[themaclad]

Norwich City have appointed former Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner as their new head coach on a 12-month rolling contract.

The 51-year-old succeeds Dean Smith, who was sacked the day after his side's defeat at Luton Town on 26 December.

Wagner guided the Terriers to Premier League promotion in 2017 and kept them in the top flight for a season before leaving by mutual consent in 2019.

"This is a very special and proud moment," he told the club website.

"To be here, back in England, as the head coach of Norwich City is a huge honour.

"I'm very pleased with what I have seen so far. The facilities at the Lotus Training Centre are top class. We now have to look forward and work extremely hard.

"This is a new challenge for us all. Will it be easy? No. We have to leave what has happened in the past behind. If we want success, we have to be together. Together as a group of players, backroom staff and supporters."

Wagner, who will take charge for Sunday's FA Cup third round tie at home to Blackburn, is joined by Christophe Buhler as assistant head coach. Current Canaries loan player manager Andrew Hughes becomes first-team coach.

Wagner last worked as boss of Swiss side Young Boys. His stint in Bern lasted just eight months, and included a Champions League group stage win against Manchester United, but it ended in March 2022 when Young Boys were a distant second in their attempt to defend their Swiss title.

Prior to that he was appointed boss of German giants Schalke, but he lasted just one full season having finished in the bottom half of the Bundesliga.

He was sacked just two games into his second campaign, following an 8-0 defeat by Bayern Munich and 3-1 home loss to Werder Bremen.

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Wagner's return to English football with Championship side Norwich will again see him work with Canaries sporting director Stuart Webber, a key figure who brought the Germany-born former United States international to Huddersfield as a relative unknown in 2015.

He takes over a Canaries side that are 11th in the Championship table, having collected just one point from a possible 12 since mid-December.

Despite the poor run, which has seen them win just one of their five games since the resumption following the World Cup break, they are just three points outside the play-off spots.

Norwich were relegated from the Premier League last season under Smith and were again favourites to go straight back up, having won the Championship title in their past two promotion-winning campaigns in 2019 and 2021.

Those were both achieved under German Daniel Farke, who was sacked in November 2021 when they were bottom of the Premier League after 11 games.

They failed to improve, finishing 20th as they were relegated back into the second tier.

Appointment 'ticks a lot of boxes'
Analysis - BBC Radio Norfolk's Norwich City commentator Chris Goreham

When Norwich City sacked Dean Smith last month, sporting director Stuart Webber made it clear the club's ambition for this season remains an immediate return to the Premier League.

It currently looks a long way off.

A run of three wins in 15 Championship games has seen them drop to 11th. They were top at the start of October but now trail Sheffield United, who are second, by 15 points and sit 20 behind leaders Burnley.

To stand a chance of saving their season, the Canaries needed someone who could hit the ground running. David Wagner's CV includes promotion with Huddersfield. It was Webber who appointed him at the Terriers so the duo have a proven working relationship and will want to prove they can pick up where they left off.

If it doesn't work this time the pressure will build on Webber. A miserable run of one win in nine Championship matches at Carrow Road means that one of Wagner's first tasks will be to build bridges towards an increasingly disillusioned fanbase.

The Canaries have recently welcomed American millionaire Mark Attanasio, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, onto the board. Wagner played international football for the United States, so that's another important relationship that could blossom.

Wagner ticks a lot of boxes. His task now is to get more out of a squad that was expected to do so much better this season..

[theo_luddite]

They will pass the ball around forever and not score goals. Town didn't, I told a mate who is a fan of the blue and whites in Gelsenkirchen, aka Schalke, when he took over there, and he agreed. It was no surprise when he "left". Seems to be a thing with German coaches recently - keep the ball, the other team can't score - but neither do their teams apparently, well not enough. See Germany, World Cup, Qatar. Well OK apart from 4 v Costa Rica but I'll raise you that as 1 v Spain and 1 v Japan. Who did they play in the next round?

[themaclad]

Norwich City have sacked boss David Wagner less than 24 hours after their crushing Championship play-off defeat by Leeds.

The Canaries have acted following Thursday's 4-0 semi-final second-leg loss which condemned them to a third successive season in the second tier.

Arsenal coach Carlos Cuesta is of interest as a replacement having worked with sporting director Ben Knapper when he was loans manager at the Gunners.

"David has operated with class and dignity throughout his period as Norwich City head coach, but we now feel that the time is right for us to move in a different direction," said Knapper.

“We remain committed to progressing our football club, in both the short and long-term, working through a diligent and thorough strategy.

“The appointment of a new head coach is an important one. We will now work and continue our due diligence with the view of making an appointment in the near future.”

Wagner's assistant Christoph Buhler has also left Carrow Road.

The German was on borrowed time after Knapper replaced Stuart Webber in November and they dropped to 17th in November after a 3-1 home defeat by Blackburn at the end of a run of seven defeats in nine games, and only one win.

But a fine second half to the season saw them win eight straight home games to finish sixth and earn a play-off spot.

They drew 0-0 with Leeds at Carrow Road in the first leg on Sunday but a dire performance saw the Whites cruise to the play-off final, where they will play Southampton or West Brom.

Wagner told BBC Radio Norfolk after the loss at Elland Road: "This is super disappointing, we were very poor and it really hurts."

Wagner, who led Huddersfield to promotion to the Premier League in 2017, was appointed in January 2023, replacing Dean Smith, and eventually finished 13th in the Championship last season.

He failed to reference Knapper during a post-game press conference following the final day 1-0 defeat at Birmingham, despite praising his predecessor Webber for his support.

Norwich face a potentially difficult summer with United States international Josh Sargent, their top scorer with 16 goals, and fellow forward Jonathan Rowe - whose season was disrupted by injury following a flying start - likely to attract attention in the transfer market.

Defender Dimitris Giannoulis, Ben Gibson and Sam McCallum are among those out of contract and they will also need to consider potential replacements for striker Ashley Barnes, who will be 35 in October.

Talks are also likely about the future of Adam Idah, who was allowed to join Celtic on loan and contributed eight goals in their title-winning Scottish Premiership campaign.

It is a time of change at Carrow Road as Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones are no longer majority shareholders, with Norfolk FB Holdings, led by American businessman Mark Attanasio, now matching their 40% stake.