Honest question. What would your reaction have been if Alex had been appointed.? .I can only imagine. Alex and Lee are both 33 years old, Lee played almost hundred games more in his football career than Alex. They have a similar amount of games managed. The difference is Norwich was willing to give him a chance to further his career and so far is doing a great job. I hope in twelve months time we are fighting to keep him at Oakwell. Traditionally we've gave young blood a chance and done pretty well out of them. If it is Lee Johnson give him your backing you never know what the future holds.
I think the problem is that people look at the teams they have managed rather than what they've done in that job. If we went for Alex Neil before Norwich recruited him, I reckon there'd have been some resistance. If we approach him in 12 months time after an average spell at Norwich, more would be on board as he's got experience in the championship. Johnson is a punt in the same way Andy Ritchie, Keith Hill, Simon Davey and Flicker were, we've had varying degrees of success. I'm not expecting Johnson to take us to the championship this season, I'm hoping he makes us competitive and gives us the chance to at least challenge the top 6 for an extensive spell next season.
I think you're getting your Tommy Wrights mixed up, old mate. The one at Oldham used to be a striker for Leeds, Oldham & Leicester. St. Johnstone's manager is a former international goalkeeper with Northern Ireland.
Sorry about that.The old grey matter is playing tricks. I'm surprised I didn't put Tommy Cooper down.
Personally I'd have been chuffed if they had appointed him. He took Hamilton Academicals into the Scottish Premier League in his first season and beat Celtic on their own patch for the first time in 76 years. Arabian Ian was extolling his virtues and the type of football he instilled long before Norwich took a chance on him. Meanwhile Johnson has finished 19th and 15th in his two seasons with Oldham so if you're going on managerial records there's no comparison. We've not given many young managers with his poor record a chance. I'll still get behind him though and hope he works a miracle.