I agree, the buck stops with him, but if he´s not going to resign, and he´s absolutely right not to, and the board aren´t going to sack him, then it´s up to the players to start playing like the professionals they claim to be, because at the moment they´re playing like amateurs. ..and as for your suggestion that he should drop under-performing players to the bench or altogether, within three weeks he wouldn´t have a squad to play with if he did that.
Can't REALLY argue with any of that Cromer and I'd love to see Efete replace Martin and JM (of course) replace Naismith, but I guess I might as well hope to win the Lottery!!
Very possibly JM, very possibly, and I´m not suggesting that Mr. Neil will suddenly get us rocketing up the league into a safe and secure play-off spot, because I don´t think he will. But I still can´t think of anyone who would be better for the job ahead, bearing in mind that we are likely to stay down here at least for one more season.
Now our season is over in terms of achieving anything (except perhaps another dose or two of egg on the face) there is absolutely no good reason not to. Several older players are out of contract this summer and a few more (Maddison, both Murphys, Pritchard) will invariably generate some genuine interest, so the nucleus of next season's set up (pre window, obviously) might as well get some senior competitive game time as preparation starting Tuesday night. After all, it's 'only' lowly Bristol City
Ha yes Cromer, so we're bound to lose then!!! Seriously though, the next few games would be ideal to give some of our youff a chance.
Pretty damning article from Paddy Davitt on NCFC today - "The manager is not solely responsible for a recruitment strategy which bar the odd success accelerated the decline amongst a squad with too many miles on the clock. But these are his players. He either signed or coached them for the past 26 months. In the interests of accuracy, Neil has attempted to cultivate a seam of young talent but reverted to the tried and trusted in the pursuit of promotion, promotion, promotion. To salvage anything from a wretched campaign it is time to see Ben Godfrey, James Maddison and Alex Pritchard. They may not be ready. They may still be learning. Norwich in all probability will lose more games than they win, given they face plenty of genuine top six contenders, but it can be no worse than the diabolical displays witnessed too often away from the secure confines of Carrow Road. Those deemed surplus to requirements must be jettisoned, however difficult the financial process of extricating young men on large contracts who quite rightly will refuse to budge unless they can find another stop on the gravy train. Norwich’s support must also brace themselves for departures of some of their brightest talent. If City had to sell to buy in the most recent transfer window that will become ever more marked this summer, as they adjust to an increasingly challenging fiscal environment. Norwich’s best assets will attract interest. That is inevitable. The future is uncertain, the side effects painful. But this mess is entirely of Norwich’s making. They have to be bold and decisive or risk a prolonged period of Championship mediocrity." Yes indeed, the starting 11 tomorrow and for the rest of the season is going to be interesting and I would certainly like to see Martin as one of the first to be culled!!! Full article here - http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...a_loveless_marriage_at_norwich_city_1_4916850 Edit - I've just seen AN's comments and I wouldn't be surprised to see most of those who started on Saturday given a chance to redeem themselves at Ashton Gate!!!! http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwic...y_after_sheffield_wednesday_mauling_1_4916826
Following on from those two articles, JM, here's another hard-hitting piece from the EDP. It includes the lines: and: http://www.edp24.co.uk/features/we_...ed_at_this_latest_city_capitulation_1_4917306
Thanks Cromer, I hadn't seen those and yes, after relegation, he should have been told he had until Xmas to turn things around, not given £2M as 'a bounty'. RBF - you mention about AN not quitting, as he has a family to support etc - well, I'm sure his 'bounty' is more than twice what many NCFC fans will earn in their entire career!!!!
Irrespective of that JM, I guarantee 95% of those on here calling for him to walk, if they were in his position, would stand their ground too. It´s ludicrous to expect him to resign, the club appointed him, the club have to sack him if they want him to go - simple.
With all respect to the EDP, they can keep on churning out similar articles until the cows come home, (in fact they have a boring tendency to do so), unless the board, with Delia at the head take any notice, they, like you, are just wasting their breath.
