Philippe Clement’s demanding but supportive approach has helped take Norwich City’s young squad to the next level, according to sporting director Ben Knapper.
The Belgian’s impact at City has been seismic, helping pull them out of a rut before gaining momentum to push them further up the Championship table. It was a body of work that also helped ease the pressure from Knapper’s shoulders.
He believes the turnaround has reaffirmed the quality within Norwich’s squad, which was questioned during their struggles under Liam Manning, with the recent transfer window designed to equip them for a promotion push this season.
“Philippe is demanding but he’s also really good from a human side,” Knapper told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He’s an absolute father figure for these boys. We’ve got a really young squad, maybe the youngest squad in the league, so I think it’s a really good fit in that respect.
“He’s tough on them but he’s also really caring and supportive. I think they all respect that. He’s a pleasure to work with.”
Clement’s appointment followed a difficult autumn at Carrow Road, with Norwich languishing in the relegation zone after a run of results that included seven straight home defeats and prompted Manning’s departure after just 17 matches.
Knapper admitted the opening months of the season had been among the most difficult of his career, particularly as supporters voiced their frustrations with the club’s direction and his role in it.
“It was a really difficult few weeks and months, to be honest,” he said. “We felt we’d done a lot of good work in the market and were really excited for the season ahead.
“We had a so-so first few games and thought we were building, with quite a few new players and cohesion still to come. But we got onto this run where it felt like we were reliving the same game over and over again.
“We would have quite a lot of control and be fairly decent for maybe an hour, not quite score despite having chances, and then in the last half-hour the game would run away from us. We would walk away with no points thinking: ‘How’s that happened?’”
It was a recurring pattern left everybody connected with the club frustrated, with City ultimately forced into a managerial change during the November international break.
“It was a really difficult time for everyone,” he added. “The fans were incredibly unhappy and rightly so, because it was not good enough.
“We were desperate for it to work and wanted to give it every chance, but we got to that November international break and unfortunately had to make the decision.
“From that point, it was probably the most intense two-week period of my professional life, trying to run a process to hire a new head coach over that international break.
“To be in a position where we could appoint somebody of the profile and stature of Philippe Clement was testament to that work, that process, the ambition of the club and the owners.”
Norwich’s form changed sharply after Clement’s arrival, although their recovery ultimately fell short of a play-off place.
“It was a season of two halves,” Knapper said. “We went from being one of the worst teams in the league over the first 15 games to one of the best over the subsequent 31.
“It is not one I would like to relive any time soon, but hopefully we can kick on and make this season a memorable one.”
The Canaries’ sporting director believes the revival also validated the club’s recruitment work and the potential of a squad he feels was unable to show its full level during the early weeks of the campaign.
“We managed to turn things around and finish the season with a lot of positivity,” he said.
“It reaffirmed a lot of the things we believed before, in terms of having some really good players and putting together a really good, exciting squad.
“I think Philippe was able to bring that out of them in the second half of the season and show people that it was not all bad. There had been a lot of good things going on at the football club as well.”
Knapper also addressed the wider challenge awaiting the club should they realise their ultimate ambition of winning promotion, describing the task of surviving in the Premier League as arguably English football’s biggest obstacle.
“It’s ultimately the biggest challenge in English football at the moment arguably. For any team that gets promoted out of the Championship to the Prem, it’s absolutely about trying to get on to any rock.
“Even to just be remotely competitive is huge. The probability of staying up on the first attempt isn’t high historically. It has been done, look at Sunderland, for example.
“But, to come back down, you’ve got parachute payments. You can be a bit more aggressive then in the Championship and then, when you go back up, be aggressive again.
“That’s why that first promotion is so important because if you can do it, even if you were to come back down, it gives you that firepower to put yourself back up there again.”
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