Daniel Farke out, but who in for Norwich City?

By Callum Castel-Nuovo

Norwich City have sacked manager Daniel Farke despite gaining their first three points of the season away at Brentford. The Canaries have had an extremely poor start to the season with 5 points gained out of a possible 33, scoring only five goals in the process.

Though Daniel Farke managed to get Norwich to the Premier League twice by winning the Championship both times, this season appears to be a case of Groundhog Day with Norwich playing the same style of football and getting the same kind of results they did when they were relegated from the top division in the 2019/20 season under Farke, finishing rock bottom.

From the outside looking in, it looks like Norwich had already made the decision to part ways with Farke and take the international break to recuperate, but who would take this job and risk adding a relegation to their CV?

Let’s look at the bookmaker’s current favourites.

Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard is the clear favourite with the bookies to take the helm at Norwich. Having managed Champions League football, an FA Cup final and of course Billy Gilmour, why wouldn’t Norwich take the former Chelsea manager at Carrow Road?

Lampard had progressed the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Harry Wilson in the Championship with Derby, guiding the team to a play-off final. The 43-year-old also handed Billy Gilmour his Chelsea debut, proving that he has a track record of improving young players and could look to get the best out of Gilmour at Norwich, as well as other young players.

The former England international also guided a young Chelsea team with a transfer embargo to the top four of the Premier League, something that will always seem extremely far out of Norwich’s reach.

However, Lampard has never dealt with a Premier League relegation battle. He had only completed one full Premier League season with a team at the opposite end of the table and didn’t achieve his target in the Championship of promoting Derby County. For someone that is just looking to start out his career in management, it would be a tough job to guide Norwich out of the relegation places.

Norwich appear to have parted ways with Farke to stay in the Premier League this season rather than prepare for another Championship season. Hiring Lampard would seem like preparation for the lower level which would be deemed pointless after sacking a man who has a track record of winning the second division.

Lampard would also be at risk of tarnishing his own name in management. Scattered opinions on Lampard’s football management would surely take a negative hit if he was to add a relegation to his name.

Russell Martin

A cult hero. Another man that is just starting out his career in management, Martin spent the majority of his playing career at Norwich throughout a nine-year spell including his first season on loan at the Canaries.

Martin finished his playing career at Milton Keynes Dons and would soon be appointed as manager of the club. After finishing 19th in League One, he led the team to 13th during his first full season as manager.

The former Norwich defender and his assistant Luke Williams instilled a possession-based style of play at MK Dons and by the end of the 2020/21 season, only Manchester City and Barcelona had a higher average possession percentage in Europe than MK Dons.

Martin’s team also had the most touches in the opposition box in League One and with the plaudits the manager was receiving for such style of play, Swansea City of the Championship hired the 35-year-old to replace Steve Cooper.

Luke Williams joined Russell Martin at Swansea to continue implementing a possession-based game at Martin’s new club. As it stands, Swansea have won four of their last six games in the Championship and are currently sat three points away from the play-offs, looking promising under Russell Martin.

With Norwich desperate for a consistent style of play and needing to improve on their possession and management of games, Martin’s track record of management would be a breath of fresh air for the Canaries. With Norwich 15th in the Premier League in terms of completed passes and 18th in terms of shots at goal, Martin’s style could drastically improve Norwich’s possession and threat in the opposition area.

Nevertheless, Martin is giving himself a good name in the lower divisions as it stands. As only just taking over at Swansea in August, a quick jump from League One to the Premier League may be too quick and with this particular job may hurt the positive reputation he’s already given himself.

Steve Bruce

Of course. Who else to take over an underperforming Premier League club? Though it appeared that Steve Bruce was beginning the look comfortable as a Championship manager with Aston Villa and then Sheffield Wednesday, Steve Bruce took over at Newcastle in the Premier League on July 17th, 2019.

During Bruce’s first season, Newcastle had just returned to the Premier League from the Championship and were tipped for relegation instantly. Bruce managed to guide Newcastle to 13th, ten points clear of relegation.

Steve Bruce then continued as Newcastle manager for another full season. Bruce improved on the previous season and finished 12th with the club, but this time carved a 17-point gap on the relegation zone.

However, Newcastle fans became restless with the former Villa manager and with a new takeover completed at the club and Newcastle sat in the bottom three with no signs of improving, Steve Bruce was sacked.

Nevertheless, Steve Bruce has vast experience as a Premier League manager and has managed against various current Premier League teams this season, bringing recent knowledge and understanding of the league that Norwich may benefit from. After all, Norwich are only sat one place beneath Bruce’s former team.

The 60-year-old did though receive an enormous amount of abuse from fans, journalists, and pundits whilst at Newcastle and was vocal about how it made him feel. It may just be too soon for the former Sheffield Wednesday manager to jump straight back into management, and he may well be ready for the time off that he currently has.

Having said that, Bruce was clear that he didn’t want to leave Newcastle and may want to be quickly back involved in the action rather than take some time away from the sport and fade off. The phone does stop ringing for managers that continuously reject jobs after all.

With a poisoned chalice of a job up for grabs, it would take a brave manager prepared for risk to take over. Even so, any coach that can lead the yo-yo club to a second consecutive season in the Premier League would surely reap the benefits and vastly improve their reputation.