Exclusive: Sky pundit claims Norwich City manager Liam Manning needs to be "backed" as Leicester City clash looms | OneFootball

The Canaries boss remains under intense pressure from supporters ahead of the international break

Sky Sports pundit and EFL expert, Lee Hendrie, believes Norwich City's upcoming clash with Leicester City at Carrow Road could be pivotal in deciding Liam Manning's fate as manager.

It has been an unexpected, yet disastrous opening three months of the campaign for the Canaries, who envisaged a completely different set of circumstances as they moved to appoint the 40-year-old after he guided Championship rivals, Bristol City, into the play-offs at the end of last season.

Norwich conducted a major squad reshuffle over the course of Manning's maiden pre-season and transfer window, albeit they were able to retain the services of USMNT international forward, Josh Sargent amid intense transfer speculation and the prior loss of Borja Sainz, who joined FC Porto.

There was an air of hope that the Norwich-born boss could continue what had been a largely positive resume prior to his East Anglian return, having also enjoyed relative success at Milton Keynes Dons and Oxford United before making the step-up to the second tier two years ago.

However, after 14 games, the Yellows still find themselves marooned within the relegation zone, having taken just nine points from those encounters as they sit four points adrift of Oxford United heading into Saturday's clash with Marti Cifuentes' outfit, with the Spaniard also coming under scrutiny at the King Power Stadium.

As such, Hendrie believes the clash against an out-of-form Leicester side of late could either buy Manning more time, or it could force Mark Attanasio into making a critical decision with a looming two-week fixture gap.

Last time out, Norwich earned their first point since September 27th with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, who, like their Steel City rivals, Sheffield United, remain below the Canaries, largely down to an automatic 12-point deduction after entering administration last month.

City are without a win since August 30th, and have only managed to find the back of the net seven times since then, with their aforementioned star striker, Sargent, also without a goal of his own since their last success, which came at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers.

Indeed, Norwich are the only Championship side yet to accumulate a single point on home turf thus far. This led to protests throughout and after their last Carrow Road defeat against Hull City last weekend, whilst Attanasio has reiterated he has no plans to relieve Manning of his duties after the City boss penned a four-year contract in June.

Having watched them at Hillsborough in midweek, Hendrie exclusively told Football League World that Saturday's fixture could be huge within the context of Manning's tenure and Norwich's season as a whole.

"You hear a lot of boards saying they will back managers. I think that's them trying to get confidence through to the team and, obviously, to give the manager faith," Hendrie told FLW.

"Results have been poor, home form has been really bad for Liam Manning," Hendrie added.

"I actually did the game in midweek in that 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday. It was a big point, really.

"But, they've got Leicester on Saturday. You do feel that lots rely on that going into the international break. I do feel like the Leicester game might be the one where they make that call (afterwards) because, obviously, they're in a really uncomfortable position," the Sky Sports pundit explained.

"I'd like to see him backed," Hendrie stated. "We've seen so many managers getting sacked recently.

"I did see on Wednesday that they are capable of getting results, but results are massive. It might be until after the weekend's game that they make that call."

Liam Manning has to showcase Norwich City improvement vs Leicester City amid sack calls

It comes as very little surprise that the atmosphere surrounding Carrow Road at present is one of apathy, with Norwich in great danger of being stuck in a relegation battle over the course of the season unless a sudden upsurge in performance levels and results occur.

This has led to intense pressure coming the way of Manning and sporting director, Ben Knapper, in particular, with claims that the club is doing nothing but regressing, having only come close to returning to the Premier League on one occasion since their relegation in 2021/22, which came in 2023/24 when the Canaries were comprehensively beaten by Leeds United in the play-off semi-finals.

Despite dominating the possession and overall shot count in their last Carrow Road outing against Hull, it was similar defensive woes and a lack of cutting edge which proved Norwich's undoing, and that has to change against Leicester to somewhat ease the pressure on Manning's shoulders.