TRUTH HURTS ..BUT WHY LIE?
Neil knows honesty cost him Canaries job
It’s not often a football manager is sacked for being too honest.
But Alex Neil is a rare breed. Of course that might not be the Norwich City fans’ take on his exit from Carrow Road.
They would probably point to a mid-season form slump that saw the Canaries drop out of the Championship play- off zone and effectively killed off their promotion hopes. But Neil knows it’s not as simple as that. His two chief executives David McNally and Jez Moxey warned him that constantly telling the truth might be his downfall. And they were right. When his team were undone by cruel luck, he’d say so. When they were woefully bad, he’d hold up his hands.
The Scot doesn’t mince his words. The problem is, when you’re not winning games, it’s not what supporters – or a board of directors – really want to hear.
And when the punters don’t like the truth and vent their anger, the manager is usually the one to suffer – even after guiding the Canaries to Premier League promotion after a Wembley play-off success in 2015.
That’s why, nine weeks after leaving Norfolk, Neil remains philosophical about his departure.
He said: “People on the outside only get one per cent of an insight into being a manager. So from the decisions you make on a Saturday, they make assumptions as to why you made them.
“But sometimes you’re forced into them. You can’t help it. Your job is to protect the integrity of the club and you can’t divulge why you’ve made that decision. That’s frustrating. If you sat down with people and told them all the facts and variables that led you to a decision, they might agree.
“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is probably that I’m too honest for my own good. Jez and David both told me that when I left Norwich.
“I’m very anti-playing games. I don’t like talking crap in the papers – I’d rather paint a realistic picture of what the job is.
“Everyone tells you they want to hear the truth. But what they really mean is, ‘Can I hear it if it’s good – but if it’s not so good don’t tell me’.
“My background definitely helps me to deal with it. I’m not going to sit in the house and dwell on what’s happened.
“In my life and career I’ve had to work extremely hard for what I’ve got. As a player, the rejection and negativity I had has only spurred me on even more. In football if you’re not resilient, determined and prepared to put the work in, eventually the game will eat you up and spit you out.
“I left Dunfermline as a kid because I wasn’t going to play in their first team. I went to Barnsley and got relegated in my third year.
“After that I was at Mansfield so it wasn’t as if I had clubs clamouring after me. When you’ve scrapped about at places like Mansfield you appreciate what you’ve got.
“I feel I have unfinished business now. That Wembley game was only two years ago and my stock was high. I want to get back to that and rebuild that.”
Since Neil took over from Billy Reid as Hamilton Accies’ player-boss in 2013 he’s been through a life- changing, four-year crash course in football management.
It seemed like he’d gone from the Scottish Championship to the English Premier League, from Alloa to Anfield, in no time.
From nurturing kids and journeymen at New Douglas Park to a dressing-room full of multi-million pound players with big egos and pay packets. It says everything about the 35-year-old that he took every step of the journey in his stride.
Neil said: “I remember sitting on a Tuesday night at an Under-20s match and I got the phone call from Norwich. It was a bit bizarre. I’d had seven games in charge of Hamilton in the Championship then got them up via the play-offs the following season.
“We’d started the Premiership campaign really well but it was still a shock.
“I had 100 things running through my mind. And I also had two kids to think about.
“My wife Christine had a job in Scotland so it had to be worthwhile in so many ways.
“But with Hamilton I thought that if we finished in the top four could we really go any higher? You also think about finances and being able to change my family’s lives.
“As a player, although I earned decent money I never got to the level where it would change my life. All of that came into account.
“Looking at everything, it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. Maybe it was naivety on my
People on the outside only get one per cent of an insight into being a manager
part but I was extremely confident going down there. I had no worries walking into that Norwich changing room. “I know how to speak to footballers. Suddenly I had a whole batch to deal with. But I had to show them I wasn’t there to mess about. I was there to get them up. “You need to get their respect right away. It eventually comes over a period of time but first impressions are crucial. “W he n yo u introduce yourself you have to make your presence felt and let them know that you’re in charge. “I didn’t have any problems. But at any club there will be opportunities to show your authority. “And there will be players who look to test that. It’s like being a teacher and going into the classroom for the first time. “You’ll have pupils who will try to push your buttons, see how far they can take you. But you have to set your stall out and tell them how it is. “You let them know that if they’re going to go down that route there will be consequences.” Those type of experiences have made Neil far better equipped to manage a Championship club now than two years ago when he left Accies. Of course the trials and tribulations of promotion and relegation, as well as the harsh reality of losing a job, have taken their toll. But Neil refuses to lose focus on the values and beliefs that took him to Norwich in the first place as he looks to get back in the game.
He said: “I learned huge amounts as a coach in the Premier League.
“We played so well in some games but still didn’t win – because someone produced a wee bit of quality from somewhere.
“We played West Ham and should have won. But the game finished 2-2 because Dimitri Payet pulled out two bits of unbelievable quality.
“You go from three points to one and that’s difficult.
“In football management you go into the job with your eyes open.
“There’s no point in worrying about your job. Because people will make decisions that you can’t affect.
“You just have to crack on and hope you get the time to do it right.
“You don’t get a job because everything’s going great.
“Sometimes it’s an easy quick fix. But at other clubs you have to let it run its course, like if it’s a batch of players who have two years left on their contacts.
“That problem will take two years to fix, not two weeks.
“During a bad spell, of course, you get frustrated. You take it home with you.
“I’m a 24/7 guy and think about the game all the time. As a manager you have more than 100 decisions to make a day.
“Times that by seven for a week and then by 52 for a year. It’s constant.
“But I’m a better manager now than I was when I left Hamilton. I’m more rounded.
“I’ve had to deal with so many highpressure games in a short space of time.
“I’ve gone through two play-offs in two separate countries and fought relegation in the Premier League.
“That shapes you as a manager. I feel as if I’ve experienced pretty much everything in the game.
“So it’s certainly been a learning curve for me. But even when it’s not going for you, you have to stay single-minded.”