The process by which Norwich City appointed our most successful manager ever

Involved us being about half an hour from unveiling Phil 'Yes Boss' Neal before he got cold feet. The rest was history. And the reaction of our own fans, let alone anyone further afield? "Mike Who?"

The process by which Ireland appointed their greatest ever manager involved him, practically by fluke, winning a second boardroom vote by one vote after serial title and trophy-winner Bob Paisley had been one vote from winning in the first round. The rest was history... and a quite phenomenal amount of luck at different stages, as well as incredible management.

The process by which Alex Ferguson became the greatest manager in history involved various scrambled, seat of their pants wins during the 1990 FA Cup, when bloody Oldham could've knocked them out and Palace could've beaten them in the final.

And then Nigel bloody Worthington standing on the line and just watching Steve Bruce's header fly in above his head in *THAT* game v Sheffield Wednesday, before deflecting it straight to Bruce again in the seventh minute of injury time. The rest was history.

Sometimes - quite a lot of the time, in fact - it comes down to serendipity. To chance. And to timing as well. We actually sacked Farke the day after Smith's final game at Villa, when he looked doomed. His dismissal was no shock to anyone really.

To put it another way: would we have appointed Paul Lambert if he hadn't beaten us 7-1 in our own stadium? I'm none too sure we would've. And at the time, there was nothing in PL's record to suggest he was up to anything that much anyway. There were, by contrast, huge amounts in Chris Hughton's record in his favour, and nothing at that point suggesting he was Mr Defensive either.

Sometimes it makes no real sense at all. But it doesn't have to. Sometimes it just works out.

Posted By: thebigfeller, Nov 13, 17:29:59