Norwich’s sporting director Stuart Webber will spearhead the search for Daniel Farke’s replacement, after agreeing to commit his own future to the Premier League club according to reports in the Daily Telegraph today.

Webber will lead the recruitment process and has agreed to sign a new contract after talks with owners Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones.

His current deal runs out at the end of the season but he will extend his own spell at Norwich, in what will represent a boost for the club’s supporters who feared his departure.

Webber's influence at Norwich is significant and he has transformed the club since his appointment in April 2017, after previous spells with Liverpool, Wolves and Huddersfield.

Norwich do not have a new head coach lined up, but will seek a progressive, modern appointment who can work within the club’s infrastructure.

Russell Martin, a former Norwich player and the current Swansea head coach, could emerge as a possible contender though Webber is expected to also look at coaches operating outside England.

 

Frank Lampard has emerged as the favourite to become Daniel Farke's replacement at Norwich City after the German manager was sacked by the Canaries on Saturday.

The 45-year-old was relieved of his duties despite guiding Norwich to their first win of the Premier League season on Saturday via a 2-1 victory at fellow newly-promoted side Brentford. 

The result still leaves Norwich at the foot of England's top-flight on five points, level on points with Newcastle who are still without a victory this term following their 1-1 draw at Brighton. 

Lampard, 43, is still without a job following his sacking at Chelsea in January of this year, and the bookmakers have placed former Chelsea manager Lampard as the frontrunner for the Norwich job, with the Blues and England legend still unemployed after his Stamford Bridge sacking at the start of this year.

The 43-year-old was let go by Roman Abramovich in January with Chelsea ninth in the Premier League table, but is now deemed to be the frontrunner for the Norwich  at 11/2 after nearly a year away from the game. 

Meanwhile, Lampard's former England team-mate Steven Gerrard, currently at Scottish Premier League champions Rangers, is second favourite at 6/1, with former Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson on the same odds. 

Bournemouth boss Scott Parker is next favourite at 7/1 with former Dortmund manager Lucien Favre, who Sportsmail revealed was in the running for jobs at Crystal Palace and Newcastle earlier this year, further back at 15/2. 

Farke has left Carrow Road after four years in the role, which saw the German achieve two Premier League promotions with the Canaries but mustered just six top-flight wins in that time.  

Paying tribute to Farke in a statement last night, Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber said: 'In continuing to demand the very best for our club, this decision was not an easy one.

'I know how determined Daniel and his staff were to succeed at this level but we feel now is the right time for a change to give ourselves the best opportunity of retaining our Premier League status.

'All at Norwich City should be forever grateful to Daniel and his staff for the significant role they have played in our journey. They helped deliver two Championship titles, many memorable moments and they all fully bought into our philosophy and what it means to be part of this football club.

'Daniel and his staff will always be welcome back here. I'd like to thank them all for their hard work and wish them well for the future.' 

Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, was adamant that Norwich made their decision to sack Farke before their match at Brentford, irrespective of how well the Canaries played in west London on Saturday.  

When asked if Farke would have known about his impending departure before the game, Ferdinand added: '100 per cent. Listen - at the end of the day, you can't sack a manager straight after a game (when) they've won the game.

'They're looking to do that, they're looking to build the season from some positivity. They get it, they get their first win of the season, and they sack him? 100 per cent done before the game.'

NEXT NORWICH MANAGER ODDS 

Frank Lampard 11/2

Steven Gerrard 6/1

Roy Hodgson 6/1

Scott Parker 7/1

Lucien Favre 15/2

Bruno Labbadia 17/2

Mark Robins 9/1

Michael O'Neill 9/1

Russell Martin 9/1

Chris Hughton 11/1

Sam Allardyce 11/1

Rafa Benitez 11/1

Gary Monk 11/1

Nuno Espirito Santo 13/1

Steve Bruce 13/1

Nathan Jones 11/1

Javi Gracia 19/1

John Terry 20/1

Xisco Munoz 20/1

Rudi Gracia 22/1

Darren Huckerby 25/1

Odds from Betfair

Frank Lampard is being linked with a return to Premier League management to replace Daniel Farke at Norwich City according to reports in at least one national media outlet this morning.

Former Derby County and Chelsea manager Lampard has been out of work since being sacked by the Blues on January 25, 2021. The former England midfielder had previously managed Championship side Derby County, whom he narrowly missed out on guiding to the Premier League in 2019.

