You know things are bad when Norwich fans stay away

There is a saying 'one swallow doesn't make a summer', and the owners of Norwich City should be very clear that sacking Liam Manning is not the cure-all for the deep rooted malaise that runs through their club right now.

In my near two decades of reporting on Norwich City games, I have never seen security guards have to escort their players out of Carrow Road through a side exit because of fan anger, until Saturday.

I have never seen club directors advised to hold back inside the stadium as hundreds of angry fans gather outside the directors' box to shout "sack the board" and call for the dismissal of the club's sporting director, until Saturday.

As Chris Sutton said on Final Score, "we're not angry people from Norwich".

It is true. You know things are really bad when Norwich supporters feel it is time to gather in such numbers afterwards, or just stay away from the game.

Again, until Saturday I had not seen as many empty seats at a league game in all the years I have been to Carrow Road.

While many angry fans were chanting "Manning out" at the end of the game, the cries for the dismissals of sporting director Ben Knapper and executive director Zoe Webber were louder.

Knapper headed straight out of the directors' box at the full-time whistle to kickstart the transatlantic conversations which led to Manning's dismissal just two hours later.

The question is, what did Norwich's American owners ask Knapper about his strategy to turn this situation around?

The international break has come at a perfect time for Norwich City.

They need this time to reset. The decisions made in the next two weeks could be the biggest decisions made in the club's 123-year history.