So, Daniel Farke has gone.
I can understand the decision. Prior to Brentford our record was abysmal. Having a measly two points and the worst goal difference in the Premier League era (-22) after 10 games is dire by any standard. As Farke himself alluded to, the bus driver could have done better. But at Brentford, Farkeball seemed to be back. We appeared to show the fight and passion you required to be competitive in this league. But in football there is no room for sentiment.
As Farke bowed out on a high, hopefully, he will be remembered for all his achievements at the club. His tenure at the club has been fantastic, with two promotions under his belt, a record points tally set, and his willingness to invest in young talent has seen us produce youth prospects at a rate the club has never seen before. We should be thankful for the contributions Farke and his team have made to the club we love, and we should all wish them all the best for the future.
So then, the big question. Who’s next?
We all know that succession planning is a large part of Stuart Webber’s role as Sporting Director, so he will have several names in mind for our next managerial appointment. The international break is the perfect time to get a fresh start, bed in new staff and enable them to assess at least some of the team.
Firstly, I wanted to bring up a few names that some people will call for who will not be the next Norwich manager (in my opinion, I have been wrong before):
- Sam Allardyce
- Roy Hodgson
- Frank Lampard
- Steve Bruce
- Tony Pulis
- Neil Warnock
- Eddie Howe (the fact he is seemingly set for Newcastle hopefully puts this one to bed)
With those out the way, here are some of the names that I believe could have made Stuart Webber’s list:
Diego Martínez – Unattached
Left Granada at the end of last season after the best season in the club’s history, taking them all the way to the quarterfinals of the Europa League, losing to Manchester United. In the 3 seasons he was at Nuevo Los Cármenes he led the Nazaríes to consecutive top-half finishes in La Liga and the semi-final of the Copa del Rey. Martínez was the youngest manager in La Liga last season, preferring to play a counterattacking 4-2-3-1 which would match the personnel we have within the squad, and the style required to keep us in the league.
However, he has previously deployed teams in 5-3-2 and 4-4-2 when required. He managed Sevilla B between 2014 and 2017 so has experience with youth, and additionally has experience working alongside a Sporting Director.
Hannes Wolf – Germany U19
Hannes Wolf is currently the coach for the German Under-19 national team, having returned from his stint as Caretaker Manager at Bayer Leverkusen at the end of last season. Experienced with youth development, Wolf led VfB Stuttgart back to the Bundesliga in 2016-17 after their disastrous relegation (they had won the Bundesliga 10 years prior). Known for his development of youngsters. Julian Weigl, Christian Pulisic and Benjamin Pavard have all prospered under Hannes Wolf’s tutelage.
After helping Die Werkself qualify for the Europe League last season, Wolf was praised by Leverkusen’s sporting director Rudi Völler, who called him “effective and productive” and thanked him for helping them get out of the mire they had found themselves in.
Domenico Tedesco – Unattached
How does modern, attacking, fast-paced football played with a high degree of tactical intelligence and managed by a Head Coach who Jürgen Klopp named as one of the most exciting talents in German coaching sound? Unrealistic? Almost certainly. But who knows?
Having left Spartak Moscow second in the Russian Premier League this summer for family reasons, maybe he would see a project at Norwich as a good opportunity to oversee a project closer to his home? A Christian Heidel prodigy like Tuchel and Klopp, Tedesco saved Erzgebirge Aue from relegation to the third division in truly remarkable fashion, stepping up from Hoffenheim’s Under-19s to see the team that were rock bottom in early March to second-tier safety. He only oversaw 11 matches, but completely turned the team’s fortunes around winning 6 and drawing 2 of the fixtures.
Prior to going to Moscow, Tedesco led Schalke to second place in the Bundesliga in the 2017/18 season but was fired after seven games without a win with the team having slipped to 15th place in early March 2019.
Christophe Pelissier – FC Lorient
Now this really would be a coup. Pelissier has Lorient playing attractive positive football, having overseen their promotion from Ligue 2 and then finish comfortably mid-table. In 2014 he led Luzenac, a club from a village of 500 people, to an incredible promotion to Ligue 2, only to see his incredible achievement destroyed by the French FA, who refused to allow the club to become professional because of stadium issues, which meant they could not be promoted.
He subsequently moved to Amiens, seeing them to back-to-back promotions. I would be incredibly surprised if Pelissier wanted to come to Norwich as he has his team 11th in Ligue 1, but maybe Webber can work his magic and convince him to give the Premier League a go?
Paul Warne – Rotherham
A lot of people will be calling for the ex-Canary Mark Robins to get the job, and Russell Martin will be another name thrown about. But what about a different British manager with connections to the club? It might sound like an odd suggestion, but if we are having issues with player psychology then there may be few better suited to turn the situation around than Paul Warne.
A lifelong City fan, Warne has experience in relegation battles and is well known and highly regarded for his outlook on sports psychology. He employs a very high press with his team pressing from the front, something a lot of people have been calling for. Last season Rotherham were second only to Barnsley in challenge intensity, whilst having a PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action – number of passes a team allows their opposition to have before performing a defensive action) of 8.42 as of the 10th of February.
