Whilst walking my dog on the Swedish island of Orust I found plenty of time to reflect on the AGM, another defeat and the growing discontent amongst fans.
To summarise where these thoughts ended up I will pose a question that paints a bleak picture:
“Name a Norwich player, signed by Alex Neil who has improved as a player since they signed?”
Struggling to think of one, I dissected the starting 11 from Saturday. His 3 signings, Mulumbu, Brady and Naismith cost a fair few quid. Their collective stock has shrunk almost immeasurably.
Brady last season was played at LB for a while, Mulumbu was largely ignored and as for this season, Naismith wasn’t even a sub for a month. If Olsson wasn’t suspended and Howson injured (two certain starters) the stats could have looked even worse.
For me, having to rely on the old guard once again when they have seen better days themselves is a massive failing. If Alex Neil is a one trick pony, only able to galvanise a broken squad but unable to build his own, then he has to go. For Delia to even suggest she wants him for a considerable period of time is borderline negligent. He is in a phase of management where he can call upon ZERO prior experience.
Norwich have gone soft, at boardroom level. I genuinely believe that after all the flack they got for sacking Hughton, Delia doesn’t want her squeaky clean image tarnished with that brush again.
The thing is Newcastle didn’t have a problem with sacking him (Hughton) and their reasons were clear.
Speaking about the situation, Derek Llambias said “We are not afraid to make decisions and some of them aren’t always good for the fans or show a perception of what we are trying to do”, he goes on “We had a different view of where we wanted to be and what sort of character we needed to push this dressing room further.”
Another great example is when Southampton sacked Nigel Adkins and in went Pochettino. That move took them to the next level and was a brilliant piece of management from the board.
Understanding the shelf life of a manager or player is key for a club like ours. I simply do not believe that the current board understand that well enough to make the calls needed to kick us on in the right direction.
