Nope Neil W is a great manager a football man with passion and heart. His record speaks for itself. Gets the very best out of his players and does exactly what is says on the tin.
Interesting debate. I'm afraid he's limited and truly great managers are not. What R&W said is right. He can get that bit extra out of average players which can make the difference to a club at Championship level. What he can't do is morph his style to compete at a higher level against teams with serious talent. His long time entourage of Blackwell and Jepson are as dyed in the wool as he is. He took us up on the back of that unique style of his, but it's fair to say he failed to adapt and not for the first time. His main purchases for that season were baffling not because of who they were. It was the fact that having bought them (Bobby Reid and Josh Murphy for £21M combined) he ignored them and played the same players who took us up because they better fitted his "style". Ultimately we failed (only just mind) and having come back down, the gloss had worn off. One thing I will say for the guy and may be a bit controversial, but he did in 12 months what Johnson couldn't do for you in four years. If you'd had him instead, you'd have probably tasted Premier League before now instead of being unable to even get over the line into a playoff spot. That may well have been at the price of upsetting the purists and too much to pay, but for us it was a ride and a half to experience. The hard nosed thing to do would be to let him get you up and then replace him someone who could keep you there - a very difficult thing to do.
Of course Colin isn't a 'great' manager compared with Matt Busby, Bill Shankly or Alex Ferguson. However Colin's 'great' at getting promotions. RR, I understand the thrust of your comments. Alas, whatever you say you won't win with some of the pedants on here.
pedant /ˈpɛd(ə)nt/ Learn to pronounce noun plural noun: pedants a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning. "the royal palace (some pedants would say the ex-royal palace)"
In the last 50 plus years of watching English league football and aside from the Wengers, Mourinho's, Fergusons and all at the very top level, I can't think of many more that have achieved more in terms of promotions and motivation of their players. Oh, and always backing his team and players 100% irrespective of whether they were in the right or not. I like that about him.
took up teams that were not good enough for the prem ...and the club wouldn't speculate to accumulate and keep them there .. take Cardiff lowest wage bill in Prem [ almost ] reflected quality of player ...championship quality ..