Norwich City

Of course, it’s a little depressing for the Canaries to currently find themselves in the relegation zone of the Premier League. However, it is early in the season and there is plenty of time for the club to get things together.

I have made the point on previous articles that Chris Hughton is under a certain amount of pressure to continue to ensure that the club progresses season after season. It will certainly be interesting to see if that can be achieved, which will likely mean a finish in the top half of the table.

Anyone that has watched Norwich this season will know that there have been a few positives. The team has generally looked good on a number of occasions and the new players seem to be very good additions. However, the balance in the team has not yet been found that will see a consistent run of results.

Of the new signings, Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s performance has been somewhat disappointing, especially since he was the club’s biggest summer purchase. However, he set up a goal in the last league match, and perhaps things are turning around for the Dutch striker.

In terms of service from the flanks, Anthony Pilkington seems to be playing his way into the team and certainly looks in decent form, but his fitness has always been an issue and that is something that will need to be watched.

Nathan Redmond has impressed, especially in the early part of the season. He is certainly a player that has the capabilities to score and assist goals.

Robert Snodgrass was a star of the show last season, but he has struggled to get his delivery right this season, so Hughton is still looking to tweak his squad in order to find the right balance.

The fact that Gary Hooper has yet to start a Premier League game is another issue that needs to be sorted out in the near future.

I think most Norwich fans would agree that good business was done in the transfer market, but it’s now time for that to be proved with performances on the pitch. I assume both the board and fans would like to see the club in an area well above of the relegation zone at the very least.

Although, this is the Premier League and progress is always going to be hard, but it’s logical to think that managers that fail to make progress are always going to be under pressure. In the same way that players that don’t perform consistently will be under pressure for their place.

Fans will be hoping as a whole that things for the club will improve over the next few weeks. As mentioned before, the real key here is to find the right balance in the team. I personally think that the midfield trio of Alex Tettey, Jonny Howson and Leroy Fer is a situation that seems to suit the team, and hope that Hughton sticks with it.

Norwich City have done a lot right in recent years, and last week's briefing on the club's annual accounts delivered more positive news. 

Chairman Alan Bowkett and Chief Executive David McNally proudly revealed that the Canaries have wiped out all of their external debt and are now hoping to cement a top 10 finish in this year's Premier League. 

However, despite all the positivity, when questioned on the prospect of Norwich one day aiming to compete in the Europa League, the duo appeared to dismiss the suggestion out of hand, pointing towards the financial and logistical demands of the tournament per the Norwich Evening News.

I found myself slightly depressed by the stance, because without the goal of European football, the only other alternative for clubs like Norwich City is to simply tread water every year in the Premier League.

Just surviving in the top flight year after year is a dejecting thought, indeed. Although there will be memorable moments in every team's domestic campaign that keep fans coming back for more, any club worth its salt should eventually have ambitions to want a bit more than that.

Realistically, a Norwich City, a Stoke City or a Fulham is never going to be able to challenge for the Champions League spots or the league title, and as such, Europa League qualification probably represents the pinnacle of what can be achieved. 

It's a sad state of affairs, but with the money and resources available to the very top teams in England, the days in which so called "less fashionable" clubs could upset the odds and break into the top four are long gone.

Now there is a glass ceiling to what the majority of teams in the the league can achieve.

However, the chase for Europa League football is one goal that can be reached by several clubs in the division, and Norwich City should not exempt themselves from the pursuit.

Regardless of the lack of financial gain cited by the club's board, the dream of Norwich City pitting their wits against, and potentially defeating, a European giant under the floodlights at a packed Carrow Road should act as far more of an incentive.

The performances of Swansea City in Europe so far this season are a clear indication of the potential rewards on offer to clubs that treat the competition with respect. 

The Swans have fully embraced their European adventure, and their 3-0 triumph over Valencia has widely been lauded as "one of the greatest nights in their history." per Wales Online. 

For a team that was playing Championship football only three years ago to go the Mestalla and outplay an outfit that has competed regularly in the Champions League is testament to the progress made by Swansea in such a short space of time. 

You would suspect that "finances" or "upcoming domestic fixtures" would have been the furthest thought from the minds of the people in charge at the Liberty Stadium as they basked in the glory of such a momentous occasion.

The victory represented a certain romance rarely seen in the modern game, a similar romance evident in Norwich City's own greatest night 20 years ago when the Canaries beat Bayern Munich in their own back yard.

You would like to think that Norwich would have ambitions to replicate Swansea's achievements one day, and considering that the two clubs were promoted to the Premier League in the same season, such an aspiration shouldn't be out of the question eventually.

Admittedly, there are negative aspects to European football, most notably the strains that it puts on the entire squad, as Newcastle United showed last season with their poor showing in the Premier League.

