Daniel Farke may be a firm advocate of youth but the Norwich City head coach is drawing on his experience to steer the Canaries through choppy waters.
City’s current downturn is in sharp contrast to a long unbeaten run which raised expectations of a concerted Championship promotion push.
Farke may be new to England, but he understands how the game works.
“I am a coach for 10 years. I have fought for promotion, for titles, to fight against relegation,” he said. “I have been at clubs where I have taken over and they are in trouble and there are problems in the squad.
“We know we could be in a much better position in the table. It is not nice, it is a struggle. You would rather be riding the wave and everything is easy and you are getting compliments.
“That is normal stuff. I have worked in professional football since I was 18 and in each and every season you experience tough runs.
“It is a bit like a striker.
“You will have spells where the goals come easy and other periods when you are too anxious and you are surprised when the chance comes in front of the goal and you don’t have the clinical finish.
“For me, it is more about not what has happened in the past when I speak to the guys and concentrating on the contents. Don’t worry about the target, just worry on what we can influence. If we do that, the result is the solution.
“You can’t just pray for a result, you have to force it.”
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Farke insists he does have enough wise heads at his disposal.
“You always know when you work for so long in the football business it is always difficult to force the turnaround in results,” he said. “You will never have a situation like now, with no wins in five, that an easy win will come along.
“You have to fight and normally in this situation you would like experienced players with no nerves on the pitch.
“The only problem is some of these guys are injured or like Wes Hoolahan he started in midweek and we have to monitor his condition when it comes to playing two games in four days.
“I trust my players. I think we have enough experience.
“We don’t have many who are aged 34 or whatever. Players like Grant Hanley and Ivo Pinto are still climbing up the hill but they know what to do in this situation. Whether they are young or old they know the importance of the result and whoever is on the pitch will give everything.”
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