Whereas Robbins has his team firing on all cylinders and may not desire a move, and Martin has only recently joined the Swans and got them going, Warne has been with Rotherham for a while and, despite loving the club, may be able to be tempted away by the prospect of managing his boyhood club in the Premier League.
Honourable mentions
I thought I’d throw out some other names that just missed out on my list:
Gaizka Garitano – SD Eibar
Ryan Mason – Tottenham (Assistant)
Willy Sagnol – Georgia (Was Bayern Munich’s caretaker manager last year)
Carlos Corberán – Huddersfield
Alexander Nouri – Unattached (most recently Hertha BSC caretaker manager)
Lucien Favre – Unattached (most recently of Borussia Dortmund)
Anthony Hudson – USA (Assistant)
My thoughts…
Letting Farke know of his situation after having performed his media duties feels harsh. It stings that it came after a win. But the board must have been sure, you don’t simply sack your manager on a whim.
Who they have in mind for the job I cannot pretend to know. I’m not even sure if some of the individuals on my list would qualify to work for us. But I’m certain that Webber will have plenty of options in mind. Let’s hope that our next manager has the ability to help us succeed in the Premier League, and can have as big an impact, or even bigger, than Daniel Farke.
A new one to add to the list is Dean Smith just made available by Villa but then would he want to come to a club with little to spend.
I expect if it is a manager from overseas then a work visa application will already being processed as I don’t think Webber would have sacked him without a replacement having agreed terms.
Hi Luke
The name on your list I certainly wouldn’t discount, is Lucien Favre.
And well done for not mentioning John Terry 🙂
Dean Smith has just become available literally as you wrote. He would be my pick without hesitation.
When he pitched up at Villa he turned them from a struggling Championship team into a promotion side in 6 months without spending a fortune – exactly the kind of impact manager we need now. He had already proved his credentials at Brentford. His handling of Grealish so that he got 2 PL years out of him, and then a hideously inflated transfer fee, was exemplary and anyone who can turn Tyrone Mings into an England player must have something about him.
He’s struggled since JG left and of course with the funds he’s been given the owners probably think he should have done a Leicester by now – or at least be close to it. He wouldn’t have those funds with us obviously, but nor would he have the same expectations (at least in the short term).
Hi Keith
We could – and probably will – do a lot worse.
I doubt Webber has Dean Smith in mind though.
Luke, can’t fault your logic. Some possible candidates and well worth consideration.
Ian Culverhouse, he seemed to be the one doing all the coaching when Lambert was here. Kept Villa in the league until the split with Lambert.
Better bet than Lampard.
Tedesco Sounds Great 😉
Not sure of any breakdown in relations after Stuart Webber joined Norwich, but David Wagner was the original that Daniel Farke was hired to replicate. I know he was sacked at Huddersfield after a disappointing Premier campaign, but having hired him once, he obviously ticks a lot of boxes for Stuart Webber.
AU sports reported Knutson of Bodo Glimt (norway) will be announced by Tuesday.He lead his side to a 6-1 victory over Jose’s Roma in Euro Conference game.
Said to have been approached before Farke was sacked and agreed to take over in this break. Was watching Spurs game and then they cut in with this news
I’m afraid that I’m sceptical that whoever comes in will be able to get the goals needed to keep us up. Therefore it needs to be someone prepared to drop down a division and go again
Mark Bowen – Did a fantastic job saving Reading and years of firefighting experience in the premier league .
Yeap…. But I think we have an issue though after the summer signings. We’ve a group that are going to be divided either way….. I suspect….. unless it is a high profile call like Nuno. I’m not sure there will be a perfect response from the players if SW chooses an unknown for a project.
Pepijn Linders is one I’d like to consider too.
It’s hard to see the path SW will take, apparently he’s extending his contract at Norwich. But this next 6 months MIGHT see an interim appointment. MIGHT. This team is going to struggle with Klopp or Pep and it would be brave for SW to appoint a long term proposition if we are going to be pummelled for 5-6 months. I’d prefer pragmatic experience and cling to survival than another long term project…. Then go again in the summer.
What I am picking up from this article and the comments is that there is no one available who appears to me to be any better that what we have just let go……and most of these suggestions would be markedly worse.
As for “going again next year” we had a manager proven to be able to do that not once but twice but we sacked him.
Surely most of those in the first list have no chance, doesn’t SW have a policy of not hiring any dickheads….
I can only assume that you have already given up on this season and so have produced a list of fresh, new candidates who could take 1-2 seasons to rebuild us in the Championship in preparation for another promotion attempt, because clearly this is not a list of candidates that would have a hope in hell of keeping us up!! It really plays to the “Little Norwich” brigade that frequent this site, those that would rather we “knew our place” and “tried our best” rather than those of us that would rather see us fight like hell to try and stay up (for once!) by hiring an experienced, ambitious and yes maybe egotistical manager like Lampard (who doesn’t fit with the old lags on your first list by the way) or Dean Smith. I despair!!
Lampard’s only experience was not getting Chelsea’s reserves promoted and then not being able to cope with the first team for 1/2 a season.
Dean Smith would be a far better option, but I doubt he will jump straight back into it