Alex Neil: Norwich City's Bright Young Thing

Alex Neil isn't your typical managerial prodigy.

Neil began the 2014/15 season as player-manager in the Scottish Premiership at Hamilton Academical; he ended it with a better LMA Manager's score than every other boss in English football. Oh, and he got Norwich promoted to the Premier League and landed them a £120 million windfall in the process. Ah, and he's just 34 years old, born in 1981. No big deal.

These achievements become far more impressive when you consider that the gig at Hamilton was Neil's first ever managerial role. He was also the third-youngest manager in the Football League last year, and won over 74% of his games at Norwich (for some perspective, his predecessor Neil Adams boasted a comparatively lacklustre 42%).

Of course, we shouldn't forget the hype surrounding other young British managers that have so stylishly entered the Premier League, only to fade into mediocrity. Danny Wilson led Barnsley to the top flight in 1997, aged only 37, but he has not returned to the top flight since a failed stint at Sheffield Wednesday. He is currently without a club.

It's also worth noting that Aidy Boothroyd followed a similar trajectory, leading Watford to promotion in the 2007-8 season aged 35. As of 2015, he's the England U-20s manager following a failed promotion attempt with League 2 side Northampton.

While hardly a youngster at the time, you could also look to Phil Brown, who took Hull up in 2008; in 2015, he won promotion to League 1 with Southend. That was an impressive feat, but it pales in comparison to conducting half-time team talks on the pitch during a Premier League match.

What all this means is that the blueprint for success-hype-failure-sacking is clear, even more so for promoted managers, who carry the burden of increased expectation to replicate the magic they created in the Championship. What's to say Alex Neil won't succumb to the same weight of expectations and ultimately fail with Norwich?

Well, there are a lot of positives to focus on. Neil won 17 of 25 games in the Championship, fulfilling the club's ambitious demand to bounce back into the Premier League at the first attempt.

Norwich have been down this path before. They were led to the Premier League by a promising young Scottish manager in 2011. Last time it was Paul Lambert, who lived up to his billing by taking Norwich from League 1 to Premier League survival. However, Lambert bit off more than he could chew at Aston Villa, leaving the Midlands outfit entrenched in the same mediocrity he was tasked with leading them out of.

Arguably the only fathomable Premier League return for Paul Lambert right now would be at Norwich, if Neil fails to deliver. But that's neither here nor there; the point is, Lambert entered the league with similar hype to Neil, and now finds himself well and truly on the periphery.

However, Lambert lived a glittering career as a player which included winning the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, as well as having some four years of managerial experience before he took the Norwich gig. In other words, he had an advantage that Neil did not.

The young man has a far more modest resume, having played for Barnsley, Mansfield and Hamilton Academical. At 31, he became player-manager at Hamilton and won promotion to the Scottish Premiership, leaving his side third in the table before Norwich head-hunted him.

What's more, Neil will become the only Scottish manager in the Premier League and end the six-month hiatus of Scottish personnel on the touchline, which began when Lambert was sacked by Villa.

Neil clearly has an ability to unite his players. Sebastian Bassong began the season as an outcast; Neil Adams shipped him off to Watford on loan and seemingly ended the Cameroonian's Norwich career. But Bassong would end the season an integral piece of Neil's resilient Norwich side, having bought into Neil's vision upon his return.

Neil is also highly popular among the Norwich board, with Delia Smith suggesting he will indeed become a ''Sir Alex'' and be knighted one day. Such lofty sentiments explain why he recently secured a longer-term contract at Norwich.

Of the three promoted teams, Norwich look to have a solid chance of survival: they have more Premier League experience than Bournemouth, and less overhaul than Watford.

Norwich's squad is littered with Premier League experience, having kept a majority of the team which were relegated in the autumn of the 2013/14 season. The need for experience has also dominated his transfer policy, having signed Robbie Brady, Youssef Mulumbu, Andre Wisdom and Graham Dorrans so far. Between them, they boast over 350 games in the Premier League.

A young guy who caught a lucky half-a-season break? Certainly not. There's a reason Norwich showed so much faith in a 33-year-old with a modest C.V.

Neil has gone about his business quietly, taking on the demands of promotion and now leading a campaign with reason for optimism. The feeling among fans is that he can keep Norwich up this year; after that, who knows? Maybe he really is the next 'Sir Alex'.