Liam Manning: Norwich City ‘had tough, honest chat’ after Ipswich derby loss, says boss

Manning steered Bristol City to the play-offs last season, but has struggled to produce a consistent style and level of performance from a Norwich squad transformed by a series of summer signings.

He said, however, that keeping everyone at the club together, on and off the pitch, is vital as they look to turn their fortunes around.

“We’re all in it together. There are so many good conversations that happen behind the scenes. At times like this, you can become fractured and the key bit for me is that we don’t,” Manning continued.

“At Bristol City last year, after nine games were only three points better off, the energy was poor, and we finished in the play-offs. I know how quickly it can turn.

“With the season being so slow at the start (because of international breaks), to change the energy, the whole feel of it can take a bit longer, so we have to use this period to make us tougher, to make us stronger, to make us closer together.”

Manning accepted that, in the modern game, managers are fully aware that time is not on their side if they do not supply good results.

He said: “Everything is so instant – look at Amazon and how they work – and we want everything so quickly and of course I’m the same, it would make my life a lot easier but I also understand that when you’re building a team and you’re trying to change so much, naturally it takes time.

“We have to suffer a bit at the minute, but I’ll be keeping my head down and grafting and doing everything I can to change it.

“If you go back to some of the top managers in the game and look at their first nine or 10 games and what they went on to achieve after that – that’s probably how football’s changed, the way the world’s changed, no longer do you get a season or a half-season, you sometimes (just) get five, six games now.”

Manning was in charge at Bristol City for 19 months, during which he took leave of absence following the death of his baby son Theo a year ago.

On Saturday’s game, he said: “First and foremost, I’m here to win. We need a result and for our fans that’s hugely important.

“Bristol City was a special memory on the pitch but also off the pitch for what so many people did for me. I’ll be eternally grateful for what the city did for me.”

Liam Manning was speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk’s Rob Butler