Philippe Clement blow confirmed for Norwich City v Bristol City | OneFootball

Philippe Clement will serve a one-game touchline ban after picking up his third booking as Norwich City boss in their defeat to Ipswich Town.

Norwich City fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to bitter rivals Ipswich Town on Saturday, in what was a controversial game at Carrow Road.

The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot after Anis Ben Slimane was adjudged to have fouled Jack Taylor, despite the contact appearing minimal.

The Canaries were also upset that former player Marcelino Nunez wasn’t sent off, as he committed two fouls when on a booking that could’ve brought a second yellow card.

That angered Philippe Clement and the Norwich bench, and the Belgian was booked on the advice of the fourth official after Nunez escaped a further sanction, with Kieran McKenna then replacing the Chile international, even though he only came off the bench in the second half.

Philippe Clement set to serve Norwich City suspension

Clement’s yellow card is a costly one for the ex-Rangers chief, as it is the third booking he has picked up since his appointment, which brings an automatic one-game touchline ban.

Therefore, he will be watching on from the stands when Norwich face Roy Hodgson’s Bristol City at Ashton Gate next weekend.

But, it’s fair to say Clement wasn’t pleased with the decision, as he opened up to the Pink’Un on why he was booked, which included confirming it was for the reaction of the bench, as opposed to anything he had done.

“I will be suspended for the next game, so I'll be prevented to do my job next week. For a situation where the fourth official said that too many of my assistants stood up in that moment, in that situation, and I'm responsible for them, but that's really difficult to be guiding a team and being responsible for everything happening behind me.

“It's the first time that I see that a manager gets booked for that. In the past, in more than 30 years of football, I have always seen that an assistant gets booked, but not a manager in that situation, because it's a hard decision. I cannot do my job next week in the normal way. It's frustrating.”

Philippe Clement's anger is understandable after Norwich City’s defeat to Ipswich Town

You can understand why Clement isn’t happy with Anthony Backhouse after his performance in charge of the East Anglian derby on Saturday.

The penalty decision looked extremely harsh, and most would agree that Nunez deserved a second yellow card for one of the fouls he committed when on a booking.

If Clement’s version of events is right, he has seemingly been hard done by with his own yellow card as well, which was very costly. In that instance, you would expect the fourth official to explain which assistant had overstepped the mark, as opposed to picking on the manager.

Obviously, that doesn’t detract from the fact he has been booked twice before, so it’s something Clement needs to monitor moving forward, and he must work on his own discipline, along with his coaching staff.

The derby game means a lot, so it was always going to be highly charged, but Clement will now be in the stands against Bristol City, and, as he says, it does impact what he can do, although it won’t be an excuse for Norwich if they don’t bounce back from the loss to Ipswich.