Norwich City

The Liam Manning era at Carrow Road begins with the visit of Millwall to face Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Alex Neil's Lions eventually finished five places and nine points ahead of the Canaries last season, though missed out on the play-off places on a dramatic final day.

• Norwich City are unbeaten across their last 21 home league games against Millwall since November 1968 (W14 D7), their longest ever run against an opponent.

• Millwall have won two of their last three league games against Norwich City (L1), as many victories as across their prior 15 meetings with the Canaries combined (D3 L10).

• Norwich have won just one of their last eight opening day league fixtures that have come on home soil (D3 L4), though that sole victory did come in their last with a 2-1 win over Hull City in August 2023.

• Millwall lost 3-2 against Watford in their opening league match last season, last losing on MD1 in consecutive campaigns in 2012-13/2013-14.

• Since 25 January (their first win under manager Alex Neil), only promoted sides Burnley (44) and Leeds (41) have earned more points in the Championship than Millwall (35 – W11 D2 L6).

Image source, BBC/Rob Butler

BBC Radio Norfolk presenter Chris Goreham is celebrating 25 years of providing commentary of Norwich City matches.

Goreham was behind the mic for the first time on 29 July, 2000 during a pre-season friendly for the Canaries against Dutch side SC Heerenveen.

He was surprised on-air by City hero Simeon Jackson during the Radio Norfolk Breakfast Show on Friday.

Jackson scored a famous winning goal for City against Derby in April 2011, a goal which went a long way to help secure the Canaries promotion to the Premier League that season.

Goreham's BBC commentary on that last-minute strike is revered by City supporters.

He said, "We've done a five-year commentary deal and I had in my mind that, at the end of that deal, it would be 25 years since the great Roy Waller stopped doing the commentaries.

"But, I had completely not realised that the first I did was Heerenveen in 2000."

You can hear more from Chris Goreham on his 25 years of commentary duty on BBC Sounds here.

Norwich are hoping to beat Leicester and Sheffield United to the permanent signing of England under-21 defender Callum Doyle, 21, who is valued around £10m by Man City and spent last season on loan at Carrow Road. (SportsBoom, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Gary Gowers
My Football Writer

Image source, Getty Images

A new season. A new head coach.

Something not unfamiliar to City fans, who have had a different head coach in their technical area for every season opener since 2021-22.

Liam Manning is merely the latest holder of the baton, following on from Daniel Farke, Dean Smith, David Wagner, and Johannes Hoff Thorup.

With stability being widely acknowledged as one of the key elements of a successful team, the Yellow Army will be hoping Manning's time in NR1 extends way beyond 2025-26.

But in the here and now, things look nicely shipshape, with a significant summer player churn giving this current Norwich City team a very different look and feel. A much-needed churn.

The Class of 2024-25 had their moments and ended last season as the Championship's second-highest goalscorers, but they badly lacked consistency. They also, at times, lacked backbone, oomph, bottle, and bravery; key qualities that City's sporting director Ben Knapper has looked to add to the group this summer.

At the time of writing, 11 new faces have arrived, which includes a complete overhaul of the goalkeeping department and two new starting centre-backs.

So far, the only big-name departure has been Borja Sainz, who left to join FC Porto for a reported £14.25m, although rumours around the future of top scorer Josh Sargent refuse to go away.

But, with or without the American, Manning's new-look Norwich team appears to be a more combative and solid unit than the one that eventually floundered under the tutelage of Thorup.

For too long now, City fans have watched their heroes flounder when the going gets tough. A soft underbelly was how it was often described, but other descriptions are available, including lily-livered and fragile.

While not too much can be read into the results and performances of pre-season, the physical profile of this new City team differs from the one Norwich fans have become accustomed to.

Their latest addition, Mirko Topic, from Portuguese side Famalicao, is a defensive midfielder of considerable stature – 6 ft 3 in for those who are counting – and will add some badly-needed ballast to an area of the pitch that has all too often been afflicted with hot-knife-through-butter syndrome.

If Topic, assisted by the new centre-back pairing of Harry Darling and Jacov Medic, can help the team survive the difficult moments instead of them collapsing like a poorly-made Delia Smith soufflé, then that will be a massive win for Knapper and Manning.

The very early signs are promising, with Manning's first XI concluding their pre-season with two clean sheets – a 0-0 draw in the Netherlands against Den Haag and a 2-0 home win over NEC Breda.

This newfound solidity has, as things stand, compromised the team's in-possession attacking flow, but given the defensive horrors of last season, most City fans have already agreed it's a price worth paying.

Ironically, it's a balance that the City head coaches listed at the start of this piece failed to strike – aside from Farke, whose time in the Fine City was extraordinary – with a recurring problem being the lack of a defensively-inclined central midfielder since Alex Tettey's departure in 2021.

We desperately hope that Topic, with a hazelnut in every biting tackle, will fill that void.

But it's not just improvements on the pitch that have lifted the spirits of the Yellow Army. Off it, too, a new dawn is rising.

This summer's transfer window is the first with US businessman and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mark Attanasio, at the helm. He and his Norfolk Holdings group now have full control of the club, and their approach to dealings in the transfer market couldn't differ more from those overseen by previous owners, Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones.

