Philippe Clement is steering Norwich City with a clear focus, emphasising the need to approach each match with intent. As the Canaries prepare for their upcoming fixture against Birmingham City, they find themselves in formidable form, having topped the Championship table over the last ten games, despite grappling with a growing injury crisis. Clement’s philosophy centres on humility and a short-term focus as the team aims for a play-off spot, currently nine points adrift.
“I’m not looking at the end of the season. I’m looking game by game, and that’s what my players need to do,” Clement asserted. He added, “Of course, it’s always sustainable because it comes around belief. I want to win every game that we play—whether it’s against Walsall in the cup or, previously, with Brugge going to Real Madrid. My ambition is the same: winning and going full throttle for that. I’m not busy with runs; I’m busy with the next game always, and you’re as good as your last game.”
Clement’s commitment to immediate challenges is matched by his desire for the squad to realise their full potential. “If everybody does the maximum, if everybody gives everything, then they’ve shown that they can make a series of games,” he remarked. “They’ve shown that they can compete with the best teams in the league. But it’s about staying humble, keeping this desire, keeping this freshness—both mental and physical. Sometimes it also depends on good luck or bad luck, because that’s part of football.” Read more about Sara Shines in Champions League Debut as Gala Thrash Juventus.
As the team navigates a number of injuries, Clement is cautious about hastening the return of players. Amankwah Forson exemplifies this challenge, having faced injury setbacks since joining the club. Currently following a tailored training programme due to a hamstring issue that has kept him sidelined since December, Clement is focused on fostering Forson’s development.
“Somebody that I really want to build is Amankwah,” Clement explained. “He’s been in a period where it was too much coming out of injury, then a few weeks playing and then dropping out again. We need to make it more robust, stronger, and that’s the goal now for the weeks to come. We’ll see how fast that goes to make him really robust, but I think we need to take a little bit longer with him to ensure he can last longer.”
Clement also acknowledged the challenge of squad depth, stating, “I’m happy that you guys don’t talk too much about the squad depth, because I don’t want that. But we’re not that stable yet to say, ‘Okay, in certain positions, we lose one or two players, and we have others.’ We’re not there now with the people we miss.”
The manager faces the challenge of upcoming matches without key midfielder Pelle Mattsson, who is not expected to return until late next month. Additionally, Jovon Makama (foot) and Papa Amadou Diallo (quad) are likely to miss significant portions of the season’s conclusion, while Ante Crnac and Mirko Topic have been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign due to ACL injuries.
As Norwich City gears up to take on Birmingham, the emphasis remains on resilience and seizing the next opportunity to improve their standing in the league, with Clement’s mantra of focusing on one game at a time resonating throughout the team.