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PETER SMITH A very different test to the Rotherham game?
Neil: I think we’ve got to give a lot of credit to Ipswich having just come up. We went one for one against West Brom during the week and in that first half West Brom looked a poor team. They couldn't get out of their half because we pinned them in.
Ipswich did that to us today, I thought that we struggled at times to go up the pitch because when we turned it, they were winning duels. When we put it in behind they mopped it up. They were very brave in how they played.
We've done a lot of these press conferences and very few times have I come out and said we deserve to lose. I thought that was one of them.
PETER SMITH It sounded like you had played better in the first game?
Neil: The last two performances have been very good. That's why probably today, I'm so frustrated.
I'm not just putting it all on the players. The fact is we've got a new group and we're trying to gel them together and at times we look a little bit disorganised today, which is disappointing for me. That's something I need to reflect on and try to improve.
PETER SMITH You looked unhappy on the sidelines?
Neil: I thought we had spells. When we made the change I thought we were ok to half time and then I thought we were ok for 10 minutes at the start of the second half but beyond that I don't think we moved the ball quickly or well enough, I don't think we pressed or got the ball back enough. In the first 30 minutes I don’t think we won one individual duel.
We are talking the basics like winning a header, winning a tackle. I think every time there was a coming together of players, we came out on the wrong end. When that happens, you can talk about the tactics until the cows come home, but if you don’t win individual duels then you will lose the game. It’s as simple as that.
PETER SMITH Wesley made a difference when he came on?
Neil: Yes, but then we’ve got somebody who’s 6ft 3in and we start playing 17 passes across the edge of the 18 yard box, which doesn't really make sense. For the first 10 minutes of the second half we made one or two passes, draw them out, put the ball forward and we played around them.
But after that we rarely put the ball forward which is frustrating but with atmosphere like it was today it's hard to get any messages on the pitch. The players really need to figure it out for themselves on the pitch at times and sometimes that can prove to be difficult when you've got a lot of new players.
I've got no complaints in the game today.
I thought they deserved to win and we need to move on to the next one.
PETER SMITH Was the free-kick award soft leading up to the first goal?
Neil: I just thought the first goal was poor. I don’t know where we end up positionally. I thought it just went into the back post and the goalkeeper should have got across that side of the pitch.
We just didn’t do well enough today.
I thought what you could see was a team that's worked together for the last 12 months and a team that has been put together in the last three weeks.
You could see that there were certain times that we were trying to press and we shouldn't be pressing, there were certain times for throw-in set ups we were in the wrong position. That doesn’t reflect well on me or the team so there’s a lot of work to do.
17:33KEY EVENT Alex Neil post-match press conference
Thee first thing we’ve got to do is give Ipswich credit because I thought they were better than us in the game.
When you come to places like this when they’re bouncing – I’ve been here before to this stadium and I’ve also been in the same scenario at Sunderland straight after promotion and that first home game, it’s a great party atmosphere. Everybody's at their peak, the team's been playing really well, they’ve added a couple of wee bits and bobs in the summer to try to get better.
And then the first thing we do is give the ball away cheaply on two separate occasions. Our centre-back passes the ball straight to them, our wide player passes the ball straight to them. What happens is the crowd gets up when you need to take the sting out of the game and quieten the crowd, take it away from them.
But they were really brave, they went one for one over the pitch and we lost, I reckon in the first half, pretty much every individual battle, whether it be a header or a tackle. We didn’t pass the ball well enough.
I was forced to make a change after 30 minutes because at that stage it looked as if Ipswich were going to score another goal. I thought that made us better to half time because it gave us a bit of a platform to get up the pitch. I thought we started the second half better and wee were good for probably 10 or 15 minutes. Then I thought they wrestled back control of the game.
We had two good chances at the start of the second half, one fell to Ben Pearson, one fell to Wesley, both 15 yards out, 16 yards out. We don't make the best of them.
Then for the last 20 or 25 minutes, I thought they were better.
Alex Neil post match on 19:07 - Aug 12 by pointofblue
In the ex Norwich manager list, Neil is definitely one of my favourites after that assesment - very fair and balanced.
He is a decent manager I think. Trying to remember the circumstances of how he left Norwich. Was it a failure to get promoted after a relegation? I don't think it was too long before he landed the Preston gig.
He is a decent manager I think. Trying to remember the circumstances of how he left Norwich. Was it a failure to get promoted after a relegation? I don't think it was too long before he landed the Preston gig.
Norwich were relegated from the Premier League, and sat 8th after winning just seven of their last 24 Championship games, when Neil was sacked.
(I got this off wiki. I am not that obsessed with Canary history).
In short Alex Neil, we played your boys off the park. Thanks for teaching us what the championship is all about….. and that’s it’ll be a different prospect for us. Yip, I think we’ve got that one. Next?
When he bought Wesley on after 35 mins +/-, I was worried he had pulled a masterstroke. For the last 10 mins of the 1st half and 1st 10 mins of the second, they looked very dangerous.
Fortunately we kept our nerve and the rest is history.
Nice from Neil to have an honest appraisal of the game and not come out with excuses or blaming the ref.
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