For five glorious second-half minutes on Boxing Day, it felt like watching the Norwich City of old.
The increasingly clinical Nelson Oliviera had just ruthlessly converted an intelligent Jacob Murphy cut-back into the top corner. Our side were rallying at 1-1, attacking with the genuine verve and enterprise that used to so strikingly characterise an Alex Neil team.
The loyal 1486 of us that had made the festive trip to Berkshire fervently urged this struggling City side to search for a rare winner.
Once again, our efforts were futile.
Defensive ineptitude and vulnerability prevailed. City’s resurgence was short-lived, the termination of which once again derived from the failure of individuals to successfully conduct fundamental jobs and to take responsibility. It’s become something of a Comedy of Errors now.
Even Shakespeare would have been incapable of creating a character whose incompetence eclipsed this hapless City defending. As two free headers gifted the hosts two goals, the City faithful delineated their aversion vociferously, but this was no case of Much Ado About Nothing.
This is a club plummeting rapidly into Football League oblivion unless the obstinate board relinquish their perplexing obliviousness to the root of the problem.
Unity between the two sets of fans on Monday as ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’ reverberated around was probably greater than that the fraternity in the current City dressing room, as the home fans mocked and the away punters protested.
A complete loss in faith towards Alex Neil now appears universal amongst the City faithful, a notion becoming increasingly palpable as each crushing Championship defeat passes by.
This slide seems unabating under the Scott. Neil’s weaknesses are manifold, but his inability to select City’s most efficacious team remains startling.
Despite weeks of alarming evidence, he persisted with the under-performing Robbie Brady at left-back and once again omitted the superior Martin Olsson. Wes Hoolahan did not feature again. Bizarre.
But defending remains his principal issue.
Some may argue that individual errors are not Neil’s fault but he is fundamentally the leader who picks his players. City once again conceded from set pieces, failing to take responsibility and win important headers in their own box.
Timm Klose may have endured an abysmal run of form culminating in his catastrophe on the south-coast, but his prolonged absence has now become a source of profound mystery for Norwich fans. Our Swiss defender needs to play.
This persistent defensive problem is more acute, however. Not one of our four centre-backs represents a reliable, solid and dependable defender. We have no Jamaal Lascelles, no Lewis Dunk, no defender who is capable or willing to apply themselves at this level to consistently keep clean sheets and thwart oppositions.
The problem was investment. Neil – inevitably fully aware of City’s significant defensive shortcomings – impetuously opted to invest in three midfielders whom he appears reluctant to deploy rather than two proven Championship defenders. Pritchard, Maddison and Canos have been neglected.
Money should have been spent more wisely. Neil’s team are paying the price.
In truth, however, the on-field issues are minor. It now appears City will enter the new calendar year still stuck in this feckless Neil epoch, an era characterised by regression and lack of development rather than improvement and progression. The board’s indelible faith towards this detrimental regime remains remarkable.
The use of the adjective ‘rotten’ has become somewhat ubiquitous on social media over the previous few weeks, but its employment to describe our beloved club is not misjudged.
We currently possess a board whose opinions are at odds with virtually the entire of our fan base’s, a manager who appears to miraculously be becoming more and more inept each week, and a set of players unable to defend nor apply pressure for a sustained period of time. These really are grim times.
City’s current position is staggering. It does not require a forensic nor assiduous analysis of our season to reach the conclusion that Neil is the wrong man to lead this club forward: at the half-way stage, we have picked up just five points from our eleven games against top half clubs. Relegation form.
Like a Marxist historian viewing the past through a series of cycles, City’s season would probably read something along the lines of good, excellent, blip, bad run, embarrassment, farce. That’s what we are currently dealing with. The situation has descended into a complete joke.
Fans care. Working at my local pub the day after my trip to Reading, I recognised a customer from the game the day before and inquired of his thoughts. It transpired that his frustration equalled mine, and he has not missed a single City match since April 1990. It was an astonishing statistic, but one that only served to contextualise just how much this football club means to supporters.
We really do care, Jez.
This relentless and increasingly comedic stalemate that is ensuing between Moxey and the fans (and which was further exacerbated by the in-house interview) is neither sustainable nor healthy. Our new Chief Executive’s ignorant obliviousness to Neil’s incompetence and his conspicuous lack of ambition is astonishing.
Forget ‘promotion’, a lot of us are more concerned about a far more terrifying prospect at this current moment in time.
Neil lacks tactical adeptness, pragmatism and flexibility, remaining strangely loyal to his ineffective 4-2-3-1 system like an old Labrador to his long-term owner.
The Scott’s substituting of City’s tenacious goalscorer in Oliviera has become something of a formality now, baffling fans and triggering poisonous scenes behind the goal on Monday. Cameron Jerome should really have been given the opportunity to link up with his Portuguese colleague. Pity.
