Neil Adams Answers YOU -Part TWO.

Oh you've been waiting... I can tell. I can smell your excitement wafting through my ethernet cable. You got a taster and you want more... And you shall have it.......

I asked for questions to pose to ex-Norwich wing king and current Radio Norfolk commentator Neil Adams and you flooded my inbox. We had some good un's (and some duffers too!)

In part one Neil satisfied your insatiable appetite for behind the scenes footy information and I teased you by splitting this interview into two parts. Well the wait is over.

Lets crack on...

Matt wanted to know.....Neil. When at away games, do you have to stay in the stands to take Canary Call, or is there a press room like at Carra Rud? Canary call is a phone in show on BBC Radio Norfolk. Fans call in to air their opinions and quiz Neil on the match.

Neil...At home at Carrow Road we commentate from just above the tunnel as most people will know and then for canary call I make my way up into the corner between the snake pit and the Barclay end to the studio. Away from home we get allocated press box seats and we sit with all the other guys who are commentating. After the game finishes the press box empties and I sit where I am. I am normally alone in the stand.

Matt also wanted to know......(its related so he gets to ask two) Can you recall a favorite argument with a canary call fan?

Neil...Yes I can. A guy called Barry called 4 years ago at Millwall. I had a good debate with the guy who was adamant that I used to go and watch training every day and his bone of contention at the time was that Norwich weren't scoring many goals from set pieces. He said to me "why aren't they practising set pieces on the training ground" and I said to him I don't know because I don't go and watch and he was insistent that I did. After about 3 mins I ended up calling Barry stupid and the call has sort of made it into Norfolk folklore and made it onto websites.

Neil sitting next to Radio Norfolk's Roy Waller.

Want to hear 'stupid' Barry's call? At U.F we NEVER disappoint..Here it is....

http://www.freewebs.com/canarycall/eventsactivities.htm

Matt had one final request and because I am a good egg, I caved like Eduardo's ankle and let him get one last question in....

Matt....Can you tell my girlfriend to leave me the hell alone when the football is on the radio? (and I mean ALL the way through to Chris's manager/player interviews at the end)

Neil...Matt's girlfriend should leave him alone as it's fantastic that people listen in all over the globe, we sometimes get calls from people phoning in from other countries and if someone is that keen on Norwich City and has taken the time at any time of the day or night to listen to canary call then their wives and girlfriends should leave them alone.

Hear that woman? Leave Matt alone! I understand Matt's dilemma... That's why I lock Mrs Bigus in the basement on Saturday mornings.

Goat asks...(hope it's clean!) Since you are here in the US, perhaps you can tell me what you think of soccer in this country--both MLS and the national team (if he thinks of them at all)--and why many Brits seem to look down on US soccer fans (although it's quite understandable why the look down on American soccer players).

Neil...I am actually going to watch L.A Galaxy next week. I am not really qualified to comment on American football but by all accounts it's not great. There are more and more British players coming over here, maybe they are chasing the dollar, but apparently it's not great (how right you are sir!) which is a shame. It's a big sport and hopefully it takes off over here.

Precious Roy asks...Since he does radio in Norwich, could you maybe ask him to get us Alan Partidge's autograph? (oh Roy, Roy, Roy...)

Neil...Apparently Steve Coogan modeled his character on somebody from Radio Norfolk, nobody is officially owning up but we have all got our ideas.

Eladio asks...As a former player, what are your thoughts on foreign ownership, of not only EPL teams, but Championship and lower levels. Does that affect players at all, or is it just something for the fans and media to whinge about?

Rich foreign folk.....Yay..or neigh?

Neil...There are two interests for players. How much are they getting paid and are they getting picked in the team. They are well aware of whats going on off the field but it doesn't affect them. They want to be picked and paid well. Most British people turn their nose up at foreign investment but that's the way it's going. If people are going to come in and put money into a club and make it better, buy better players, better facilities then you have to embrace it.

Eladio ...also wanted to know..If, at the end of your career, you felt you had 1 more year left and the only team offering him a contract was Ipswich, would you have played for them?

Neil....Never in a million years..Once you have played for Norwich you can never play for Ipswich.

You are never forgiven! Judas Marshall made the move.

Finally, earlier this year Glenn Roeder took exception to a comment Neil made on the Radio about Darren Huckerby's absence from the team. Roeder made his feelings towards Neil very clear and very public. This resulted in Neil being let go from coaching the NCFC under 14 side....so here is the question that many(7) of you wanted aksed...

NY Kid... How do you feel about Glenn Roeder?

Neil ......To be honest with you I am not happy with him at all. I believe in treating people how they treat you and I believe in respect and I don't think the manager has shown me a lot of respect, I don't think he was honest or truthful with me with the reasons he gave when he told me I would not be coaching at the Norwich academy any more.

I said at the end of our meeting, and I made no bones about it, Norwich is my club and I hope he does fantastically well with the club this year. I don't personally respect him, I hope he does well and the team does well, but its all about results and if Glenn Roeder gets results then everyone will say that he has done a fantastic job but personally we don't see eye to eye at the moment.

