Liam Manning guided Bristol City to the Championship play-offs for the first time in 17 years last season

21:04, 25 May 2025Updated 21:18, 25 May 2025

Liam Manning guided Bristol City to a sixth-place finish this term(Image: EFL)

Bristol City are braced for an approach from Championship rivals Norwich City for head coach Liam Manning, Bristol Live understands, amid reports the Canaries are close to appointing the Robins’ boss.

Reports emerged on Sunday evening that Manning, who guided the Reds to a first play-off finish in 17 years this season, is close to being named as Johannes Hoff Thorup’s successor at Carrow Road, having been linked with the vacancy at the Norfolk club in recent weeks.

Former Robins midfielder Gary O’Neil had also reportedly been on Norwich’s shortlist, as had Jurgen Klopp’s former Liverpool assistant Pep Ljinders, who has been without a club since leaving Red Bull Salzburg last year. However, City boss Manning is understood to be the Canaries’ number one target.

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Manning took over from Nigel Pearson at Ashton Gate in November 2023, guiding the Reds to an 11th-place finish in his first campaign in the West Country. After a mixed start to the 2024/25 season, an impressive run of form, particularly in BS3, in the second half of the term helped propel City into the top six of the Championship.

The Robins’ season ended on a disappointing note as Chris Wilder’s Blades beat the Reds 6-0 on aggregate in the semi-final, a record defeat in the competition, to end Manning and the Robins’ hopes of winning promotion to the Premier League.

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At the time of writing, Bristol Live understands City are still yet to receive an official approach from Norwich for the 39-year-old’s services and while the Robins have been keen to keep Manning at Ashton Gate, they are expecting to be contacted by their Championship rivals within the next 24 hours.

When he arrived in the West Country from Oxford United, Manning put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year deal with City, which still has two years left to run.

Bristol Live understands that the deal does contain a release clause, with The Telegraph reporting Norwich would have to pay the Robins compensation in the region of £800,000.

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