Norwich City sent warning over sacking Liam Manning – Russell Martin mentioned as call for improvement made | OneFootball

FLW’s Norwich City fan pundit has issued his thoughts over whether the Canaries should part ways with Liam Manning after a poor start to the season.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Norwich City have had a really poor start to the 2025-26 season under Liam Manning.

The Canaries were on the wrong side of creating history after becoming the first team in the club’s existence to lose their opening five home games of a campaign.

And their misery was compounded after the Canaries suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town last weekend in the East Anglian derby.

It’s the first time the Tractor Boys have secured a victory over Norwich in 16 years, with Manning and his team setting and breaking unwanted records that have fueled speculation over the ex-Bristol City boss’ future.

With Norwich sitting narrowly above the relegation zone, taking just eight points from a possible 27 on offer, Manning is expectedly facing criticism.

With the international break now here, some connected with Norwich will see it as the right time to part ways with Manning and use the two-week period to bring in a new coach that can transform their fortunes.

From this, we asked our Norwich City fan pundit what he would do in regard to Manning’s future after such an underwhelming start to life in the Carrow Road dugout.

Norwich City warning fired over Liam Manning sacking

Speaking to Football League World, Norwich City fan pundit Zeke Downes believes Liam Manning should get more time in charge of the Norfolk-based outfit to turn the tide, admitting there aren’t many other better bosses available to take on the job if he departed.

Zeke said: “It’s a very interesting situation because, in terms of win percentage, he’s (Manning) fourth or fifth lowest in our history. Dean Smith had 1% higher, and he was obviously sacked, so that would be enough to get rid of him, the fact he’s got such a low win percentage.

“We haven’t won at home yet. We’ve just lost to our rivals for the first time in 16 years and maybe if the season was going well, and then we lost that game, it wouldn’t be a big deal, because you can’t beat them every single time or not lose against them forever, but it’s such a big game, and he didn’t do enough to win the game.

“The first half was OK. We did pretty well, and we were fighting for the ball, but two or three mistakes in the game led to goals, which seems to happen every single game.

“I think nine games isn’t enough to let him go, but the way in which we’re losing these games isn’t good enough, they’re not showing enough fight on the pitch and that’s not all down to him, it’s down to the players, which I think are better than what they’re showing now, and (Ben) Knapper, as we’ve brought all these players in, they haven’t done enough, but it also takes time.

“I just don’t think I can say whether he goes or not, but something has to happen quickly. He and the players either have to improve or they have to make a change, but even then it’s going to take a while to settle the squad again.

“I don’t think there’s a right answer and I don’t know who we’d bring in to replace him, other than Gary O’Neil, but he’s probably not willing to drop down to the Championship. Russell Martin seems like a bit of a red flag.

“So even if we do replace him, I don’t know who we can replace him with, except for unknown managers that will have the same cycle over and over again, just like we did with Johannes (Hoff Thorup) so, yeah, it’s a bit of a bleak time at the moment.”

Norwich City patience must be shown over Liam Manning

While it has been a terrible start to the new Championship campaign, it feels a bit too early for Norwich City to pull the plug on Liam Manning.

Let’s not forget the wonderful job he did at Bristol City to get them into the play-offs last season, proving that with time, he can get a team towards the upper ends of the division and fighting for promotion back to the big time.

There has also been a period of change for the club. The Canaries have been dealing with losses to Marcelino Nunez, Jonathan Rowe and Borja Sainz, three superb assets to have at second-tier level.

Meanwhile, 12 new players have entered the building – the majority from overseas too, so it is going to take time for these first-team figures to gel and get used to the relentless demands of the Championship.

The time to judge is heading into the festive period, and if Norwich are still being sucked into a relegation battle, then a big decision will have to be made.

But for now, Manning should be getting the international pause to work with the players and ensure they are fully prepared for their next Carrow Road encounter, funnily enough, against Manning’s former employers, Bristol City.