Exclusive: Sky pundit reacts to Norwich City, Mark Robins news - one issue could prevent move | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie has told FLW his verdict on Mark Robins potentially replacing Liam Manning at Norwich City

Lee Hendrie has claimed that prising Mark Robins away from Stoke City could be a real challenge for Norwich City.

According to journalist Graeme Bailey, the Canaries are already assessing possible options to replace Liam Manning as manager.

The 40-year-old was appointed over the summer, but an underwhelming opening 10 games of the new campaign has left his position with the club under threat.

Robins has earned a lot of credit for his work with both Coventry City and now the Potters, who he took charge of on 1 January this year.

Stoke have made a strong start to the new campaign, with 10 points already separating these two teams after just 10 fixtures in the league.

Lee Hendrie questions Mark Robins gamble

Hendrie has praised the work Robins has done at Stoke in turning around their poor form from prior to his arrival, suggesting his overall CV also makes him an obvious candidate for a club like Norwich.

However, the Sky Sports pundit has questioned whether the Canaries could be able to convince the 55-year-old to move clubs, particularly given how well the Potters have started this season.

“No surprise Mark Robins got into Stoke and really seems like he’s transformed that place,” Hendrie exclusively told Football League World.

“Obviously he comes with a great background of what he’s done at Coventry and his managerial career.

“There’s no doubt that he would be certainly amongst one of the favourites for the Norwich job if that was to happen.

“The question is: would he want to leave what he’s started to build at Stoke City?

“I think they’ve struggled over seasons and it looks like he might have found a bit of a pattern and a routine to take them into a good place, so I think that’d be the big question, whether they can prise him away from there, and I’m not sure that’d be the case.”

Other names linked with possibly replacing Manning at Carrow Road are Gary O’Neil and Danny Rohl.

However, it has since emerged that the German is now set to take charge at Rangers after previously ruling himself out of the running.

Norwich’s poor league form

Norwich are currently 20th in the Championship table, just one point clear of the relegation zone and nine adrift of the play-off places.

The Canaries have failed to win any of their last six fixtures, and have earned just eight points from their opening 10 games.

A 1-0 loss at home last weekend to Manning’s former side Bristol City added some further salt into the wound of their poor form.

Next up for Norwich is a trip to face a struggling Derby County at Pride Park on Tuesday in a 7.45pm kick-off.

Managerial change won’t fix Norwich

Norwich have larger issues, and changing the manager after 10 games would be a massive waste.

Manning proved at Bristol City just how capable of a coach he is at this level, bringing them to a play-off place in the Championship for the first time since 2008.

Robins would do well to stick with where he is at the moment, as it’s clear what he’s building at Stoke has a lot more immediate potential than the mess at Norwich.

It would be surprising if he opted to change clubs at this stage of the campaign, and Stoke will surely do everything they can to keep him as well.