Leeds United want to bounce back from relegation and return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Not many teams have managed it. Since the 1992/93 campaign, just 26 of the 94 relegated sides have returned the following season.
In recent history, there are three sides who have managed it. Watford and Norwich City recovered from 2020 relegations to finish in the Championship’s top two at the end of 2020/21. Then, last season, Burnley stormed the table after going down in 2022.
LeedsLive has spoken to Michael Bailey of The Athletic for some insight into how the Canaries achieved their bounce back in 2021. It was Daniel Farke’s fourth full campaign at the Carrow Road helm.
Norwich had won the second-tier title in 2018/19 and come straight back down one year later as the top flight’s bottom club. There was plenty of debate about whether Farke deserved a chance to repeat what he had done in 2019 after such a miserable Premier League effort.
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Stuart Webber, the Leeds-supporting director of football at Norwich, stood by the German and they romped it. Norwich would win more games (29) than anyone, lose just seven times, score 75 goals and concede only 36.
How did Norwich bounce back at the first time of asking?
Some of it was fortune. They had a slow start to the season, winning only one of their first four games including a 1-0 home defeat to a pointless Derby [County].
The pressure would have been on, but with no supporters allowed at games, Norwich's staff and players were able to gather their thoughts and confidence and look after themselves with their clear ability advantage and without any negative influences from the stands.
Come the other side of the season's first international break, the transfer window closed and Norwich could breathe a sigh of relief they had kept hold of the likes of Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell. They also went on to win their next three games all thanks to late goals.
Young Tottenham [Hotspur] loanee Oliver Skipp also ironed out some early naivety and went on to look like a £20m midfielder playing in a Championship. Once Norwich got going, they looked impossible to stop.
What did Norwich do in the summer of 2020 to prepare for that coming promotion push?
It was a late July finish for the Premier League due to Project Restart, with the Championship on the way come the middle of September. So a fast turnaround.
Norwich signed 11 players to mix up the squad and break up what could have been a desperate hangover from their relegation. They spent money on players they felt could make the jump with them to the top flight again in 12 months, although that part of the equation probably hasn't rung true.
They also did all of that before completing their expected sales. Ben Godfrey only joined Everton for £20m towards the end of the summer transfer window, which actually closed in October that season.
How important was it to retain Daniel Farke and the nucleus of the team that had come down the previous season?
Some supporters were questioning the wisdom of it, but given how well Norwich had navigated the Championship in 2018/19, he had a lot of fan backing to take on the second tier again. With Buendia and Teemu Pukki, there was trust in how they would score goals.
The bigger question was whether he could get the team tighter in defence across the whole season, with a view to being better prepared for the Premier League. That sort of thinking highlighted just how focused Norwich were on that outcome, and it all looked good until they actually got back to the Premier League.
If other Championship sides were to learn anything from that quickfire Norwich return, was it as simple as having the best creative midfielder and one of the best strikers in the league? Was there a lot more to it than Buendia and Pukki?
The continuity in having Farke and his style of play, which suited Emi and Teemu, ensured there was a platform to work around in what was a genuinely uncertain time. Championship clubs were worried how they were going to survive the coming seasons, while Norwich could focus on what it would take to get promoted again.
They were in a fortunate position in that regard. They had an experienced spine with Tim Krul behind Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson that were hungry to be successful again in the Championship.
And again, it really is hard to underplay how brilliant Skipp was for Norwich. The end of his loan and Buendia's sale, along with a total failure to successfully replace them, really did scupper any serious hopes Norwich had of competing in the Premier League.
What did Norwich do in the summer and winter transfer windows of that season? How did transfer business help with the promotion push?
Their arrivals in the summer really helped. Gibson played regularly and was excellent. Skipp even more so. Jacob Sorensen was a cheap midfield arrival, but did a superb job covering at left-back over the first half of the season.
Kieran Dowell picked up injuries, but often showed excellent quality and goal involvement when he featured, while Jordan Hugill came in for a decent fee from West Ham and was a productive back-up for Pukki. Their cumulative arrival, alongside the loan of Xavi Quintilla from Villarreal, worked a treat to refresh the squad.
The sales of Godfrey and also Jamal Lewis to Newcastle (£15m) helped fund the changes. Norwich don't tend to bother with January, but on this occasion, they did loan Greece international Dimitris Giannoulis from PAOK, with an option to buy him on promotion for about £6m.
He played a good part in keeping things moving in the right direction come the second half of the season.