However, it is possible to get the balance right and remain competitive both domestically and on the continent, and the lure of European football would undeniably allow Norwich City to attract better players to enhance their squad.

Of course, with the Canaries currently sitting in the bottom three in the Premier League, the European dream still appears some way off reality, but even so, it's a dream that the club should never stop chasing.

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It was certainly good to see Norwich City pick up their first away win of the season at Stoke City on Sunday, especially since the pressure was building on Chris Hughton to get results. It’s a well known fact that their away form has not been great under Hughton.

Last season, only two wins were recorded on the road, and on both of those occasions, it was an attacking display that won it.

In a way, this was what was strange about the win against Stoke. It was certainly a strong first half performance, but once they had the lead the game plan seemed to be very much one of defending it.

This is something that Hughton has done in the past and will surely look to do the same plenty of times in the future. We can continue to argue about defensive and attacking football, but ultimately it’s about winning.

The Canaries certainly want to progress this season and the away record will certainly be crucial to that. The slight change in formation seemed to suit the team, and it will be interesting to see if this turns out to be the system of choice.

The thing that I have noticed with Hughton is that he seems to react pretty well to being under pressure, but doesn’t always deliver when he is not. We saw that last season with a strong ending to the season and on Sunday when the whole club needed a result.

As ever, consistency will be the key in both home and away games.

There is every reason to believe that could be achieved with the higher quality players that have now been signed. It will certainly be interesting to see how the next few games go for the club. Norwich performed as well against Stoke as they did against Southampton, but now fans want to see some more consistency.

It’s remarkable to think that Gary Hooper still hasn’t started a league game, and that will need to change in order to keep him happy. On the other hand, Ricky van Wolfswinkel needs to pick up his game—only one goal so far is a poor return considering his transfer fee.

 Follow James Kent on Twitter and Facebook.

This is a tough article for me to write, because I’m somewhere in the middle in regards to how I feel about Chris Hughton. On one side, I think he is a decent manager and deserves time to turn things around. However, I can’t deny that there are serious concerns about things right now, and a change might benefit Norwich City.

The defeat against Aston Villa was another example of Norwich having plenty of the ball, but not being able to truly hurt the opposition. There are also enough frustrations from the players on the pitch to suggest that all is not well in the camp. I would also caution that Hughton is a defensive manager by nature, and we can’t expect him to suddenly become an attack-minded manager.

We have acquired a lot of players this summer, and this is now looking like his team. It’s fair to say that he is not helping himself with some of the decision making. However, I still think it is way too early to consider sacking him, especially since I’m not sure that he has used his strongest team yet.

The main concern for me is the away form, as that is an area that doesn’t seem to have improved from last season. Of course, this makes the next league game against Stoke City a rather significant one. Home games this season has yielded four points, and they have looked more offensive than last season. So, overall, there is some signs of hope that he can deliver the required results.

Nevertheless, fans will expect to see improvement in the attacking form and league results to stay off his case. I think the next few weeks promise to be very interesting, and, hopefully, some form can be found. However, if more wins are not forthcoming, the fan pressure will continue to increase.

Also, I feel he needs to rotate his squad more in search of the right balance. In particular, I would like to see Martin Olsson, Gary Hooper and Anthony Pilkington all given starts for the next league match.

What we can say is that a lot of top quality players have been signed, and that should lead to the team playing at a higher level from last season. The next few weeks will tell us if that is likely to be the case.

So, Norwich fans, should Chris Hughton stay or go?

Follow James Kent on Twitter and Facebook.

There is plenty of speculation going around at the moment on the future of Norwich City manager Chris Hughton. Most of that speculation is regarding the possibility of Hughton moving to Ireland to take up the vacant spot. There is certainly a section of the support that believes it wouldn’t be a bad thing, but we have yet to hear a sensible suggestion for a replacement.

Obviously, the away performances against Hull and Spurs this season have been disappointing, but the home form has been encouraging enough. It would be wrong for me to say that Hughton is not under some pressure, because the squad has been invested in and that means that results are expected.

However, the manager will want to finish what he has started. This season is of particular interest, because it’s Hughton’s first real chance to work with a squad that he has now been able to put his own spin on. The job with the Republic of Ireland is certainly an interesting one, but the Premier League is really where it is at.

I think we have to be a little bit patient this season and realize that when signing a lot of players, things can take a little bit of time to settle down. This is especially the case when we are also trying to transform to a more attacking way of playing. It’s also important to remember that Norwich has added foreign quality to the squad, so the players and team will need to adapt to get the best out of those players.

Hughton will certainly see the team as a work in progress, and that’s a big reason why he will want to stay. He will also point to the fact that their form will improve as the season goes on. There is no doubt that the majority of football fans like to see an attacking style. But the best managers realize that defensive stability is also just as important.

