In regards to his comments earlier on the job at SAFC, Alex Neil spoke about the issues he identified in the squad and how he implemented the changes he felt were necessary to get us to where we are now.
BELIEF
“The biggest thing was that I could have an immediate impact. That’s the one thing I focused on (in the interview). Because I’ve done it wherever I’ve been! I went to Norwich when we were 10th or 11th, and got them promoted from January onwards. I took over Hamilton in the bottom three, and the following season we got promoted. I took over Preston when they’d spent a second season in the Championship, but they were content with just staying in the division. We finished seventh in my first season. So I always felt that I could have an immediate impact.”
PREVIOUS PROBLEMS
“I think defensively, we needed to solidify a bit. We were conceding too many goals. If you look at the metrics across the season for the teams that were potentially going to get promoted, and have subsequently been promoted in Rotherham and Wigan, they were all high in the league for defensive stats. So defensively you need to be solid, then you need to score goals and be creative. You need all those elements. To be fair to the team of coaches prior to me, we had most of those elements in place. But the pleasing thing for me when I walked in the door was how well the lads applied themselves and approached that.”
INTRODUCTIONS
“I didn’t think it was by any means a negative group. My first meeting was basically saying I’m here to help. Collectively if you give me everything you’ve got, I’ll certainly give you everything I’ve got. There’s no reason we can’t be successful. And naturally, we need to manage the group. There was maybe some players who were playing regularly under the last regime and now aren’t playing so much, and it’s just about giving them an understanding about what they need to do. Equally, some other players get given an opportunity. That’s par for the course of any group you go into. And naturally, people will deserve a spot based on their performance, attitude, appetite, how they train, all those bits combined.”
