Norwich are currently top of the Championship, with Newcastle in fifth and Villa in 17th.
With all the spotlight on Aston Villa and Newcastle United before the season started, Norwich City have quietly gone about their business and climbed to the top of the Championship.
While Newcastle were the favourites at the start of the season, the Canaries are now the team to beat with Rafael Benitez’s side four points worse off in fifth. Things look very bad for Aston Villa, who are yet to get their season going, sitting in 17th place with just nine points to their name; that is 11 less than league leaders Norwich.
With Norwich leading the pack of last season’s relegated sides, here are five reasons why the Canaries have settled into Championship life quicker than Newcastle and Villa.
Settled squad
At both Newcastle and Aston Villa, there have been squad overhauls which means their respective squads are still trying to gel.
For Norwich, they only brought in five players over the summer, with just six departing Carrow Road. The Canaries have a settled squad of players that Alex Neil obviously trusts. The big departure was that of Nathan Redmond, but they have brought in a like-for-like replacement in Alex Pritchard.
Newcastle and Villa have seen a range of players come and go this summer, meaning their squads are barely recognisable from the ones that played so poorly last season.
Players with Championship experience
Speaking of Norwich’s settled squad, their team still has a core of players who were involved in the club’s last Championship campaign in the 2014/15 season, where they got promoted through the play-offs.
As part of their recruitment drive, Newcastle and Villa have had to buy players with Championship experience. Star players of the league from years gone by such as Ross McCormack, Matt Ritchie, Daryl Murphy and Albert Adomah are now playing at either St James’ Park or Villa Park.
Norwich’s squad was built and ready for the Championship, meaning they have been able to get up and running quicker than their two rivals.
They can play badly and win
Although they are top of the league, Norwich have not really found top form just yet.
Neil’s men have scraped through games, getting three points for less than average performances, but that is the making of champions: Playing badly and still getting results.
When Newcastle have played badly this season, they have been comfortably beaten, losing to Fulham, Huddersfield and Wolves. Aston Villa have actually lost less games than Newcastle, but they have had six draws already. Had they been able to battle through and convert those draws into wins, they could be up at the top end of the table with both Norwich and Newcastle.
They have shaken off the losing mentality
Teams that get relegated have usually had a season where they have lost more games than they have won, creating a losing mentality which can be hard to shake off.
The belief that you can actually win a game again can be difficult to find, but Norwich have had no problem find that belief. Newcastle had a stuttering start, but they too learned how to win again, picking up five wins on the bounce.
For Villa, they have not learned how to win football games again yet, which is why they have been victims of so many late goals. If Roberto Di Matteo’s men can learn what winning is like again, they could go on a run and climb up the table.
They are under less pressure
The levels of expectation have always been high at Newcastle and Aston Villa, and this is no exception as they find themselves in a lower division where they should really dominate with the players they have at their disposal.
For Norwich, they have rarely reached the heights that the other two have, meaning that the fans have much more realistic expectations for their team.
The expectation is massive at Newcastle. The fans still turn up in their tens of thousands to see their team, led by one of the top managers in Europe in Rafa Benitez. Any time they lose it comes as a shock and the reaction is not always pretty.
Villa too have high expectations, and have not shown any signs of matching them, with the players seemingly crumbling under the weight of that expectation.
Meanwhile, Norwich have climbed to the top of the table, doing what was expected of them without making any headlines.
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