NEIL ASKS FOR A DEJA PHEW
MANAGER Alex Neil is hoping it will be a case of deja vu for Norwich in the Championship this season.
Neil led the Canaries to promotion in his first season in 2015, when his side were seventh in the table after 30 games with 14 wins.
Norwich are currently seventh again after 30 games with 14 wins and Neil said: “I can see why people are comparing it.
“But we have an awful lot of work to do if the comparison is going to continue. I will be delighted if the season finishes the same way, though.”
Norwich needed a run of 11 wins in their last 16 games to reach the playoffs two years ago and Neil admitted: “We will need to do the same again.
“It was an incredible run of results but we are certainly capable of putting a whole host of wins together again, no question.”
Norwich take on Nottingham Forest at Carrow Road today, then entertain Championship leaders Newcastle on Tuesday night.
Neil (above) said: “We have turned the tide in terms of results so we are very confident.”
TOM CLEVERLEY returns to Old Trafford today with little to prove – except that getting the best out of him is all about positions, not petitions.
Four years ago, Cleverley appeared to have been anointed by Sir Alex Ferguson as the Chosen One to succeed Paul Scholes at the sharp end of Manchester United’s midfield.
But Cleverley became a scapegoat for United’s sharp decline under David Moyes, and few of his 13 England caps played to his strengths – picking a pass and making mischief around the box.
And for reasons best known to the clots behind it, not to mention the 12,500 sheep who signed it, fans even tried to get Cleverley banned from the 2014 World Cup by petitioning former England manager Roy Hodgson not to pick him.
Cleverley, claimed the anti-patriots, was regularly selected “without possessing any genuine qualities whatsoever” – his “inept performances” undermining the rest of the team.
Tell that to Watford fans who voted him their player of the season at Vicarage Road in 2009-10, when he contributed 11 goals and nine assists on loan from United.
They have been overjoyed to see Cleverley restored to the Golden Boys’ colours, this time on loan from Everton with an option for a permanent £7million transfer.
In return, he is as pleased to be back in his favoured position, and among an audience where he is appreciated, as much as he was baffled by that stupid petition.
“It wasn’t nice, more so for my family than for me, but football can be a fickle business,” said Cleverley (right, with scorer Troy Deeney at Arsenal last month).
“One minute you are doing great, the next you are public enemy No.1 – even if you don’t really know why.
“All I do know is that, wherever I’ve played, I’ve always given it everything when I’ve stepped out on the pitch.”
Cleverley, 27, has been back to Old Trafford before, with Everton. But this time, a familiar face who was coming up through the ranks at United will be lying in wait. Paul Pogba has since flown the nest and returned as the world’s most expensive footballer, but Cleverley insists his quality was always evident. He said: “Paul was the stand-out young player there at the time and he always had that big personality because he had no fear. “People have been too quick to judge him this year – he’s scoring goals, creating goals, making world-class passes and he’s a player we’ve got to watch at the weekend. He’s the attributes to be a midfielder and it’s nice to see how it’s worked out for him because he has a great attitude.
“Why did he leave United? It’s not for me to speculate, but I probably wouldn’t have played so many games for them if he had stayed, so it worked out all right for me!
“Sometimes things happen for a reason in football, but I’m glad it’s come full circle for him because Paul is a top player.
“Do I have anything to prove to United fans? Not really – as I get older, I don’t want to be bitter.
“Of course I would rather my spell at Old Trafford had ended better than the way it did because I had a fairly poor season, but I wasn’t the only one.
“I don’t dwell on it and I don’t get obsessed with putting it right.
“I have so many good memories of Watford from my season here when Malky Mackay was the manager and it does feel like home.
“I like being in the engine room of midfield, on the front foot and trying to make things happen around the box. That’s where I feel you will see the best of me.
“I’ve already been reminded, in many respects, of why I enjoyed myself here last time. I arrived in the week Graham Taylor died, and the way the club handled everything – including his funeral – was pure class.” got all topclass