Then it was a tepid, frugal, austerity-driven approach that often saw the club scratching around bargain basements for players other teams didn't want. Now it's bullish, brave, and positive, with targets identified, hunted down, and secured with the minimum of fuss.

None of this waiting for Player A to be sold and the funds received before we can even think about bidding for Player B.

If Knapper wants Player A and Player A aligns with the wider plan, then Attanasio and Norfolk Holdings will do everything they can to make the deal happen.

It is most un-Norwich-like. Uncharted territory. A brave new world.

And we like it.

No longer are we at a significant disadvantage before a player is signed or a ball kicked. Now we compete on a level footing with our peers, which is great news for City fans while heaping all kinds of pressure on Knapper (for all the right reasons).

Those now in power at Norwich City have openly declared that the aim is a top-six finish this season, in the same way Attanasio has made it quite clear the ultimate goal is a return to the Premier League.

He and his people are not here to mess about, which is why the player churn has been significant.

As City fans, we're still not sure where this journey is going to take us, but there's a growing feeling that it could be fun.

On the Ball City.

Image source, BBC/Rob Butler

Norwich City head coach Liam Manning faced the media ahead of the Canaries' first Championship game of the season.

City host Millwall at Carrow Road on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Here are some of the key points from the press conference:

• Manning said his squad is "good to go" for the big kick-off. He said his players have worked hard during the pre-season to get to this point.

• Club captain Kenny McLean recently had an operation on his ankle issue. Manning said the surgery went well and the Scotland international is on course to return in September.

• Manning did not reveal who will be team captain on Saturday but said a decision has been made.

• On the abundance of summer signings: "It shows the intent from the club, there were areas that needed addressing." City have made 11 summer signings so far.

• Manning said new signing Mirko Topic will provide the team with a 'strong ball-winner'.

• "I'm not an egomaniac, not everything I say goes." - Manning said he is keen to consult with his staff and players before making big decisions.

You can listen to live commentary of Norwich City v Millwall with BBC Radio Norfolk on FM and DAB. Coverage begins at 14:00 BST on Saturday.

Norwich City boss Liam Manning is expecting players to leave the club before the transfer window closes at the start of next month.

The Canaries have added 10 players to their first-team squad over the summer while selling last season's top scorer, Borja Sainz, to Porto.

As they prepare for Saturday's opening Championship match of the season against Millwall (15:00 BST), Manning admits players will have to leave the club.

"It's not always in our control but naturally we're a bit heavy," the head coach told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"We've been able to do some real productive work with the help of the owners to bring in what we have - the consequence is we've got a few too many and I'm sure in the coming weeks there'll be a few who will leave."

Norwich finished their pre-season programme with a 2-0 win over Dutch side NAC Breda on Saturday with the notable absences of experienced duo Shane Duffy and Anis Ben Slimane.

Defender Duffy missed only one league game last season while midfielder Slimane made 25 starts in the Championship.

"Everybody wants to play football and if that's not happening or not likely here, people want to pursue alternative options," Manning added.

"Until anything definite happens we'll keep working with them, keep pushing them - their attitude has been top in training and we'll see how that plays out."

Listen to BBC Radio Norfolk's Scrimmage podcast.

Norwich City are set to sign Lincoln City striker Jovon Makama, 21, that will see the Englishman set a club record fee for the Imps in a deal reportedly worth over £1m. (Derby Telegraph), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Norwich City winger Jeffrey Schlupp believes the Canaries can achieve promotion back to the Premier League this season.

The 32-year-old knows what it takes to get to the top having won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016 as well as the Scottish Premiership title with Celtic during a loan spell last season.

Schlupp believes recent history is on his new club's side.

"There's a great history with this club in getting promoted from the Championship so hopefully we can bring back these experiences," Schlupp told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"I've been privileged enough to have won things and I've done a lot in my career. I want to bring my experience and share that with the boys."

Listen to the full interview with Jeffrey Schlupp and more from The Scrimmage

Image source, Getty Images

The East Anglia derby between Ipswich Town and Norwich City has been moved to Sunday, 5 October at 12:00 BST.

The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, 4 October but has been pushed back to accommodate for television coverage.

The game will be held at Portman Road and will be the first time the two sides have met since April 2024, before Ipswich's promotion to the Premier League.

The fixture ended in a 2-2 draw when it was last played, in December 2023, while Norwich won the reverse 1-0 later that season.

No move to Germany for Norwich City forward Josh Sargent - but does that mean he is here to stay?

Chris Reeve tells Canaries fans not to get their hopes up following the US international's decision to reject a transfer to VfL Wolfsburg. Should he leave, there are already murmurs about who could take his place.

Listen to the full episode of Reevo's Rumour Ramble and more on The Scrimmage.

Norwich City are considering a move for Brighton forward Abdallah Sima, 24, to join up with Senegal team-mate Papa Amadou Diallo, who signed for the side on Thursday. (Pink Un - subscription required), external

The Canaries are also interested in RC Lens winger Anass Zaroury, however they face competition from Coventry City for the 24- year-old Morocco international. (L'Equipe - in French), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.