Thank you Neil Adams

[The Great Mass Debater]

Alex Neil will rightly get the plaudits for finishing third and masterminding the play-off performance. He has been simply magnificent since he took over. But lets be magnanimous now the job is done, and not forget the contribution Neil Adams made to the season. He gave his best and had us doing pretty well for a large period. We were never cut off and still in a position to finish the job when he left.

I think it was the right decision that he stepped down, and we cant blame him for wanting the job. He still oversaw us win many games this season, and this shouldnt be forgotten.

So well done Alex Neil and the boys, but thank you also to Neil Adams, and I hope he comes back to the club next season as McNally said he would.

 

[Gaffer]

A lot of managers would have clung on, waiting for the sack and the compensation package, but NA saw that things weren't going well and did what was right for the club. He deserves credit for that.

 

[derehamyella]

totally correct,  Adams assembled the puzzle but could not fit all the pieces, Neil came and finished the job. it was mostly all Adam's squad.   Many many clubs would have given their right arms to be in the position we were in when Adams walked.   I could not say I questioned the boards decision too much,  when I heard a whisper about Alex Neil,, I did some digging and asked a couple of people I know up in Scotland.  Reports came back he was a gem waiting to be polished.   But it was the fact he was almost as inexperienced as Adams was of the English game.

I wanted like mny followers for Adams to complete the dream, but sadly he had so much right but also a lot wrong.   I will never blame any ex player who is offered the job.  But in truth it seldom works at City

 

[Salopian]

Neil has already payed recent testimony to Adams, about the cohesion and good spirit present in the changing room when he arrived. (This excludes Bassong, whom Adams failed, as did Hughton at the end, to motivate.

The reemergence of Bassong has been one of the marked improvements since Christmas. I thought that he was immense at Wembley.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

I hate the way Gunn became a figure of hate. I thought that was 1. unfair and 2. simply wrong. Im glad Adams has not suffered in the same way Gunn did. Perhaps he has Alex Neil to thank for that

 

[Gaffer]

I wouldn't call it Adams's squad. 10 of the starting 11 on Monday were here before he was manager. Most of his signings didn't make much of an impact. 

 

[morty]

I hate the way Gunn became a figure of hate. I thought that was 1. unfair and 2. simply wrong. Im glad Adams has not suffered in the same way Gunn did. Perhaps he has Alex Neil to thank for that

He should have known better, and things like this made him go down in my estimation.

And if you believe the rumours, he didn't exactly conduct himself in a very professional manner.

 

[Boyerboy]

That's a little churlish Gaffer.  It would have been a very different season without Jerome and Grabban.

Also, many players stayed and Adams has to get some credit for that.

 

[morty]

Of course Adams deserves credit, he can say he walked away with his head held high.

 

[TA Canary]

He deserves credit yes, but I'm not sure people would be so charitable if we had failed to win promotion this season.
 
He kept the squad mostly together, brought in Jerome and Grabban, and had the courage to step down when he saw it wasn't working.
 
He also brought in Cuellar, Miquel, Hooiveld, McGrandles, Odjidja-Ofoe and Lafferty. The latter two are maybe not that bad, but certainly didn't help this season. Plus he freezed out Bassong and loaned him to Watford.

 

[KeiranShikari]

I'd say Hooiveld was the only bad signing there really, and it could have been much worse. Others might turn out that way but we don't know yet, writing off Miquel and McGrandles now seems odd considering they are 22 and 19. Vadis has obviously had injury problems and Lafferty was never played as a striker.

 

[Yellow Fever]

I also think that Adams deserves credit for a good pre-season to shake off the relegation blues and keep most of a good squad. The players who left did so for good money and that helped to balance the books. He didn't have PL money to throw around but effectively filled in gaps in the squad and we wouldn't be where we are now without Jerome and Grabban. It's not easy to break down teams packing their defence, as Neil discovered against Wigan and Rotherham. Neil Adams is still part of our club and should be respected for what he contributed.

AN is right to recognise that he took over a team in good shape (and I admire him for doing so). I wasn't at all sure when he was appointed, but he has certainly proved to be the right choice in every way. 

 

[Yellow Fever]

As for Gunn, he should always deserve credit for signing Grant Holt when we were at our lowest ebb. 

 

[derehamyella]

I think what McNally has said today sums this all up perfectly.

“I think most would agree he (alex neil) inherited a really good squad with good players and I would also like to pay tribute to Neil Adams.

“If Neil hadn’t put us in that position to challenge we wouldn’t be celebrating promotion. Compared to the other teams who were relegated we had a good first half to the year and let us not forget it is tough to bounce back at the first time of asking.”

 

[morty]

Great interview here with McNally :-

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2015-05-26/full-interview-david-mcnally-on-norwich-citys-return-to-the-premier-league-and-the-future-of-alex-neil/

 

[Din]

Adams signed Jerome and Grabban, and was also the one who first put Bradley Johnson out to the left hand-side, which has turned out to be a crucial part of our promotion. For those moves he deserves a lot of credit. If he had not done any of those things, there is no chance we would've got promoted. 

It's really unfortunate that it didn't work out for him here. We couldn't get a manager who wanted us to do well more than him. However ultimately he just wasn't a good enough manager to achieve these aims. It says a lot about him though that he agreed to resign so that he can have a role within the club next season, than wait for the sack and probably get a reasonable wedge of money.

I do agree though with TA Canary, that had we not got promotion there would've been a lot more hostility towards him. But we did get promotion, so no reason to dislike him, and I'm happy that he'll come back in a different role next season.