Norwich City manager Daniel Farke has been named the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month for November.
There was a time when Norwich fans chided Farke over his team’s defensive mindset, but no more.
Having set the platform, the German has now unleashed his players, taking them to the top of the Sky Bet Championship with 10 points and 12 goals from four games.
Farke said: “At the start of the season, you couldn’t predict that we’d be in this position after 20 games and the lads have been brilliant so far.
“It’s always important for everything to come together in football and at the moment, we’re finding a good balance between protecting our own goal and creating a lot of chances and to be effective in using them.
“We’ve scored many, many goals in recent weeks but didn’t forget to do our basic work."
George Burley chairs the Sky Bet Manager of the Month judging panel.
He said: “What a fantastic season Norwich are having - their fans would never have dreamed they would be top of the Championship table at the end of November.
“Daniel has made them a very attacking side both at home and away. Their 12 goals were scored in three games against Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and Swansea - an amazing achievement in such a tough league.”
Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman said: “It’s a bit of a fairy-tale story for Daniel Farke and Norwich City as they top the Sky Bet Championship and what I love about it, is that it’s the story of a club being rewarded for being patient as a coach tries to build a team.
“That team is now functioning and whilst there’s a long way to go, the consistency of their performances makes their chances of promotion very real.
“Astute signings and academy graduates have been brought in to compliment the players Farke got to know last season and they’re full of confidence going into the crucial Christmas period."
Sky Bet EFL trader Ivor Davies said: “Daniel Farke’s Norwich team are the surprise package in the Championship this season. They were as big as 33/1 for the title before the season started but are now into 3/1 and are 10/11 for promotion.”