Norwich City

Phil Daley
Sports Editor, BBC Norfolk

Newly appointed Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement has spoken to the press for the first time since joining the club earlier this week.

He takes charge of the team on Saturday (15:00 GMT) for his first taste of the Championship as the Canaries visit Birmingham City.

Norwich are in the relegation zone, four points adrift of safety and without a win since August.

Here are some of the key points:

• On why he took the job: "I think two weeks ago I wouldn't have. After some good talks I realised that we are really aligned in our thinking. By the end of our talks I saw there is much more potential in the club than they are currently showing. It's like writing a book, we are only on the first few pages. We have a lot still to write."

• Clement says the season is a marathon not a sprint and he will implement his thoughts as quickly as possible, but it will take time to do so.

• "What I want in football is to win every game as a player and manager," he added.

• Sporting director Ben Knapper said when they originally approached Clement, they thought he was a "stretched target", given his impressive CV.

• Clement says he's been impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the players and staff since he joined.

• On his break from football since leaving Rangers, Clement says he took some time to be with his family after spending so many years in football. He then had a hip operation in the summer, which has kept him out of the game.

• On the Championship, he says he's used to a relentless schedule of football given his time with clubs that had European matches as well as their domestic commitment.

• "I know it's a hard league where things can change very fast, both up and down," Clement said. "It's a tough competition but those are the things I like. I demand from the players for them to give their life on the pitch."

• He says he likes that he can see all the bad things about the club, rather than everyone trying to put on a brave face for him.

• Clement also says it's a fresh start for all the players. He hasn't made judgments on each of them after just four days. He's given them a questionnaire to take away to get to know them better, as quickly as possible.

• His priorities at the moment are getting some defensive principles into the team, but he doesn't want that to leave them toothless going forward. He says he's curious as to how quickly his players take on the new information.

• On Birmingham, he says he wants to see a never give up mentality from his players this weekend. Faster reactions, better communication among other things.

• Despite having nine players still unavailable, Clement says he is still looking at it as a "glass half-full", rather than half-empty.

You can listen to full live commentary of Birmingham City v Norwich City with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB from 14:00 on Saturday.

You can also watch back Clement's first press conference here.

If you're wondering where your team is going to finish in the Championship this season, you no longer need to worry.

Well, kind of.

Opta's supercomputer has worked its magic to figure out the most likely final league position of every team - and the chances each has of being promoted, making the play-offs or getting relegated.

Who is most likely to win automatic promotion?

It will come as no surprise that leaders Coventry are heavy favourites for the title (69.3%) and also have the highest chance of automatic promotion (84.2%) to the Premier League.

The next most likely to go straight up, with a 30.8% chance, are Middlesbrough. Despite currently sitting seventh and six points behind Boro in second, Ipswich are expected to be the third favourites for a top two finish (18.9%) followed by Stoke (14.1%).

Even though they've each enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Preston (10.3%), Hull (6.1%) and Millwall (8.3%) have slimmer chances of finishing in an automatic promotion spot.

Who will make the play-offs?

Image source, Rex Features

Even if Coventry don't win automatic promotion, Opta's supercomputer has given the Sky Blues a 97.9% chance of a top-six finish, suggesting it's almost guaranteed.

Each of Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Preston and Stoke are expected to finish in a minimum of a play-off position at least one in two times.

Hull might feel the hardest done by as they sit fifth currently, but are said to have less chance (32.3%) than Millwall (38.8%) and Charton (32.4%), who are below them in the table.

The most likely of the chasing pack to make a surge up the table are 12th-placed Leicester City, who have been given a 31.8% chance of finishing in the top six and are more likely than Bristol City (28.9%), Derby (22.9%) and Birmingham (19.9%).

Last season's beaten play-off finalists Sheffield United have just a 1.8% chance of recovering their season to make the play-offs again, while relegated Premier League side Southampton (12.5%) aren't likely to either... if you trust the supercomputer!

Who is going down?

Image source, Rex Features

It's probably not hard to work out who is most likely to finish bottom and be relegated to League One.

Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction, which has left them 17 points adrift of safety on -4 points, means they're pretty much nailed on to finish bottom (84.8%) - and failing that, are almost certain to go down (98.2%).

