Today is the birthday of Alex Neil - a man who was successful at Sunderland before, of course, joining Stoke...
In January 2015, Norwich City were the club to take a risk on the 33-year-old Alex Neil who had impressed whilst managing in Scotland. It would make him the second-youngest manager in the EFL after Mansfield’s Adam Murray. He won in his first game against league leaders Bournemouth and then went on a run that saw Norwich win 17 from 25 games, securing 3rd place and a space in the play-offs. In the semi’s, they beat Ipswich Town in the fearsome East Anglia derby, winning 4–2 on aggregate over two legs.
Neil’s first taste of Wembley victory followed in the next game against Middlesbrough. Norwich won 2–0 in the 2015 play-off Final, with goals from Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond ensuring Premier League football for the Canaries.
Alas, Norwich followed that well worn path they are renowned for - promoted one year, down the next. Neil’s side finished rock bottom of the Premier League and were down in the Championship the following season. Alex Neil’s contract was terminated with Norwich 8th in the second tier after a poor run of results. He cited poor summer recruitment as a potential reason for his sacking.
In a weird twist of fate, Simon Grayson departed Preston to take control of us and Alex Neil filled the managerial seat vacated by the manager who would go on to be so abysmal for SAFC. Neil stabilised Preston and Grayson didn't last too long; we slid down into League One.
After Jack Ross, Phil Parkinson and Lee Johnson had failed to end our third tier misery, Neil was appointed in February 2022, revealed at Durham train station in SAFC training gear courtesy of a grainy image from a fan. He came in and soon implemented the changes necessary to make us sturdier defensively, took some players out of the team and managed to go on a 16 game unbeaten run. His press conferences were a breath of fresh air - succinct, knowledgeable and down to earth. Neil provided us with the greatest moment we have had in years in that comprehensive and professional 2-0 play-off win against Wycombe.
Games against Oxford, Gillingham, Fleetwood and Sheffield Wednesday proved the tenacity of Alex Neil’s transformed Sunderland side and in Neil, we had the first League One manager you could place total faith in to earn us promotion. The fans loved him, but despite many people thinking the club had got under his skin, he left for Stoke City in August.
In 48 hours, Neil had gone from being one of the most loved men on Wearside to figure of greed and disloyalty. He was even sitting in Ewood Park watching Stoke, despite still being Sunderland head coach. The Lads had a big game against Norwich earlier that day, and the fans chanted "F*ck Alex Neil."
The Stoke hierarchy were hoping that the appointment of Alex Neil would turn their season around, but things didn't do to plan. Stoke were extremely inconsistent and finished 16th. Meanwhile, Sunderland replaced Neil with the established Tony Mowbray and secured the playoffs. One journalist even asked Neil if he regretted his decision, in which he responded with "That's a ridiculous thing to say."
However, Stoke did beat the Lads, 5-1 at the Stadium of Light in March 2023 and then again, this time at the Bet365 Stadium by a scoreline of 2-1 in October of the same year. Those games were about as good as it got for him whilst there though, overseeing just 22 wins in his 66 games in charge of the Potters. He was sacked in December 2023 and has remained unemployed ever since.
