Hoolahan staying as Hughton battles relegation pressure

Wes Hoolahan is not leaving Norwich and nor is Chris Hughton – just as long as the manager keeps the club out of relegation trouble, that is.

While chief executive David McNally was insisting that Hughton’s remit was to keep the Canaries out of the bottom three, the former Irish international indicated that current Irish international Hoolhan is going nowhere in the transfer window, despite having already been the subject of a bid by Paul Lambert at Aston Villa.

Hughton has confirmed he wants to keep the seven-times capped 31 year old midfielder and is instead focused on bringing in reinforcements to Carrow Road.

“At the moment our concentration is on can we add to the squad, can we improve the squad, not on letting players go out,” said Hughton.

“We’ve had a few injuries especially in midfield, and then Michael Turner will be out for a while as well. We are trying as hard as we can (to sign players) the same as everybody else, but January is a notoriously bad time to bring in players. But they also have to be right for the club.”

Norwich slumped to a 3-0 FA Cup third-round replay defeat at Fulham on Tuesday, piling pressure on the manager as the club endured an eighth successive game without a win. A number of the club’s supporters have started calling on the board to act, with Malky Mackay’s name sung by the travelling contingent at Craven Cottage.

The former Cardiff boss was a fan favourite during his time as a player at Carrow Road but for now it seems Hughton’s job is safe, although chief executive McNally insists he will do anything he deems necessary to keep the club in the top flight.

“He [Hughton] is preparing the team for Saturday’s game,” McNally said yesterday.

“The brief to Chris was to keep us out of the bottom three. We are not in the bottom three and it is to keep us out of the bottom three so that is what we have to do. We would not contemplate relegation at our football club. In a sporting sense it is worse than death.

“We are absolutely focused on ensuring that this great football club stays in the Premier League. Too many people have worked too hard and for so long to put the club in the Premier League so we would do everything in our power to ensure that it not only stays in the league but thrives.

“The brief for Chris when we were in the bottom three earlier in the season was to get us out and keep us out of the bottom three and move us up the table. There is no change there. If you don’t produce the results then ultimately that is how you will be measured.”

Hughton, the 55-year-old former assistant to Brian Kerr during the latter’s time as Ireland manager, has been in charge at Carrow Road since he was appointed as successor to Paul Lambert in June 2012. Hughton led the Canaries to an 11th-placed finish last season, their highest final league position since 1993.