The Canaries have had a poor start to the new campaign
Struggling Norwich City are not in a relegation battle, according to beleaguered head coach Liam Manning, as he prepares to tackle in-form Hull City this weekend.
Manning is under increasing pressure following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Swansea City, which left them second bottom after a dismal run of five straight defeats, 11 points adrift of Saturday’s visitors from East Yorkshire.
At Carrow Road, normally something of a fortress for the underperforming Canaries, Manning’s men have lost all five games and some fans are planning protests this weekend.
Despite their form, and the growing calls for his sacking, Manning says he has no fear of relegation after 12 games of the season even if the long-term plan of promotion has been put on the back-burner for now.
“From me, no,” Manning responded when asked if relegation was a real concern. “I’m quite clear – we have to win games. It’s not nice seeing it, not nice being in the position we’re in. I’ve never shied away from that fact; we’ll always step up and take responsibility for it. But when I see what I’ve seen in recent weeks, I believe in the group.
“I believe that if the lads step up and take responsibility – I came for them a little bit after the Bristol City game and against Derby I thought they did – that’s the bit that will change it. That’s the bit that will get us the wins.
“When you look at so many of the games, the moments of quality that we’ve produced, I still believe that a lot of the games have been decided by us in the wrong way. It’s now making sure that we decide the games in the right way by executing actions in and around the box and not giving away soft goals.”
While all clubs in the Championship have designs on winning promotion to the Premier League, Manning says any talk of that at Carrow Road is off the table for now, with the focus on winning games and getting out of immediate bother.
“Honestly, it’s so far away. My energy’s going into winning games. That’s the biggest bit for me: forget the end of the season, it’s so far away still. What we can’t do is focus there and keep letting games drift by us.
“I think that’s the biggest bit: we have to change where we are, and that starts with the next game. Let’s not think too far ahead, we have to give everything to make sure that we try and win the next game.”
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