Philippe Clement: Norwich City owner delighted by ‘special’ head coach

Norwich City’s owner has hailed Philippe Clement as a “special manager” following the team’s dramatic improvement under the Belgian.

The Canaries were next to bottom of the Championship when Clement was appointed last November, but won 19 games under Clement to finish ninth.

“You need some good fortune in sport, and we had good fortune to connect with Philippe,” Mark Attanasio told BBC Radio Norfolk’s Canary Call phone-in.

Clement, who had 16 months in charge of Scottish club Rangers, has a three-and-a-half year contract and the club are already looking beyond a bare minimum of reaching the play-offs next season.

“Our goal is more than just the play-offs – I have to be careful when I talk like this because I’m superstitious and it can come back to bite you – but when we talk internally, our focus is how to get the team into the top two next year,” US businessman Attanasio said.

“Obviously that’s going to be a huge effort with the teams that might be coming down (from the Premier League), everybody is going to be getting better.

“Sure the two extra (play-off) spots help us, but we want to put ourselves in a good position and everything is directed towards that.

“We’re going to devote everything we can towards getting back to the Premier League and whether that happens next year, that focus is going to be unwavering.”