BBC pundit blames one Norwich City figure for issues under Liam Manning | OneFootball

Jobi McAnuff believes Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper must take responsibility for the current problems at Carrow Road.

Pundit Jobi McAnuff believes Norwich City sporting director Ben Knapper should be held responsible for the current situation at the club, rather than head coach Liam Manning.

After guiding Bristol City to a sixth-placed finish in the Championship last season, Manning departed Ashton Gate to take over at Carrow Road in June, replacing Johannes Hoff Thorup, who had been sacked two months earlier after just under a year in charge.

Manning was given strong backing by the Norwich board in the summer transfer window, with Vladan Kovacevic, Daniel Grimshaw, Louie Moulden, Harry Darling, Jacov Medic, Jeffrey Schlupp, Jacob Wright, Mirko Topic, Pelle Mattson, Papa Amadou Diallo, Jovon Makama and Mathias Kvistgaarden all arriving at the club.

The Canaries did lose two key players this summer in Borja Sainz and Marcelino Nunez, with the latter making a move to bitter rivals Ipswich Town in a deal worth 10 million, but they did manage to keep hold of star striker Josh Sargent, who scored 15 goals last season.

Despite their summer transfer business, it has been a nightmare start to the season for Norwich, and they dropped into the Championship relegation zone for the first time since 2009 after falling to their fourth consecutive defeat as they were beaten 1-0 at Derby County on Tuesday night, with the result also extending their winless run to seven league games.

Manning has lost all of his first six home games in all competitions, while he also became the first Canaries manager to lose to Ipswich in 16 years when his side suffered a 3-1 defeat at Portman Road earlier this month, and speculation is mounting about the 40-year-old's future, with a report suggesting this week that Mark Robins and Gary O'Neil are under consideration to replace him.

However, Manning will remain in charge for the trip to Swansea City on Saturday, and although he admitted it is a "pressure cooker" at the moment, he claimed that he is in regular contact with Knapper and insisted he is working "flat out" to improve the situation.

Jobi McAnuff takes aim at Ben Knapper amid Liam Manning, Norwich City pressure

Rather than Manning, McAnuff believes that Knapper should be the one in the spotlight currently for his poor managerial decisions and underwhelming recruitment in recent years, and he claims that Norwich have lost their way as a club since their success under Daniel Farke.

When asked on the Football Daily podcast if he believes the pressure is building on Manning, McAnuff said: "It is, and, listen, it should be, but I don't think this is an example of where the buck just stops with him.

"I think it's a club that has just lost its way a little bit.

"I think Ben Knapper has to take responsibility for some of the decisions they've made.

"You look at David Wagner, who got that team into the play-offs, and there was a lot of moaning and groaning about the style of play.

"He made a conscious decision to go and get that experience in, and while they weren't brilliant on the eye and they ended up losing, they've gone away from that and gone completely different.

"They've lost key, key players.

"You bring in a young coach because you want a forward-thinking style of football and a different philosophy, you sell your best players and don't give him enough time in Johannes Hoff Thorup.

"He goes out the door, then you make another decision with another young, forward-thinking coach.

"Again, I look at that recruitment and I think, who is going to come in and be real Championship pedigree?

"They are talking, as a club, that if they don't get in the play-offs, it's a disappointing season, but what are you giving your manager to go and deliver that?

"When I look at the recruitment, it's nowhere near enough.

"I think that there are bigger issues there than just who the manager is on the touchline.

"I think it's a club-wide problem at the moment."

Liam Manning deserves more time at Norwich City as relegation fears increase

There is no doubt that Manning's record since taking over at Norwich leaves a lot to be desired, and with the quality of players at his disposal, he should certainly be delivering better results, particularly at Carrow Road.

Should the current run of form continue and the Canaries get dragged deeper into relegation danger, Knapper will have little option but to make a change, but McAnuff is right that there has been far too much managerial instability at the club in recent years, so the former Bristol City boss should be given more time to turn his side's fortunes around.

It is also difficult to disagree with McAnuff that Norwich's recruitment has not been good enough of late, and while much of the current pressure is on Manning, it may not be long until attention turns to Knapper given his questionable decision-making over the past two years.