The Norwich manager will certainly feel that there is still much to do and will want to prove to fans that his way can get the results that we all crave. The board has backed the manager, now giving him a bit of space to show that progress has been made, and fans should certainly look to do the same.

I think it’s fair to say that he is not Ireland’s first choice anyway.

Follow James Kent on Twitter and Facebook.

For Norwich City supporters, Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur had an alarming air of familiarity about it.

Of course, there is no shame in losing to one of the better sides in the division, but the manner in which the Canaries were brushed aside left a sour taste in the mouth.

For the second successive away game this season, a magnificent travelling contingent must have felt cheated by the performance dished up by Chris Hughton's team.

In a worryingly similar fashion to the display against Hull City earlier in the campaign, Norwich showed a complete lack of ideas in the final third at White Hart Lane and a complete reluctance to attack their opponents.

And it's not just something that has appeared this season either, with tame losses to the likes of Stoke City, Wigan Athletic and West Ham United synonymous of the Canaries form on the road last year.

John Ruddy's post match comments regarding his team's approach to the match with Spurs told you all you need to know about the current mindset of Norwich City away from home. The goalkeeper admitted that "it was just a case of trying to see it out for as long as we could." (Eastern Daily Press)

Such an attitude is not going to get you anywhere fast, and after a preseason in which the club have showed considerable ambition off the pitch, now is the time to deliver a similar degree of ambition on the pitch.

It would be foolish to go 'gung-ho' every week when you take into account the sheer quality of the teams that Norwich City are facing on a regular basis. But the players must give the opposition far more to think about than they are at present because the fact of the matter is that the Canaries are desperately easy to play against away from Carrow Road.

In such a competitive league, you simply cannot afford to rely solely on your home form, and Norwich need to find a way of addressing their travel sickness quickly.

Doing the basics well would be a great starting point, with Norwich City giving the ball away on countless occasions against Tottenham.

Admittedly,  André Villas-Boas' high-pressing tactics made life extremely difficult for City's players who were continually rushed whilst in possession, but even with that taken into consideration, a return of only 29 successful passes out of 71 attempted in the final third (Four Four Two Stats Zone) is always going to leave you facing an uphill struggle.

What's more, it's evident that the Canaries are yet to find a way of playing to suit Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Johan Elmander, with the two forward players struggling to hold the ball up.

With the ball being returned with interest on a regular basis, Norwich are simply inviting pressure onto themselves and defensively there is little respite.

Long, aimless deliveries are far from an ideal attacking platform, and instead Norwich would be better served playing into their striker's feet.

With the squad being enhanced in the summer, the Canaries definitely possess a whole host of players who are capable of hurting opposition teams but these talents are being hidden by a mask of negativity.

If Norwich can find a way to click and discover a way to utilise the quality that they possess at their disposal, there's no doubt that they could still go onto enjoy a successful season.

However, attitudes away from home need to change or the club could be heading towards a very bleak winter.

Despite this, Norwich have the ability to be a very good top flight side. Now is the time to show it. 

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Overall, we have to say that it has been a fantastic summer of transfer activity at Carrow Road. Around £25 million has been invested in new talent and there has certainly been an emphasis on adding quality to certain areas.

It’s fair to say that a number of fringe players have left or been loaned out, and Norwich may even have slightly fewer numbers than they had last season. But they were able to find room to name 23 players in their Premier League squad, a squad that currently includes David Fox, Daniel Ayala and Luciano Bechhio—three players that are unlikely to feature this season.

That is perhaps a suggestion that there is still room for additions during the January transfer window. It’s always a good test of a squad in terms of finding two quality players for every position in the team, and that is something that Norwich are starting to see.

The fact that some fans can’t choose between player a or b shows how much stronger the squad is now. Of course, not every fan is going to love every player that has been acquired, Johan Elmander being an example of a player that has divided fan opinion. However, I would give Hughton about an eight out of 10 for his transfer activity.

Most signings have been made in attacking areas, and I certainly think that Leroy Fer, Nathan Redmond, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Gary Hooper and Johan Elmander are right on the money. I certainly think we did what we needed to this summer.

And I am expecting us to enjoy a comfortable season in which some very exciting attacking football will be seen. The early signs are certainly positive, but the club has clearly held something back for the January transfer window as well. It’s great that so many football experts have commented on the great business Norwich has done.

The big thing for Hughton is to deliver the results, though. Any manager that spends £25 million will be under pressure, especially when proven quality has been signed. But for now, we can just enjoy knowing the Canaries did some of the best business in the Premier League, business that should keep us in the league for another season at least. If this is the sort of business we can look forward to, then the future for Norwich City is only an exciting one.

Follow James Kent on Twitter and Facebook.