Revitalised Norwich look to take down ex-boss Farke

Winning one promotion to the Premier League would probably have been enough to establish Daniel Farke’s place among the most respected managers in Norwich City history.

To do it twice – and in the space of only three seasons – means he will be forever regarded with affection by the club’s fanbase, no matter that he was unable to establish them in the top flight.

Now, it is the task of the current Canaries squad to try to beat Farke’s Leeds United side at Elland Road and earn a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since the German guided them to that stage in 2019-20.

Despite Norwich’s injury problems, he will be taking nothing for granted against a team which has shown a marked improvement since Philippe Clement – a League Cup winner in Scotland with Rangers in 2024 – took charge in November.

They only managed nine points from their first 15 Championship games this season, losing eight in a row at home, but have added 36 to that total under Clement and have won eight of their last 10 matches in league and cup.

Canaries put poor start behind them

Canada international Ali Ahmed is one of the newer faces in the Norwich squad and, despite injuries to front men Jovon Makama and Mohamed Toure, the winger believes the easing of relegation concerns has freed them to dream of a cup upset.

“Everyone knows that in the past couple of months we were a team in the bottom three but we’ve been trying to separate from that, taking it game by game and trying to look more up top than below,” the winger told BBC Radio Norfolk.

“We can slowly, slowly start to look up – it allows us to go all in in the FA Cup and try to go as far as possible without being too thoughtful of relegation.”

Ahmed knows about big occasions as it is only three months since he played and scored in the Major League Soccer Cup final in Florida, as his Vancouver Whitecaps side were beaten 3-1 by Sir David Beckham’s Inter Miami, captained by all-time great Lionel Messi.

The crowd at Elland Road on Sunday, though, is likely to be far bigger than the 21,556 that attended that MLS final.

“We’re all looking forward to it. Playing [against] a Premier League side, we’ll love to test ourselves,” Ahmed added.

“It will be a big challenge but we really believe we can compete and go on to the next round, that’s what we want to do.”

No ‘zebra crossing’ this time at Elland Road

Leeds have already beaten two Championship sides in the competition, Derby County and Birmingham City, although they needed penalties to see off the Blues.

In the Premier League, they had become draw specialists with eight in 14 games before successive single-goal defeats at home to Manchester City and Sunderland.

Two seasons ago, Leeds thumped Norwich 4-0 in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final, and fan Connor McGilligan said in that game the Canaries – under David Wagner – were no more than “a zebra crossing to a win, it was that easy”.

He is expecting a far tougher test for the Whites this time and Leeds will not be helped by Farke having to watch the return of his former club from the stands, not the dugout, because he is serving a one-game touchline ban.

The German admitted an FA charge of misconduct for confronting officials after Leeds’ defeat by Manchester City at Elland Road in the Premier League last Saturday.

YouTuber McGilligan told BBC Radio Norfolk’s The Scrimmage podcast: “I’ve been very impressed with the turnaround at Norwich.

“It’s really good to see Philippe Clement come in and do what he’s doing. There’s been some really impressive results in there, [beating] Coventry and Wrexham.

“If Norwich are able to keep hold of the ball, take the zip out of the crowd, surprise Leeds and the fanbase with how dynamic they are, especially out wide – I think there’s areas to hurt Leeds down the flanks in those one v one duels with how pacy the wingers are and how unorthodox they can be.”

Both bosses excel at man-management

Philippe Clement’s strength of purpose and clear approach has led to an upturn in results for Norwich [Getty Images]

So how do the two head coaches measure up?

Farke has the greater experience, having begun his coaching career in 2009 at SV Lippstadt, while Clement was twice interim boss of Club Brugge in 2012-13 before landing his first permanent role at Wasland-Beveren nine years ago.

Both can be ‘hard task masters’ and Clement showed his inner steel by taking a tough line with US international Josh Sargent when he declined to play in their FA Cup tie against Walsall – he was ordered to train with the second team and has now been sold to Toronto FC, a move that could eventually bring in over £20m.

“What jumps out in comparing Daniel Farke and Philippe Clement at Norwich City is their man management – getting the best out of players that either other teams or managers couldn’t,” said BBC Radio Norfolk’s Phil Daley

“Farke at Norwich took relatively unknown players from Germany’s Bundesliga2 and turned them into Premier League players. Many never reached those heights again after he left.

“With such an injury crisis this season, it’s still hard to see what Clement’s best team is, but he’s managed to get a tune out of squad players like Liam Gibbs and Tony Springett, often in positions that are foreign to them.

“Both managers have the knack of simplifying positions and demanding hard work, offensively and defensively.

“After spending time with both of them, if I was a player – I wouldn’t like to be taken into their office having not put in 100% during a game.”

Three ties, three replays, 25 goals – Norwich and Leeds’ action-packed FA Cup history

Martin Peters playing for Norwich — World Cup 1966 hero Martin Peters was one of Norwich’s scorers the last time they played Leeds in an FA Cup tie [Shutterstock]

The first-ever meeting in any competition between Norwich and Leeds took place in the fourth round of the FA Cup in January 1935 and it was the Canaries who progressed with a 2-1 win at Elland Road, with Ken Burditt’s goal proving decisive, after the first game ended in a 3-3 draw.

It was 38 years before the two clubs met again in the competition and it proved to be an epic encounter before Don Revie’s Leeds went through.

The Yorkshire side earned a replay with a 1-1 draw, but the second match also ended with the same scoreline, meaning a third game would be needed in those pre-penalty shootout days.

For Norwich, under Ron Saunders, it was an anticlimax as they went down 5-0 on a neutral ground at Birmingham City, with England’s Allan Clarke scoring a hat-trick.

Clarke was on target again in the most recent FA Cup encounter four years later when John Bond’s Norwich found themselves 3-0 down after half an hour before Colin Suggett pulled one back.

Two further Leeds goals followed before the break and Martin Peters’ second-half reply proved merely a consolation as they went down 5-2.

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