Norwich City column: Sacking David Wagner the right thing to do after humiliating night at Elland Road against Leeds United
A genuine humiliation. That's all you can say to describe what unfolded at Elland Road last night – and has now led to confirmation David Wagner has lost his job.
In the blink of an eye, Norwich City's play-off dream descended into a nightmare, thanks to an abject performance from those in yellow.
Gutless, spineless, pathetic, embarrassing. Take your pick.
From the first to the last minute, nothing. The only shred is positivity I can muster is that the scoring ended at 4-0, because it could (and should) have been a whole lot worse.
Had Leeds scored seven, we couldn't have complained an iota.
Ultimately it was tragic end to what had been a turbulent season.
It would be wrong not to acknowledge there have been positives, but I think most City fans will head into the summer feeling disillusioned and apathetic.
Change is desperately needed, to breathe new life into this stagnating football club.
And it is happening, slowly. Mark Attanasiohas formally acquired significant shares in recent weeks, marking the start or a new era behind the scenes.
Likewise, Ben Knapper was appointed sporting director to replace the circus that had become Stuart Webber.
Knapper has had plenty of time to familiarise himself with his new surroundings and it is time to start earning his corn.
Beginning with the most significant change needed, sacking David Wagner, which was confirmed today.
Look, Wagner deserves credit for turning this season around - and can go with his head held high - but his time was up.
Wagner's pragmatic brand of football means he will never win over the Carrow Road faithful - while his motivation skills, tactical prowess and ability to impact games as they are happening all leave a lot to be desired. See both matches against Leeds to prove the point.
The time has come to once again look for a young, forward-thinking head coach, who wants to play an attractive brand of football. I mean, look at the teams who have done well this season.
As for the players, a lot will depend on whether any significant bids are received for Gabriel Sara, Josh Sargent and Jonathan Rowe. In an ideal world, we'd keep all three, but realistically that's not going to happen.
Rowe in particular, if he won't sign a new contract, will leave this summer. There's no point in risking losing him on a free in 12 months’ time.
Likewise, it feels smart to cash in on two of our loan exports, Adam Idah and Christos Tzolis, who have impressed at Celtic and Dusseldorf respectively.
The next place to look is the out of contact players - and in truth I wouldn't be surprised to see them all leave. Danny Batth is an obvious one, while it feels like the end of the line for Ben Gibson and Dimi Giannoulis, both of whom command big wages and have underperformed for some time.
As for Jacob Sorensen, I would like him to stay - but feel his injury record is just too mixed. Sam McCallum also, he has impressed me during the back end of the season, but who could blame him for wanting to leave and establish himself as a first choice left-back elsewhere in the Championship?
That leaves us with a core group of around a dozen players, including Angus Gunn, Jack Stacey, Kenny McLean, Marcelino Nunez, Christian Fassnacht and Borja Sainz. All whom, under the right head coach, are capable of doing well at this level.
Throw into the mix some of promising youngsters, notably Abu Kamara and Brad Hills, and hopefully there will be something to be excited about come August.
Right now, that feels like a long way away - but the work starts here.
