Shock Philippe Clement sack claims made after ‘pathetic’ Norwich City rant | OneFootball

The Norwich City head coach exploded prior to the Canaries' 3-0 defeat at Millwall, and this had led to calls for his dismissal from a radio pundit.

Norwich City's poor start to the season continued with a 3-0 defeat at Millwall, and a pre-match rant from head coach Philippe Clement has led to calls for his head.

Before the start of the season, Norwich City had been tipped to make a push for the play-offs, but two straight defeats have resulted in them sitting one place off the bottom of the Championship table, with only Southampton - who started the season with a four-point deduction - below them.

Having lost their opening match of the season 2-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion to a controversial handball goal, the Canaries were eager to get their season up and running with Saturday lunchtime's trip to Millwall.

But a 3-0 reversal at The Den has only made things worse, and complaints about the absence of VAR from the Championship from the Norwich head coach Philippe Clement made the day before the Millwall match have now led to calls for the club to hold an emergency meeting and sack him.

Adrian Durham calls for Norwich City to sack Philippe Clement

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In what was described by talkSPORT as "a seven-minute long monologue" prior to the West Brom match, Philippe Clement went on the offensive in his Friday press conference over the lack of VAR in the Championship, saying: "I think the league creates its own problems by not having VAR", and that, "It’s madness for me that there’s no VAR in the Championship."

He then read out a list of 81 countries in the world which do have VAR in their top-flight, including several which use it below the top division as well. Clement then said: "That’s why there’s VAR. So the next morning, you’re still gutted about things, and then I asked my analyst to look up, in which leagues around the world, there is VAR. So that’s why I have this list."

But Clement's comments haven't been universally popular. Speaking after the match, talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham fired back at the head coach, saying, "Philippe Clement the manager told his analysts to find out all the countries that have VAR instead of using his analysts to find out about his opponents Millwall."

And Durham feels that Clement should pay a heavy price for his team's underwhelming start to the 2026-27 season, adding, "Absolutely pathetic rant about VAR - should have led to an emergency board meeting at Norwich and he should no longer be the manager, but that's just my opinion."

What fans are saying about Adrian Durham's Philippe Clement comments

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Adrian Durham's comments about Philippe Clement have provoked a storm on social media, and here's a selection of what's being said about his calls for Norwich City to sack their head coach.

This fan feels that the issue here is Durham rather than Clement:

This Norwich

This Exeter City fan is wondering when Durham got the authority to call meetings of this nature:

But this Norwich fan doesn't believe in the slightest that his club will sack their head coach just two games into the season:

Norwich fans might back Philippe Clement over Durham comments, but that doesn't mean they'll necessarily support VAR

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At such an early stage in the season, it's unsurprising that Norwich City fans have lined up to criticise Adrian Durham on social media over his comments rather than their own head coach, but whether they would agree with him that VAR should be introduced is a somewhat different matter.

Earlier this year, the Football Supporters Association polled 8,000 Premier League supporters on the subject, and they found that 75.7% of fans are against the use of VAR for matches, while 86% of fans also expressed concerns about expanding it beyond its current remit. Fans will often defend their own against criticism from outside, but this might not translate to them supporting the introduction of VAR in the Championship.

Clement's press conference comments came as a result of the controversy surrounding his team's opening Championship match of the season against West Bromwich Albion. The Norwich manager was left fuming after Albion's first goal was scored via the hand of Aune Heggebo, and the fact that Heggebo was subsequently given a two-match retrospective ban by the FA - the first of its kind - for deceiving match-day officials may leave the Norwich head coach feeling that other clubs will now get the benefit of the sanction rather than his club.

The Sun has recently reported on why the Championship doesn't have VAR, and their conclusion was that, "The most significant hurdle stopping VAR from entering the Championship is money." They confirm that the implementation of VAR "requires a huge financial and logistical commitment", including the installation of specialist cameras, hiring video officials, and building somewhere to store it all.

But money isn't the only issue. While the Premier League has state-of-the-art stadiums in which all of this can easily be placed, in the Championship, where the facilities may be somewhat more dated, it's a greater logistical hurdle to overcome. As explained by The Sun, "Upgrading some of the older, tighter stadiums in the division to accommodate the necessary gantries and fibre-optic cabling would require major structural work that many clubs cannot justify or achieve."

Even if the EFL did listen to Philippe Clement's complaints, it wouldn't make any difference for this season. Any such changes would have to be voted through at the League's AGM, and that is held at the end of the season. As such, any decision to reverse their policy and introduce VAR - which wouldn't necessarily be popular with fans - certainly can't take place during the 2025-26 season.

And given the start to the season that Norwich City have made, there are no guarantees that Clement would even still be their manager by the time it was voted through, unless his team's performances on the pitch start to improve.