The season was meant to be different. When Philippe Clement arrived at Carrow Road last November, his impact was striking enough to fuel genuine optimism among Norwich supporters heading into 2026-27. According to a BBC Sport analysis, only four clubs accumulated more Championship points than the Canaries (56) across the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign after Clement took charge. That run hauled Norwich from the foot of the table to ninth place and handed the Belgian a sizeable stock of goodwill.

That goodwill is now being tested rather severely.

Five consecutive league defeats have left Norwich in 21st place, with nine points from eleven games. That is, as the figures make uncomfortable reading, just a single point and one position better than where the club stood at the equivalent moment last season, when Liam Manning was eventually relieved of his duties following four straight losses. The parallels are not ones anyone connected with the club would wish to draw.

The numbers tell a grim story

Only Preston have conceded more Championship goals than Norwich's 21 this season, a statistic that underlines the defensive fragility at the heart of the current slide. The Canaries are not merely losing; they are losing in a way that suggests structural problems rather than a brief dip in form.

The injury to striker Mohamed Toure has made matters considerably worse. Toure had scored five goals in seven league appearances before suffering a shoulder injury that, according to reports, will keep him sidelined for several months. Losing your in-form forward at the start of what was billed as a promotion challenge is about as damaging a blow as a squad can absorb.

"I thought the job Clement did when he came in last year was incredible and I really fancied them to kick on this season and not only challenge for the play-offs, but challenge for automatic promotion and be right up there," former Hull City striker Aaron McLean told BBC Sport. "They've just been so disappointing and they look void of any confidence at the moment. I don't know where they go from here."

That kind of public assessment, from a credible former player, reflects a mood among the wider Championship watching community that has shifted significantly in a matter of weeks.

Clement calls for calm

The head coach, to his credit, has not resorted to public finger-pointing. Speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk, Clement said: "It's my task to stay calm in the frustration because if everybody starts to panic, we are not going to have the season we want. There are still 35 games to play."

That is true as far as it goes. Thirty-five games is ample time to recover. Norwich did exactly that last season under Clement himself, after all. But the context matters: that recovery began from a similarly low position, with a similarly thin points tally, and the club is now facing the same reckoning a year on with broadly the same squad framework, a more experienced coaching staff, and considerably higher expectations attached.

The language of "staying calm" is, of course, what a manager says when the alternative is chaos. It is also, if we are being straightforward about it, press-release language. What supporters and the board will be looking for is evidence on the pitch.

A difficult fixture to arrest the slide

Norwich's next opportunity to stop the run comes away at Charlton Athletic on Saturday (12:30 BST). The Addicks are themselves in a poor sequence, having gone eight matches without a win since opening their campaign with three consecutive victories. They are unbeaten at The Valley, however, and have conceded just twice at home all season.

In short, it is not the kind of fixture that falls kindly when you are scrambling for confidence. A draw might even feel like a result for Norwich right now, though the table demands considerably more than draws if this slump is to be halted before it becomes something more serious.

The Championship is unforgiving of slow starters, and the gap between 21st and the play-off places is already substantial. Clement has 35 games to prove the optimism of last spring was justified. The clock, as they say, is ticking.

Frequently asked

Why are Norwich City losing so many games this season?
Norwich have lost five Championship games in a row to sit 21st, with a leaky defence conceding 21 goals, second-worst in the division, and a damaging long-term injury to top scorer Mohamed Toure compounding their difficulties.
Is Philippe Clement under threat of the sack at Norwich?
Clement is under increasing scrutiny after five straight league defeats, though he has publicly urged calm and pointed to 35 remaining fixtures. No official indication of a change has been made by the club.
When is Norwich City's next Championship fixture?
Norwich travel to Charlton Athletic on Saturday with a 12:30 BST kick-off, facing a side that is also without a win in eight games but unbeaten at home this season.