Could he be one of this season´s major scoops If results are anything to show, That´s Mr. A. Neil who took charge of our troops Seventeen matches ago Twelve wins, three draws, and just two defeats Makes impressive reading, I´d say, Can anyone else boast statistical sheets To match that on the field of play Momentum is good to have at any time But especially so, when, like this year, Points and positions are tight for the climb To reach that Premier League tier And if we can maintain that kind of form Over the five games that remain, Will others be able to weather the storm Or possibly better the same I can´t yet possibly call it at all But don´t really think our run-in, Is as quite as easy as some here would call When all that matters is to win And Johnson absent, is to me quite a blow Whoever steps up to the plate, For these next two will, without any doubt, show If we will miss his goals of late But such is the will and focus of the man I´d never rule anything out, Mr. Neil came here with a simple plan And he´s five games to dispel any doubt. OTBC - INIT
That has to be one of your best yet RBF and no one can quite match our stats in the last 17 games. The best thing is, both defeats have only been by the odd goal. Our GD is even higher than Bournemouth's!!!
Stats in the 17 games since Neil's first game are interesting to say the least. Bournemouth 29 points, +15 goals. Norwich 39 points, +21 goals. Watford. 35 points, +17 goals. Middlesboro 32 points, +7 goals. Just for fun, Ipswich. 21 points, -4 goals. So on these figures we are top and Bournemouth are fourth best. Only did the figures for the top four as I am sure the automatics will come from these teams. We are currently averaging 2.29 points per game under AN, equivalent to 105 points per 46 game season.
With the experience he's gained since joining us, I'm SURE we'd have beaten Brentford and so our average ppg would go up to 2.47 and our points tally to an incredible 113. That's incredible that we've made up 10 points on Bournemouth in just 17 games!!
No bad for a no-mark manager that was only managing little Hamilton at the start of the year. What experience could he possibly have had that he could use in the Championship?
Good point Thai. For me, it's about motivating the players and a key ingredient known as 'man management' - whatever that means!!!
I don't want to out a dampener on Neil, because obviously he's been fantastic, but a part of me thinks this is how we should have been playing all season given our squad...
Absolutely Rob and in some of the early games I think we did - especially Blackburn at home, when we lost an early goal, only to come back and win 3-1. See my comment re 'man management'
Now I don´t quite see it that way Rob. If last season´s relegation, with the majority of the same players, was, as many would have it, 100% down to one man, with the players totally exonerated, then this season´s turnaround and possible promotion, if it happens, will imo, be 100 % down to Mr. Neil. I happen to think that most players are only ever as good as the manager. A poor or mediocre manager can totally destroy team morale and team confidence, while a great and inspiring one can lift the whole squad to heights they never knew they had, look how many players have picked up since he arrived ,and I could add, how Hamilton have plummeted since he left. As much as we might like to believe otherwise, very few players will consistently play at the very top of their game, if they can get away with less. It´s the mediocre managers who try, but can´t prevent them from getting way with less, while the good managers will consistently, or very nearly, keep them playing at their peak. That´s the difference between N. Adams and A. Neil, and the reason we failed to quite live up to many people´s expectations at the start of the season.
In a sense I agree with both rob and RBF here. The squad has always been good enough to play at this level, you're never going to get anywhere with bad players. We should have been playing at this level, or near it, for a long time and weren't. The reality is that the only change is the manager so he must have affected this change. 17 games is definitely enough to judge him on and an average of 2.3 points a game is superb, he's done pretty much all we could have expected and more so he's hard to question at the moment.
What stands out here for me is our away form. When you compare it to our promotions rivals (I haven't, but I'm sure I'm right that ours is the best) it's pretty spectacular to get 20 of the last 24 points available on the road. Especially for a side who, I think it's fair to say, traditionally depend on home form for a large proportion of our points.
Not disagreeing but it's worth noting that we did take Tony Andreu from them at the same time. We haven't seen much of him but I'm told by Hamilton fans that he was their best player by some margin so it must have had an impact of its own.
He seems to have been forgotten by the manager as well. His purchase is a bit of an odd one. AN knew exactly what he was getting and he was surely bought with the expectation that he would make an impact this season.
I wonder if he just wanted a player he knew, someone who he could rely on in training and knew what he would get from on the pitch, in the end it turned out all the players were willing to step up and buy into his vision and ways of working, which has kept him out of the squad. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on loan back to the Accies next season. Also I believe he was one of the players that we had scouts watching at Hamilton, that lead to us noticing Alex Neil as a manager so our scouts clearly thought he could make a difference. On paper it was a strange signing, we have an abundance of players in that Attacking Mid role.
We say we've got an abundance in that role, but I think that's only become apparent once Andreu had signed. Before then, Johnson was being solely used in a defensive capacity, Hoolahan wasn't in half as good form as he is now, Odjidja-Ofoe was injured and Dorrans yet to join. It's made him look more surplus to requirements than he was in January. Another factor is that with excellent results, it's understandable to keep a settled side. It's hard to make a convincing case for dropping any of our midfielder, so Andreu hasn't had much of a look in. With Johnson's suspension possibly triggering a reshuffle, he'll be another looking to make a claim for a starting berth.
I'm not so sure. Given the price we paid, I suspect (though have zero proof) it was partly a goodwill gesture to Hamilton as they did not get all that much compensation for Neil. It was clear from the beginning that Andreu would struggle to get in the starting line-up, so I think from Neil's point of view it may well have been simply to get a familiar face in the squad and on-side to help him gel with the players. From a man-management perspective it was sound and lots of managers bring familiar players with them because it works well like that. The difference, and where I think Neil got it spot on, is he has never tried to get Andreu starting every game when it was clear that he isn't as good as some of our other options. And that's good for team morale - shows that he has players he likes, but favourites are not guaranteed a starting berth.
Great verse (s) RBF and an interesting question, can we keep it up for another 5 games. I have my negative hat on today and think that our glorious run or momentum as so described cannot continue ad nauseum as it would then be 22 games in all with some 17 victories - a huge ask. I know you also have your doubts and I think we may need others to help by taking points off either Watford or Bournemouth (or both) wih last night's result being highly disappointing. Another nervy afternoon in Thurnby coming up.