Farke, 45, was sacked Saturday hours after finally guiding the Canaries to a first Premier League win of the season against Brentford.  The decision seemingly having been taken earlier in the week, but delayed so as to not interrupt preperation for the game.

Norwich are bottom of the Premier League on goal difference having only amassed five points from their first 11 matches.

The Canaries have lost eight of their 11 top-flight matches since winning the Championship with 97 points last season.

With the international break upon us, Norwich will look to install a new man before they return to action against Southampton on November 20.

Other names being linked with the vacant post include former England manager Roy Hodgson and ex-Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.

Hodgson, 74, left his post as Crystal Palace manager over the summer after four years in which the Eagles became a permanent top-flight fixture.

Wilder, 54, guided Sheffield United to a ninth-place finish in the Premier League after successive promotions from League One and the Championship before leaving the Blades by mutual consent in March with the club bottom of the table after amassing only 14 points from 28 games.

Norwich are looking to end their long wait for a Premier League victory when today when Leeds United visit Carrow Road.

The Canaries have endured a disappointing start to the season, so far only collecting two points from a possible 27. Last weekend’s 7-0 demolition by Chelsea was the nadir so far, and Norwich will hope that such a heavy and embarassing defeat will somehow spark them into life.

There have been few signs of an upturn being just around the corner, though. The underlying numbers do not make for positive reading: expected goals figures give Norwich the worst attack and the worst defence in the division. Another defeat this weekend would lead to serious questions being asked of Daniel Farke, despite his achievements in the Championship.

Leeds had no such struggles following their promotion in 2020, but the club’s supporters are beginning to fear second-season syndrome. Leeds rescued a point with a dramatic late equaliser against Wolves last time out, but they have still won only once in the league this term. Marcelo Bielsa’s thin squad looks stretched already, but a meeting with Norwich gives Leeds a golden chance to pick up another three points.

Leeds remain without Robin Koch, Patrick Bamford and Luke Ayling, but Junior Firpo, Jamie Shackleton and Raphinha are available for selection.

Rodrigo Moreno will continue up front in Bamford’s absence, and Kalvin Phillips could return to the starting line-up after making it back onto the bench for the League Cup defeat by Arsenal in midweek.

Norwich will have to make do without the suspended Ben Gibson following his red card at Stamford Bridge. Billy Gilmour is available again after being ineligible to face his parent club last time out, although the Scotland international has struggled for game time of late.

Todd Cantwell and Przemyslaw Placheta need to be assessed, but Sam Byram and Christoph Zimmermann will definitely miss out.

Kick-off is at 2pm BST on Sunday 31 October

Norwich City have announced that they are pleased to have no fresh injury concerns going into to tomorrow's match with Chelsea.

There were fears in the build up that Mathias Normann could be a doubt for the game, after he went off on 75 minutes of the previous game with Brighton & Hove Albion with cramps, but head coach Daniel Farke has confirmed that he is fit to play this weekend.

"He just had cramps in the last game after he was out for 10 days with a little injury, so I was pleased that he was able to be on the pitch for 75 minutes and he is also ready and available for tomorrow."

Norwich City will be without Chelsea loanee Billy Gilmour for the match though, as he is not available to play against his parent club and Farke also confirmed that there was bad news in terms of Christoph Zimmermann's ankle injury.

"Christoph Zimmermann is out and sadly I can confirm that he needs another ankle surgery," he said. "He will have the surgery next Monday and we expect him to be out of team training for the next six weeks. It depends a bit on the surgery, it could be a few weeks more it could perhaps be a few days less. It is sad news for Christoph and sad news for us, but we hope to have him back in team training soon."

Farke also added that Todd Cantwell is not in contention for tomorrow's match.

"Todd has missed a lot of training sessions, so he is not a topic for tomorrow. There is a process until he is ready for the battles on Premier League level," he said.

Speaking with canaries.co.uk after the match, Farke said: "We have ticked many boxes today, we wanted to get off the mark in a home game which we did, we wanted to get the next clean sheet, which we did.

"We wanted to stay unbeaten, back-to-back, which we did. We want to create more chances than the Burnley game, which we did.

"We were rock solid in terms of defending and wanted to take the next step by winning points but sadly we have to accept that it’s just a small step with one point and not the big step that we would have, of course, liked even more.

"The final bit to be clinical to score was missing again. We created enough scenes to score today but sadly we didn’t bring the ball over the line.

"For that, we are not over the moon tonight, but again, I just have compliments for the performance and the commitment and workload of my lads."

