When Alex Neil was handed the reins at Norwich City earlier this month, many internet searches were made as to whom the new man was at Carrow Road.

Now, with two games and two wins under his belt, Neil is already beginning to make a name for himself. Transferred to East Anglia as a player due to his combined role as a midfielder with managerial duties, it seems almost impossible that someone with such little experience could make such a big impact.

Neil’s predecessor, Neil Adams, resigned early in the New Year, meaning the club would be looking for their third manager in 12 months. Given that Adams – who was in his first managerial job – failed to provide the club with Premier League safety or guidance back to the top flight, you could have been forgiven for thinking Norwich would turn to someone with more than a few highlights on their managerial CV.

But, Neil’s only previous role was the one he departed from for the bright lights of Norfolk, with Scottish club Hamilton Academical. Originally given the managerial role with the Accies on an interim basis, Neil did enough to secure the job on a full-time basis, whilst still a member of the playing staff.

What followed was promotion via the revamped play-off system from the Scottish Championship to the Scottish Premier League in Neil’s first full season in charge. So, if Norwich don’t make promotion out of this campaign, they can certainly look forward to 2015/16, when Neil will have had a summer to put his own stamp on the club.

Given that the Scottish play-off system is somewhat different to the English version – the Final is played over two legs between clubs from two separate tiers – Neil had a job on his hands to guide then-Championship Hamilton past Hibernian, who were looking to remain in the Premier League as reward for winning the tie.

Fortunately for the South Lanarkshire club, a dramatic comeback was enough to force a penalty shootout, which Hibs lost. That meant a place in the top tier of Scottish football since 2011. Not the longest of exiles by any means, a position which Norwich City currently occupy, having been relegated from the English Premier League last season.

Another good fit between manager and club. It is perhaps the next chapter which really shone the light onto such a promising young manager. At stages this season, they topped the table, and as recently as December were sitting pretty in third place-guaranteeing a place in next season’s Europa League.

Since his departure, they have lost both games-having won five of his last seven in charge. But, good managers have made the move south before to join Championship clubs, and it has not worked out.

Former St. Johnstone manager Derek McInnes joined Bristol City – then at the bottom of the second tier – and guided them to safety. However, McInnes was sacked after losing seven straight games the following season.

McInnes’ successor at St. Johnstone, Steve Lomas, made the move to Millwall for the 2013/14 season, but the former West Ham United player never got the fans on his side. He was dismissed less than half a year into his tenure at the New Den following a dismal run of results.

But, it is not just on past successes of Neil himself and the failures of some of his colleagues that we should look at.

His 100% start with Norwich is just as big a testament to what he can do at the club as his past record with Hamilton. What we can be sure of however is that Neil is a bright, forward-thinking manager who has all the right qualities to succeed in the English game.