Norwich City have parted company with manager Dean Smith following a disappointing series of results. The Canaries were one of the favourites to win promotion from the Championship this season following their relegation from the Premer League last term.
However, they have now lost three of their last four games following their Boxing Day defeat to Luton Town, and have won only three of their last 13 Championship matches.
That form has seen them slip to fifth in the table, but in an incredibly tight division, that is just three points ahead of 16th-placed Reading. Majority shareholder Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones have made the decision to axe Smith and his assistant, Craig Shakespeare, in a bid to save the side’s promotion hopes.
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A statement from the club read: "Norwich City have today parted company with head coach Dean Smith. As the club continues to work towards its on-field objectives this season, the board believe that it is the right time to make this transition.
"Assistant head coach Craig Shakespeare and first team coach Liam Bramley have also left the club. The club’s remaining coaching staff, led by Steve Weaver and Allan Russell, will take charge of first team training and our upcoming fixtures on an interim basis. The club will now work to identify and appoint a new head coach that is able to deliver both the level of performances required to challenge at the top end of the league whilst implementing a consistent style of play."
Norwich's sporting director Stuart Webber added: “This was a tough decision, but one that we felt was necessary to give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving our objective of promotion to the Premier League this season. We would like to place on record our thanks to Dean, Craig and Liam, who have always put the best interests of the football club first. With just under half of the season remaining and three consecutive home games on the horizon we now have a real opportunity to build some forward and positive momentum, both on and off the pitch.”
Asked after the Luton defeat if this had been his toughest spell as a manager, Smith said: "Yeah, probably in football in general. I've not suffered that experience before. It's not nice. Unfortunately, everyone has decided that they are allowed an opinion on managers.
"I would be silly to bring my family in to face that. I don't want to see my mother, a 79-year-old, windmilling people so I will keep them away from that. Listen, it's not nice. I put myself in a position where I want to be the head coach of a football club and I think that I'm good at it. Unfortunately, because things have gone against us recently I'm the villain."
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