Lee Payne: Norwich City are on their way back to full health

I would describe it as the club starting to feel better after a bad cold. It is returning to health but the remnants take a while to shift. People like me, who stopped going to matches at Carrow Road due to the paucity of entertainment on display, are coming back and the place feels more upbeat. 

Wagner was not a name that came to my mind when Dean Smith was sacked but, considering it now, it feels right. It makes sense. I knew who I didn't want to take the job, but my relief at Smith leaving was so great that I didn't give much thought to his successor.

Here we have a man who is about as close to Daniel Farke as you can get without bringing the great man himself back. Someone who wants a high pressing, attractive style of football 'on the grass' (that seems to be one of Wagner's favourite phrases) and understands the importance of the relationship with the supporters off it. 

I have seen some say that the new head coach is 'Webber's mate' and 'another cheap option' but that is nonsense. Why would you not consider someone you have worked with and had success with before? And what is it about this club, that makes no secret of its self-sufficient business model, that people don't understand when it won't spend millions of pounds it doesn't have? 

Year after year, the club releases its accounts and, year after year, some fans accuse it of a lack of ambition. It's not a refusal to spend money, it's simply that the money doesn't exist. We don't have a rich owner who can splash the cash. If we did, what would we have to sacrifice? We could become a rich foreigner's plaything, who will pull the plug when they get bored. We could become the face of yet another dodgy regime's sportswashing campaign. I am not a 'happy clapper', before you say it, and of course I'd like the club to have more money to spend but just be careful what you wish for. 

Any new manager would have known that there wouldn't be much in the way of a transfer budget.  

David Wagner wants Norwich City fans to join him for the ride (Image: Focus Images)

So, we'd need someone willing and able to improve the players already here. One that would be passionate about bringing players through from the academy.  

Wagner did that at Huddersfield and is still treated with great affection by the fans in West Yorkshire. People love to point out the negatives about someone but Wagner's spell at Huddersfield is exactly what we want here. I would argue he's got a better squad here too. 

Of course, it is early days but the 4-0 thrashing of Preston was a fine start.. He is a better fit for Norwich than Smith ever was. 

I suppose a lot of the negativity that still exists is due to fans being wary of the people at the top. 

I see a lot of people saying Webber needs to go, we need a whole new board, Delia out.  

I can't deny that those with power at the club have made some bad decisions in recent years but it seems many have lost sight of the very good things that have happened.  

If you watched the video of Wagner's first day, you would have seen Webber showing him around our gleaming, top class training ground at Colney. The place has been transformed since Webber arrived. 

He does know what he's doing, even if he hasn't been able to crack the Premier League puzzle yet. 

Shoot me down in flames if you like, but I honestly think Norwich City is on the mend. It's just not time to pack away the tissues quite yet.