Norwich City supporters must hold Russell Martin hope for one day.
The Canaries’ fanbase may be hoping that their former skipper will return to Carrow Road as their manager one day.
Norwich City will be hoping to achieve their key aim of getting back to the Premier League in the coming years, after their play-off heartbreak last month.
Perhaps surprisingly, they were able to secure a top-six spot at the end of the regular 2023/24 campaign, ahead of others including Hull City who recruited some top-quality players in January to try and maximise their chances of securing a place in the play-offs.
However, the Canaries always looked to be outsiders to secure promotion, considering the calibre of the other teams that were in the play-offs.
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Leeds United may have suffered a wobble towards the end of the campaign, but Daniel Farke’s side were still the favourites to secure their place in the final ahead of Norwich and this is what they were able to do, by securing an emphatic 4-0 home win in the semi-final second leg.
The Norfolk outfit were nowhere near good enough in West Yorkshire that night – and unsurprisingly – they now have a new manager in charge.
Johannes Hoff Thorup, whi has been brought in from Danish Super League side FC Nordsjælland, will be hoping to enjoy a successful time at Carrow Road.
Norwich City haven’t enjoyed success with managers since Daniel Farke’s departure
Following the departure of Daniel Farke, Dean Smith was appointed, but he failed to save the Canaries from relegation at the end of the 2021/22 season.
After going winless in his opening three league games of the 2022/23 campaign, he looked to have recovered, but poor form from October onwards saw him sacked in December 2022.
David Wagner succeeded him and managed to guide the Canaries to sixth place at the end of last term, despite struggling for a chunk of the season.
But even after that, some Norwich fans weren’t confident that Wagner was the right man to take them forward in the long term.
In fairness to those sceptical supporters, their second-leg performance at Elland Road was a sackable offence and they will be hoping Thorup can be more of a success.
Norwich City fans may be craving a return for Russell Martin one day
Although he was a full-back, he was praised for some of his attacking contributions and he ended up winning back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League during the early stages of his time in Norfolk.
Winning three promotions with the club in total, he was partly responsible for making the Canaries a formidable outfit again following their drop to the third tier.
Since his retirement, he has forged a successful managerial career, managing to enhance MK Dons before being poached by Swansea City.
Although he was unable to guide the Swans to top-six finishes, unless his predecessor Steve Cooper, was a much-loved figure among the Welsh side’s fanbase and they were gutted to see him leave last summer.
But he did have his critics, with some believing he took Swansea backwards after Cooper’s departure and didn’t deserve the Southampton job.
Despite a wobble in September last year, he was able to guide the Saints back to the top flight at the first time of asking, with an unbeaten league run that lasted for more than four months helping his cause.
The south-coast side also performed excellently in the play-off final, shutting out the Whites and firmly deserving their victory after capitalising on a lacklustre performance from Daniel Farke’s men.
Sticking to his style of play, whilst also managing to meet the expectations of the Saints’ supporters, Martin has done a wonderful job and deserves the opportunity to manage at the top level.
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