Philippe Clement facing sack pressure following Norwich’s 3-0 defeat

Norwich City’s difficult start to the 2026/27 Championship campaign continued on Saturday as they suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Millwall, increasing the pressure on head coach Philippe Clement.

The Canaries had been tipped to challenge for a play-off place before the season began, but consecutive defeats have left them just one place above the bottom of the table. Only Southampton sit below them, with the Saints starting the campaign with a four-point deduction.

Norwich had already suffered disappointment in their opening fixture, losing 2-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion after conceding a controversial handball goal. They travelled to The Den hoping to respond, but instead endured another frustrating afternoon.

Clement’s comments about VAR have now added another layer to the criticism surrounding the club. During his press conference on Friday, the Norwich boss launched into a lengthy criticism of the Championship’s decision not to use VAR.

“I think the league creates its own problems by not having VAR,” Clement said, before describing the absence of the technology as “madness”.

The Norwich manager even asked his analyst to research countries around the world that use VAR, subsequently producing a list of 81 nations with the technology in their top divisions, with some also using it in lower leagues.

Clement explained that his frustration stemmed from the controversial decision in Norwich’s defeat to West Brom and his desire to understand why VAR was not being used in the Championship.

Adrian Durham calls for Clement to be sacked

However, Clement’s lengthy VAR discussion did not impress talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham.

Following Norwich’s heavy defeat at Millwall, Durham criticised the manager for focusing so much attention on VAR rather than preparing for the opposition.

Durham argued that Clement had effectively asked his analysts to investigate VAR instead of concentrating on Millwall, describing the manager’s pre-match comments as an “absolutely pathetic rant”.

The talkSPORT pundit went even further, suggesting Clement’s comments should have prompted an emergency meeting among the Norwich hierarchy and calling for the club to part company with the manager.

Durham’s remarks have since sparked considerable debate among supporters, with opinions divided over whether Clement’s VAR frustrations are justified or whether the Norwich boss should be concentrating solely on improving his team’s performances.