Assessing the Appointment

Article by e-Norwich City's Colin Rowe

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So after all the rumour, speculation and debate over who is going to be the next Norwich City manager we eventually found out and the reaction from the Y’Army can best be described as underwhelmed.

Yes, Neil Adams will be the man in the dugout at the start of next season.

This is not to say the fans are disappointed with this appointment, it is just it is not particularly exciting compared to the popular alternatives like Malky Mackay and Neil Lennon.

Overall it is clear Norwich did not get their first choice man.

Since the end of the season, David McNally has twice told the congregated news cameras a decision would be made within a week.

If Adams was top of the list there would have been no reason to have waited so long to make the announcement.

However, it would be fair to say most Norwich fans will not object to the appointment.

Certainly there will in no way be ‘Adams Out’ banners before a ball has been kicked, a la Chelsea Benitez saga.

He is, in his own way, a Norwich legend and his stock has only risen in the fine city since winning the FA Youth Cup.

Nobody can argue he does not deserve the chance to have a real go at managing the first team.

Many, or at least those who thought sacking Chris Hughton was a bad idea or poorly timed, would question the choice and would argue Adams will not get us promoted next season and they might have a point.

Adams has no experience coaching a first team through a whole season and is yet to win a match since taking over, but then again there is no guarantee anybody is going to get you promotion.

Admittedly Mackay has experience at Championship and Premiership level, both as a player and a manager.

Similarly Lennon has done fantastic things at Celtic, albeit minus Rangers for the past couple of years.

Zola hardly has much more experience than Adams in management, but almost managed to get Watford promoted, thanks largely to a contingent of young loanees from Premiership teams.

The point is there is no way you can guarantee any manager is going to get you promoted.

Harry Redknapp, a well-respected and experienced manager, had to rely on a last minute play-off final goal to get QPR up, after having been in the automatic promotion spots for a significant part of the season, and both Norwich fans and Gianfranco Zola’s Watford will testify to how easily things can go wrong in those post-season games.

Did Adams improve the fortunes at the end of our doomed season?

Possibly, but the only certainty is we would not have fared any better under Hughton and under no circumstances would we have survived.

Although getting a manager in place was important, perhaps the best news of the off-season has been announcements from John Ruddy and Nathan Redmond about their intention to stay at Carrow Road.

Reports suggest Anthony Pilkington is unsure about his future at Norwich under new management, having been one of those left out by Adams in his end-off-season tenure and has previously been subject to offers from other clubs.

However, Wes Hoolahan, Luciano Becchio and Sebastian Bassong remain squarely in the unknown column and there is as yet no indication about the future of Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper, although the latter might possibly return to Parkhead.

The fact is Adams might be a great choice, but you just don’t know until next season starts and the big decisions about the squad are not going to happen until after the World Cup.

Given the financial state of the club there will not be the pressure to sell players and some of the team are indicating the kind of loyalty which Norwich fans respect and we can only hope some other players follow suit.

But so far this summer, things are going quite well.

On the Ball City!

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