Alex Neil tells Norwich to make 'clear plan' and learn from mistakes

Alex Neil will demand "a clear plan and structure" is put in place when he meets Norwich owners after the weekend to discuss his future.

Relegation was confirmed on Wednesday night despite a 4-2 win against Watford, and Neil was warmly applauded as he and his players circled the Carrow Road pitch at the end.

That reaction surprised the manager, who admitted in the immediate aftermath of the game the blame for a disappointing season ultimately rests with him.

But with the dust settled on Thursday the Scot warned there can be no repeat of City's failure to strengthen the squad adequately last summer, and he even stopped short of promising he would still be in charge come August.

"Obviously the season's not finished yet," Neil said ahead of a final-day trip to Everton. "We haven't got a chief executive at the moment [David McNally left the role this month], so there are certain things that need to be resolved within the club and then I'll have a meeting with the owners.

"I'm not suggesting at any stage that I'm leaving the club - nothing like that - I just think we need to have a clear direction in which we're going and that's important."

Pressed on whether he would definitely be in charge in the Championship next season he said: "I don't think you can ever promise anything in football.

"I'm not trying to fuel the fire or add to speculation or anything like it. I just think we need to have a clear plan and structure in terms of how we're going forward.

"I've got nothing but respect for the owners. I get on great with them, and once the season's done we can have a chat about how we move the club forward.

"We spoke about maybe recruiting a stronger team for the start of the season. I don't think we strengthened as much as we'd have liked to. However, there were a number of factors as to why that didn't materialise. I think that must be a learning point for the club going forward."

A statement from Norwich appeared to acknowledge mistakes in the recruitment process had contributed to a failure to achieve the "No 1 objective" of Premier League survival.

It read: "We have fallen short of that target and work is already under way to learn from the mistakes that contributed to our failure this season. 

"The immediate priority, as stated earlier in the week, is to recruit a new permanent chief executive to lead the club. 

"The board and the whole club is fully focused on supporting and resourcing team-building plans for the summer transfer window and into next season."