Chris Hughton has been sacked by Norwich City with the club’s Barclays Premier League future hanging in the balance.
A 1-0 home defeat to relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion on Saturday left them 17th in the table and was the final straw for the board.
Neil Adams, previously coach of their Under 18s, has been handed the task of trying to keep the club in the top flight.
Heading down? Norwich are on the edge of the relegation zone and have decided to sack Hughton
Remainder: Youth coach Adams has taken charge, but Norwich have not said if he is a permanent replacement
Get in! West Brom's Morgan Amalfitano celebrates scoring the winner against Norwich on Saturday
REMAINING NORWICH FIXTURES
Fulham (a)
Liverpool (h)
Man Utd (a)
Chelsea (a)
Arsenal (h)
They sit one place above the drop zone but face Fulham, five points behind in 18th, on Saturday before Liverpool at home, Manchester United and Chelsea away then Arsenal at home.
Assistant manager Colin Calderwood and coach Paul Trollope followed Hughton out of the exit door.
There are now no black managers in the top four divisions of English football — and amazingly, Manchester United’s David Moyes is now the eighth longest-serving manager in the top flight.
In charge: Adams (left) won the FA Youth Cup with a win over Chelsea last year
Out the door: Norwich are now just one place ahead of the bottom three
LACKING
There are now no black managers in the top four divisions of English football.
There were ugly scenes at Carrow Road on Saturday when Norwich fans turned on their team and manager towards the end of the limp defeat to West Brom. Morgan Amalfitano’s low strike in the first half clinched the points.
Goalkeeper John Ruddy had to be restrained by stewards after jumping into the stand to remonstrate with a fan.
Chants of ‘We want Hughton out’ rang around the stadium in the closing stages. Yellow clackers were flung on the pitch at Norwich players. One struck Hughton on the head.
‘One did hit me at the end,’ he confirmed later. ‘I did not know too much about it.
‘There were a few being thrown all over the place, so I can’t say if it was intentional.
‘It didn’t hurt — the result hurt. That is where I am hurting at the moment.’
Bad run: Norwich must face Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the final weeks
Now Norwich have decided to place their faith in 48-year-old Adams, who has no experience as manager of a professional club.
Chief executive David McNally said: ‘Neil is a progressive and successful coach who has served this club as a player and a member of our coaching staff in exemplary fashion over two decades.
With our fantastic fans behind Neil and the team in the games ahead we will greatly improve our chances of a successful end to the current campaign.’
Adams said: ‘These final five games will be a huge test and everyone must step up to the mark.’
Pepe Mel could walk away from West Brom, even if he keeps Albion up. This win has put them in a strong position to survive, but Mel said: ‘I don’t know where I’m going to be next season. I said I’d make sure I met the objective.’
Last summer, Hughton spent a reported £8.5million to sign Ricky van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon and £5million to bring Gary Hooper from Celtic, while also adding Johan Elmander on loan, but none of the moves have paid off .
Hooper has just five goals in 28 league appearances, a poor return which is nevertheless significantly better than the one each that Van Wolfswinkel and Elmander have managed in 22 and 26 appearances respectively.
History: Adams made over 200 appearances for Norwich in the 1990s
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