Smith explains what Norwich need to improve to prove his job isn’t ‘impossible’
Dean Smith said Norwich City were below the standards they need to be at for the first time since he took charge in their defeat to his former side Aston Villa – but denies he is in an impossible job.
Smith welcomed his boyhood club to Carrow Road on Tuesday night. Just a month after leaving Villa, he faced them as Norwich boss. He was unable to get a win against his former employers.
Villa took all three points back to the Midlands thanks to a 2-0 win. The goals came from Jacob Ramsey in the first half and Ollie Watkins close to full-time.
Norwich remain bottom of the table as a result. They are just three points away from safety still, but the nearest side to catch have a game in hand.
There is a long way to go, but this was another reminder of how much Smith has his work cut out for him.
Even so, he believes there were factors that must be taken into consideration. Consistency must improve, though.
He told BT Sport (via the BBC): “It’s tough. We weren’t very good in the first half. We’ve been missing eight that could’ve been in the first team but I’m not making excuses, we never played with any tempo and were too passive.
“We got what we deserved in the first half. We improved the tempo in the second half but we have to improve the moments in the final third. It’s hard when you’ve eight of your first team not available.
“We’ve a lad in Sam Byram who came in for his first appearance in two years. We’re down to the bare bones and have got some Covid issues too. We’ve had to speak to the Premier League on advice on where to go, not that they’ve done a lot.”
Dean Smith wants more consistency from Norwich
After taking charge last month, Smith won his first game but has not tasted victory in five since.
They are now on a run of three defeats in a row and have not scored in any of them. The first was a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham and then there was a narrow 1-0 loss to Manchester United before Tuesday’s result.
Smith has seen some positives but needs to get Norwich to replicate them on a regular basis. Even so, he isn’t losing faith in the project he has inherited any time soon.
He admitted: “Our consistency needs to be better. We can’t be as good as we were against Manchester United and then be so low in the first half.
“If this was an impossible job I wouldn’t have taken it. We’ve had some performances here but that was the first time we were below the standard.”
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