Timm Klose has urged Norwich City fans not to judge Daniel Farke on the opening five games of the season and has thanked the Canaries boss for reviving his career at Carrow Road.
The Swiss international re-joined boyhood club FC Basel on loan earlier this month - ending a four-and-a-half year association with the Canaries.
Farke is the man to lead City back to the Premier League but he needs time to produce a positive string of results, according to the man who made 84 times under him.
“Everyone knows that I had a bit of a tough time when Alex Neil was there in the Championship and it was hard for me. I lost the fun of playing football when I played my first year in the Championship because I had to adapt.
“It was just me not accepting that it was that hard, actually. Then all of a sudden, a manager comes in and gives me that confidence again and brings back that fun. That was down to him and I was able to play my football again.
“I think it was fantastic to play under him. He gives a lot of players a lot of confidence and he knows what young players need. I’m 100% sure that with him Norwich can bounce back and go up. That’s the Championship. You can lose a few games but there are 46 games and we’ve played five.
“Don’t just judge him for the first five games because last time we went up, I think the first five games weren’t that great either. Afterwards we went on a winning streak,” Klose told BBC Radio Norfolk.
A major injury during the Canaries EFL Cup defeat to League Two side Crawley Town in August 2019 saw Klose suffer a major knee injury that ruled him out for the majority of City’s Premier League campaign.
The defender was fit for seven of the last nine fixtures following football’s suspension owed to coronavirus - and he holds regrets that he was unable to do more to keep City in the top-flight.
“I started the Luton game but unfortunately I got a knock there and then I had to go out again. Which was obviously frustrating for me because I wanted to show that I was back now and then all of a sudden a situation like that happens.
“It wasn’t nice. That’s football. It’s just great to be back, it’s great to be fit and the knee is stable. It took me a while – when I came back and I had to play the Premier League games, I knew that it was going to be tough because it was too early and I still had a bit of pain but I wanted to go out there and show myself. That’s just the person I am.
“If I play for a club, I give 100% and I go out and try my best – unfortunately it wasn’t good enough. Maybe you could say that I wasn’t on the level but I really tried and I was angry with myself that I couldn’t help more.”
Despite City only having three frontline defensive options following his departure - Klose is backing one youngster currently out on loan to make the step up to the first-team in the near future.
“I think Akin (Famewo) is one of the players I would like to see in the first-team because I think he has the quality to deliver. I like him as a person. He’s like Ben (Godfrey) willing to learn and has the abilities you need to be in a first-team squad.
“It’s going to be interesting to see the future and I’m 100% sure that Norwich will have enough players who come up into the first-team squad.”
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