Clement wants Norwich to 'block out the noise'

Norwich City boss Philippe Clement has told his players to block out the “noise” as they seek to halt a run of six consecutive defeats in league and cup.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Charlton Athletic, the Canaries have dropped to 21st in the Championship table, one place and one point above the relegation zone.

They have lost 10 of their last 12 league games – including the last five – and are without a league win since 9 September.

“I don’t think there can be more desire but my job is to stabilise the team, to keep everything in balance,” Clement told BBC Look East.

“If my desire is so big that I start to shout at the players all the time, they will not become better. That will not help.

“So it’s about keeping a good balance between motivating but also pointing out things and letting the team grow.

“I think this has been a really unlucky run in several games. The team need to continue pushing and learning lessons out of the individual mistakes or collective mistakes made in those moments, to manage games in a better way.”

Clement’s predecessor Liam Manning was sacked last November following a similarly poor run of results, but the Belgian said he had challenged his players to rewrite the narrative.

“[The players] need to learn to focus on what they are doing here and not to listen to all the noise and people who are speaking negatively about them or putting them down, because that doesn’t help for this moment.

“They need to be focused on the football, on what they need to do on the pitch and to also have the determination in themselves and in their teammates to start winning games again because they can do, they have the talent to do it.”

Post-Farke blues

Daniel Farke won two Championship titles at Norwich – since then, the club has had five permanent head coaches who have come and gone.

• Dean Smith (Nov 2021 – Dec 2022) lost his job after three defeats in four matches
• David Wagner (Jan 2023 – May 2024) lost seven out of nine matches but survived to guide Norwich to the play-offs
• Six defeats in eight games cost Johannes Hoff Thorup (May 2024 – Apr 2025)
• Liam Manning (June 2025 – Nov 2025) had not won in 11, a run which included eight successive home defeats
• Clement (Nov 2025 – Present) has now lost six in a row in all competitions

What’s the feeling among fans?

Chris Reeve has been a co-host on Talk Norwich City for nine years, where he has 30,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

He said in the “cut throat” world of football, Clement’s job was under threat.

“It has to be, doesn’t it? It is troubling,” said the 33-year-old.

“They were so close to getting in the play-offs, which was monumental but that credit is now wearing off.

“I love how he operates, the intensity in which he works his players. I love the football that he wants to play but for quite a few reasons, it is not clicking.

“I hope he gets longer but most fans would agree, this isn’t all on Clement. There is a bigger picture.”

Tulsa Lange, 34, has supported the club since 1998. He rarely misses a home game.

He watched last Saturday’s defeat to Portsmouth from the front row of the South Stand at Carrow Road.

“We look like we are on the verge of another relegation battle. I can’t believe it after the heroics of last season.

“I love Philippe Clement. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him after what he did last season but it feels like he has lost the dressing room.

“The body language of the players [against Portsmouth] was quite concerning.

“But the issues are above and beyond Philippe. For me, it lies with the sporting director Ben Knapper.

“In three years, he has wasted tens of millions of pounds on players, a number of whom have failed to adapt to English football. The buck stops with him.”

The club’s owners, Norfolk FB Holdings, led by Mark Attanasio, have also come in for criticism from supporters.

The American businessman’s group formally became joint majority shareholders in April 2024 before acquiring full control later that year.

Attanasio also owns the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, who have just lifted the National League Championship trophy after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers to reach their first World Series in 44 years.

Norwich fans believe this means they are more tied up with commitments in America.

They also missed out on the club’s tributes to Michael Wynn Jones, their former majority shareholder and honorary life president, who died aged 85 last month.

Hunter Baumgardt, a Fox Sports Brewers reporter in the US, said Milwaukee had fared much better since his takeover 22 years ago.

“I think he could do it for Norwich as well,” said Baumgardt.

“The Brewers have been very smart under Attanasio, where they haven’t overspent but they have been willing to put resources in.

“I am interested to see if he can use some of that expertise over there.”