Farke spoke about the chances missed in more detail: "We were much closer to winning the game. We were rock solid in our defending and against a side who have conceded just five goals.

"We created so many chances in order not just to score one goal, when I think about the situation with Josh Sargent in the first-half - he could have put the ball in an empty net.

"In the second-half when Teemu (Pukki) played the ball through, he (Sargent) was one against one on the goalkeeper and he should have been there with a better first touch. Teemu then had a good chance after a great through pass from Max Aarons.

"I would say for a Premier League game, we had more than enough to win it. But sadly the final piece was missing and that’s just what we have to criticise. We have to be self-critical and we need this composure and cutting edge to finish these situations.

"But nonetheless, it was a top performance in many areas and I’m quite pleased. It’s another good step in the right direction."

It was scrappy, but it was beguiling in parts too and while neither Norwich City nor Brighton & Hove Albion managed a goal between them, there were chances aplenty and comfort for both teams. Norwich have neither lost nor conceded in two games and their second performance carried the suggestion they may not necessarily be doomed after all. Brighton, meanwhile are six unbeaten and those relegation struggles of recent years already seem sepia-tinted.        

Norwich head coach Daniel Farke retained the same starting XI and substitutes who brought a point back from Burnley. Brighton manager Graham Potter also made no changes to his starters, which meant Yves Bissouma, on bail after being arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, was unused on the bench following his recovery from a knee injury.

With Brighton fielding five across the middle and both Norwich full-backs keen to overlap, midfield was always going to be congested. So it proved and with only Mathais Normann interested in slowing things down, the early stages were frenetic and stacatto.

Slowly, though, Brighton began to assert themselves and soon, Tim Krul was saving smartly from Adam Lallana following Pascal Gross’s corner and Krul was alert again, touching Leandro Trossard’s dipper onto his bar after a beautifully cushioned Neal Maupay lay-off. Norwich meanwhile showed intermittent traces of the team who passed themselves out of last year’s Championship. Twice, though Teemu Pukki bore down on Robert Sanchez on his own but such is the Finn’s dearth of confidence, twice he squared for impossible to reach team-mates.

They should have gone ahead in the last minute of the first half, when Normann played a ball towards Josh Sargent. Robert Sanchez hurtled out of goal and completely miskicked before colliding with Lewis Dunk, allowing Sargent to face an empty goal on the edge of the penalty area. The American rolled the ball forwards, but so slowly that Shane Duffy had time to run back and clear. Aghast at his own sloppiness, Sargent held his head in his hands, as did most of the home support.

Three minutes into the second period, Sargent once again seemed set to score when Pukki set him free after Dunk’s clearance hit Lallana on the back. This time Sargent miscontrolled, allowing Dunk the opportunity to mop up the loose ball. Before the hour was up, Potter made a change, giving Tariq Lamptey his first Premier League action since tearing his hamstring at Fulham in December.

For the first time this season, Norwich found themselves on top and soon afterwards, Pukki missed again after being put through by a cute Max Aarons ball. Still, though, a third league goal of the season would not come, but when Pukki stormed through a back-pedalling rearguard yet again, Dan Burn save the day and the point with a perfectly judged tackle. Indeed, they almost snatched all three late on when Maupay somehow poked Solly March’s cross over the bar from almost under it.

Aberdeen right-back Calvin Ramsay is reportedly wanted by Norwich City for a January transfer.

The 18-year-old right-back has been a star performer under Stephen Glass this season, and has been tipped as a Scotland international of the future.

Ramsay has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Leicester City, as clubs south of the border look to get their hands on the next rising star.

According to the Scottish Sun Premier League strugglers Norwich have also entered the fray and could look to test the waters with a January bid.

While Aberdeen will want to hang on to one of their prize assets, manager Glass has admitted they could be fielding bids this winter.

He said: " I wouldn’t be surprised, let’s be honest about that.

"He’s in a similar position to a lot of young players in Scotland in that they’re attractive to clubs down south.

“They see it as a very affordable option up here, they get incredible value when they come to this league.

“The players they play with, the players they play against and the experiences they get - clubs think this is a very good learning environment for them.

“Players who have gone south in recent years have done very well, so that increased the likelihood of the clubs coming back again.

“I don’t get involved in valuations and all that stuff, but John McGinn went down for a decent amount and has done brilliantly.

“There is a good recent history of Scottish young players going down and doing well.

“Players are aware of that, they know they have to produce for their clubs here first.