Getting relegated from the top flight is never a good thing. When a club toils away in the second division and finally gets promoted, a sense of euphoria engulfs everyone involved. However, that feeling can soon be turned on its head at the end of the following season when the club inevitably gets relegated again. In a situation like it, some clubs crumble and fall even further down the league system, but others build a sense of resilience and can bounce back. One such club this past season has been Norwich City, who have made some key decisions to achieve promotion back to the Premier League.
Before getting into why Norwich have bounced back so well from relegation, it’s integral to see where such decisions have left them. The Canaries have been tipped by the bookies, as exemplified by the English Championship winner odds, to be favourites to win the Championship with odds of 1/50 presenting them as a practical dead cert to take the title, having already sealed automatic promotion. What this demonstrates is the end product of all of Norwich’s key on-and-off-the-pitch decisions and the result of their hard work that should result in a title in the coming weeks.
On the side of the off-pitch decisions, the fact that the Norwich faithful continued to believe in the managerial talents of the German Daniel Farke definitely played to their strengths. He provided the Canaries with some managerial masterclasses across the season with key results such as a 7-0 dispatch of Huddersfield with a Teemu Pukki hat-trick and a 1-0 home victory against at-the-time close promotion rivals Brentford.
As well as providing on-pitch results, Farke has also headed up key decisions that have made Norwich a better side. The fact he’s kept Emi Buendia at the club amidst interest from the likes of Arsenal and Bayern Munich is a feat in itself, especially given how much of a step up those respective clubs are. The same also goes for the likes of Teemu Pukki to lead the line and the young starlet Todd Cantwell who has had another year to develop in the Championship and get plenty more first-team action following a breakout year in the Premier League the season prior. In keeping the core of the Norwich squad together, Farke has shown a strong will that a lot of other managers could only dream of having.
To go along with the strong will, Farke has also been smart in the transfer market for Norwich, bringing in personnel such as Oliver Skipp on loan from Spurs in order to provide more of a tough-tackling and defensive option. Combine this with the purchase of Kieran Dowell, a young midfielder formerly of Everton and there’s a mid-table Premier League midfield of the future there. Farke’s decision to recruit two former Premier League talents demonstrates a willingness to get the club back to the top, as there’s plenty of potential in those two signings alone, as well as the others that he has sanctioned too.
With the clever combination of keeping the right players, adding some worthwhile talent, and demonstrating good game management skills, Daniel Farke has guided Norwich to an incredible bounce-back. Now it’s a case of allowing the German manager and his squad to build on those successes and make their second stay in the division in three years a much better one than their first.