With Neil now set to lead us to Brentford on New Year’s Eve, one final sting from the Bees in the capital would function as a fitting way to end what has been a truly painful year for City fans. Those – myself included – who have purchased a ticket will surely be questioning their sanity in attending a fixture where apathy, rather than hope, will characterise fans’ mentalities.
Any sense of optimism has become virtually impossible to muster.
If defeat on Saturday to see in the new year followed by further misery back at Carrow Road two days later does manifest itself, you would hope the fans’ backlash may well become too potent for this obdurate board to resist.
We want change. We need change. If not, I fear City may be confined to Football League mediocrity for years to come.
Is that the full set now of anti-Alex Neil journo’s on MFW?
Anything original to add? No, thought not.
You all just keep trotting out the same lines;just personal commentary rather than anything insightful, following the populist line.
Anyone actually got a clue how a football club, or even any private company, is actually run?
Your colleagues criticised the club for not communicating – then you criticise the club for communicating via a channel you don’t like – then you criticize the club for communicating information you don’t personally like.
You’re really no different from any other oik on Twatter. “Give me what I want or everyone’s useless.” seems to be the opinion.
I don’t like the results either. You can’t possibly think anyone does, but you don’t sack an MD you have given personal backing to just because his salesmen stop selling. You give him/her time to make it right and the resources to do it. How do we know what has been said to Alex Neil? What if the Board told him at the start of the season that he had this season to get us promoted and a guarantee that he would have a job until that was no longer possible?
Does that personal assurance not matter now 93% of 7,500 people aren’t very happy?
We are halfway through. Promotion is still possible, but the hysterical reactions of MFW writers and their associated oiks would indicate otherwise.
I am a supporter – that is my function and why I pay my money. I have every right to scream and shout at matches, but this social media vilification of the club and its employees is completely wrong and MFW should be ashamed of its part in it.
Clearly I will now get hammered by your followers – like I give a flying fig.
Support the damn team!
#1: sgnfc: every single one of the MFW writers offer their thoughts in a calm and considered manner. No hysterics from any of us.
It is not for me to defend this site – I have only recently begun to contribute on here – but I am proud to write for MFW and therefore anything but ashamed to do so.
And as for the “associated oiks”, are you sure you are on the correct website?
There is no vilification. We write as we observe.
I’m not hammering you, merely suggesting there are people in high places who could make it a lot easier for us all to support our “damn team”.
Sgncfc (1) Well, you’re as entitled to your opinion as the rest of us, and MFW gives you the opportunity to air it ( as you have done, albeit under a pseudonym). However, any business which looses the faith of it’s customers soon takes drastic action to put things right. If it doesn’t, it soon goes out of business. As an example, whatever happened to Ratners Jewellers? – oh, that’s right, Gerald Ratner was publicly contemptuous of his customers, and where is his chain of shops now? That seems to be the way this board of directors is heading. Customers (supporters) are not exactly flocking to buy tickets for the Southampton game, and I expect a lot of them will also not be there for the Derby game, season ticket holders though they may be.
sgncfc (1): We all share a passion for the club. Happy for your passion to be expressed in disagreement – that’s what we’re here for.
To answer your question: I, for one, do know a little bit about running a private company. I was a director of one for 20 years, taking it through two management buyouts, acquiring various companies and eventually being – by design and successfully – acquired ourselves. At that point we had 950 employees (including my PA of 24 years).
If you’ve followed this site over the past couple of weeks – as I suspect you have – you’ll know that I sat on the fence about Alex Neil for longer than some others, but am now completely convinced he’s a block to our success.
I still see him as a talent, but he’s lost his way at Norwich. The Championship is not strong this year. With the squad at our disposal, it should be inconceivable to lose 8 games in 10 – let alone with the abject level of performance and total lack of resilience we’ve witnessed.
This is evidence, clear to the eyes of pundits such as Mark Rivers who know (much better than I do) how football and footballers work.
You’re right: promotion is certainly still possible. That’s the most frustrating thing. The Board is squandering (to aviod phrases involving urination) that chance.
PS I’ll still be supporting the damn team.
