Norwich City must try and change stance of ex-Nottingham Forest boss: View | OneFootball

Norwich City will need to recruit a new manager following the sacking of David Wagner on Friday.

It could be argued that Wagner did a good job in guiding the Canaries to the play-offs, considering the quality of some of the teams below them.

Hull City had a huge amount of quality in their squad and should have broken into the top six - and Coventry City also looked very strong on paper with the likes of Ellis Simms and Haji Wright joining last summer.

With this in mind, the Canaries did fairly well, especially after their dip at one point in the season.

David Wagner's downfall at Norwich City

Unfortunately for them, they were always going to face a hard task in getting past Leeds United in the play-off semis, with the Whites finishing the season on 90 points.

They did manage to draw the first leg 0-0, but they had the home advantage during this draw and it was never going to be easy to win at Elland Road, especially with many fans sceptical about whether Wagner was the right man to lead them into this game and beyond.

And during Friday's clash in West Yorkshire, they collapsed, losing 4-0 and failing to put in a sufficient performance.

Less than a day after that Elland Road hammering, Wagner was sacked, leaving sporting director Ben Knapper with a new manager to appoint ahead of pre-season.

Steve Cooper should be on Norwich City's radar

Cooper, who has already been linked, is someone who should definitely be on Norwich's shortlist, even though some would consider it a very ambitious move.

The Canaries won't know whether the Welshman would be open to taking the job unless they make an approach - and there's no doubt that they should make this approach - but he is reportedly willing to bide his time before going back into management.

When Cooper arrived at Nottingham Forest back in September 2021, the Reds were sitting at the bottom of the second-tier table after winning just one point from a possible 21 in their opening seven league matches of the 2021/22 season.

They may have drawn 1-1 at home against Millwall in Cooper's first game, which isn't a hugely impressive result on paper, but Forest vastly improved pretty much straight away.

And between the time he was appointed and the end of the regular league season, the Reds went on a remarkable run, even enjoying wins against Arsenal and Leicester City in the FA Cup.

Then managing to keep Forest in the Premier League at the end of the 2022/23 season after a very busy summer in 2022, he was sacked in December last year with the club in 17th place at the time.

His successor Nuno Espirito Santo hasn't guided them to a higher position and only looks to have kept Forest up by a slim margin, which goes to show that Cooper has done a great job at the City Ground.

It's a surprise that another top-tier club hasn't come in for him, but that presents Norwich with a potential opportunity to make an approach for him.

He could potentially convince the likes of Gabriel Sara and Josh Sargent to remain at the club, with the pair knowing that he is a manager who could guide them to promotion.

Cooper will also have a lot of pulling power in the transfer market, which could help the Canaries to attract some brilliant players.

And it would be exciting to see what the Welshman, known as a great coach of young players, could do with Abu Kamara, who thrived at Portsmouth during the 2023/24 season and played a big part in guiding them to promotion from League One.

With stable ownership and some talented players to work with, it wouldn't be a shock to see Cooper make the move to Carrow Road.

It would be a challenging project for him, but it's a place where he could succeed, already knowing that he can thrive at this level.

Norwich may not be one of the strongest teams in the division next year, but that challenge is surely something he would relish, having come to Forest when they were rock bottom of the second-tier table.

Changing his current stance may be a difficult assignment, but it's hard to believe that they couldn't, especially considering what they have to offer as a club.