Norwich City told to look beyond Liam Manning and blame former Arsenal figure for issues

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Norwich City fans have been told to shift part of the blame on another figure at the club besides Liam Manning after their slow start.

Norwich lost 3-2 to Wrexham on Saturday, their third defeat of the Championship season, and were met by boos around Carrow Road at the final whistle.

Liam Manning has had a mixed start to life as Canaries manager since joining from Bristol City in the summer, seeing out three wins in all competitions. However the East Anglia outfit’s defence has been a serious problem, with them already leaking nine league goals – a tally that should arguably be higher.

However, Norwich have been told they should look beyond Manning when looking for someone to blame for an underwhelming beginning to the campaign.

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Championship expert tells Norwich City fans to question former Arsenal figure Ben Knapper

Following the defeat to Wrexham, Norwich have now lost four from four at Carrow Road in all competitions this season and now sit 14th in the league. Over the previous two seasons they had only lost nine games at home.

Despite this horrible run, Second Tier Podcast host Ryan Dilks doesn’t think manager Manning should take all the blame.

“We’ve got a lot of players who cost a lot of money [here],” Dilks said, pointing to Norwich spending £25.1million this summer. “The highlight being Ante Crnac who cost £9million, didn’t do much last season and has continued where he left off this season.

“There’s a fair few problems at Norwich and I once again find myself questioning the sporting director Ben Knapper and looking at him saying ‘you need to take a fair bit of the blame here as well if things don’t work out’. It’s not all on the manager’s head.”

Knapper, who was previously in charge of Arsenal’s loans, took over from Stuart Webber in November 2023. Aside from Canaries goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic, his new signings have failed to impress so far.

Liam Manning admits he felt let down by Wrexham performance

Norwich’s loss to Wrexham on Saturday led to plenty of Bristol City fans insisting they ‘didn’t miss’ Manning. It was a tough afternoon for the Canaries, and their manager admitted he felt somewhat let down by the performance.

“Yes, to be honest, I think so,” he said after the game. “Naturally whenever you work in a group you want them to be a reflection of you. And the one thing that got me where I am now is hard work, grit, resilience, determination, fight, and that, for me, is something which is important. You’ve heard me praise it before, because I think is so important. But at the same point when it’s not there I’ll be open and honest about it.

“We have to stick together. It’s definitely not them and us, it’s me included in that. We all have to have each other’s backs, fight, but at the same point, you need people to step up and deliver as part of that process. We can keep talking around it.

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“But it only comes down to what you deliver and what you execute on the pitch. We have to have some tough chats this week, and make sure that we’re ready for the next game.”

There’s no rest for the wicked in the Championship. Norwich face high-flying Stoke City on Saturday.