They had two good chances to start afresh. After the meek, without-a-whimper relegation last season, and once again after the calamitous, inexcusably bad run last autumn where we lost seven (7!?) out of nine. Everyone else inside and outside of the club has see his time is up - apart from the three amigos. In his 27 months here, he's taken us from 7th in the championship to 8th in the same division, via a brilliant day at Wembley and a shockingly poor season in the top flight where he was too naive to correctly identify transfer targets or the board weren't supportive enough in procuring them. So, let's have it right, in two and a quarter years he's taken us backwards With more of the same on offer ad nauseam because this pathetic self-financing model is no longer fit for purpose. I thought people connected with football clubs aspire to growth, improvement, development etc? Well, everyone in green and yellow would love to ...except, the 3 amigos, who yearn for a period of stagnation, treading water, going no ****ing where That would be Delia 'dither in the doldrums' Smith Michael 'nodding dog on the back parcel shelf' Wynn-Jones and royalbarclayfan, who deems it appropriate to "cheer us all up" with some childish poems after every bloody pasting the team suffers. Whatever happened to the good old ethos of striving to be the best you can be? P.S. Our trials and tribs are nothing compared to Leyton Orient, so I thought I'd end this rant with a mention - and fingers crossed in their direction.
Oh dear, mind the blood pressure old boy, you really did put the wrong leg out of bed first this morning - how about a little verse to cheer you up?
Very impressive Cromer and pretty much sums up how most fans are feeling. Your comment about being the best you can be seems to 'fall on stony ground' amongst our board and management!!!
Not really, it's more of a slow culmination of events since roughly this time last year when Mr Neil and his players started to lose the plot. And, apart from a short spell back in September where we topped this division (briefly!) the slump has continued unabated ever since - with precious little chance of it being arrested, at least by those empowered to do so, who seemingly don't care any more than AN's players do or something would have been done by now
That really sums up my feelings on the topic Cromer and I find it hard to believe that Delia and co can just 'sit on their hands' and do NOTHING as our club drifts towards mid table obscurity like our neighbours across the border!!! Hopefully, our under 23s will continue to perform next season as they have this, so I'll be able to get to those games and witness a team playing as a team!!!!
I agree RBF. How many managers ever walk when they know that a large pay off will be forthcoming. Neil never had a stella playing career to fill his coffers and managing Hamilton will not have got him rich, so I hardly think that anyone should expect him to walk away from the reported £2M. I know I wouldn't and nor would anyone else in his position. The club do need to bloody well sack him! Bah!
Although AN certainly has to take a measure of responsibility, I don't think sacking him would make any great difference. For me, the problem lies with the complacency of players who can perform well when things are going their way but fall apart completely when mistakes creep in. This was summed up well by Jerome: "He’s going to come under scrutiny again because he’s managing a team that’s expected to get promoted,” said Jerome. “Ultimately he picks a team, he’s got a talented squad at his disposal and the 11 players on the pitch aren’t doing their jobs. The manager and his coaching staff go throughly through all our work in the week and in depth, tactical analysis on the opposition. We know how the opposition are going to play and we train that way in the week, we set up to combat that – and ultimately it’s simple mistakes and it’s costing us." On Saturday it was Ruddy, Klose and Martin who made those mistakes and by then the game was lost, in spite of Naismith and Jerome getting a goal back. I agree completely with the comments about young players coming in now that there's little left to play for. The next 3 games should allow for that transition to give young players a chance. Pritchard picked up a knock at the end of the game that could well keep him out, so I'd expect to at least see Maddison on the bench. Tettey struggles with 3 games a week so Godfrey should at least be on the bench, if not starting. Efete may have to wait, but I'd like to see Bennett come in for Martin. With Mulumbu, Dorrans, Jarvis and Oliveira coming back to fitness, AN may at last have other options as well in the future, but increasingly the emphasis should be on bringing younger players in.
