Norwich City are once again on the rise, sitting pretty at the top of the Championship and looking primed to secure their third promotion to the Premier League in seven years.
Their impressive revival this season is due to German coach Daniel Farke, whose excellent work with elevating the Canaries’ game is finally bearing fruit.
Things didn’t really begin easily for him, as Norwich started the Championship season poorly. With only a single win in their first six games, hopes of promotion among supporters were dim. However, Farke had used the early part to scan the Championship’s style, before his good work could be put into effect.
After losing three of their opening five games, Norwich have since only lost twice in the corresponding 26. Farke is making the Canaries play some effective, attacking football and has unearthed some young gems as they emerge as one of the most upwardly mobile outfits in English football.
Indeed, Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, Jamal Lewis and Emiliano Buendia have all made big strides under him and they currently look like a Premier League team in waiting.
The Canaries have scored 60 goals in the Championship already, more than 11 from what they managed in the whole of last season. Three of those goals came in a fantastic 3-0 derby win over Ipswich Town, in which the in-form Teemu Pukki took his goal-scoring tally to 22 for the season.
No wonder the men upstairs are impressed.
According to reports (as per the Telegraph), Farke’s set to get a new contract from those behind the scenes at Carrow Road. Not only was his appointment a masterstroke – plucking him from relative obscurity in the Borussia Dortmund youth ranks – but they clearly have the kind of ambition missing in their last few ventures into the top tier. No longer is it about getting up and surviving, it’s clearly about building a long-term project under his watch.
With the Championship race almost conquered, his next mission will be to make sure the Canaries can break their duck with a longer stay in the Premier League.