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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 17, 2021 20:44:04 GMT
An impressive return to the English Premier League on Saturday is Norwich’s reward for sticking to long-term financial and team planning that is rare in modern soccer.
Norwich was assured of promotion with five games to spare, even before kicking off Saturday against Bournemouth, after rivals failed to win in early second-tier games.
Now the Canaries’ distinctive yellow and green colors are being carried toward the League Championship title with more points than they won as champion two years ago. And with the same coach and core of players that slumped to a humiliating exit from the Premier League last July.
When soccer restarted in eerily empty stadiums, coach Daniel Farke’s team was perhaps the worst in Europe’s top tiers. Nine straight losses and just one goal scored sent Norwich to relegation 13 points adrift in last place.
Critics dismissed Norwich as provincial “tourists” in the big city, whose lack of big-money buys showed it cared more about staying debt-free than staying in the Premier League.
The team did look broken and fans feared the damage would not heal for a 46-game, eight-month grind in the English Championship.
One option was to fire Farke, freshen the team and sell a swath of coveted talent to plug the gaps of lost income from broadcast rights and matchday trade.
That was not the Norwich path taken by a sporting director, Stuart Webber, empowered by one of English soccer’s most popular club owners. Television chef Delia Smith has been a Norwich fan for more than 50 years and majority shareholder since 1996.
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Post by Avinalaff on Apr 18, 2021 17:32:53 GMT
They definitely smash everybody in the Championship, which is not easy, but when it comes to the Premier League, they've really struggled. Maybe they need to make zero signings, and see how they go.
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