------

Many, many thanks to Neil for his time and a heavy pat on the back to all of you for submitting some smashing questions.

-Bigus.

Up the City!

Read more on "Neil Adams Answers YOU -Part TWO."...

Neil Adams Answers YOU! - Part 1

Last week I offered you all a super chance not to be passed on.

The chance to quiz ex-Norwich player and current BBC radio pundit Neil Adams. I received over 40 questions - some of them even 3-parters! We didn't get through them all and some of them were... well... poo. But the great news is that many of them were excellent, and Neil answered those over a few beers with his old mate Bigus last Saturday night.

He offered his thoughts on current training methods, reminisced on THAT penalty miss and told me what he thought of Glenn Roeder.

Part One is waiting after the jump.

Neil (second from the left) with some NY Canaries last Saturday. Sorry for the blurry picture, Sergio from Keeley's was obviously drinking on the job!

Let's get started:

Kopper asks: How much coin do you think a mid-table championship team needs to spend to make consistent promotion pushes, assuming a slightly better rate of return than, say, Peter Grant?

Neil: I think if a team wants to get out of the Championship, you have to be looking at about 6 million at least. That's the ballpark figure for me. 6 million quid, and you'd be looking to get at least 4 decent players. As an owner, if I gave my manager 8 million and he didn't get me into the top 2, I would be disappointed, so 6 to 8 million.

Lingering Bursitis asked: Neil, who is the best manager you have ever played for, and why?

Neil: Players will usually tell you that the best manager they ever played for was the one that picked them all the time. I was fortunate to win the Premier League, as it is now, with Everton.

Howard Kendall was fantastic. I think his main strength was his man management, the way he kept the players that weren't in the team involved in the squad. I have played for managers who have got their 11, and if you are not in it, then you are an outcast.

Howard Kendall kept a group of about 20 players, bearing in mind this was in the days of one sub, all involved and rotated, which was unheard of and steered the team to a title. Bear in mind Liverpool were winning the title for fun then and using 30-40 players, I think he used 22 the year we won it.

Another one for me was Mike Walker, a manager who was very underrated. He was tactically excellent. He was the only manager I have known to play 3 center-halves and a sweeper, which was never done before, during the European run. He was another one who kept the training ground happy, he was very clever, and I think he should have done a lot better than he did. He was an excellent manager.

Kopper asks: Who is going to step up to be the clubhouse leader at Norwich City now that Dion has gone?

Neil: Difficult one... it would have been Huckerby for me, but Huckerby is out of the building now so to speak and looking at it now, they are thin on the ground for leaders. Gary Doherty is an experienced player but he is not a great talker. You are looking for players who are going to push and pull players around the pitch. I would be struggling to find one at the minute. If you are looking for experienced leaders at the moment then there aren't any there. Hopefully some can be brought in.

Lingering Bursitis asks: You played for Everton, Stoke, Norwich and Oldham... Who had the biggest dressing room clown and who was it?

Neil: Everton was fantastic, I was a young kid when I went to Everton, I was 19 years old. Everton at the time were the equivalent of Manchester United now, probably one of the best clubs in Europe. The dressing room was fantastic. I was fortunate that Adrian Heath was an Everton player, we both lived in Stoke-on-Trent and traveled up to Everton every day. He took me under his wing.

The dressing room banter at the time was phenomenal. Players will always tell you that the dressing room will get you half of the way there, obviously you have to have the talent or you won't do it. Adrian Heath was a joker but there were several of them. Oldham was the same, when we got out of the Championship at the time and into the Premiership. Joe Royle knew we liked to go out and have a beer and a laugh and a joke, but he kept an eye on it. He let it go because he knew what it did for the dressing room spirit. Any team that has a bond in the side as we had at Everton and Oldham has a good chance.

Adrian Heath..Dressing room joker!

Neil was a penalty specialist and only ever missed once...With that in mind The NY Kid wanted to know: Looking back, how much does the one penalty miss bother you considering that you could have had a perfect record?

Neil: It kills me to be honest. I take a big personal pride, as anybody would do, in success. It wasn't a great night for me, it was one that will be forever etched into the memory. Swansea away...I missed the penalty and literally 30 seconds before the end of the game I smashed my collar bone and had to have an operation the next day. I don't make excuses, but it was the only time I took a penalty and missed a penalty wearing rubber studs, I also had a cough and a heavy cold.

I didn't take the penalty as well as I should have done. The keeper saved it and I would be lying if I said that it doesn't grate, it would have been fantastic to have gone through my career without missing.

Ian wanted to know: Does Norwich have a shot in hell of getting promoted this year, or are they doomed to a life of Colaship mediocrity?

A repeat of 2003-2004?....

Neil: As we speak, I wouldn't hold any hopes out for them to make the top 6 based on last season's performances, but there are rumors of a takeover, a big Norwich businessman putting money in and if he does, then it changes everything. Wipes the slate clean. If there is money for Glenn Roeder to spend, then yes, you would expect Norwich to be up there competing.

If it doesn't happen then with the squad they currently have, it will be difficult to make the top 6.

