Neil Adams takes charge of Norwich City

Norwich City have named youth team boss Neil Adams as their new first team manager following the sacking of Chris Hughton. The former Canaries winger was appointed on Sunday, after Hughton become the ninth top-flight casualty of the season, and he now has five matches remaining to save the Norfolk club from the dreaded job.

Adams led City's Under-18s to FA Youth Cup glory last season, but he now has an altogether different challenge on his hands. Saturday's shocking defeat at home to relegation rivals West Brom leaves the club in a precarious position: just one place above the relegation zone, with five matches remaining. However, Norwich have a five point safety gap between themselves and 18th-placed Fulham, although Sunderland, in 19th, have three games in hand.

Norwich have not revealed the duration of Adams’ contract but it is likely to be until the end of the season. Therefore, if the 48-year-old preserves Norwich’s Premier League status then he will put himself firmly in the frame to remain in the dugout next season. However, if the club go down then those in power are likely search elsewhere for a new boss. At the time of writing the Next Norwich City Manager market reveals that the main men in contention are Malky Mackay, Neil Lennon and Eddie Howe.
 
Norwich have a horrific run-in, starting on Saturday with a crunch clash away to Fulham, who are just one place below them in the table. A third consecutive defeat will reduce the gap between the sides to just two points, and it is worth bearing in mind that the London side have a considerably favourable run-in (Tottenham, Hull, Stoke and Crystal Palace), which seems like a walk in the park compared to Norwich’s final four matches against Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal.