It has not taken Dean Smith long to find a new job.
Smith, 50, was fired by Aston Villa last Sunday. A former player with the club, he had been in charge at Villa Park for three years. During that time he guided them to promotion from the Championship as well as taken them to a Carabao Cup Final.
After a difficult first season back in the Premier League, during which they struggled to stay up, he helped establish them in mid-table last season, but lost his job after five successive Premier League defeats this season.
Although Villa were forced to sell their best player Jack Grealish in the summer, the funds raised were used to sign players like Danny Ings, Emi Buendia, and Leon Bailey. None of them has yet sparked for their new employer.
With the club’s owners believing that they should be pushing for Europe, they decided a change was needed. They have since appointed former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, who had been enjoying a successful managerial career in Scotland with Rangers.
Smith had barely had time to lick his wounds when he found himself back in employment, after bottom side Norwich appointed him as their new boss.
It has been a busy weekend for managerial sackings. Daniel Farke, who had been at Carrow Road for four and a half years, lost his job 24 hours before Smith, ironically just after guiding them to their first win of the season, away at Brentford.
Former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard had been in discussion with the Norwich board about the vacancy, but broke off negotiations at the end of last week.
Coincidentally, Smith’s first game in charge will be against Southampton, the side he faced in his last match with Villa. He will be the first manager to take charge of successive Premier League matches against the same opposition.
Smith has been given a two-and-a-half year deal. Presumably, he has demanded guarantees of not being dismissed even if Norwich are relegated at the end of the season. Despite the fact that just eleven games have been played so far, staying up already looks a tall order for them.