Alex Neil insists people got his view on James Maddison wrong, after the Scot decided to send the then young midfielder on loan to Aberdeen rather than utilise his talent at Norwich City.
Maddison was unable to get a consistent starting position in Neil's City side and ended up playing in the Scottish Premiership under Derek McInnes and alongside current Canaries midfielder Kenny McLean.
Many supporters questioned the decision at the time after he scored an impressive free-kick against Rangers, and Neil has dispelled any myths that he had a frosty relationship with the now Leicester and England star.
"If you were to ask James, I don't think he would change his pathway for the world.
"I think people had a misconception that me and James didn't really get on. That's entirely not true. I've spoken to James since I left on a few occasions about different things. My relationship with James was good. My relationship with his agent was good. There were no issues there.
"He has shown now how much talent he has got."
Maddison played 17 times for Aberdeen, scoring twice and registering seven assists during his time in Scotland.
City possessed experienced options in attacking positions, including Wes Hoolahan and Alex Pritchard, meaning Maddison fell down the pecking order as the Canaries made an instant top-flight return their primary focus.
"This is where memories are frayed," City's former boss insists. "I remember having a conversation with Derek McInnes, who was at Aberdeen at the time, and James wasn't getting a game.
"You read all these articles about Derek and James and how they still speak and that he'd been playing. James wasn't playing. I phoned Derek in the November because he hadn't played in four or five matches," Neil told the Hodge on Nodge podcast.
"He was talking about how he had to do a bit more work off the ball and learn that side of the game. James came back in the January and basically told me, 'I don't want to go back to Aberdeen. I want to stay here, fight for my place and play for Norwich'.
"At that point in time, we had Wes, who was starting to get older and naturally there was going to be a transfer of powers. We also had Alex Pritchard, who was there at that point, and he was a good performer for Norwich."
Despite Norwich's attempts to gain automatic promotion at the first time of asking, they were in a state of flux behind the scenes after long-term chief executive David McNally resigned prior to their Premier League relegation.
Expectations meant Neil prioritised getting results rather than developing young talent, meaning Maddison and the Murphy twins weren't consistent members of his first-team squad at that stage.
"We had the two Murphy's coming through at the same time who were on the flanks. I think we'd sold Nathan (Redmond) that summer. But what you need to remember is, when we came down, David McNally had left, Jez Moxey had come in, and then the club decided Jez wasn't for them.
"Behind the scenes, things weren't quite settled. David left a massive vacuum when he left. James was an excellent player, but if you look at the following season and how much of an impact he had and how well he did, that team finished 14th. When I left, we were 8th.
"The simple fact is that I couldn't afford (to play him) because we'd come down with that team, I was never going to be given a 14th place finish. I was always going to leave before that.
"The point I'm making is that although James and the Murphy's were excellent players, they weren't ready to get the team back up that season. My job responsibility was to try to get the team straight back up, and if I didn't, then I was going to lose my job off the back of it.
"We'd spoke about a strategy at the start of that season and I put a dossier together about how long it takes for young players to become effective. It takes about 100 games for a young player to become effective.
"James had played 40/50 games, but they weren't ready to get us up. I said to them that in a year or two's times, they would reap the benefits of that. They told me they wanted to go back up, and I understood that. That's why they didn't play."
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