Hello Delia. Of course we support the damn team. I have lived and breathed NCFC for over 40 years now and care passionately about the direction the club is being taken in. How much time does AN need?? We got relegated last year if you remember! Listen to me, he is never going to be Alex Ferguson. He is a limited manager with zero tactical ability, few man management skills and as evidenced by our relegation last year not a clue how to put things right. He has been a disaster in the transfer market. Players he signed very obviously don’t rate him or don’t want to play for him. If you don’t believe me look at the goals conceded stats. Name me one player who has improved under his management?? Apart from Forest this year how often has he changed a game for the better? Why are our players not as fit as other teams? Why is our recruitment policy a catastrophe? Why can’t our highly paid CEO manage a simple interview competently? There are far more than 7,500 people who are unhappy. That is the tip of a very large iceberg. You may be happy to become the next Ipswich Town but I want something better for my team and it is my team. I and my family will still be supporting them long after you have gone. Wake up and look at what is happening to the club. I do not even know how to use Twitter and I am certainly old enough to know better. Are you seriously asking us to trust the NCFC board who selected Bryan Gunn, Grant, Hamilton, Roeder et al that they know what they are doing? Don’t be silly. If you do not have the wherewithal to run the club get out of the way and let someone else who can take us on to the next level.
No sgnfc I will not vilify you for having a different view but there is another view which is also valid. I said 12 months ago that we would be relegated if we stuck with a manager who was clearly not learning from mistakes, I also found it bizarre that fans cheered him when we were relegated. It is because we “support the damn team” that change is imperative. The rise in social media does of course enable us all to publicly state our views and when so many share those views it can become unpleasant. Football is a tough business and Alex knows the consequences of failure.
sgncfc (1) – There’ll certainly be no hammering from me and I don’t expect there to be from anyone associated with the site or even our ‘associated oiks’. Differing opinions are our lifeblood and it’s healthy to have a voice on here that’s not ploughing the populist line – as you describe it.
As editor it’s my job to try and offer a mix of views and themes and some of the time I achieve, other times I fail.
Currently it obviously falls in the latter category but, in mitigation, with one single issue standing out above all others right now it’s only natural that we would all wish to offer our two penneth. It would seem a little odd if we didn’t. That most have a similar view is something of a one-off I’d suggest.
I pride myself on offering the team carte blanche in terms of content and so at troubled times like these it’s only natural that the CEO, manager and board will come under scrutiny from more than one writer. And I must confess that if any content could be described as hysterical it’s slipped through my editorial net.
My bad.
As far as I’m concerned the team have delivered me copy that’s rational and erudite.
But I do accept your point that we mainly rely on opinion pieces rather than articles which are ‘insightful’ and informative, but such is life for a blog site.
Unlike the good folk of Archant and the BBC we don’t have any formal lines of communications with the club and, as such, any snippets will always be second hand. And we tend to steer clear of rumour and conjecture.
So, yes, opinion pieces do make up the majority of our copy but that’s just how it is.
But thanks for your comment – it is genuinely appreciated and I trust the oiks won’t deter you from reading MFW in the future.
Best
Gary
sgncfc (1) – well said. But also every other contributor subsequently, well said. The only thing I’d take issue with is Stewart’s assertion about the squad (4) – the perceived strength of our squad is a myth, and the according expectation is contributing to the terrible feeling we all currently have. Take our last first 11:
Ruddy: not been good enough for years now.
Brady: not interested, not a left back.
Pinto: good going forward…
Bennett: decent champ player
Bassong: ditto at best nowadays
Tettey: very good on his day but out of form
Dorrans: not convinced he’d get in many top 6 champ teams
Jacob: has great promise
Howson: excellent
Naismith: poor quality for a year now
Oliveira: promising
We have good players on the bench, true. Like most I’d pick Klose instead of either CB, but even so…why do some think this is a squad that should walk into the top 6? I believe we have some of the best players in their positions in the league: Olsson, Howson, Hoolahan for instance. But the squad as a whole is so unbalanced, with sub standard gk, CB and lack of quality centre mids with a surfeit of number 10s. The best squads always have a strong spine from keeper through cb, centre mid to striker; that’s a mile away from where we are now.
Sgncfc: I’m really not sure what planet you are on with your comments. For sure, it is totally wrong of you to be so insulting of loyal customers, sorry, supporters, of NCFC.
The simple truth, to use your own analogy of a business in general commerce, is that if you have an MD whose sale force fails to sell, you replace that MD – because you have employed a qualified team of people, qualified in their trade, with a CV and references to back up your original offer of employment. Same thing, when elements of that sales force fail to perform, sanctions are taken out, culminating in written warnings and ultimately, dismissal.
Of course, if you have investors / shareholders, you keep those people informed too, as shareholders tend to get hissy when their investment fails to meet expectations.
So that’s the real world. What is going on here at NCFC? Well in general, a lack of information-of-substance from the club. A very evident lack of direction on the pitch – I’ve been at both recent debacles at Brighton and Reading, and believe me, from one oik to another, they hurt. THEY HURT. more than the mere waste of time money and effort.
So tell me SGNCFC , Why should any off us “oiks” leave our business acumen at home, why should we continue to spend a huge % of our disposable income on an obviously lame duck? Why should any of us continue to support this club when it clearly cares not a fig for US??
