Liam Manning will have to defy supercomputer prediction if he is to save his Norwich City job

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Opta’s supercomputer has made a pretty bleak prediction for Norwich City’s season, but we’re not sure Liam Manning will be there long enough to see it play out.

There was a lot of hype around Liam Manning and his burgeoning Norwich City project during the summer. Many were excited by what he did at Bristol City, and there was a belief that could translate from the Robins to the Canaries.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
11	BirminghamBirmingham	7	3	1	3	5	8	-3	10
12	IpswichIpswich	6	2	3	1	11	6	5	9
13	SwanseaSwansea	7	2	3	2	7	6	1	9
14	NorwichNorwich	7	2	2	3	10	10	0	8
15	WrexhamWrexham	7	2	2	3	12	13	-1	8
16	WatfordWatford	7	2	2	3	7	8	-1	8
17	PortsmouthPortsmouth	7	2	2	3	5	7	-2	8

After a few impressive summer signings for Norwich City, those expectations only heightened. But, the start to the season has been less than ideal for Manning.

Norwich are currently 14th in the Championship table after two wins, two draws, and three defeats. Things need to improve dramatically if Manning is to even stay in the job for the rest of the season.

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Norwich City predicted to finish in bottom half of table

Looking at Opta’s supercomputer data, it doesn’t make pretty reading for Norwich fans. Or for Liam Manning, for that matter.

Norwich are currently predicted to finish way down in 16th place come the end of the season. They’re expected to pick up just over 60 points, although that would actually be three more than they gained last season under Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Even at this early stage of the season, Norwich’s chances of winning the Championship title are as low as 1.28% while automatic promotion hopes are down at 3.40% right now.

Promotion via the play-offs has a 12.52% probability, which is only marginally higher than their odds of relegation, which stand at 11.90% at the moment.

Obviously, this is all to be taken with a pinch of salt, but there is very rarely a massive discrepancy between Opta’s predictions and the final table. Suffice it to say, Liam Manning will no longer be Norwich City manager if they’re heading for 16th place this year.

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The pressure is well and truly on Liam Manning now

The results at Norwich have not been good enough. But, more than anything, fans are disappointed with the nature of performances.

The Canaries are conceding far too many chances, and look blunt in attack. Even Josh Sargent, one of the best players in the Championship, now looks a little lost.

Norwich fans have branded Manning’s style of play as boring, and they’re clearly running out of patience. When the supporters turn, it’s often not long until the manager has to go.

We’ve even seen some Norwich fans pining for Johannes Hoff Thorup of late. That’s ironic, really, given a lot of the fans were desperate to see him go, too.