Neil is a talent — but has Norwich move come too soon?

ALEX NEIL is shaping up as a manager of promise. But the worry is that Norwich City have handed him the keys to English football a little too soon. The 33-year-old’s record at Hamilton Accies is impressive, no question. A player since 2005, he skippered the team as a combative midfielder and, unusually, made the successful leap from player to manager. Going from colleague to gaffer can be a difficult move to make. Playermanager since April 2013, Neil did it with aplomb, winning promotion to the Scottish Premiership after dumping Terry Butcher’s free-falling Hibs on their backsides in the play-offs. With modest crowds and an equally modest player budget, few expected much of the Lanarkshire team. A bottom-six place perhaps, a potential brush with relegation. Credit Neil, then, with exceeding expectations. He led Accies to the top six, beating Celtic at Parkhead and looking utterly comfortable in their surroundings. It’s an undoubted achievement. But how, you wonder, will managers of other clubs view Neil’s stroke of fortune? Jackie McNamara has done a superb job at Dundee United. Crucially, he has shown a great eye for players from the lower leagues, developing the likes of Andrew Robertson and Ryan Gauld, selling them for big money and finding replacements on a budget. Then there is Derek McInnes, a man who delivered Aberdeen’s first trophy in 19 years. He has a solid piece of silverware on his CV and, you suspect, hankers for another crack at England. Not yet, perhaps, but eventually. And who can forget that, when Norwich were last looking for a manager, Neil Lennon had won three successive SPFL titles with Celtic and wasn’t quoted. None of these men will grudge Neil his chance. Managers are a tight-knit bunch with a respect and understanding for others in the same industry. Neil is a thoroughly decent bloke with huge potential as a manager. But, right now, that’s all it is; potential. The suspicion is that what Norwich chief executive David McNally craves most is a pliable manager. A coach who won’t ask difficult questions over budgets. Someone he can control. He promoted his former youth coach Neil Adams last time and it’s clear how that ended. Good luck, then, to Alex Neil. The suspicion is he might need it.