Following Norwich City's late 2-1 loss at Luton Town on Boxing Day, Dean Smith has been sacked as manager after just over a year in charge at Carrow Road.

The form of the East Anglian side has been poor of late and Smith departs with the club fifth in the Championship table.

However, they are now 10 points off the top two and were expected to challenge up there at the beginning of the season.

There was audible and visible animosity towards the former Aston Villa manager from section of the Norwich faithful latterly in his time there and the board have acted accordingly.

Now, they will look elsewhere in order to try and bounce up to the Premier League and continue their reputation as one of the biggest yo-yo clubs in the country.

Norwich's first task of the post-Smith era comes on Friday when they play host to Reading at Carrow Road.

What: Norwich City v Reading
Where: Carrow Road
When: 19:45, Friday 30th December
How to watch: Sky Sports Red Button
Odds: Norwich 4/5, Draw 5/2, Reading 4/1

Smith underachieves with talented squad

Despite early promise, this season has turned out to be a real damp squib for Norwich who have got to work extremely hard in the second half of the season in order to earn their top-flight place for next term.

Smith took over from Daniel Farke, who had laid down fabulous foundations in his five years in charge, and although he couldn't keep them in the Premier League last season, the board kept faith in him.

Indeed, Smith had previously taken his boyhood club Aston Villa up to the Premier League from the Championship and many predicted Norwich would go on to have a good season.

At the start of October, they were in the top two and going well, displaying some good attacking football, but since then their form has dropped off massively.

They have managed just three wins in their last 13 matches and even though they remain in the thick of the play off battle, the Canaries board have decided the decline is irreversible and pulled the trigger on Smith.

In that run of form, they have scored only 14 in 13 despite possessing some quality attacking players and their home form in particular has been a big concern with only one win since the middle of September.

Key players not performing

The bulk of Norwich's squad were part of the Premier League journey last year and not many of them have shone so far this season.

Arguably, their best player has been Josh Sargent who has bagged nine times across all competitions, while the always-reliable Teemu Pukki has eight goals to his name - the Finn is still going strong despite slowing down in his 30s.

However, one of the big issues has been getting other players to support with the goals. On-loan Aston Villa playmaker Aaron Ramsey is next on the list with three strikes.

Todd Cantwell has failed to score so far this season after returning from a loan spell at Bournemouth, while fellow attacking players Danel Sinani and Kieran Dowell have scored twice and once respectively.

Their summer recruitment has not proven to be effective either. Gabriel Sara and Marcelino Nunez were supposed to inject some South American flair into the side, but neither has impressed.

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Contenders to take over

On the face of it, the job seems like an attractive one for any manager with a promotion push still very much in the question.

It was a change of approach by Norwich to move away from Farke to Smith - less of a gamble on the face of it.

If the same route is to be taken then Scott Parker and Sean Dyche could be two of the frontrunners for the Canaries job.

Parker took Bournemouth up to the Premier League last season and was very unlucky to get a handful of games in the top-flight before the trigger was pulled after losing to Liverpool 9-0 at Anfield.

Dyche's pedigree and track record at Burnley cannot be questioned and, after an eight-month break from management, he is probably chomping at the bit to get on to the training ground again.

However, if Norwich revert to a more continental approach then Ralph Hasenhuttl may be an option following his departure from Southampton earlier this season.

He would bring an attacking style a la Farke and may have a point to prove after his South Coast departure.

Norwich are 11/5 To be Promoted come the end of the season, while they are 8/15 To Finish in Top 6.