A Change Too Late For The Canaries

Article by e-Norwich City Correspondent Mik Hancock

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So the dust has settled, the board at Carrow Road have bitten the bullet and the management triumvirate of Chris Hughton, Colin Calderwood and Paul Trollope have departed to pastures new.

From comments that have come to light in the media over the past couple of months, it was apparent that Chris Hughton knew his time was up and that he would not be manager at Carrow Road beyond the summer. If you take this in conjunction with the fact that no new players were purchased during the January transfer window, just a couple of loanees to cover the cracks, then it would suggest that Delia Smith and her cronies were having serious doubts about trusting Chris with the readies. After all, his major pre-season signings Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Gary Hooper have hardly set the Premier League alight.

Therefore it is entirely possible the board were hanging on and hanging on, hoping that by some strange quirk of fate Chris and his cronies did manage the impossible and get the couple of wins required to ensure safety, despite the players abandoning any notion of unity with management through their lifeless on pitch displays, the final straw being the gutless capitulation to the Baggies last Saturday.

So where does this leave Norwich City and the new temporary manager Neil Adams? I am of the mindset that a new permanent manager has already been approached, but that person will not commit to the club until the summer. A couple of possibilities spring to mind here. Neil Lennon, wanting to see the season out at Celtic then renewing his acquaintance with Norwich Chief Executive David McNally or Malky McKay, but waiting for his unfair dismissal claim against Cardiff City to be heard, with any move to another club negating part of the compensation deal.

So the appointment of Neil Adams is not surprising. The majority of the fans have been calling for weeks for this to happen. Personally, he has nothing to lose. Five games none of which he is expected to win. If he does the impossible, manages a win at Craven Cottage (where historically The Canaries get mauled) and picks up anything from the matches against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal thus ensuring another season in the top flight, he can walk away a hero. If the Canaries lose all these, but get relegated with a fight and not a whimper as was going to happen, he can say that it just wasn’t possible in the time given.

So yes, probably a change too late for The Canaries but better now than never, as at least Norwich City have a chance of survival which with Chris Hughton at the helm I believe had all but disappeared.

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