In isolation a narrow 1-0 defeat to a resurgent Derby would be disappointing. Nothing more. But when it comes off the back of five consecutive defeats the d word doesn’t really cover it.
Not for the first time Alex Neil desperately needed his players to put in a performance that would yield points. A performance that would take the heat off. Something to, temporarily at least, to quell the unrest.
But they failed to deliver. Again.
In terms of performance alone it’s clear the first half revealed an improvement – there certainly appeared an essence of desire and grit – but in the greater scheme of things we’re talking small pickings. And have we really slumped to a level of being grateful for first-half clean sheets and thankful to our chosen XI for putting in a proper shift?
If we have – and that’s seems to be where we are – then something is little awry.
But, in terms of improving from a fairly low base, I guess that’s how poor form is turned around and so if said solid first half was followed by an equally solid second then perhaps there would have been grounds for (very) cautious optimism. But it wasn’t and if there is then I’m not feeling it.
And Alex’s eloquent post-match mitigation sounded little more than a long list of excuses.
While it’s clear the rub of the green is anything but green (and yellow) right now there is something increasingly hollow and flimsy about the words that follow the latest demise; Seb Bassong too doing little to warm the cockles with his laid-back perception of events.
Yet part of me actually felt sorry for both. How do you find the words, or at least some different words, to explain away another sorry afternoon of zilch.
Alex was bullish, and clearly finds himself increasingly at odds with those who interview him and write about him, but until that fire in the belly starts translating into points on the board then the difficult questions will continue.
[As an aside – if he thinks this is ‘heat’ then he should have tried being in Chris Hughton’s shoes in the spring of 2014.]
But, like it or loathe it, it’s hard to see there being any changes made to Team Neil any time soon and we can throw as many toys out of the pram as we like, write what we like, tweet what we like, and phone in and say what we like – the lady (and her husband) appears not for turning and neither does the manager.
So, for now, we’d all best suck it up and act like grown ups.
But, and I’ll not be thanked in some quarters for saying this, there feels something just a bit rotten about this club right now; something that runs deeper than Neil being unable to get a tune out of dressing room full of under-performers.
From top to bottom it feels staid and in desperate need of a shake-up. David McNally’s seven-year plan was initially derided but boy did it focus the minds and to have achieved it and some, albeit with there being more than a few scalps along the way, justified its place on the boardroom table.
When asked of the current plan at the AGM new CEO, Jez Moxey said only, “promotion, promotion, promotion”, without elaborating on how it was to be achieved. Perhaps he like to put some meat on that particular bone and expand on the plan that will lead us to said glory.
Just an outline would be good. I’d hate to think they are ‘playing it by ear’.
Yet there was little to emerge from the aforementioned AGM that offered comfort or inspired confidence. Of course there were formalities to be undergone and unwritten rules to be obeyed – like the board unifying behind a beleaguered manager – but if all the wrongs of the current recruitment process are to be righted by offering Ricky Martin yet another promotion then forgive me for being a tad underwhelmed.
Because slap, bang in the current malaise is an ongoing failure to recruit competently. That yesterday’s starting XI included seven players aged 30 or above, and was added to by Kyle Lafferty and Steven Whittaker, is a question mark all of its own. So too that the back-four (five if you include John Ruddy) that played yesterday has evolved so little over four seasons.
Moxey, of course, can’t yet be blamed for the failure to bring in players of a suitable ilk and the back end of McNally’s reign will be remembered for two truly horrible transfer windows but the failure of the club’s transfer policy over the last three seasons – if indeed there even is one – has truly come home to roost.
Yet, ironically, it was a player that Alex Neil allowed to depart who stole the headlines yesterday.
Is there ever going to be an end to the Bradley Johnson love-in?
Perhaps it speaks volumes of our need of a hero right now but seldom can I recall a player with such limitations being showered with such undiluted adoration. ‘Legend’ was used freely on Twitter, Canary Call and beyond to describe one who, admittedly, had the season of his life in 2014/15 but who prior to that had had a distinctly average City career, particularly when plonked in the centre of midfield.
