Defeating Bees not enough to save Canaries boss Farke’s job

NORWICH sacked head coach Daniel Farke just hours after their 2-1 victory at Brentford on Saturday.

Farke had been under increasing pressure after the Canaries failed to win any of their opening 10 games in the Premier League this term.

Farke was appointed by Norwich in 2017, having been in charge of Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team.

He led them to the Championship title in 2019, only for the club to go straight back down, finishing bottom of the Premier League the following season.

However, he guided Norwich to an immediate top-flight return, again as champions, and was rewarded with a new four-year contract in the summer.

They have again struggled in the Premier League, though, and remain bottom of the table, behind Newcastle on goal difference, despite Saturday’s win.

Farke saw a magnificent solo goal from Mathias Normann and Teemu Pukki’s penalty seal a 2-1 victory over Brentford, for whom Rico Henry pulled one back.

He gave no indication of his fate when speaking after the match, hailing “a great day” and saying: “There is spirit and belief in this dressing room and everyone was committed to getting the first three points for the club.”

The defeat was the fourth in a row for Brentford, who conceded the opening goal after only six minutes, the first time in 15 matches that Norwich had taken the lead in a Premier League game.

“One thing’s for sure, we played well in three of the last four games we lost,” said Bees manager Thomas Frank.

“It was a good performance against Norwich. We started well and then Normann out of nowhere suddenly becomes (Lionel) Messi, beats five players and puts it in with his wrong foot. Also, I thought the penalty was 50-50. I hate losing. My body is burning inside. But when we perform as we have done there is no need to change the system.”