...appear to have made a decision on who and when our next managerial appointment will be. Finger on the pulse, these jocks! http://www.givemesport.com/432352-celtic-boss-lined-up-as-next-norwich-manager?autoplay=on
IF and I mean IF we remove CH anytime now,the candidates are very thin on the ground. The biggest problem will be which league we are in when we get rid. Would Lennon move to a Championship club? I doubt it. Would he move to a Prem club? I think he would. Would he move to NCFC? I think he would. Would we welcome him? I certainly would. So the decision to get rid gets more and more critical. Wait too long and miss out,or take the plunge now. Not an easy decision.
I'm sure it has been said before, but the best managerial appointment from those obviously available if we do get relegated to the Championship, in terms of record in that league and style necessary, would be none other than Chris Hughton... I think we should have sacked him a couple of months ago, but if I were to choose between Hughton managing us in the Championship and Lennon, I have to say I think I'd feel more comfortable with Hughton
I was firmly in the Hughton out camp but recent attacking performances have now made me reconsider my position. Clearly had we put the ball in the net from the many chances created then we would be several points better off than we are now and talk of a new manager would not be as upermost in our minds. So to me addressing the main problem, the inability of the strikers to score, should be paramount. Hooper seems to have the ability, but has not converted his chances recently and RvW is, IMO, a complete waste of money. So, why not give Becchio a chance? He certainly cant be any worse than RvW! Perhaps we should have addressed the striker situation in the January transfer window? With what we have now and when playing two strikers up front why not give Hooper and Becchio a chance to play together? Should we blame the inability of our strikers in not scoring on Hughton? After all in recent matches they have been better served.
Agree with all this apart from the first line. I have never seen an obvious alternative and certainly not an ex-beatle.
Largely Lennon's strengths are Hughton's weak points. He is good at playing attacking football and getting players fired up. He dies also seem capable of making good subs and changing tactics mid game. In Scotland with his team he has the freedom to play this attacking game. In this sense he's quite similar to Lambert who might well fancy the Celtic job if Lennon does go. He does come across as a bit of a prick sometimes but he's good to have on side in that sense. There would be no more dull post match interviews where he phrases the opposition and won't say we were crap. I like a manager who says what he thinks and Lennon is one. He has also proved in the champions league that he can set up a decent defence. Plus he has a pretty decent eye for a player. I wouldn't be opposed to Lennon, yes he's untested in this league and would be a risk but I like the idea of going for a bit of a risk. The best decisions always have an element of risk. I would rather we to a chance than just plucked someone off the merry-go-round.
But to be fair Bath, he has a licence to play attacking football in Scotland - they are Celtic, a big fish in a small pond so to speak. I doubt he would be able to do similar for us in the PL because throwing caution to the wind we would be turned over week in week out and then he would be out on his ear. I don't think there are easy fixes, other than getting our strikers to take their chances. Problem solved immediately.
True but then look at the champions league where he set up some very defensive counter attacking teams, he does seem able to adapt. My point was more that I'd rather bring in a relatively young successful manager than one who has been knocking about fro years taking jobs for a couple of years before getting sacked and then getting another one a few years later. It might work brilliantly it might be a massive failure but it's a more exciting option than the usual suspects.
I totally accept that, nothing worse than the merry go round of mediocrity where they all get paid for failure and enter their new club as the answer. I guess I just don't like Lennon personally but when compared to Jol, Holloway, Di Canio etc. maybe he is a better bet! What a dilemma.
If DM saw something in him that he thought would be good for us I would give him my backing, but I would never, ever like him, he is everything that I detest!
Just thought I'd make a brief foray onto the board to say where I stand on this! I can’t stand Neil Lennon. He is one of the reasons I’ve often said ‘be careful what you wish for’. I didn’t like him as a player and I don’t care for him as a manager (and yes I have Rangers connections - that is nothing to do with it). I do not believe he is a rubbish boss - he most certainly is not. He has many strings to his bow though there are also downfalls. I will commend him on his ability to maintain his players motivation in a job which is frankly far too easy most of time. His record against better sides in the Champions League is patchy but does contain some sensational highlights as well as some absolute horrors. He’s the polar opposite to Chris Hughton. He’s arrogant, cold, obnoxious and aggressive. He is not tactful, he is not pleasant, he is not a gentleman. He will spend more time sitting in the stands than he will managing on the touchline. But then, perhaps these traits are precisely what the club requires when the current manager leaves (because he will leave shortly, no matter what). A totally different kind of man. Takes no prisoners. Fight, motivation, passion - he has the lot in abundance and makes it very clear to everyone that these are the bare minimum he expects. But should we be hoping for something a little more sophisticated than that? Those hoping for either a new, more entertaining style of football would be sorely disappointed, though I will grant you he is more courageous with his decision making than Hughton is, if a little naive at times, a la Lambert. But he would not bring a new dimension to the club. Instead he’d right wrongs and create new wrongs, bring friction (of a different kind we’re seeing with Hughton), a new set of problems. This is not a case of 'anybody could do better'. I would rate Lennon and Hughton very closely in terms of ability, albeit poles apart in terms of how they use their individual abilities - Hughon as a coach and Lennon as a manager. For what it’s worth I think he’s long been McNally’s number one choice if Hughton leaves and perhaps that is partly why no action has been taken thus far because he has a chance to go a whole season unbeaten. Unless we go down (which I still don’t think we will) I expect Neil Lennon to be Norwich City manager by the opening game of next season. He ticks many of the boxes our CEO will look for next. It does concern me as I don’t want somebody like him in charge of my football club but alas, I don’t get to make the decisions - you have to trust the board - if it ends up being him then so be it - he'd have my full support. OTBC
I'd just like to add that I thought McNally's comments the other day were pretty stupid. Naturally, they've been taken out of context and twisted by the press but we all knew he would have had a contingency plan in place - why blab to the press about it and heap even more pressure on a struggling side? I thought he should have kept quiet, sidestepped the questions. He's put Hughton in an almost impossible situation now, where ANY defeat signals his demise. Irresponsible imo. I think he's feeling the heat too...
Sorry Super's, but I disagree. McNally had to say something to the Press - he had no choice. I think the "relegation is a fate worse than death" comment had already signed Hughton's death warrant should we slip into the bottom three. This interview looked much more like a pointed motivation to the players, who, despite all the poor results, have showed several times over that Hughton is still supported by the dressing room. Given that he remains popular there, amongst the "first team" at least, you can imagine that McNally's interview should motivate them to go out and get results. That was my impression of the interview - McNally was saying to the players that if they want to keep Hughton as their manager, it is up to them to perform. In that sense, it was a perfectly reasonable interview. I honestly think McNally had no real other option except bluster, which wouldn't have pulled the wool over supporters' eyes at all and would have made him look a fool.
Here we go again, we get this every time his name is mentioned by those who purport to know him so well. He's been a bigger victim of sectarian abuse than any one else in football. He's had death threats, letter bombs, live munitions in the post, spat at, had objects thrown at him, been physically abused in the street (alright, alright Gandy, enough already). So he's a little bristly sometimes, oh dear me. OK he does talk before thinking sometimes, but he's a strong character that could do well here after the inevitable parting of the current incumbent. I'd take him like a shot (no pun intended!)