Second from bottom Norwich are the next most likely candidates to fall through the trap door (58.5%) but Sheffield United, who currently occupy the final relegation spot, have just a 22.4% chance of going down and are considered more likely to stay up than Oxford (37.8%) and Portsmouth (31.3%).

Image source, Getty Images

We asked you for your thoughts on the appointment of new Norwich City boss Philippe Clement.

Here's what you had to say:

Jake: I don't think we've appointed someone as high profile as this in my lifetime. How on earth did we pull it off?

Tom: The more I think about the appointment the more I like it. I wanted an experienced manager with a good track record and no ties to Norfolk whatsoever. And that's what we've got.

Graham: I read somewhere that the definition of madness is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. Here we go again.

Jeremy: Time (and money) will tell, if he's given it - though the contract until 2029 says something. It comes down to the level of commitment and quality of the players surely, which at the moment is highly questionable.

Chris: At last a proven, experienced manager who can help sort out the mess caused by our poor transfer activity and manager recruitment this season. It won't be pretty free flowing football, but Philippe Clement may just keep us up.

Andy: Indifferent. The proof will be in the pudding. Does feel there is a touch of being turned down by other options and going for someone who is available. But with that said he seems to be a decent option considering where we are as a club/squad. Need to back him regardless.

Ross: Knapper has got this appointment spot on. A bit of careful coaching for Medic, Topic, Crnac and Jurasek and we'll have a side that can compete for play-offs.

Calum: Knapper is very lucky to still have a job. In any 'normal' corporate business he would be out. Clement needs to be his own man with no football director distractions. Good luck to him and sadly, he will need lots of it.

Jason: After Kenny McLean's dramatic halfway goal, I think the omens are good. Clement's record is good, and I can see him injecting confidence into the wilting Norwich squad. He'll keep us up.

Matt: All things considered, I think this is a great appointment. When I read Gary O'Neil and Jon Dahl Tomasson were no longer in the running, I was very nervous as to who we were getting in. Survival is the obvious objective this season and I think we'll achieve this under Clement.

Brisbane Canary: Clement seems to be a good appointment for the situation we find ourselves in. He has a track record of galvanising squads, bringing on youth and appears to be a pragmatic manager with a good footballing brain. He is going to have to quickly find another 50% out of a group of players who mostly don't appear to be at the level, playing without confidence or direction. Whatever our feelings are on the board, it is important we get behind Clement and the team.

New Norwich boss Philippe Clement faces the unenviable first task of taking his side to visit Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Blues have only lost once at home this season, having not conceded a loss at all during their title run in League One the season prior.

Norwich, meanwhile, are lacking in wins and confidence but have collected all of their nine points this season on the road.

• Birmingham City won their most recent league game against Norwich City but haven't recorded back-to-back wins against them since a run of three between February 2001 and March 2002.

• Norwich have won nine of their last 11 league games against Birmingham (D1 L1), though lost 1-0 in the most recent meeting in May 2024.

• Birmingham City have won their last two home Championship games 4-0 against both Portsmouth and Millwall. They've won five home league games by a margin of 4+ goals in 2025, their most in a single year since 1920 (also 5); only in 1893 have they won more in a year by that margin or more (8).

• Since the start of September, Norwich City are the only side in the Championship without a victory (D3 L8) and are winless in 11 games. The Canaries haven't had a longer winless league run since going 13 without a win in the Premier League between August and November 2004.

• Jay Stansfield has been involved in five goals in his last four home Championship games for Birmingham City (4 goals, 1 assist) – five of his six goals this season have come on home soil overall.

Belgian football consultant Scott Coyne says the most important aspect new Norwich City boss Philippe Clement can bring to the club is his personality.

Clement was confirmed as Liam Manning's replacement on Tuesday and will take on Birmingham City (15:00 GMT) in his first game in charge as he looks to address Norwich's slide down the Championship table.

"He has a reputation for being a leader and a talismanic figure inside a club so it's a really interesting appointment from Norwich's perspective," Coyne told BBC Radio Norfolk. "They've gone for experience."

Clement won three back-to-back Belgian top flight titles with Gent and Club Brugge, but it is his experience with first club Beveren that Coyne thinks will be the most vital for his new role with the Canaries.