That he would score the winner yesterday was almost a given but to me the decision by Alex Neil to allow him to leave when the Premier League awaited was the right one. And, for what it’s worth, I’m not even convinced Sir Bradley, with all his energy and “passion” would have been able to stir this current crop from its slumbers.
But I look forward to the unveiling of the statue nonetheless.
So, another miserable one and a tricky one against Brentford to come; the equivalent fixture of which in 2015 gave Alex his first taste of a grumpy Carrow Road.
A repeat next Saturday and ‘grumpy’ won’t even come close.
Pretty much agree with all of this, Gary.
Really don’t find many people not arguing for managerial change at the moment. Just find the Board’s apparent refusal to acknowledge this pretty insulting to supporters, not to say arrogant.
The truth is that Alex Neil’s record since Wembley is very poor indeed. It’s poor if you just look at results; if you examine the details (record v top 10 sides this season, failure to keep clean sheets, average performances v lower teams this season flattering City, laughable defending, utterly clueless recruitment meaning signings are ignored or loaned out) it becomes embarrassing.
The suggestions at the AGM that the Board are backing him unreservedly and the decision to deal with the farcical recruitment record by promoting Ricky Martin (‘because he’s been here a long time and the manager gets on well with him’?) speak loudly of a deeper malaise.
The club gambled on a (cheap) rookie manager, looked like they’d got lucky but are now paying the price as his inexperience is being ruthlessly exposed. This inexperience is partly tactical (hence the defensive record and inability to change games from the touch line) but also extends to man management (currently clearly showing major flaws) and transfers.
Whenever he does go history will show that Alex Neil inherited a pretty decent squad of players and (albeit via a season in the Prem) oversaw one of the most appalling periods of deterioration in squad (balance and performance) in years.
Very odd piece, now you seem a bit lost now GG. We don’t have to accept anything just because D says she won’t change her mind. This isn’t Beirut. The Johnson adoration is based on wistful longings. Let people hold onto positivity or we have nothing…I know it takes a while for people in this day and age, but soon you’ll realise you’re the regressive and I’m the progressive.
Haven’t changed my mind on AN’s time being up Jeff; just accepting that while he and Delia are deciding to sit tight there’s little we can do other than moan. But please feel free to offer MFW your thoughts and put my “odd” and regressive piece in its rightful place.
Not really in the mood for “sucking it up” Gary, particularly at the behest of smith and her gang. More inclined to spit fire in the defence of my club.
You cover many aspects of the current crisis, six defeats on the spin is a crisis, superbly, even bringing into play the rise and rise of Ricky Martin, he really does live the vida loca
Nno matter what spin is applied by old comical Ali in defence of his buddies it won’t deter a dry and frustrated supporters from venting their spleen. It’s clear that the smith ownership model and all its ugly baggage is at the heart of the clubs descent and simply being told that we can like it or lump it will not suffice. For that reason I forecast a very uncomfortable day for the status quo on Saturday which will set in motion an increasing level of discontent ramping up on a weekly basis throughout the winter. Many camels backs were broken this weekend.
I agree Gary that the problems seem to run deeper at this club than the manager. For all their well meaning noises the current board make in times of crisis, there appears a huge inability to learn from previous mistakes. The main problems are concerning recruitment and an stubborn streak to carry on in a halcyon bubble which the “horrible world of football” won’t penetrate. It reminds me of a family run grocers shop which has been on the high street for years, has its regular customers it’s never wanted to expand, or offer anything further than what they have for years. It’s comfortable, reassuring and traditional, why would any of there customers go anywhere else? That’s fine, however Tesco buy the land next door, they open up a massive superstore, offering the same thing and more. The traditional owners cry foul and nearly go out of business but they recruit a go ahead person to run the shop and he and his assistant re structures everything and maintains the business. The owners don’t like it, but go along with it as it will maintain their dream and fuel their belief that the customers will stay loyal, which they do. However Tesco expand, they add a costa they add a Hifi and TV department and a bigger car park. The manager who saved the business wants to offer more, not to take Tesco’s head on but diversify, speculate to accumulate they are debt free they can do it, they’ll not ever put Tesco out of business but the grocers store will still be able to compete, offer something slightly different and maybe get one over on Tesco once in a while.
