Guardian piece on the events...

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The sacking of Chris Hughton as Norwich City manager may only have been confirmed on Sunday evening, but it was a certainty even before a miserable performance on Saturday hastened the club's hand. While the chanting for his dismissal at the final whistle demonstrated the home supporters had lost what little remained of their patience with his methods, the indication from the dressing room was that the players, too, would not be sorry to see him replaced.

One long-standing player, an important and respected figure within the club, has privately let it be known that what they perceived to be Hughton's constant criticism and emphasis on the negative meant the players were going into games more focused on not making mistakes than on creating opportunities.

That was certainly the impression on Saturday, when despite starting the match on a run of six home games without defeat, three of which had been won, the Canaries produced a performance of such nervousness they resembled Tweetie Pie eyeing Sylvester. Unlike that particular little yellow bird, however, they lacked the wit, creativity and in the final 20 minutes, spirit, to come out on top.

The result, as Hughton acknowledged, was that they simply did not deserve to win after Morgan Amalfitano had put West Bromwich ahead with his second goal in as many games. If not as extraordinary as his exquisite lobbed volley against Cardiff City, there was an assuredness about the Frenchman's finish which suggests he will be a key figure in Albion's six remaining games.

True, Norwich hit the bar twice, through Gary Hooper and Robert Snodgrass, and Johan Elmander's brave diving header brought a fine save from Ben Foster, but there was a terrible lack of belief about much of their work. The goalkeeper John Ruddy got involved in an altercation with one spectator at the final whistle, and one of the hundreds of paper-clackers thrown on to the pitch clipped Hughton.

"I honestly can't say if it was intentional, knowing our supporters I would imagine it wasn't aimed specifically at me," said the always dignified Hughton, below, who declined to speculate on his immediate future, saying that his only thoughts were on his side's next game.

All is not lost of course, far from it, for all that their final four opponents are Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Before them come Fulham away next Saturday, and given Norwich will go into the match five points above their currently 18th-placed opponents, one more win would surely make them safe.

As Hughton said on Saturday, the Fulham game is now Norwich's biggest of the season, and it falls to their former Under-18s coach Neil Adams to prepare them for it. Quite how much clout he will carry in the dressing room is unclear, but there is no doubting he will adopt a more attacking approach.

Under Hughton, caution was too often the watchword, although as he quietly pointed out after this game, it was just four weeks ago when Norwich were unfortunate to only draw with Stoke City at home ? and had they beaten them they would have gone above Mark Hughes's side in the table. On such fine margins do managerial careers hang.

Albion, too, are five points clear, but have six games remaining and with Tottenham, West Ham, Sunderland and Stoke among their opponents, are more hopeful of picking up the handful of points needed to be sure of survival.

Pepe Mel, the Albion manager, said the discipline and work-rate shown by his side had proved their spirit and togetherness had not been affected by the unpleasant dressing-room confrontation between James Morrison and Saido Berahino that followed the Cardiff draw.

Curiously, however, when asked whether he would be looking to keep Amalfitano, whose loan from Marseille expires at the end of the season and is said to be interesting Hull City among others, Mel responded: "I don't know if I'm going to be here next season."

Given that he signed an 18-month contract when he was brought in as Steve Clarke's replacement in January, perhaps the Spaniard was simply being cautious. Alternatively, perhaps West Bromwich, like Norwich, have already decided a change has got to be made sooner rather than later.

Posted By: DrDublin, Apr 7, 00:10:43