"Beveren were not in a great position when he came in there. They were extremely low on confidence, bottom of the league and really struggling," Coyne added.

"He came in there and galvanised them and had an immediate reaction. I think that's what they are looking for immediately here, to see a reaction.

"So part of it will be about organising this group of players and just instilling some belief in them again and sometimes that's as simple as a personality change or the right words being said.

"It's the personality that was arguably the most important aspect in this because it's a group of players that need a leader and I think that's something they didn't have before."

Listen to the full analysis and more Norwich City content on BBC Sounds.

"I think it's a massive gamble, but the managerial market is very stale - where do they go otherwise?

"The only way we will know is when we're talking in six months time and he's either had success or he's been sacked. It's cut and dried.

"Norwich could go either way at this point. There's nothing that you look at that makes you think it's a really good appointment and Norwich will fly from this point. I don't see those green shoots.

"It's going to be a very expensive January for that football club. If Norwich are to have any chance of staying in the division their home form needs a huge upturn."

Middlesbrough's new loans manager Tommy Smith and Chelmsford striker Lyle Taylor join Aaron Paul to discuss the week's EFL headlines on the BBC's 72+ podcast.

Among a host of topics, the panel discuss the direction of Norwich City and whether the appointment of Philippe Clement is a coup or a gamble, plus how hopeful the Canaries can now be for the remainder of the season.

Click here to listen to the full episode via BBC Sounds.

Norwich City are now preparing for life under former Rangers boss Philippe Clement.

He replaced Liam Manning who was sacked earlier this month after a record-breaking run of seven successive home league defeats which has left the Canaries second from bottom in the Championship.

So, is Clement the right man to lead a rescue mission at Carrow Road and what does he need to do to turn things around?

You can have your say here and check back later for some of the responses.

Norwich skipper Kenny McLean put a season of club frustration to one side as he wrote his name into Scottish football folklore on Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old came off the bench to replace Ben Gannon-Doak inside half an hour of the crucial final World Cup qualifier against Denmark, with his side 1-0 up and needing a win to qualify for North America 2026.

Denmark battled back twice, despite being reduced to 10-men, but Kieran Tierney lashed the hosts 3-2 ahead in stoppage-time.

With the visitors pressing for a last-gasp equaliser, McLean pounced on a loose pass, jinked past the last defender and unleashed a shot from the halfway line which sailed over the back-tracking Kasper Schmeichel and into the net to spark jubilant scenes and secure Scotland's first World Cup qualification in 28 years.

"When [Kenny] hit it, I thought 'what are you doing?!' but when I saw it in flight, I thought 'that's going to go in!'," boss Steve Clarke told BBC Scotland.

The win was just the fourth McLean has appeared in this season, three of those coming with Scotland, with the Canaries struggling in the Championship relegation zone.

He missed City's EFL Cup win at Watford and the Championship success at Portsmouth in August, though his first start of the season came in the 2-0 win at Blackburn on 30 August - City's last victory.

The Hampden Park stunner was his first goal since 10 February 2024 when he scored for Norwich in a 2-2 Championship draw at QPR.

His only two previous goals for Scotland in 53 appearances came in European qualifiers in San Marino in August 2019 and in Norway in June 2023.

Image source, Getty Images

New head coach Philippe Clement has to be a success at Norwich City or the position of sporting director Ben Knapper could become untenable, according to Chris Reeve, co-host of BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage.

Clement was appointed on a three-and-a-half-year contract and now has the task of trying to lift the Canaries out of the Championship's relegation places.

Knapper, who joined Norwich in 2023, has been the subject of significant fan protest with the dismissal of Liam Manning doing little to change perceptions around his position in the eyes of supporters.

"There was lots of talk prior to the appointment of Clement as to whether Ben would even be responsible for making that hire," said Reeve.

"It seems (majority shareholders) Norfolk Holdings Group have shown him more faith and allowed him to make this call but I would go as strong as to say it is boom or bust for Ben Knapper at Norwich City now.

"This appointment has to work and he's put a lot on the line. Has Philippe Clement been given more of a say over who we bring in during the January window given how poor the recruitment has been prior to this season starting?"