The owners of the grocers shop disagree they feel they will be selling their soul to the devil and they ask the manager to move on and bring in a new one who has their values of localness and tradition and they feel that morally they are right and the customers who are now at Tesco and who shop online and go to the new costa will realise this, “they’ll come back on side” they say. The customers like their morals but have moved on, they like being part of a quaint little shop, it looks nice on the high street pop in now and again but they want more and right or wrong, Tesco’s offers it. Instead of diversifying the owners tell their customers they are right and Tesco will go away one day and mark my my words you’ll all see we’re right and you’ll come back. They’re probably right in the long run, but in the interim the shop closes with huge debts and it becomes a charity shop which people drive past with fond memories
On their way to Tesco’s….
I’m really not sure what the board see in Alex that we don’t. I see someone that has lost his mojo since Newcastle 6-2, is stubborn with tactics, odd selection of players, odd purchases, slating the media, slating players, can’t get individuals to work as a team….the list goes on.
Maybe the board are clinging to the fact he got us promoted last time around. If this is their hope for “promotion, promotion, promtion” then I’m not sure I share their outlook.
I can’t think of any other club that would not have sacked him by now.
The real shame is it will need the fans to force a change via an ugly atmosphere……
Thanks for Wembley Alex.
Andy (6): Actually, there are a few clubs who kept their manager in similar circumstances and fan sentiment.
They include Hull (Steve Bruce) and Burnley (Sean Dyche) after their relegations to the Championship and early stages of the following season. In both cases the Board kept their nerve and were rewarded with promotion.
Frank (1): You criticise Alex Neil’s transfers. I’m sure you know he doesn’t conduct transfer business, so presumably you’re talking about the wish list he submitted to the Board (in particular to McNally in summer 2015) which wasn’t delivered on. What do you think was wrong with it?
Stewart, I find it somewhat ironic to see hull city held up as a paragon of good housekeeping and sane ownership given the constant vilification of their owners and use as a tool by the Delia crowd to make their point about shoddy foreign owners.
Chris (8): Fair point, but not the one I was making.
In October 2015 neither Hull nor Burnley were in the top 4 of the Championship, despite their fans’ conviction that they had the strongest squads and should be running away with the league.
Their Boards stuck with Bruce and Dyche, despite the calls of the fans. And it worked.
Great article Gary. You’re spot on about the problems running deeper. Without McNally, our small club mentality is back. The club’s insistence on doing things on the cheap is relentless. Ironically, hiring Alex Neil was the cheap option, and although it worked in the short term, he has taken us back to square one. A Carrow Road atmosphere similar to that which did for Worthington and Hughton will see him off but the board will be devastated. While several fans would like us to spend big on Big Sam for a chance at the Prem they are quite content to bob along in the Championship spending little on a manager like Neil.
(The Whittaker comments at the AGM emphasise the point. Brady might have gone and so Whittaker got a new contract because he “kept costs down”).
Our best manager in years left for Villa because he knew he had taken us as far as we could feasibly go with our owners. 12th in the Prem is the best we can ever hope for with this board. That means we have to watch teams like Southampton with jealousy. They were with us in League One, reached the Prem a year later than we did, and beat Inter Milan in the same week we were losing 5-0 to Brighton. When they go searching for ‘the best manager in Europe’, they actually go and get him.
Now Delia has had a few seasons in the big time, she can set her sights on getting herself a manager for ten years. It surely won’t be Neil but it doesn’t matter who is the manager if the Smiths are still here in 2026: things won’t change
6 – Andy. Yes I too am totally mystified why the Board are so excessively positive about Alex Neil. Maybe after the play off promotion he turned down a job offer from a bigger club and he showed loyalty, which the board now want to repay. Maybe the Board have sounded out potential replacements such as Hodgson and they are not interested. Maybe thats complete rubbish, but he has done so poorly since the playoff I dont know how his position can now be defended.
