Norwich City fans must be patient when the going gets tough, says Neil Warnock

Delia Smith, flanked by mother Etty and husband Michael Wynn Jones. ©Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +447814 482222

Veteran manager Neil Warnock has backed Alex Neil to steer the Canaries clear of relegation this season – but warned that the City boss and fans will need to be patient when the going gets tough.

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Soft spot for City – but the manager’s job just didn’t happen “Make sure you put that bit in, Delia will love that”. The words of Neil Warnock after speaking of his soft spot for the Canaries, and, in particular, the club’s joint majority shareholder. He said: “They have a lovely owner in Delia and her husband Michael, who I’ve always got on with. “But her mother is a great lady. Often when I’ve been at Carrow Road she’s told me how I should be doing things differently.” In fact, stories relating to Norwich City regularly feature in both of his autobiographies, in particular a touchline run-in with Nigel Worthington while managing Sheffield United, being stuck at Norwich train station with the Queen’s Park Rangers’ squad – and missing out on the manager’s job at Carrow Road. Of the latter he writes in ‘Neil Warnock: The Gaffer’: “Years ago Norwich sent what seemed like a 400-page dossier to fill in ahead of the interview to give the board an idea of what I might do. “When I arrived the first question was ‘Do you think Norwich City fans would appreciate a Neil Warnock team?’ “I looked everyone round the table in the eye, stalling, and then I said ‘You mean a winning one? I think they’d like a winning one.’ “They appeared unconvinced and I thought to myself ‘I won’t be getting this one’.”

Speaking during a visit to the area for a sportsman’s dinner, Warnock, who managed 13 clubs at every level during a colourful career, said he had been impressed by what he had seen from the Scot.

He also revealed his ‘soft spot’ for the Canaries, due in a large part to majority shareholder Delia Smith and her mother Etty.

“I’ve been watching the Premier League quite closely and I’ve been impressed with Alex Neil, he’s a good manager,” he said. “I don’t see Norwich having a big problem in the league. They took a gamble appointing Alex, but sometimes you have to not always go for the bigger names. I’m pleased it is working for them as they are a great club.

“The problem he’ll have this year is that there will be a stage where he’ll go five or six games without a win, as that is what happens to the lesser clubs, who get the lesser decisions.

“His biggest test will be how he deals with that and to make sure he and the team don’t get too down. From what I’ve seen, he’s a positive guy, so I’m sure he won’t do that.

“I wasn’t surprised they went up as even at the start of the season when they were struggling I thought they had the best squad in the league.

“I think the quality and spirit of the squad means they don’t need to spend loads to stay up. Goalscoring is probably going to be their biggest issue, but they’ll be fine.”

The 66-year-old, who last managed Crystal Palace in the 2014/15 Premier League before being replaced by Alan Pardew, urged City fans to emulate those of his former team.

He explained: “The fans play a massive part and they will need to be patient. Crystal Palace have shown that; the fans there are worth a point a game and I think it can be like that at Norwich. They just need to try not to panic and remember where they have come from.”

Warnock was speaking at Friday night’s Walsham le Willows FC Sportsman’s Dinner.

In an hour-long Q&A, he revealed to the 250 guests how both Norfolk and Suffolk nearly became his home, having been interviewed for the Norwich job before Bruce Rioch was appointed and that he was also in contention to take over at Ipswich, before the club chose Roy Keane.

He said: “I spoke to the chief executive and was going to come down and meet Marcus Evans, but then I got a phone call to say the club had decided to go in a different direction.

“That was when they appointed Roy Keane. These things happen in football, you don’t get too downhearted about them. I was interviewed by Norwich as well but that didn’t happen either.”

He had agreed to attend the dinner following a recommendation from fellow radio pundit, and former Ipswich striker, Alan Brazil.

He added: “I always like to try and support grassroots football. I’d always take my players to Cornwall to play teams like Walsham and they’d chat to the fans and sign autographs. It was a really important thing to do.

“I don’t do that many dinners but I spoke to Alan and he said I should go down to Suffolk as I’d like it – so here I am.”