Chris Sutton's view on Dean Smith's Norwich City future

The level of criticism he endured during Norwich City's 2-0 defeat to my old club Blackburn is simply not sustainable. 

He will not win back their support or change the minds of fans - this will only get uglier with every game that he remains in post. For that reason, Smith will have to go - it is now just a matter of when. 

It's a trait of the people of Norfolk to be stubborn - they have seen enough and had enough of Smith and his style of football - wrongly in my opinion. 

There is no denying that it hasn't been a great watch at times and under Smith the swashbuckling brand of football fans crave for hasn’t really been there but neither has it been as bad as supporters are making out.

I'm yet to see a situation where a manager has turned round such a situation. When the majority of a football club's supporters want you to leave, it becomes very hard to come back and win them over. 

Just ask Nigel Worthington, Chris Hughton or Alex Neil. There is only ever one winner from this - and that's the fans. 

That is why this that inevitability exists. Eventually, whether it arrives this week or not, this is the beginning of the end for Smith's tenure at Norwich. 

I would love to be wrong. I hope that he can lead the club to a six or seven game winning run and eventually win promotion - but it's hard to see how that happens from here. 

Even if they go on to beat Luton on Boxing Day, which is a distinct possibility, it won't alter the dynamic to such an extent. 

I have an immense amount of sympathy for Smith. I do feel Norwich fans have gone early on deciding enough is enough. 

But I understand their reasons. The inconsistency in performances has left many of them frustrated and miserable. This is a group of players who have underperformed.

It is - and always will be - the manager who takes responsibility for that. 

These are the people who pay their hard-earned money and if they aren't happy, then there is no way back, eventually, people inside the club will come to the same conclusion, especially when empty seats start appearing, as they have, and with season ticket renewals around the corner. 

But Smith is also right. It has felt like this has been bubbling under for a long time. Norwich fans haven't taken to him or given him a chance. 

I do think, over the 13 months that he has been in charge, he has been treated shoddily by supporters. Some haven't made an attempt to get on his side.  

Stuart Webber will be the man tasked with making a decision on City boss Dean Smith. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Smith inherited an impossible job - which no manager would have been able to turn around - and followed somebody who was adored by supporters for his style of play. 

Daniel Farke is held in such high regard but he still failed in the Premier League. In the first season at top-flight level, he only got 21 points and won once in 11 games in his second attempt. 

That is why Stuart Webber opted to make the change in an attempt to make them more durable in the Premier League. There was a naivety to their work after they gained promotion because their was no compromise from Farke on his style. 

There is no disputing that it was great to watch - but Farke had Emi Buendia at his disposal and Teemu Pukki at the peak of his powers. Smith went nine months without making a signing. 

I've just been at a World Cup where there was no outstanding footballing team - it's been more about individual brilliance and resilience. You have to be adaptable and pragmatic to an extent to harness success. 

That is what Smith has tried to achieved. It is low on confidence and expectations are sky high. 

He is an introvert as a manager - but that shouldn't be held against him, yet some fans aren't happy because he isn’t a chest beater who leaps around his technical area like a clown.

I do feel he hasn't been given the support from Norwich fans. Many of them made their minds up a long time ago. His track record deserves a greater level of respect - it's a sorry situation. 

People across the country will be looking at Norwich's position and wondering what the problem is. They are inside the top six, have been for months, and look well-placed for the second half of the season. 

But the way Smith and his brand of football is perceived is a problem. This cannot go on. If 50 or 100 people are protesting it is retrievable, but not when it's the majority of the stadium. 

Football clubs who aren't together struggle to achieve. That is the long and short of it. Norwich fans are not connected to the product on the pitch. 

It was tough to witness on a human level as well. Watching 20,000+ people demand someone be sacked and then attack his style of football is deeply unpleasant. 

That explains why he came out swinging in his post-match interviews. It was an emotional, human, response after swathes of criticism pushed in his direction. 

But it's also true. Norwich do have a better record away from home. The atmosphere on Saturday was detrimental to the team's success when confidence was already brittle.

Put pouring petrol on the fire, whilst refreshing to hear a coach express some honesty, will have offended many Norwich fans. I understand why. But if you berate somebody for their methods and call for their sacking, they are always going to want a right of reply. 

Dean Smith has a mountain to climb to win the Norwich fans over. (Image: Daniel Hanbury/Focus Images Limited)

It will only get nastier and uglier from here, criticism will be directed at those in the boardroom the longer Smith remains in post. 

Particularly at home, where the form has been poor in the eyes of the fans, Norwich will need their supporters.

This will be a distraction and any mistake will be jumped upon from here. It's hard to see how this gets repaired beyond a new set of ideas arriving at the football club. 

He hasn’t deserved some of the criticism thrown his way, it has been despicable and unfair and unwarranted but we are at the point now where there is a sad inevitably about what happens from here. It’s always the manager who carries the can.

Personally, I would be shocked if a decision wasn't made soon.