What do folk expect anyone from the board to say, other than ‘We back the manager’? Should they have said, at an agm, ‘His day’s are numbered?
Can’t disagree with too much on here today…..What I AM surprised by is that having had so much more money to spend than his predecessors, Mr. Neil is surely lacking any confidence in his signings. Yesterday whilst some “selections” were forced on him by injury and suspension, we still had Klose, Pritchard and Oliviera on the bench, and (again) no sign of Canos. That’s around some 20m (minimum) of talent NOT getting an opportunity to perform. Just think where we might have been had Mr Lambert had such riches to spend/squander!
2 seasons ago, Pritchard ran the mid-field for Brentford when they reached the play-offs, and last season, Canos was a big success there – but now they can’t even get a starting berth in a side which has now lost 6 on the spin!
(And can someone please tell me if Tony Spearing is still involved in our recruitment or just another ex- Norwich statistic)
Stewart, I wanted us to follow the same principle that Burnley and Hull followed last season, by sticking with the manager. But neither of those sides lost six in a row. Both were excellent defensively. At what point do we draw the line and say ‘this isn’t going to work’? That point, for me, was after the QPR game. Yet it’s already clear it’s going to drag on and on and on. It’s a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’ now.
James (14): Fair point – it’s true that our current run is worse than Hull or Burnley last year.
I’m not completely at the point you’ve reached, but understand it.
Burnley splashed out £9m on Andre Gray and Hull had already spent that on Hernandez… We got Nelson. That’s the comparison summed up there Stewart.
Are you actually going to tell us why Alex should stay by listing his qualities, or are you just going to continue to use irrelevant comparisons after every article.
The support for Neil is getting silly now. If we los next week at home to Brentford, which could quite easily happen, that will be 7 consecutive defeats. That SEVEN. How is that even possible? Dyche and Bruce kept their jobs because they are capable managers. Had they found themselves in this position do you honestly believe they wouldn’t have been sacked? Really? Ask yourselves why smith isn’t pulling the trigger. The reason, whatever it is, has nothing to do with football.
Johnstonpickle (16): An earlier commenter said he couldn’t think of any other club that wouldn’t have sacked Alex Neil – so I provided a couple of examples.
You should have noticed by now that I’m not arguing for Alex to stay. But those saying it’s an incredible or unprecedented view are simply wrong. Cheers
Chris (17): Interesting that no-one (even me) included the cup win at Everton in the stats when we were doing well. But everyone wants to include the cup defeat at Leeds (with a totally different XI, as at Everton) in the stats of our bad run.
A little consistency would help the debate, I’d have thought.
By the way, I suspect both Hull and Burnley WOULD have kept their managers at this point – as Mark Robins said on Radio Norfolk that we should with AN. But it’s all speculation and opinion. Cheers
And remember like gary said this is also the man that sold bradley johnson and replaced him with what …..i was stunned and gutted that day i really rated bradders he gave his all !
Stewart, a quick browse back at previous posts would reveal that I praised the win at Everton and included it in any run we put together at the time. Given the last twenty years, (coincidence?) of pathetic cup,football I made a point of celebrating the win.
In any case, it’s semantics, take away the appalling display at ten man Leeds if you wish, it’s still five on the spin.
Chris (21): Point accepted (as I hope you recognise I’ve acknowledged many points from the ‘AN out’ group).
As you say, five on the spin.
I do Stewart, it’s always going to be varying shades of grey rather than black and white,
Here’s looking forward to Saturday. Whatever they may or may not think about the manager, these players have a chance to improve their situations, so they should be putting the effort in. Then again, ‘yesterday’s starting XI included seven players aged 30 or above’ might suggest otherwise. How much can any of these players really hope for? If we had a decent enough run and got promoted, where would they be? We’d need more of an overhaul than we did last time (not that it happened), so they’d more than likely go the way of Johnson (assuming we could actually get some players in), although it might be difficult to shift them at 30+ and on decent wages for the second tier.
I must admit, I’ve not considered the average age of the players up to this point. Something else to ponder.