Norwich City: Chris Sutton's column on head coach search

Look at what they will be walking into - a club that has won three games in 15 in the Championship, sits 11th in the division, has an unhappy fanbase, a squad that is shot of confidence and a toxicity that has engulfed the whole club. 

Norwich's defeat against Watford once again epitomised their issues. There is no connection between the players on the pitch, let alone between those in the stands to the squad. 

They deployed three strikers in their last games but still only registered one shot on target against Watford. I feel like a lot of the criticisms you could make of Norwich from an attacking perspective were visible in pre-season - some of them I spoke about in an earlier column after the friendly against Celtic. 

Norwich don’t create enough opportunities or good chances. There is a lack of understanding and the combination play in forward areas is virtually non existent.

I half wonder whether Adam Idah, Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent actually speak to each other let alone discuss between themselves how to link up and cause opposing defences problems.

We can of course blame the coach for poor play over the pitch but I find it staggering how they don’t seem to be on each other’s wavelength even a little bit so much of the time. Pukki’s understanding with Emi Buendia was bordering on telepathic but Idah and Sargent don’t compliment him well but in fairness to them playing off the wide areas they are like square pegs in round holes. They don’t fit. Their play has little structure is off the cuff and mostly easy to play against. 

There should be certain movements, patterns and understanding when the build up play begins that they know they will make and can hurt the opposition with but I’ve seen very little evidence of it for a season and a half now. But this lack of connection and understanding isn’t only an issue with the forwards, you could argue the same in every other area of the team.

It sums up Norwich's issues as a team - they all have their good individual attributes but they don't link or connect. That lack of connection on and off the pitch all season is why Norwich are where they are. 

It may be controversial, but I don't actually mind when Onel Hernandez comes on the pitch. At least with him there is an understanding of what he is trying to do even if his end product is somewhat frustrating. 

Instead, they have persevered with playing Sargent and Idah in wide areas. A damaging indictment on their options in that area of the pitch.  

A change of head coach won't simply be a silver bullet solution. Just as solely blaming Dean Smith for the woes of this current season would be totally unfair. 

Smith could only deal with the hand he had been dealt. The recruitment has been a disaster, they lack creativity and there was a major Premier League hangover to overcome. 

Does that lie with Smith or with Stuart Webber and those in charge of recruitment? You could probably push the blame on all directions.

For as much stick as Smith has endured in recent weeks, he made only two permanent signings. Webber must take his brunt of the criticism for where Norwich currently find themselves. 

This appointment is a big one for Webber. He has to get it right - he will be under no illusions about that. 

Whoever succeeds Smith, the in-tray is already looking full. At the top is the need to reinvigorate a club that needs an injection of positivity and direction - that is not going to be an easy feat. 

But it all starts on the pitch. Addressing their pitfalls, especially in the final third, feels like an immediate priority. Winning is the best sticking plaster in football - it won't resolve their issues but it will help the world feel a better place. 

The players have lost confidence. It was a group who looked like they didn't believe they could play at Premier League level, now some look like they don't believe they can cut it at this level. That is a bigger worry - especially when some of the players have been involved in a team that proven they are too good for the Championship. 

Stuart Webber will be tasked with finding Norwich City's next head coach. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Limited)

Players like Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell have buried their heads when the manager is being panned. There are a lot of players who have hidden this season. 

The only way out of this current run is through graft, effort and being ferocious. That will begin to build both belief and the connection back up again.  

Having watched Norwich regularly this season, promotion just doesn't seem possible at the moment. 

At the start of the season, I predicted Norwich would get into the playoffs - it will take a miracle for anyone to get this club promoted in its current guise. Even if they did - could you imagine the struggle this squad would have back in the top flight? It's a prospect barely worth thinking about at the moment. 

People keep citing the impact that Alex Neil had - but he had players like John Ruddy, Russell Martin, Seb Bassong, Jonny Howson, Wes Hoolahan, Cameron Jerome, Gary Hooper, Steven Whittaker and Bradley Johnson. This squad doesn't possess that level of talent, experience or quality.

That will mean that patience is required. There are splits all around the club - something that Allan Russell exposed during his first press conference - one that was widely praised, something I found quite bizarre. 

The snide remarks about the previous regime and what has gone before, it just exacerbates the view that there are splits inside the club. Throw in the vague comments surrounding Isaac Hayden's fitness after the Watford defeat and it just alludes to bigger problems, even if they don't exist in reality. It helps nobody. 

Then you've got other players like Christos Tzolis or Jon Rowe liking social media posts about Smith's departure or posting messages on Instagram that are easy to interpret in a certain, negative way. None of this is the sign of a club pulling in the same direction. 

Go back to their successes as a football club - be it both of Daniel Farke's title-winning campaigns or even the team of the early 90s that I was involved in and two words will keep cropping up; team spirit. 

That doesn't exist at the moment. It feels like a club that is fractured and requires repairing. One person won't be able to fix that on their own - it needs to be done as a collective. 

At the moment, it feels like a club where it is everyone else's fault. I've played in teams where there has been a real self-accountability in the dressing room. That is a mindset and Norwich's group needs to find it and quickly.   

It's not a happy club at present. The fans are disgruntled, the football is turgid and things need addressing. Whether it is David Wagner or anyone else, the task is to fix all of those issues and get this club pushing up the table. That feels like a big ask. 

Everyone will talk about connection but that doesn't mean they need an extroverted, chest-beating clown in the dugout. Look at Mike Walker, who is one of the best managers in this club's history, he didn't conduct himself in that manner. 

There needs to be substance behind their work and proof that it will drive the club forward.

Frustration has been the overwhelming emotion at Norwich City this season. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Limited)

If that comes to the fore, then the supporters will believe and buy into it. 

That will take time. But with high expectations, that were repeated in the club's statement after Smith's sacking, and an already toxic atmosphere plus a season that is slipping through their fingers, that is perhaps the one commodity that Norwich don't have at present. 

If Norwich can rediscover that connection, on and off the pitch, then anything is possible. But it will need more than just a new head coach to repair the issues that currently exist.