ALEX Neil admitted that he was forced into action sooner then he had planned as he launched his reign as Norwich City manager with a dramatic 2-1 win at Championship leaders Bournemouth.
Having only left Hamilton on Friday to take charge at Carrow Road, Neil had planned have a watching brief from the stands and let coaches Mike Phelan and Gary Holt take charge of the team.
But the 64th-minute dismissal of Jonny Howson changed all that and Neil swapped his seat in the stands for the dug out - and inspired 10-man Norwich to victory thanks to Cameron Jerome's 80th minute strike after Matt Ritchie's opener for Bournemouth had been cancelled out by former Celtic striker Gary Hooper.
Neil said: "It was great to get the three points but the sending off was a huge turning point. I was actually enjoying it from my seat up in the stands until that point. Then I just felt everything had changed and I felt I was better suited to being in the dugout.
"So I came down and thankfully for us we managed to defend well enough and Cameron Jerome came up with a fantastic winner. Mike and Gary had prepared the team so I didn't want to intrude too much because obviously I didn't get a chance to work with the players at all during the week.
"Mike and Gary picked the team and I just had a wee chat with them about how they would go about things and everything about how we were setting up was sound.
"But when it goes down to ten men it is completely different and the circumstances in the game changed. The shape of the team completely changes and to be fair I was talking to the guys as a group and we decided in terms of how we would go about it to contain Bournemouth and not concede a goal and thankfully for us we managed to nick one at the other end.
"I have got quality players - I don't think there is any question about that. They have also got a good work ethic and that is the main reason we got the three points.
"To win from being down to ten men against the league leaders shows the quality in the squad. We know that we have that potency up tops.
"It is fantastic for the lads and fantastic for me with it being my first game. We have got a lot of work ahead and I think we can still improve in certain aspects.
"However you can't argue with the start it is fantastic. I spoke to the players before, during and after the game so I have had an influence over things. But in terms of the team, it was Gary and Mike that prepared them for the game.
"I didn't think it was really fair to influence the team at this point considering I hadn't really met the players or worked with them on the training ground. Now we need to continue to win games. There are certain aspects we need to improve on but the general play is good."
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