Phil SumblerIt was a very strange turn of events last night when Norwich sacked Daniel Farke after they recorded their first win of the season. That in itself tells you that the decision to remove him was taken before the game itself took place and that the club itself would already have a clear idea of people they would want to replace him.
It is probably not a surprise to see the name of Russell Martin in the running. Or at least the running as far as the bookies are concerned. A former Norwich player, a young talented football manager and someone with a glowing reputation what is there not to think that would be an obvious link.
But put yourself in the shoes of the Norwich City board. They are back in the Premier League, already struggling to stay there and making a decision just eleven games into a season to make a managerial change. Are they really about to take a stab on a manager, two years and 100 games into a managerial career that contains lots of promise but as yet as not delivered anything other than that promise.
Speak to fans of MK Dons and Swansea City and they will talk highly of Martin but to take on a Premier League job with a view to keeping that particular team in the division? I just cannot see it.
This isn’t one of those Martinez and Wigan moments. The emotional ties between manager and club are clear for everyone to see. But head back to 2009 and Martinez and you have a manager who has delivered one promotion and a step into the Championship that almost gave a play off season at the first attempt. A wide belief that one more season would see the ultimate promotion and the timing was right. The move was made. In hindsight the right decision. And it was a summer. A whole season lay ahead and Wigan, as much as survival was always the first instinct, were not a side already five points behind the safety line of the division.
Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a dig at Russell Martin but this is surely very much a case of right club, wrong time. Norwich will almost certainly look to someone with more experience for their current plight (a reason why I also think that the Lampard links would mean the wrong decision for them) and an ability to grind results out of a squad that seems out of his depth based on the evidence of the three months of the season to date.
Maybe I have called it wrong, maybe Martin will make a surprise move to Carrow Road but it would be an incredible decision based on a loyalty from a playing day together with the first steps I think of planning for the Championship next season.
That’s my view anyway.
