Norwich (England), Dec 27 (IANS): English football club Norwich City on Tuesday sacked head coach Dean Smith after their 2-1 loss at 10-man Luton Town on Boxing Day.
The loss on Monday left the East Anglia club fifth in the Championship, 12 points off the automatic promotion spots. It was the club's second in succession after losing to Blackburn Rovers nine days earlier.
Assistant head coach Craig Shakespeare and first team coach Liam Bramley have also left the club. The club's remaining coaching staff, led by Steve Weaver and Allan Russell, will take charge of first team training and our upcoming fixtures on an interim basis.
"As the club continues to work towards its on-field objectives this season, the board believe that it is the right time to make this transition," Norwich said in a statement.
"The club will now work to identify and appoint a new head coach that is able to deliver both the level of performances required to challenge at the top end of the league whilst implementing a consistent style of play," it added.
Smith replaced Daniel Farke in the Norwich dugout in November 2021, agreeing a two-and-a-half-year deal in the process. However, he failed to keep the club in the Premier League as the Canaries finished bottom of the table last season.
And despite a promising start to life back in the Championship this time around, recent results have been poor, with the club deciding to act now in order to keep alive their hopes of winning automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
"This was a tough decision, but one that we felt was necessary to give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving our objective of promotion to the Premier League this season," said Sporting director Stuart Webber about Smith's departure.
"We would like to place on record our thanks to Dean, Craig and Liam, who have always put the best interests of the football club first. With just under half of the season remaining and three consecutive home games on the horizon we now have a real opportunity to build some forward and positive momentum, both on and off the pitch," he added.