Ranking Norwich City's top 7 best managers based on PPG - Daniel Farke = 3rd | OneFootball

The summer of 2024 will be another season of transition in the dugout for Norwich City, as former boss David Wagner was relieved of his duties following the Canaries' play-off defeat to Leeds United.

It will be a season to forget for Norwich, as they only marginally retained a place in the top six to begin with. It's an apt time to look back on some of the most successful managers to take charge at Carrow Road.

The former managers will be ranked on a points-per-game (PPG) basis, to account for the varying lengths of their tenures, with stats provided by Transfermarkt.

Here's how the bosses rank...

7 Dave Stringer (1.35 PPG)

Dave Stringer dedicated almost his entire career to Norwich, turning out 499 times for the Canaries as a player, before being appointed manager in 1987.

He found equal success in this post-playing role, leading his side to two FA Cup semi-finals and a fourth-place finish in the old Division One.

Across 184 games in charge at the club, he picked up an average of 1.35 PPG, before calling time in 1992 to work with the Canaries' youth academy.

6 Nigel Worthington (1.44 PPG)

Nigel Worthington was appointed caretaker manager in December 2000, succeeding Bryan Hamilton in the dugout, before being handed the job permanently in January 2001.

He led Norwich to safety that season and, over a tenure that spanned over five years, eventually took the Canaries up to the Premier League in 2004 for the first time in nine years.

He managed 271 games as the permanent boss and earned an average of 1.44 PPG across those matches.

5 Alex Neil (1.44 PPG)

Alex Neil equalled Worthington's record in his stint in the hot seat, taken in January 2015 after he left his role at Hamilton Academical.

Neil led the side to Championship play-off victory later that year, but could only keep the side in the Premier League for a single season and was sacked after a difficult return to the second tier.

4 David Wagner (1.47 PPG)

Despite a disappointing end to his Norwich stay, a 4-0 loss to Leeds in the Championship play-off semi-final which led to his sacking, David Wagner still ranks relatively high on this list.

He was appointed boss in January 2023, succeeding Dean Smith and finishing that season in 13th place, before the difficult end to his first full season at Carrow Road made his position untenable in the eyes of the decision-makers.

He led 75 games in total, picking up 1.47 PPG on average.

3 Daniel Farke (1.50 PPG)

The man in the opposite dugout in the game that sealed Wagner's fate also just pipped him to fourth place on this list, with Daniel Farke having been in charge at Carrow Road a couple of years before Wagner's arrival.

Farke will have much fonder memories of the Canaries than Wagner too, having lifted the Championship title twice, but struggling on both occasions to adjust to top-flight life and also receiving his marching orders during that second Premier League spell.

Throughout 208 games, Farke collected an average of 1.50 PPG.

2 Mike Walker (1.59 PPG)

Mike Walker, in his first stint as manager, took charge of the Canaries in the summer of 1992 and quickly became one of the club's most successful managers, leading them to European football and famously felling giants like Bayern Munich.

Walker left the club in January 1994 to join Everton, but he struggled to recreate his success at Carrow Road.

Walker did return in 1996 for a second stint, but during his first spell, he took charge of 74 games in total, picking up an average of 1.59 PPG.

1 Paul Lambert (1.76 PPG)

Topping this list is Paul Lambert, who was appointed Norwich manager in August 2009 after previous boss Bryan Gunn was beaten 7-1 by Lambert's Colchester United on the opening day of the League One season.

Lambert won the league with the Canaries that year, taking them back into the Championship and then earning promotion once again, this time to the Premier League, before later joining Aston Villa.