- From boardroom shift to dugout change, Norwich City defined by transition.
- Clement has rescued a season many fans feared would end in relegation.
- New ownership faces ultimate test of balancing smart spending with club culture.
Recently, Norwich City can be defined by one word.
“Transition”.
After several failed managerial appointments since Norwich City’s last appearance in the Premier League could this finally be the time the team emerges into a more consistent form?
End of an era
Perhaps the biggest Norwich City transition that occurred was the end of the Delia Smith/Michael Wynn Jones era.
This time could be characterised by their phrase “Prudence with ambition”.
While this phrase wasn’t always popular, it did also mean that the club managed to avoid administration and become enough of an attraction that Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio to purchase.
Growing pains
Sadly the Attanasio regime did not make the best of starts.
Managerial appointments Johannes Hoff Thorup and Liam Manning were supposed to be the young managers that would shake up the establishment, the ideal compliment to a squad made up of raw talent/potential future assets.
Not only did these appointments not work but this was compounded when it was proposed season ticket holders could be moved in order for restructuring.
The next step…
The catastrophic results under Liam Manning (arguably under mitigating circumstances) meant that Attanasio and the board were under pressure to get their next appointment right.
Fortunately, Philippe Clement not only turned out to be a good appointment but has taken a team ravaged by injury that people thought were a dead cert for relegation to the unlikeliest of potential play-off places.
Note of caution
Unfortunately smart signings and an upturn in form has not completely removed issues under Norwich City’s current management.
Getting called out for underpaying staff was a difficult headline but an additional knock came as a round of redundancies were recently reported by the EDP.
At time of writing the amount of redundancies have not been confirmed but this has added a sour note to an otherwise strong end to the season.
What comes next…
How Norwich City build next year will be the big test for the board.
Spending is not a guarantee- Chelsea have spent near a billion without improving while Liverpool have somehow gone backwards despite breaking the UK transfer record a couple of times.
But if they can build on what they brought in during the January transfer window there is a strong chance that Norwich City can finally have a distinct team to define the Attanasio era.
