The Canaries have earned promotion after both Swansea and Brentford failed to win this weekend. First-placed team can now only be denied their third Championship title by Watford, who remain eight points behind.
Norwich knew they required just two points out of their last five games, and a win at home against Bournemouth would have been the icing on the cake for Daniel Farke’s side. But even after a terrible 1-3 loss against the Cherries, Brentford’s goalless draw with Millwall and Swansea producing the same result ( 2-2) against Wycombe paved the way for their automatic promotion to the Premier League.
“When we returned to the dressing room, we were disappointed, but you have to put it to bed pretty quick and I’ll tell you what, no one will take away my good mood today. We are back in the Premier League. It’s a fantastic achievement and what the lads have delivered this season is outstanding. For that, we are in a really good mood.
Promotion is done but these lads deserve to be in the history books of Norwich and, of course, we want to be there with back-to-back title wins. I’m not sure if this has happened at Championship level before.
Two record seasons for the club would be something historical and these lads deserve everything so we will go for it.”
Farke said after the game.
The 2019/20 season was a catastrophic one for Norwich as they lost 13 out of their last 15 Premier League games, but have managed to turn the fortunes, winning 27 out of 42 league matches and have managed 90 points thus far.
This can only mean that Daniel Farke has been the major shareholder of their success, given the struggle faced by a team while coping with low confidence and negativity after going down. Nonetheless, the Canaries held their heads high even after a demotion and let their persistent performance do the talking.
However, it was a tense start for the Norfolk club with four points in the first four games of the season. But gradually, the form picked up, and by mid-November, they found themselves top of the league and have been occupying the spot since.
The last time Norwich won back their promotion, the defence was rather shaky even though they scored their maximum number of goals in the dying moments of the game. The major difference this term has been that the German manager has organised a balance between both ends.
Farke’s successful change in strategies resulted in Norwich’s meanest defensive record with just 28 goals conceded while 65 were scored from the men at the front (prior to the dismal loss against Bournemouth).
In attack, Finnish star Teemu Pukki has netted 25 goals in 37 league games and been relishing the Championship since September. Winger Emiliano Buendia has also been a backbone to the Canaries success with 13 goals and 16 assists in 35 matches. The defence on the other half is being majored by Tim Krul. The Dutch shot-stopper has kept 18 clean sheets until yesterday’s horrible performance. But those days of topsy turvy games are way behind them as most matches ended by narrow margins this season.
Youngster Max Aarons took the full opportunity to shine in the second-tier, while Todd Cantwell and Kieran Dowell also proved to be too good for the Championship.
The club’s off-field decisions have been responsible for their consistency. Both sporting director Stuart Webber and the gaffer himself have carved out the best among the players available to them.
Relegation to the second division amid the coronavirus crisis isn’t the ideal situation, but Farke and his employers haven’t spent a single penny beyond their capabilities and have built a squad blended with experience and fresh talents in their quest for top-flight football.
Norwich cannot afford any complacency with just four more games remaining after a long and tiresome season in the empty stadiums. The shared confidence after 27 league wins should be enough for them to go past their previous point tally and reach the 100 mark in the coming days.
