Norwich City: Ben Knapper should not be forced into David Wagner U-Turn: View
Wagner has turned the tide at Carrow Road in recent months
Norwich City’s season has been a rollercoaster, but sticking with David Wagner has paid off with strong recent form.
Sporting Director Ben Knapper deserves praise for believing in the team’s ability to turn things around after a bad run.
The race for the playoffs is on, and despite some fans calling for Wagner’s departure, sticking with him seems to be the right move.
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The 2023/24 Championship season has delivered a season of many contrasting emotions as far as Norwich City are concerned.
After a dismal return to the second tier last term, in which Dean Smith and David Wagner – two head coaches with previous experience of promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs – were unable to restore Norwich’s top flight status as they slumped to an extremely below-par 13th place finish.
This season looked to be one of promise as, after four games, the Canaries accumulated a healthy return of 10 points from the first 12 available. But, after suffering a first defeat of the season away to the division’s bottom side – Rotherham United – form started to unravel in Norfolk.
David Wagner’s period of pressure at Carrow Road
Given Norwich’s prior pedigree in the second tier, which saw them lift the Championship title twice under Wagner’s compatriot and current Leeds United manager Daniel Farke, frustration from supporters was understandably rife as Norwich accumulated just four points out of a possible 27 between September 20th and November 5th.
This led to lots of pressure on the board to take action. However, Sporting Director Ben Knapper, who was instilled in the role just days after the last game of said baron run against Blackburn Rovers, deserves immense praise for visualising that the club’s fortunes would take a turn for the better in the coming months.
“From day one, when I walked in the door, what struck me was the rapport between the playing and coaching staff, the level of work that was going on and the proactive approach to try and find solutions,” he said via the Eastern Daily Press.
Whilst the board’s decision to stick with the under-fire boss, who instantly reaped the rewards of their support with five victories in the subsequent eight games, he deserves just as much praise for the form shown by his side from January onwards, which has seen their play-off hopes rekindle.
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