What a difference a few weeks can make.

Norwich have gone from an unbeaten run and piling up results that would suggest a return to the Premier League (again) was on the cards, to not being able to win a game and even making the top 6 is now starting to feel at threat.

However, this dramatic change in the table and results has come while Norwich haven’t been doing anything vastly different on the pitch. Smith has been playing the same players, using the same tactics, making the same substitutions but with a reversal in the outcomes.

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The most worrying thing though seems to be the lack of acceptance from the head coach that this could be the problem.

Norwich seem to be trying to hit the same notes again and again and it just isn’t working as it should do. The exact nature of the problem is hard to put a finger on; Norwich’s expected goals numbers (which Smith is very keen to point out) are good. Norwich tend to dominate possession and have a squad with match winners at this level in players like Teemu Pukki, Josh Sargent and Marcelino Nunez. But something just isn’t clicking.

It is hard not to look at the man at the top in such a situation and Norwich City and Dean Smith are starting to feel like a they are in relationship which is past its sell by date.

It would just be better for everyone if they called it quits. At this point you feel both parties could come out if it with their head held high and that ‘it’s not me, it’s you’.

To stretch out the relationship analogy, last year when things had begun neither side was in a good place. Norwich had just come out of a long-term relationship with a swarthy, European gentleman who had shown the club a good time and opened their eyes to new things. While Smith was on the rebound from his childhood sweetheart and in all honesty probably wasn’t in the right headspace to jump into something with someone new.

Norwich and Smith found comfort in each other. There was nothing new or exciting, but both were dependable and the lack of surprise was comforting at a difficult moment in their respective lives. However, the spark was never really there, it's never felt like either side has fully committed to the other and everyone is going through the motions.

The head says it should work out, but the heart knows that there is no long-term future in the relationship. Ending things now will allow each party to move on and things haven’t turned truly sour yet. Sometimes you just have to know when to call it quits.

Maybe they are just sticking together for the kids? But Tony Springett is a big boy, he’ll understand.