There’s been a lot of talk recently, particularly since Villa & Reading, about Neil’s lack of flexibility with regards to tactics and mindless substitutions. In the grand scheme of things it’s probably not a big issue, but it’s probably worth pointing out that we didn’t play 4-2-3-1 against Reading, it was more of a traditional 4-4-2. Also, at HT versus Villa there was a slight tweak to the midfield which gave us a bit more control. While Neil deserves criticism for his tactics, it’s not necessarily fair to criticise him for never changing. Similarly, I don’t agree with all his substitutions in those two games but I could see the logic behind them.
(1) I run a successful company and if you had any clue about business you would not retain a employee who has made the workforce lacklustre, ineffective, unproductive and apathetic.
Except we are talking about NCFC. Not exactly masters of business, but certainly masters of how to waste money.
Then club is the complete anthesis of how a business should be run and every day that goes by the situation gets worse and worse.
I find Norwich fans have more more than accommodating over the years for the clubs lack of nous, but the reason nobody is backing AN on here anymore is that everyone has seen the light.
The board could – and should – of resolved this farce many, many weeks ago, but they are WEAK and as a result, the spotlight has quite rightly fallen on the themselves.
The club are caught with their trousers down – and it is not a pleasant sight.
It seems then that anyone who does profess to understand business leaves their business acumen at the door when they enter a football club boardroom – or even put on a shirt or a scarf to support their team, because most of what you supposed business people are claiming I would suggest is nonsense, if you apply it to your day jobs.
Because when you run a business properly you really don’t sack someone for having a bad spell.
We can all use the “but I’ve run many, huge businesses” line but clearly like many of the foreign owners who have proven business records, you are also leaving your brain somewhere when it comes to football.
Alex Neil was an acclaimed manager as recently as September; he had smashed his targets at that point. His annual target of promotion is still possible but he isn’t hitting his numbers at the moment – although he has a proven track record for doing so in the past.
You still going to sack him? So that he turns up at a competitors and then does the business like a certain Mr Hughton?
I’m not Delia and I have no connection with the Board of NCFC (But I wish I did!) However, we are not party to what has been said and done there and we have no idea what is going on. Moxey has said as much publicly-that they are completely aware of the depth of feeling.
They are not going to sack Alex Neil until promotion is impossible – probably because they have given him some assurances that they wouldn’t.
Just like you do when your top salesman is having a bad patch.
To call the Board weak in this situation is just so completely wrong – the easiest, the most popular thing for them to do is to acquiesce and sack him. The fact that they are not doing that makes them strong, not weak.
There is no farce here – just a collection of people not performing well enough.
Everyone should just stop the hysterical panicking.
And just to comment specifically on Darren’s point – Norwich fans are actually THE most impatient and quick to turn.
Do we think all the fans of Forest, Leeds, Sheff Weds, Bolton, Portsmouth, Birmingham etc (all of whom have been in the PL) protest in this way when they lose a few games? Even that lot down the road display more of a sense of understanding than we do – and they are supposed to actually have a wealthy owner!
We apparently have a divine right to get promoted though so that’s OK then, we can be upset.
“Because when you run a business properly you really don’t sack someone for having a bad spell” – Steve G
Yes you do. At least if you care about the business. To let things continue the way they are is tantamount to being grossly negligent. That could put the business in real trouble. NCFC appears shoddy from the top down and AN is another cog in the wheel of ineptitude.
I cannot think of any other club in the country who would tolerate such failure as AN, but that is where we are with Team Delia and there is nothing strong about them. They are amateurs.
Lose a few games? Nine in eleven and still counting. If it’s ok with you we can make our own minds up as to whether we ought to be upset. In fact I do t care if it isn’t ok with you,
In case you have forgotten, we were relegated last season and the manager,got off Scot free. This isn’t a “few” defeats. It’s a long unhappy trend.
What concerns me is not this silly ‘I’m right you’re wrong nonsense’, but the strategy of the board. No one has said anything convincing that they actually care or not about promotion. In addition, AN is said to have asked of the players whether or not they have the energy to compete at Championship level. Is there any aspiration from anyone at the club to work towards promotion, or are we now content with mid-table El Agricultoro derbys for the rest of time? There is more to this than meets the eye and none of us on the outside know what it is. In any other business AN would be gone, and so would Robbie Brady and some of his chums. None of the people who post here know what is behind the decisions, or lack of decisions, of the board. So to make comments based on unfounded assumptions about the reasoning of those who make the decisions is just a waste of energy. This is torturous for all of us who give a damn, including the players. But blind, speculative vilification is not the answer. Get behind the team or bu**er off down the road