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Bookies have their say on Dean Smith's chances of success at Norwich City

Former Villa boss is quickly back in management but he has an almighty task on his hands at Carrow Road and that is reflected in the odds on them getting relegated.

Dean Smith has quickly stepped back into management with Norwich City and it's certainly not a job for the faint-hearted.

Bottom of the Premier League and with Daniel Farke's DNA imprinted all over the club, Smith needs to pull off a minor miracle to preserve the Canaries' top-flight status.

Having taken Aston Villa up from the Championship and managed Brentford, the former Leyton Orient centre-back is no stranger to the second tier.

He will be hoping to avoid a return of course and the fact that Villa are one of the teams the Canaries will be looking to overhaul will provide extra motivation.

Planet Sport looks at how it might play out for the 50-year-old - complete with odds from Planet Sport Bet.

Norwich win their next match

Norwich play host to Southampton in Smith's first game in charge and unusually for someone replacing a sacked manager, he has the chance to secure back-to-back victories.

The Canaries beat surprise packages Brentford 2-1 last time out with Mathias Normann and Teemu Pukki scoring in a solid away performance from the East Anglian side.

How the sacking of Farke will affect the players, who would ordinarily be on a high from their first win, is anyone's guess. However, if Norwich are to harbour any ambitions of staying afloat, a home win against a team in 13th has to be a must.

Norwich finish in the top half

Why just settle for survival when you can dream big?

The fact that so many felt Smith was harshly treated at Villa shows Norwich may have pulled off something of a coup to attract him. He certainly feels a better fit than Frank Lampard.

Smith led the Villans to 11th place last season and won't want to be scrabbling around in the lower reaches of the Premier League for long.

It's a game of momentum after all and if Smith first and foremost, makes his team hard to beat, then confidence will build.

There is little pressure on the Canaries and with back-to-back home games against Southampton and Wolves and a trip to St James' Park on the horizon, there is an opportunity to get some much-needed points on the board.

Villa were 14th when Smith took over and went on to gain promotion that season through the play-offs.

And let's not forget, this is a Norwich team that won nine games on the bounce between February and April.

Norwich win the FA Cup

The FA Cup is effectively a free hit for Norwich and will come as a welcome break from the Premier League.

Smith has never won the competition, either as a player or manager, while the Canaries have never been further than the semi-finals.

Last season, they were knocked out by fellow second tier team Barnsley in the fourth round.
The triple-digit price looks spot on.

Norwich are relegated

The Brentford game aside, Norwich have looked lost and listless.
Prior to that win, there was talk of them even failing to match Derby's record points low of 11.
It has become an all too familiar story at Carrow Road: too good for the Championship, not good enough for the Premier League.
The transfer window cannot come soon enough.

However, Norwich could already be a lost cause by then. Especially worrying for Norwich fans is the run of form which lost Smith his job at Villa. With an established Premier League team at his disposal and close to £100million spent, he was in the midst of a five-game losing streak when he was relieved of his duties.

He could suffer the ignominy of having being in charge of not one but two relegated clubs come the end of the season.

Smith the next Premier League manager to leave his post

With the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United, Smith would have to make a pretty disastrous start to his tenure at Carrow Road to be the next manager to leave.

His predecessor was still in his job after 20 games without a Premier League win, after all.

Nevertheless, a poor start will soon have his detractors adding the five winless games at Villa to his formline - Norwich have already sacked one manager this season because they didn't believe he could cut it in the top flight.

READ MORE: Odds on Rafa being next Premier League boss to leave are slashed as Solskjaer continues to cling on

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