Former Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder was this morning named as the new boss at Norwich City.His appointment comes after almost three weeks of uncertainty at Carrow Road following Peter Grant's decision to leave the club “by mutual consent”.

Former Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder was this morning named as the new boss at Norwich City.

His appointment comes after almost three weeks of uncertainty at Carrow Road following Peter Grant's decision to leave the club “by mutual consent”.

He faces a daunting task, with City three points adrift at the bottom of the Championship and clear discontent among several of the senior players.

Roeder's first priority will be to organise and fire up his new team in time for Sunday's home derby match against Ipswich Town.

That crunch game is followed by the visit of top-of-the-table Watford.

The appointment came as a surprise this morning, with most pundits believing that the Canaries were still some way away from selecting their man.

Roeder, 51, was sacked as Magpies' manager in May this year, and has been out of the game ever since, despite being linked with the position of director of football at Arsenal.

He was manager at West Ham for two years from 2001-2003, after stating his managerial career at Gillingham in the early 90s, followed by a spell in charge at Watford.

His playing career as a classy, ball-playing defender, included lengthy spells at Queens Park Rangers, where he skippered them in the 1982 FA Cup Final, and at Newcastle.

He gained seven caps for England B.

Roeder was unveiled at the new City boss at a Press conference at 9.30am today. He has a two-and-a-half year deal.

Chairman Roger Munby said Roeder would began work immediately, and that caretaker boss Jim Duffy had left the club.

Munby said: “After a lengthy and diligent search I am more than delighted to confirm that Glenn Roeder is the board's unanimous choice.

“We discussed the current position of the club and team with him at length and I am thrilled that he has joined us.”

Majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones said: “Glenn's experience in taking on clubs in difficult situations and improving their fortunes is clearly relevant to us. He carries enormous respect in the game both from players and other managers.

“We are delighted he has agreed to join us and we are all really looking forward to working with him.”