Norwich City have appointed Dean Smith as their new manager just eight days after he was sacked by Aston Villa.
The 50-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at Carrow Road and will replace Daniel Farke in the dugout after he was sacked a matter of hours after Norwich had recorded their first victory of the season, a 2-1 win over Brentford on Saturday 6 November.
Norwich had also spoken to Frank Lampard about the vacant position only for the former Chelsea manager to pull out of the running on Friday.
Smith was dismissed by his former club Aston Villa a day after Farke had lost his job, following a 1-0 defeat to Southampton which condemned the midlands club to their fifth consecutive loss in the Premier League. Villa have since appointed ex-Rangers manager Steven Gerrard as Smith’s successor.
While 16th-placed Villa are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle, Norwich are in the midst of one already as they are bottom of the table with five points from their opening 11 games. The Canaries are five points adrift from safety ahead of Saturday’s fixture with Southampton at Carrow Road.
Although Smith’s predecessor Farke proved adept at earning promotion from the Championship, leading Norwich to championship-winning campaigns in 2018-19 and 2020-21, his inability to translate that success in the top-flight ultimately counted against him.
Norwich have won only two of their previous 26 matches in the Premier League, losing 21 of them, which shows the scale of Smith’s task in keeping them in the division.
Unlike in their previous stint in the league, Norwich invested heavily in their squad during the summer transfer window, spending approximately £60m on new players. However, big-money recruits Milot Rashica, Christos Tzolis and Josh Sargent have been unable to make any sort of impact so far.
Billy Gilmour, a headline arrival on loan from Chelsea, has also struggled for game time, making only four appearances in the league to date.
Although things turned sour for Smith at his boyhood club, his time at Villa was a success overall, as he led them to promotion to the Premier League in 2019 before consolidating the club in the top-tier.
He also played a key role in Jack Grealish’s development, with the playmaker becoming a key part of Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020 before earning an English record £100m move to Manchester City.
Prior to joining Villa in 2018, Smith enjoyed successful spells in charge of Brentford and Walsall.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3DdqtS6
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