Norwich City head coach Liam Manning is has admitted he needs to turn around the Canaries’ dreadful home form, starting tomorrow when West Bromwich Albion visit Carrow Road.
It’s been a poor start to the 40-year-old’s tenure at Norwich. After swapping Bristol City for East Anglia, optimism was high after an underwhelming campaign last season.
Keeping hold of star striker Josh Sargent was seen as a huge coup, whilst a number of high profile signings were made. However, reality hit home when they suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Millwall on the opening day.
“We Have To Earn Credit”
Norwich currently sit 14th in the Championship, although could enter tomorrow’s game lower in the table following tonight’s round of fixtures. They have just two wins to their name, whilst all three of their defeats have come in front of their own supporters.
Bizarrely, whilst they are yet to pick up a point at home, they do remain unbeaten on the road. A 1-1 draw at high-flying Stoke City on Saturday extended their unbeaten away record to four games.
Still, Manning knows that he needs to give his own fans something to shout about and is looking to put that right when West Brom travel to Carrow Road tomorrow night. Speaking to the media ahead of the game, the former Oxford United boss said:
“We have to earn credit. We haven’t got enough credit in the bank at the minute. We have to give the fans something to get behind, and there are numerous parts to that.
“They’re hard to beat. I watched so many games in the week and the margins are really fine. We have to make sure that we step up and take the game to them. We’ll be quite clear on how they’ll set up, but once the whistle blows it’s on us.”
Writer’s View
Norwich’s inconsistencies have plagued them for well over a year now, but Manning has to put that right quickly. It was this kind of form that cost former boss Johannes Hoff Thorup his job in April. The current head coach will be perplexed as to why his side are so tough to beat on the road but fall apart at Carrow Road. Supporters will only have patience for so long and that is already starting to wear thin. West Brom will be an exceptionally tough game, with Ryan Mason enjoying a decent start at the Baggies. However, they are winless in their last three and you have to feel that this is an excellent opportunity for Norwich to reinstate a bit of positivity.