Reeve said Clement's experiences in charge at Scottish club Rangers showed he was a man "used to getting clubs out of bad situations".

"I would predict and suspect that now Norwich City fans have had their voices heard with regard to Liam Manning, their attention will turn more towards the board and even the ownership as well, they'll be making it loud and clear that if things aren't working we need to spend some money in January," he added.

Clement's first game in charge will be away to Birmingham City on Saturday, to be followed by home fixtures against Oxford United and QPR - with the team yet to pick up a single point at Carrow Road this season.

"It's going to be a really tense time. I really hope they get it right from the off," Reeve added.

"The big one is next Tuesday, the 25th, against Oxford at home. If Norwich City lose that game against Oxford, I think we might go down."

Join Rob Butler and Chris Goreham in the BBC Radio Norfolk studio as they react to the news that former Rangers boss Philippe Clement has been appointed as the new Norwich City head coach in a very special live edition of Canary Call.

Image source, Shutterstock

New Norwich head coach Philippe Clement is a "realist" who will not be afraid to "ruffle a few feathers" at Carrow Road if necessary, according to the club's former striker Chris Sutton.

The Belgian, previously manager of Scottish giants Rangers, has been appointed on a contract to run until 2029, replacing Liam Manning, who was sacked earlier this month.

Sutton's work covering Scottish football meant he kept a keen eye on Clement's 16-month stint at Ibrox.

"Norwich have got a manager with vast experience," Sutton told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"Right now Norwich are in a relegation scrap. He's the type of manager who will come in, assess what he's got and won't play fantasy football. He'll be quite pragmatic in the way that he plays and I think that's a good thing."

"At Rangers, his team were pretty direct at times. Right now it's about Norwich trying to build a bit of confidence within the squad in the early days and go from there."

Norwich are away to 11th-placed Birmingham City on Saturday (15:00 GMT) in Clement's first game in charge, before hosting fellow strugglers Oxford United and lower mid-table QPR.

The Canaries are 23rd in the table, four points from safety and are yet to win at Carrow Road this season.

"There aren't any gimmes in the Championship, it's a brutal league and they are a team low on confidence," Sutton added.

"I don't think it's an easy job because essentially he's taking over a bit of a mess. First and foremost, his task - and let's forget about dreams of the Premier League further down the line - is to stay in the Championship.

"The sensible Norwich fans understand it is a relegation battle the club are in and I think he's the type of character who stands a good chance of keeping Norwich up."

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City have offered a contract to their preferred candidate for the vacant head coach role but Jon Dahl Tomasson will not be taking over at Carrow Road, BBC Norfolk reports.

The Canaries, who sit second-bottom of the Championship, sacked Liam Manning after just 17 games in charge following defeat to Leicester on 8 November.

Former Sweden and Blackburn Rovers manager Tomasson was believed to be one of three candidates left for the job after ex-Wolves boss Gary O'Neill was ruled out on Sunday.

But according to BBC Sport's Nick Mashiter, the Dane is no longer in the running.

Former Southampton bosses Will Still and Russell Martin have also been linked with the vacant managerial post.

Image source, Reuters

Norwich City legend Teemu Pukki will play the final international match of his career when Finland take on Andorra on Monday.

The 35-year-old was a member of the Canaries team which won promotion to the Premier League under Daniel Farke, now boss of Leeds United, in 2019 and 2021.

He left Norwich in the summer of 2023 after five years at Carrow Road and is now with HJK Helsinki in his homeland following a spell with Minnesota United.

Pukki is Finland's all-time record goalscorer with 42 in 132 matches - his number of caps is the country's second highest.

Image source, Shutterstock

Norwich City are "in the final stages" of appointing a new head coach, BBC Radio Norfolk reports, but Gary O'Neil is not among the contenders.

The Canaries are looking to replace Liam Manning, who was sacked after just 17 games in charge following a 2-1 home defeat by Leicester City on 8 November.

There are three candidates still in the running, one of them believed to be former Sweden and Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson.

But ex-Bournemouth and Wolves manager Gary O'Neil, a former Norwich player, is not among them having held talks last week.

Norwich are next to bottom of the Championship with just nine points, having lost every home match so far.

They return to action following the international break with a game against Birmingham City at St Andrew's on Saturday (15:00 BST).