Everyone knows who Neil Warnock is. Not everyone likes him, but he’s certainly a well-known figure. What you don’t get with some of the other options is experience. That’s a formality with Warnock. In fact, he’s managed fourteen different clubs over a career of many more years. Most recently at Palace, where he returned for a second bite at the cherry after being sacked back in 2010. Unlike his last stay that spanned a healthy three years; this time he survived just 4 months.
Warnock originally made his name with Notts County, achieving back-to-back promotions taking the club from the Third Division to the First Division in ’91. Along with County, he’s taken Sheffield United and most recently QPR to the top division, so would know what the job was if he was to come to Norwich.
It’s not been all fun and games with Warnock though, and that was highlighted during his spell with Leeds. While his first half-a-season finished okay, in 14th, the second went sailing down the drain. With Leeds just 5 points off the relegation zone in April 2013, Warnock resigned, however that may have been influenced by the club’s new owners.
Michael Laudrup
A manager who has worked wonders in both his playing career, and so far in his managerial career. Having played for Lazio, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax, he’s got some experience at the top level, and the ‘beautiful game’ that is on show at all those big clubs comes through in his coaching. A successful spell at Swansea did come to an end last year but there were many good moments throughout. Instilled in a patient and yet fulfilling passing style, Swansea impressed in the Premier League after Brendan Rodgers left for Liverpool. Laudrup bought ‘the signing of the season in Michu’ (as many pundits claimed) and led the club not only to 9th position, but their first ever major trophy in the League Cup.
Since being sacked the following year despite achieving 24 points from 24 games at the time, he has managed one team. And that team is…drum roll…Lekhwiya SC. Nope – I hadn’t heard of them either. It turns out they’re a Qatari football club who were founded just 6 years ago. All that says to me is that Michael Laudrup’s on quite a big wage. But he only signed a one-year contract, and the prospect of a fairly big Championship club might be one that appeals to him. You would like to think he could get the most out of players like Redmond in the same way he managed with Nathan Dyer.
Still, depending how much this Qatari club are paying him may determine how feasible such a coup would be.
Uwe Rosler
Uwe Rosler began his English managerial career with Brentford, who he helped lift to play-off spot in his first season. However, on the final day of the season, his team player Doncaster, the team who occupied the spot above. Brentford won a penalty in the final moments of the game, but the insistent captain O’Connor crashed the ball against the bar and Doncaster counter-attacked to secure themselves a place in the Championship. Rosler’s team failed to beat Swindon in the play-offs, and were sentenced to another year in League One.
The captain, O’Connor did have this to say about the manager, before he joined Wigan: “We were a bang average League One side, but Uwe changed the mentality. Everything he did was all Premier League standard. He did amazing, so we’ll be saying thank you to him”.
With Wigan, their league place was made to pay for the extra European games they had to play. Apart from reaching the semi-finals of the FA cup and narrowly going out to Arsenal on penalties, things weren’t going to well. His second season went even more down hill, and the board sacked him in November 2014.
Still, the way the Brentford captain speaks of him is admirable. And there were sparks of brilliance with Wigan, just not enough. Perhaps there’s a decent manager there somewhere? Appointing him would be a risk, and maybe not the one you take at his stage of the season.
There are many managers out there; some better than others. It’s all speculation, and we won’t know until the board make a decision; if the board make a decision. Those candidates hopefully provide examples of the different types that are available, and whether going for a more experienced manager is the way to go, or risking it with someone who isn’t proven at this level but has potential.
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