Last July, Norwich City lost 5-0 to Manchester City in their final Premier League game to cement their position at the bottom of the table, meaning an immediate return to Championship football.
Under the ‘Project Restart’, Daniel Farke’s side managed just one goal and gained no points to add to a dismal tally of 21 points – the sixth-worst record in Premier League history.
However, less than a year later the Canaries will be returning to the promised land after securing promotion on April 17.
The probable champions-elect – being five points clear of second-placed Watford with just three games left – will be hoping to have learnt from their mistakes two years ago and fight off relegation this time around.
Smart signings by Norwich last season
During a short pre-season, Norwich and their prominent sporting director, Stuart Webber, decided to freshen up a squad who were badly wounded from a gruelling Premier League campaign.
Making 11 new signings, while previous first-team regulars Josip Drmic, Moritz Leitner and Tom Trybull were ostracised, helped Farke’s squad head into their Championship season with a rejuvenated changing room and confidence.
Despite selling Jamal Lewis to Newcastle (£18million) and Ben Godfrey to Everton (£25m), their impressive use of the loan system – signing Oliver Skipp from Tottenham Hotspur and Ben Gibson from Burnley – has helped fire them to 90 points.
Gibson has been somewhat of an outcast in recent years but Farke’s impressive man-management trait has given the centre back new-found form this season. Gibson will become a permanent signing due to the contract obligation with Burnley, signing for a £8m fee following their promotion.
A player who optimises Norwich’s ethos of ‘team over self’ is Jordan Hugill. Despite playing second fiddle to the imperious Teemu Pukki, when called upon he has always put the team ahead of himself. This was evident when he played 45 minutes with a dislocated shoulder against Middlesbrough, knowing Pukki needed a rest. The Finnish international replaced him at half-time and scored the winner in late November.
Teemu Pukki, Max Aarons and Co shining once again
Although these new additions helped freshen up the changing room, Norwich made sure they kept the likes of Todd Cantwell, Max Aarons and Emi Buendia, despite vast amounts of interest from bigger clubs.
Pukki has once again proven his importance to Farke’s side, scoring 25 goals this season as he chases down his tally of 29 goals two years ago.
His telepathic link up with Buendia, who sits on 12 goals and 15 assists, has terrorised defences all season. Both players only sit behind Brentford’s Ivan Toney in goal involvements.
Right back Aarons has only missed 82 minutes of league football this season and has been a stalwart at the back for Norwich, who look more defensively secure than they have previously under Farke.
Despite recent losses to Bournemouth – where January left-back signing Dimitris Giannoulis was sent off – and a 1-0 defeat by promotion chasers Watford on Tuesday, it appears that Norwich are going to go up as Championship title winners this year.
Credit should not only go to Farke and his players but to Webber as well, who stood by his meticulous manager and has reaped the benefits.
Preparation for the Premier League now
Recruitment is key this summer and the Canaries cannot afford to be as naïve as they were last time they got promoted, only spending £750,000 on Sam Byram.
Yet again, Norwich will face a battle to keep hold of their talents. Aarons has previously been linked with Barcelona, Roma and West Ham, while Cantwell and Buendia have also been heavily linked to big clubs across Europe. In the past, they have replaced big departures successfully and it appears that this’ll be the case again.
Norwich must focus on their attack in the summer – scoring only 26 goals in their last Premier League outing – if they are to have any chance of survival. But Norwich will feel a lot better-equipped and prepared for top-flight football next season having already had a taster of the competition two seasons ago.
