“The best candidate available” – Norwich City considering former Premier League boss as Dean Smith replacement: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Norwich City are on the look out for a new manager after the sacking of Dean Smith.

The Canaries are fifth in the table, but a run of poor performances and results saw the fans turn against Smith and the 2-1 defeat to 10-man Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Boxing Day was the final straw.

While they are still in the play-off places, they are 12 points behind second-placed Sheffield United and 15 behind leaders Burnley, falling way short of expectations at a club which has won the division in their previous two seasons at Championship level.

According to TEAMtalk, one of the names in contention is former Burnley manager Sean Dyche. The 51-year-old won promotion to the Premier League twice with the Clarets and kept them in the Premier League for five consecutive seasons, before being sacked in April with the club struggling in the relegation zone.

We asked some of our FLW writers for their thoughts on the potential appointment…

James Reeves

Dyche would be an intriguing appointment for Norwich.

He is so closely linked with Burnley and it would be interesting to see how he would fare away from Turf Moor.

There are question marks over whether he would drop back down to the Championship after saying he wanted to wait to see if a Premier League job came up, but with no top flight opportunity forthcoming, Norwich feels like the profile of club he may consider.

Dyche has an excellent record in the second tier and also kept Burnley in the Premier League, which is where the Canaries have struggled following promotion.

But fans were not just unhappy with results under Smith, they were also frustrated with the style of play and given Dyche’s reputation for direct football at Burnley, it may not be particularly well-received at Carrow Road.

While Dyche would be a very solid appointment, it would be surprising if he was the club’s first choice.

Quiz: Have any of these 25 ex-Norwich City players ever played for a Yorkshire based team?

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Jonny Howson?

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Adam Jones

This is a difficult one because although Dyche is a previous promotion winner, he’s only experienced real success at Burnley.

Eddie Howe has managed to thrive away from AFC Bournemouth and that will give the Canaries plenty of hope if they did appoint Dyche.

With the ex-Clarets manager also enjoying success in the Premier League, he could be a good appointment for the long term.

The club has struggled to keep itself afloat at the top level in recent years – and Dyche could be the man needed to break that curse.

He’s a man who gets results – and could be a suitable option for Norwich because of that.

If Norwich could convince Dyche to take the step down to the Championship, then this would be a superb appointment for the club.

Dyche has a proven track record from his time at Burnley.

He knows what it takes not only to get promoted but also to maintain a team in the top flight.

The former Burnley manager also has the expertise to solidify the defence, which would immediately improve the club’s chances at promotion this season.