Norwich City sack manager Dean Smith after the Canaries’ slow start to the Championship season

Dean Smith has been sacked as the manager of Norwich City.

The former Aston Villa boss joined the East Anglian outfit last season following his departure from Villa Park.

Norwich were soon relegated from the Premier League, but Smith stayed on in the hopes of securing an instant top flight return.

However, he has been unable to launch a promotion charge, and talkSPORT understands the 51-year-old has now been dismissed.

The Canaries currently sit fifth in the Championship, but 12 points off the automatic promotion spots, which are occupied by Sheffield United and Burnley.

The news comes a day after their 2-1 loss to 10-man Luton Town, in which they conceded the decisive goal in the 90th minute.

Fans of both Luton and Norwich could be heard singing ‘sacked in the morning’ during the match.

They have now won just three of their last 13 games in the league, with seven of those results being defeats.

Pressure on Smith grew over the last few weeks as a result of the club’s poor form.

With the Championship standings so close this season, Norwich could find themselves out of the top six with a couple of bad results.

It remains to be seen who will come in to replace Smith, with the Canaries already playing just over half of their games this season.

However, his 13-month tenure at Carrow Road has now come to an end, with Norwich slowly slipping away from promotion.