How many points Norwich City could have had if they appointed Philippe Clement instead of Liam Manning | OneFootball

The Canaries have been in fine form under the Belgian since his November appointment

Norwich City have become rejuvenated under the management of Philippe Clement since his appointment in November, with the Belgian reinstating a sense of belief at Carrow Road in just under three months' worth of action.

The Canaries have endured extremely mixed fortunes in terms of their finishes in the Championship table since suffering their most recent relegation from the Premier League in the spring of 2022, with the current season certainly exemplifying those emotions.

After parting ways with Johannes Hoff Thorup in April, the Yellows hierarchy went in search of their latest chief, eventually settling on hometown man, Liam Manning, who had been able to guide Bristol City into the second-tier play-off places last season, in what was the Robins' first taste of the post-season lottery for 17 years before losing 6-0 on aggregate to Sheffield United in the semi-finals.

The 40-year-old's time at Carrow Road couldn't have gone much worse, in truth, despite making some encouraging moves in what would prove to be his solitary transfer window in East Anglia.

It was well-documented that Manning failed to win a single Championship or EFL Cup encounter on home turf since his first game in charge against Millwall on August 8th and his last, which came through a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City exactly three months later, leaving Mark Attanasio with little chance but to hand him his P45 after initially giving him a four-year contract last June.

Clement was then installed as the club's fourth permanent or interim boss of 2025 in the November international break, with Norwich having just nine points to their name.

As such, the clear short-term remit for the former Club Brugge, AS Monaco and Rangers boss was to ensure a first stint in League One since 2010 was avoided, before looking to push forward in the upcoming seasons.

However, the Belgian has proven to be an instant hit in Norfolk, with some supporters wishing he was handed the vacancy in pre-season as a result of a major upturn in fortunes.

With that in mind, Football League World has looked at Clement's body of work as Norwich boss thus far, and how that would have translated into a full season's worth of results.

Philippe Clement has revived Norwich City's form in the Championship

Across the following 17 matches, City have been one of the Championship's most in-form sides, even though Clement's tenure began with a concerning 4-1 defeat to Birmingham City at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on November 22nd.

Having won just twice all season prior to his appointment whilst only sitting above Sheffield Wednesday in the standings as a result of the Owls' first of two points deductions this term, the 51-year-old would achieve his first three-point haul three games into his reign with a 3-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers on November 29th.

The Canaries have gone on to record a further eight victories since then, with two statement wins coming in the space of six days last month against West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City.

Indeed, Clement's side ran riot at The Hawthorns on January 20, recording a spectacular 5-0 success against Eric Ramsay's side, before earning a comeback victory against Frank Lampard's promotion-chasing Sky Blues in front of the television cameras.

Those two matches have been part of a recent run of five wins in City's last six Championship matches, with a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough the only time Clement's side haven't accrued maximum points since January 4th.

As a result, the experienced boss currently has a points-per-game record of 1.76 from 17 second-tier matches, which has seen 30 points accumulated.

Norwich City could be in the promotion conversation if Philippe Clement was hired instead of Liam Manning last summer

Clement, unsurprisingly, has given Norwich fans every reason to believe of what could be possible in the future, and there is still the outside chance that his side, theoretically, could make the play-offs due to the congested nature of the Championship table with 14 matches remaining.

However, City would certainly be in and amongst the promotion conversation if the Belgian was hired instead of Manning last June, and that the aforementioned points-per-game record was translated into a 46-game season.

A total of 1.76 points-per-game during the full campaign would give the Yellows an approximate total of 81 points, which, last season, was five more than the number than what play-off winners, Sunderland, were able to amass.

According to Opta's predictions for the remainder of the Championship season, such a tally would have Norwich placed third, with the company's supercomputer believing their East Anglian rivals, Ipswich Town, will finish in the same position they currently occupy on approximately 80 points.

It's evidently an impressive record for Clement in Norfolk so far, especially with the injuries he's had to deal with and Josh Sargent not wanting to play for the club as he tries to force an exit, so it's so far, so good all things considered.