- Norwich City ended the Championship season in ninth place.
- One of Norwich’s full-backs finished in top three for the Barry Butler.
- How each of Norwich’s full-backs performed in 2025/26.
The season is over for Norwich City and it is time to reflect on what went right and what went wrong in the 2025/26 campaign.
In the first part of this series, Read Norwich rated each one of the club’s goalkeepers on their performances for Liam Manning and Philippe Clement.
Now, it is time for the full-backs to be assessed after a season of constant disruption in those two positions.
Harry Amass: N/A
Norwich looked like they had pulled off a coup when they landed Harry Amass on loan from Manchester United in the January transfer window, as they were in desperate need of a left-back.
In typical Norwich fashion, though, he sustained a season-ending muscle injury after just one appearance, in which he played on the right wing as a substitute in a 2-1 win over Coventry.
It is impossible to give him a rating because he did not play a single minute in his preferred position and swiftly returned to Manchester for his rehab.
Lucien Mahovo: 5
Lucien Mahovo is a tricky one to rate because he only made six appearances and two starts in the Championship, missing the other 40 matches through various injuries.
However, in those six matches, the English left-back created two ‘big chances’ for the team and won 56% of his ground duels and 64% of his aerial duels.
Mahovo is a terrific talent who has the potential to be one of the best full-backs in the division, but that potential is never going to be fulfilled unless he can overcome his injury issues.
The quality of his performances in his limited number of appearances on the pitch this season lands him a five out of ten rating.
Jeffrey Schlupp: 4
Jeffrey Schlupp looked like a very shrewd addition to the squad on a free transfer as a player who had played 280 matches in the Premier League for Leicester and Crystal Palace.
He was only fit to play nine times in the Championship and started four matches, in which Norwich lost three times and picked up one draw.
The veteran defender never looked particularly sharp in his time on the pitch for the Canaries, losing 51% of his ground duels, and was too passive on the ball as a wing-back in Manning’s system.
Schlupp may have been a great influence on the younger players behind the scenes with his experience, but his performances and lack of availability let Norwich down in the end.
Ben Chrisene: 6.5
Ben Chrisene is a difficult player to rate for the 2025/26 campaign because he only played in 21 of the club’s Championship matches, ending the season with a shoulder injury, but impressed in those games.
The England U21 international scored a goal, created three ‘big chances’, and provided an assist in those 21 matches and scored a goal against West Brom in the Fa Cup, providing a decent attacking threat.
He also fairly solid defensively in his Championship outings, winning 56% of his ground duels and only being dribbled past 13 times in 21 matches.
The only reason why his rating is not higher is simply because he was not available enough for the Canaries throughout the season.
Jack Stacey: 6
Say what you want about Jack Stacey’s performances, and we will get on to that, but the full-back was usually available for Norwich.
He only missed eight Championship games, all through concussion problems, and started 22 of his 36 matches in the league.
Stacey provided energy and a desire to get forward and attack the opposition’s box throughout the season, ending the campaign with two goals and one assist in the second tier.
His general play in possession, completing 76% of his attempted passes, and his awareness when defending his own box, left a lot to be desired, though.
Stacey was dribbled past 25 times in 22 starts. He ranked in the bottom 7% of full-backs in the league for times dribbled past, despite starting just under half of the 46 games.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the former Bournemouth star in the summer, as he may be set to play second-fiddle for the next player on this list for a third season running.
Kellen Fisher: 8.5
Kellen Fisher started the campaign with a disrupted pre-season due to injury and appeared to be on the back foot early doors after Manning handed Stacey a new contract and wanted to play with wing-backs.
I vividly remember being at Norwich 0-3 Southampton in the League Cup early on in Manning’s reign and the 3-4-2-1 system meant that Fisher was stood in a right wing position in build up with Matej Jurasek dropping into what can only be described as a right-sided defensive midfield role.
Manning’s system stripped away the full-back’s best attributes, his quality and decision-making in build-up, and tried to make him play like Stacey.
When Philippe Clement came in and switched the system and style of play back to what Norwich supporters are used to, Fisher thrived at both right-back and left-back.
He consistently had to play out of position due to the aforementioned issues at left-back, starting 16 times in that position, and ended the campaign with 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game.
Fisher was only dribbled past 18 times in 38 starts, seven fewer times in 16 more starts than Stacey, which speaks to his strength in one-on-one defending.
The England U21 international was also available for all 46 matches, although Manning left him as an unused substitute three times and lost all three games.
He finished third in the Player of the Season voting, behind Pelle Mattsson and Kenny McLean, and deserved his podium finish.
