Former Norwich City defender Ivo Pinto has opened up on what being managed by Sunderland boss Alex Neil is like from a player’s point of view. The Portuguese right-back currently plays for Dutch club Fortuna Sittard. During an interview about moving to his new club he also discussed his time playing for Norwich City under Alex Neil ’s stewardship.
It was a bumpy period for Neil, who was one of the league’s youngest ever managers at the time. He managed to get Norwich promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs, but they were relegated the following season. A poor run in the Championship the following season then led to Neil’s departure. Regardless, Pinto was full of compliments for the man now in charge at Sunderland.
Speaking to World Football Index, Pinto said: “I worked under Alex Neil and Daniel Farke who were both very similar in my opinion. Both of them wanted to play football the right way and dominate possession but could also be pragmatic when they needed to be, too.
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“Their expectations were clear on us as players and it is no surprise that both of them were successful during their time in charge of Norwich. Both of them are good managers and I enjoyed my time with them.”
Having left Norwich, Farke took over at Russian team Krasnodar in January this year. However, he left when Russia invaded Ukraine. After Neil’s time at Norwich came to an end he managed Preston North End in the Championship. He was there from 2017 until March last year, after a run of poor results left the club 16th in the Championship.
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