Amid connections with Birmingham City boss, Alex Neil reveals his future career goal.
Birmingham City is searching for their next successful manager. Alex Neil, Tony Mowbray, is the current favorite.
Birmingham Mail Bookmark Comments 20 Managing Director Alex Neil is waiting for his next career move. Picture: PA
When Alex Neil does return to work, he hopes it will be to a marriage made in heaven. Birmingham City is looking for a new manager, and manager Neil, who most recently managed Stoke City, is currently at the top of the market, ready for his next football challenge.
Following his forced leave of absence in February for medical treatment, Blues announced that Tony Mowbray would not be rejoining the team this summer. For the first time in nearly thirty years, Blues are playing in the third division of English football, despite the best efforts of temporary manager Gary Rowett.
Finding and selecting Mowbray’s long-term replacement continues to be Blues’ top priority at the moment, even though there is still a lot of work to be done in the upcoming weeks and months on the recruitment front following a flurry of departures at the end of the campaign. Neil, who led Sunderland out of League One two years ago and has a wealth of EFL experience with Preston and Norwich, is hoping for a working partnership that is comparable to those he has had in the past.
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Neil responded, “I’m not sure, if I’m honest,” to a question about his precise career goals in March on the EFL Debate YouTube channel. Since leaving Stoke, I’ve had talks with a few clubs, but at the time, none of them felt quite right. Something with stability surrounding it that I can truly get my teeth into. The challenge you face, in my opinion, is that time is crucial when entering a location.
“For both the club and me, the timing of the Sunderland position was ideal. For myself and the club, the timing of the Norwich position was ideal. The Preston job came at the ideal time. That, in my opinion, is the one thing that wasn’t quite right when I moved to Stoke and what needed to be done in the first ten months until the summer arrived to make things better.
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“I’m not naïve at all, in the end. In football, it’s expected of you to succeed, win games, and finish at the top of your division. If you’re not, it will cost you your job, especially in the Championship. Nothing is wrong with me. Could I have done better? You can always do better, of course.
“I think I have a lot to contribute. As a coach, I’ve received three promotions. Not that it helps with my bald head, but I’m still just forty-two! That’s when a lot of rookie coaches first start moving up the coaching ladder. I consider myself fortunate to have a wealth of experience from an early age. As I move forward, I have a great deal more to learn and do.
“I want to be a part of something that I believe in, but I also want someone else to think I’m the best person to lead it.” I have the good fortune to have four or five clubs that work incredibly well together for both of us. I would like to believe that another one will not be far off.”
