- Norwich have confirmed their place in the Championship for next season.
- Philippe Clement guided the club away from relegation danger.
- The next chapter of the story is waiting to be written at Carrow Road.
Norwich City were 23rd in the Championship table and four points adrift of safety when they confirmed the appointment of Philippe Clement in November.
Liam Manning led the Canaries to nine points in the first 15 matches of the season, losing every single one of his home matches, and the Belgian joined with an uphill task ahead of him.
Clement often likes to speak about the ‘story’ that he is creating at Carrow Road, and the first chapter went exactly to play.
Clement’s Norwich story: Chapter 1
Like any great story, the protagonists, Clement and his squad, had to deal with early adversity to achieve their ambition.
The goal of the first chapter was fairly simple – avoid relegation to League One. Whilst it was a simple objective on paper, it did not look like an easy task when the Belgian took the reins.
It looked like an even harder task when the Canaries were beaten 4-1 by Birmingham City and conceded a stoppage time equaliser to Oxford United in the manager’s first two games in charge.
After that loss to the Blues, though, Norwich went on a run of just four defeats in 18 matches in all competitions to lift themselves above the drop zone and into midtable.
Clement moved quickly to right the wrongs of the Manning era by switching to a much-beloved 4-2-3-1 formation with an emphasis on dominance and creativity, two things that were missing under the previous head coach.
By the time Norwich beat West Bromwich Albion 5-0 away from home in January, it was more or less obvious that the Canaries were going to go on and achieve their first goal of avoiding the drop.
Clement’s Norwich story: Chapter 2
Chapter two of Clement’s Norwich story was about gearing up for the first steps toward the final goal of getting to the Premier League and staying there.
The former Rangers boss worked with Ben Knapper to bring in Ali Ahmed, Mohamed Toure, and Paris Maghoma on permanent deals during the January transfer window, whilst Harry Amass and Sam Field joined on loan.
Ahmed, Maghoma, and Toure have all contributed with goals and assists to improve the attack since their arrivals, and all look primed to be key members of the ensemble cast for the foreseeable future of this story.
Since January 1st, no team has picked up more points (44) in the Championship than Norwich, who have won 14 of their 21 matches.
It was not quite enough to make the play-offs, after a draw to Swansea on Saturday, but who likes a story that does not have any twists and turns along the way?
This chapter of the story was about gearing up for the future and learning lessons about the squad to better inform Knapper and Clement about what they need to do this summer.
Clement’s Norwich story: What happens next…
The rest of Clement’s Norwich City story is yet to be written, but the first two chapters have left every supporter desperate to read more.
Chapter three may be the most important one yet for the Canaries because it will focus on who leaves the story and who joins to lead the way forward, in the summer transfer window.
Clement and Knapper will be having conversations as you read this about who to target and who to let go, so that they can get the perfect squad ready to attack the promotion places next season.
There is still so much of the story left to be written and told, and I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next…
