Alex Neil to Preston

[northender]

Very close to happening now.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on him. Will he return a better manager after his sacking? What were his good/bad points? What was his relationship with Rudd like who's only just re-signed for us?

Cheers.

 

[morty]

Did fantastically well for us in his first season, culminating in the play off final win at Wembley. Proved himself to be a bit limited tactically in the Premiership, but you could say we were always going to struggle with limited budget. Had a bit of a mixed bag with signings, some good, some bad, but again, when you shop in the cheaper shops, not everything is going to be a bargain. Last season for us he just seemed to get lost, never seemed to know his best team, didn't really have a plan B, didn't really manage games well, rarely had a positive effect with his substitutions.

My opinion is that his position in that first season suited him, the one of the plucky underdog that no one had any real expectations of, and he got found out a bit after. But who knows, maybe a fresh start would do him good, and I'd rather him than the same old, out of work managers that are trotted out.

Not so sure he ever really rated Rudd, but that was probably based on him being not quite good enough for the Premiership.

 

[GJP]

Will he return a better manager after his sacking?

I don't think self reflection is his strong point.

 

[Canaryboy]

Probably do better at a smaller club with lower expectations like Preston and therefore a fair bit less pressure, no disrespect intended. 

I hope he hates Rudd to be honest, because that means he may take Michael McGovern off of our hands. 

Good luck to him, potentially a good thing if he can get that job and take a couple of his signings with him. He can have Tony Andreu, Matt Jarvis and Frankie McEvoy too. 

I hope for your sake that you already have a good back four because at Norwich he completely neglected that part of the pitch despite the obvious need for change and just continued to service his addiction to new attacking midfielders. 

 

[Fenway Frank]

I don't think self reflection is his strong point.

couldn't be further from the truth believe it or not. I have it on good authority that he used the sports psychologist more than anyone else. Whether it worked or not is a different matter. I hope he does well, but not too well obviously ?

 

[Fenway Frank]

Northender, I think this piece sums things up quite well

http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2017/07/03/alex-to-preston-if-so-there-are-many-lessons-to-be-learned-in-both-norfolk-and-lancashire/

 

[morty]

Just been confirmed.

Good on him, shows his credibility wasn't completely destroyed by his time with us.

 

[northender]

Told Neil wants McAvoy as assistant manager (our current first team coach Steve Thompson staying) and that it should happen in the next couple of weeks.

 

[GJP]

Told Neil wants McAvoy as assistant manager (our current first team coach Steve Thompson staying) and that it should happen in the next couple of weeks.

I don't think we'll be standing in your way.

 

[Canaryboy]

Told Neil wants McAvoy as assistant manager (our current first team coach Steve Thompson staying) and that it should happen in the next couple of weeks.

General consensus is that he is only still here because we wanted to see if Alex Neil got another job so we could get a bit of compo instead of paying him off. 

Wikipedia is showing Alan Irvine has returned to Preston as assistant manager, but can't see that in the news anywhere? 

 

[Din]

Will be very interesting to see how he gets on. In all honesty I have no idea how it will end up for him, though I wish him luck. I'll be curious to see what sort of reception he gets when he comes back.

 

[northender]

What's Bassong like? Is he really that bad?

Believe Neil wants to bring him to Preston.

 

[Canaryboy]

Lack of ability is not his problem, its his attitude. I'm sure you'll see the very good switched on Bassong for the first few months, until he finds something to sulk about or somebody to fall out with. 

He's actually had an excellent 12 months plus another pretty good 6 months here, he's not 'terrible', but question marks over his professionalism and how much motivation he has left. 

Strange that Alex Neil would sign a player that he pretty much wrote off last season. 

 

[GJP]

What's Bassong like? Is he really that bad?

Believe Neil wants to bring him to Preston.

Well he's been POTS for both us and Newcastle in the Prem. And he's played for Spurs too, of course So he has that about him.

He has his dodgy moments and he got blamed for lots and lots when he was at Norwich but things only got worse without him in the team...

 

[northender]

Cheers.

Had a search on Twitter and the comments on him from Norwich fans looked unanimously bad, so I wondered whether he really was that bad or whether he'd become a bit of a scapegoat figure.

 

[Canaryboy]

Probably has been a bit of a scapegoat figure, but probably not entirely unjustified. He has this way of looking indifferent and lazy at times. I just think he's one of those players who needs to be managed correctly because he's a bit of a man baby, odd that Alex Neil thinks he's the right person after not getting the best out of him last season... in the few games he played he didn't look like he was in top shape either.

Change of scenery might do him some good, if I were you I'd be worried if you gave him a 3 year contract but open minded if he got 1 year with a 1 year extension after 25 games or something.

 

[hogesar]

To be honest we have tried 3 or 4 CBs instead of Bassong and none of them have produced anything better.