Norwich City: Chasing Championship success the Luton and Coventry way

In the space of 120 minutes and 12 penalties the Hatters prevailed to take their place in the Premier League. Carlton Morris and chums etched themselves into Luton folklore.

Coventry’s Fankaty Dabo was the inconsolable figure who skied the decisive spot kick. On Tuesday he was one of a number of soon to be out-of-contract players released by the Sky Blues. The football cycle moves on quickly.

But Coventry’s route to the richest game in club football was a tale of perseverance, character and quality.

When Norwich City hammered Mark Robins’ side 3-0 at Carrow Road in September, to briefly move top, it left Coventry moored at the bottom.

Robins himself later described it as the type of day that gets managers the sack. Yet after taking three points from the opening seven games, against a backdrop of a delayed start to their home campaign due to issues around the playing surface from the dual code use of the Commonwealth Games rugby tournament, Robins plotted a remarkable ascent.

Coventry lost one league game in the last 19 in the Championship. That included keeping free scoring Middlesbrough goalless over a two-legged play-off semi-final. Something David Wagner’s side were unable to do in a 5-1 blitz at the Riverside in mid-April.

Luton’s remarkable consistency spanned not only this past season, and a managerial change halfway through that brought Rob Edwards to Kenilworth Road, but navigated their own play-off misery from 12 months earlier.

It is a stirring tale. As Edwards himself stated in the build up no-one would have forecast a Luton versus Coventry winner-takes-all game before a ball was kicked in August. Five years earlier it had been a fixture in League Two.

Which should illustrate, despite what looks a dauntingly tough Championship renewal for the Canaries next time around, the script is yet to be written. In the midst of a summer that requires a major squad refresh as part of a general reset, Luton and Coventry prove it is not down to parachute funds or wealthy ownership.

Where the Hatters now tread, Norwich have gone before under sporting director Stuart Webber’s guiding hand back in 2018/19. It was not money propelling City’s rise it was astute coaching, clever recruitment and a sense of unity that bonded a tight-knit group of players and coaches with a fan base who perhaps felt the same sense of detachment and disenchantment as they do now.

Coventry’s motto in recent years has been ‘Rise Together’. The impressive Robins guided them from the bottom rung of the league pyramid to within a penalty kick or two of the Premier League. For two of those seasons they endured a nomadic existence playing at Northampton and later Birmingham’s grounds, while their own protracted ownership issues sparked fan protests.

They remain tenants at a stadium that was supposed to unleash the latent potential of a club who had spent nearly three decades in the top division at Highfield Road.

Luton tumbled even further into non league, but built by stealth and a clear identity forged originally by Nathan Jones, and since deftly nuanced by Edwards. A manager deemed not fit for purpose by their great rivals, Watford, earlier in the season.

One of Luton’s outstanding performers on the day at Wembley, midfielder Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, joined in 2013 and made his debut in a goalless FA Trophy draw against Staines. Fairytales can come true.

A focus on playing style might blindside to the realisation the Championship still affords a variety of choice, and many different avenues, to become a competitive top six entity.

How Luton fare in the Premier League may underline, like with Norwich’s two failed top flight attempts, there is a ceiling to the rate of progression for clubs of a certain scale and playing resource – irrespective of whether they opt for possession or more direct methods of delivery on the park.

But for Norwich right now the ‘what next’ is a renewed effort to achieve Championship promotion. Future-proofing for the Premier League must surely wait.

Critics might reasonably contend the identity of last weekend’s Championship play-off finalists only served to highlight the missed opportunity for the Canaries, and the averageness of the second tier last season.

Webber’s recent media roll call mapped out once again the club will strive for the top six when Wagner embarks on his first full season in charge.

Rather than fear the strength of rivals perhaps study what Luton and Coventry proved is possible with the right non negotiables, and a collective sense of purpose, to achieve buy in from the dressing room to the terraces.