Webb is a dark horse for Canaries vacancy

There's never been a tougher time to be a football manager - that's the verdict of a man who guided Norwich City to two FA Cup semi-finals and one of the highest league positions in the club's history.

Former Canaries boss Dave Stringer, who was part of the selection panel which appointed Glenn Roeder in October 2007, said he could understand why the board had reached their decision, but said Carrow Road desperately needed stability.

He said: "It is not ideal, to have had three managers in so short a space of time and I am quite sad to see that happen, because stability is needed at that football club.

"But if the team is not playing well on the pitch, then this is what is going to happen. Sometimes you need to stick with things if you can and get through the hard times.

"I think you have to be loyal to the manager you have appointed and give them every support you can. I feel the circumstances at Carrow Road have become so difficult for the managers to get that support, so it is a very difficult job.

"I think most people would find it hard to operate under those circumstances in terms of not having the resources to get the players they needed and that's a position I never found myself in.

"I came in at a time when Norwich had only had a few managers in 20 years and that sort of stability is what is missing now."

Stringer, who succeeded Ken Brown as Carrow Road boss in 1987 and led Norwich to fourth place in the old First Division and two FA Cup semi-finals before he made way for Mike Walker in 1992, said Roeder had been unlucky with injuries.

He said: "He hasn't had a settled back four all season. Dejan Stefanovic and John Kennedy looked to be forming a good partnership, but then they both got injured.

"When you have that sort of thing happening you've lost the backbone of your team. It doesn't help when you have different players coming in and out of the side because they don't get the chance to form an understanding."

While Stringer, who made 499 appearances as a player for the Canaries, said Roeder had paid the price for his lack of results, the players should shoulder some of the blame.

He said: "The responsibility of the players is to go on the pitch and give their all to the game. They have to show passion to play the game and you have to wonder if that happened in the game against Charlton."

And Stringer, pictured, put forward a dark horse to succeed Roeder in the hot seat.

He said: "There is going to be speculation and Aidy Boothroyd and Malky Mackay certainly have the links to the club. But what about Keith Webb?

"He knows the club inside out. He used to run the Academy and he's cut his managerial teeth at King's Lynn. Nigel Clough has just gone in at Derby having learned his trade at non-league level and I think Keith Webb could be a dark horse at Norwich."