Keith asked: As a professional player, how do you maximize training time, so as to maintain a high level of match fitness without burning yourself out over the course of a long footballing season?

Neil: It's difficult, but try to bear in mind that professional players train between 2, 2-and-a-half hours a day. It's difficult to burn out.

This is something that grates on me because I don't believe in the "burn out" theory. 10-15 years ago, players were playing 60, 70, 80 games a season and yes, the game is a lot faster now than it was but, if you look after yourself and you get adequate rest, and you treat your body right, and you eat and drink the right things, training shouldn't really be a problem. It's the best job in the world and if players look after themselves, then they should be ok.

Goat wanted to know: Neil, did you ever shag a model?

Neil: Bearing in mind my wife is about ten feet away from me, I'll go with a diplomatic "no comment" on that one.

Andrew asks: What's the biggest difference between playing in the First Div/Prem and playing in the Championship?

Neil: Pure and simple. People talk about the pace of the game. That's a misnomer. I think you will find the pace of the game in the Championship and the Prem are the same. Football is a quick game.

The massive difference is the quality. If you give the ball away in the Championship, you'll get it back after five or six passes. You give the ball away against a Premiership side, and you might not get it back, and it might cost you a goal. I found the biggest difference is not in the pace but in the quality and technique of the players. If you watch Premiership football, the players are technically excellent, if you watch Championship football then maybe one, two, maybe three in the team are technically excellent, the rest are not.

U75 said: Were there any days where you said to yourself, "I have no desire to put on that ugly kit ever again."? (Sorry Bigus!)

Neil: Absolutely not! There are millions of players who play every weekend who would give their right arm to play professionally. Players get paid well. There is one player, I wont name him, he was an excellent Norwich City player but he didn't like the game and I said I don't understand why you don't love the game and he said, "Well I am good at it and I do it for a job." (Sorry readers.....He will remain unnamed. I will take his identity to the grave with me, unless you get me drunk or corner me at George Keeley's.)

Spectator asks: At what age did you realize that you were talented enough to make a career out of playing football?

Neil: I thought my chance had gone! When I started, you had to be associated with a club at about 14 years old. That's when clubs could take players onto schoolboy terms. I missed the boat. I got my lucky break playing for a local side who got drawn against Stoke City in a local newspaper competition and that was my route into football. I saw many players that were as good or better than me never make it. You need an opportunity. Fortunately, I took mine. I thought I was a good player but I thought my chance had long gone.

Spectator also wanted to know (greedy info pig): Who was the opposing player you most despised?

Neil: I didn't despise anyone, but if you talk about the most difficult opponent I came up against and I despised him because he was so good, it would be Kenny Sansom, the Arsenal left-back. I came up against Sansom more often that not at the beginning of my career, and he was at the peak of his. He was the England left-back with about 80 caps and basically he was far too good for me. I always hoped I would get a chance to play against him 5-6 years on when I was more established, more of an experienced player... and I did. Kenny was at the end of his career playing at Everton and I was playing for Oldham in the Premiership and I scored two goals and it sort of put the cards straight. I caught him at the end of his career when I was at my peak and I turned the tables.

Kenny Sansom......Tricky fella.

That's it for part one, blog fiends, I hope you enjoyed it.

Part Two will be up on Thursday, when Neil reveals what he thinks about Glenn Roeder and recalls his favorite radio phone-in argument with a fan.

-Bigus.

Read more on "Neil Adams Answers YOU! - Part 1"...

Ask The Player!!

Slap..Slap...Slap...

What's that noise you cry? Why it's old Bigus patting himself on the back.

Again I am going to continue my summer excursion behind the closed doors of football and that's right blog fiends....you are all invited. You are a lucky bunch!

Earlier this week you got a little glimpse of what it's like to be youth coach for the greatest football team on the planet. John Revell kindly answered your questions and satified your insatiable thirst for behind the scenes footy training knowledge.

How could that be trumped, Bigus? I'll tell you how, readers. How about if you got to quiz ex-footballer and current BBC Radio pundit Neil Adams? Would that do it for you?

.....I thought so.

Neil taking on bin man Geraint Williams (Current Colchester manager)

Neil Adams played on the right 182 times for Norwich. He also played for Everton, Stoke and Oldham. Click here for his Wikipedia page (I am sooooo lazy!). Neil was the designated penalty taker during his time at Norwich, missing only once. He was voted into the Norwich City Hall of Fame in 2002.

Neil currently works for BBC radio Norfolk and covers every Norwich game live alongside Chris Goreham. He is pictured here with Roy Waller.

Neil is visiting the NY Canaries this Saturday evening for some beers and some...beers.

While I have his attention I will be asking him YOUR questions so get em in early. Email us or leave your comments below. Keep em clean and interesting. Hear that Goat? CLEAN! Oh, and make 'em interesting too.

The smart ones amongst you may even be able to dig up some web tidbits and come up with juicy questions involving an incident with a certain manager....My lips are sealed!

Get busy!

-Bigus.

Read more on "Ask The Player!!"...