Pundits? They only fire me up
Neil dismisses relegation talk
ALEX NEIL has a more t han decent t r ack record of defying the odds — and he has vowed to do it again after seeing his Norwich City s i de heavily tipped to go straight back down from the Barclays Premier League this season.
The rookie boss performed miracles after joining the Canaries at the turn of the year from Hamilton Accies, securing an immediate return to the top flight after a number of eye-popping results — culminating in a Sky Bet Championship play- off f i nal win over Middlesbrough in May.
But newcomers to the English top division are normally favourites to return from whence they came, and pundits have been queuing up to condemn Norwich along with fellow new arrivals Bournemouth and Watford.
Neil has become rather accustomed to being written off, however, and had the critics eating humble pie north of the border when his Accies team surged to third pl ac e in t he Scottish Premiership last Christmas despite being labelled mostlikely to plummet into the second tier.
Norwich quickly realised this feisty Scot was the real deal and soon snapped him up to recharge their faltering promotion bid, but the rest of English football is clearly yet to be convinced and, as always, it’s a challenge the 34-year-old from Belshill will meet head-on.
‘I am used to it ( being written off),’ said Neil ahead of today’s opening day clash against Crystal Palace at Carrow Road.
‘The same thing happened to me at Hamilton when I was up there. Eight of out eight ( pundits) had us finishing last and we were third at Christmas.
‘It is people’s opinions, but ultimately the proof will be what we can manage to achieve.
‘We need to make sure we are competitive i n every game and that I get the best I can from the players, which is all you can ask. I am confident if we do get that, then we can have a good season.’
The inspirational Neil’s importance to Accies was highlighted when t heir league fortunes took a major tumble after he had left them riding high in the Scottish top flight.
Many doubted he could continue waving his magic wand in England but he managed to do so — and is confident he can do so again by se c uri ng Norwich’s survival in the richest league in the world.
Captain Russell Martin shares his manager’ s optimism, turning a blind eye to predictions that the Canaries are doomed.
They have been able to retain most of the squad who dropped out of the Premier League in 2014 and, since promotion, have added the likes of Robbie Brady from Hull, Andre Wisdom on loan from Liverpool and former West Brom midfi e l der Youssouf Mulumbu, although he will miss the start of the season because of a fractured metatarsal.
Scotland defender Martin, who j oined Norwich in January 2010 and was part of Paul Lambert’s side which won successive promotions up from League One, sees no reason to be anything other than positive about the challenges ahead.
‘I could not care less (about the predictions), if I am honest,’ said the 29-year-old. ‘It is someone’s opinion and we will see come the end of the season.
‘A l ot of t he pundits commenting have probably not seen us play much, so we will go and show what we are about — and, hopefully, prove a few people wrong.’
Manager Neil is equally determined to keep the squad focused on the job in hand.
Midfielder Jonny Howson penned a contract extension on Thursday and Neil is hopeful to further bolster the squad before the transfer window closes, with Norwich heavily linked with the likes of Dynamo Kiev’s Congo striker Dieumerci Mbokani.
‘ Things are ongoing at the moment and it changes from day to day when you speak to different people, but we are still working on it,’ said Neil.
While Norwich do not face any of the leading sides in the opening few weeks of the new campaign, the manager is not taking the challenge of Alan Pardew’s Palace lightly.
He said: ‘If you look at their expectations for the season, saying they would like to get European qualif i c ati on shows where Palace would want to be.
‘We have our own agenda and we must remain focused on what we are trying to do, as well as nullify the threat of Palace. It will be a real test but I am hoping my boys can do themselves justice.’