Will Jennings: Smith is entering the last chance saloon at Norwich City

Burnley, a team firmly moulded in the image of Sean Dyche and with no recent history of footballing flamboyance, were embarking on a bold new vision under the more progressive Kompany, while City were a side saturated with second-tier quality and an established, experienced manager at the helm.

But the spectacle that unfolded in front of me, and the 750 others who made the long Lancashire trip on Tuesday night, served as another ruthless reality check and an obvious delineation of two clubs seemingly going in totally polarised directions.

Burnley were brilliant. Diligently coached by former Manchester City skipper Kompany – rapidly emerging as one of the managerial stars of this pre-World Cup period – the Clarets moved the ball with pace, tempo and fluidity and looked the virtual mirror image of the side so well-drilled by Dyche, who helped Burnley punch above their weight at Turf Moor but did so through being a champion of pragmatism and sacrificing some of the crowd-pleasing footballing values now so pervasive in the modern game.

Contrary to pre-season expectations, that’s exactly what Smith’s Norwich looked to be on the way to achieving after the first 10 games but this unsavoury October horror-show – which could reached its toxic culmination against Stoke this Halloween weekend – now looks to have sent this campaign spiralling dramatically out of control.

I’ve been a vocal supporter of Smith throughout this season and always had the feeling that naturally, given the players at his disposal, performances would start to improve and the winning philosophy fostered at the start of the campaign would soon be injected with a much-needed dose of flair, cohesion and creativity.

And even if not, and City continued to adopt this muddled, hybrid and largely unidentifiable style of play, that we would remain one of the Championship pace-setters and that the quality seeping through the squad, coupled with Smith’s experience at this level, would propel us towards another successful season.

Some City fans are calling for sporting director Stuart Webber to wield the axe on Dean Smith (Image: (C)Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +44 7813 022858)

But it’s not looking that way now. Even those fans who have never really warmed to Smith and turned against him after the first few games would have never predicted a run of just one win in eight, and now, with City looking as much over their shoulder as they are towards the summit of the table, it looks as though the mood among supporters is almost universally that the manager needs to go.

The club’s propensity for patience means that was always unlikely to happen this week, but fail to win against Alex Neil’s stuttering Stoke side in front of a potential cacophony of Carrow Road boos and it feels as though Stuart Webber may be forced to pull the trigger.

I’ve not lost complete confidence in Smith just yet and, despite the sustained misery of recent weeks, do maintain a glimmer of hope that the gradual reintroduction of Isaac Hayden, coupled with the additions of Dimitris Giannoulis and Sam McCallum at left-back, can somehow arrest this sudden slide.

City looked significantly slicker in the first half against Sheffield United and, despite not putting the game to bed ahead of the break, were only a missed Teemu Pukki penalty away from a statement away day triumph.

But Burnley was bad. That daunting second leg of Norwich’s northern tour served up an alarming 90-minute reminder of this side’s current limitations under Smith – out-played, out-passed and out-manoeuvred by a more polished and well-coached Championship outfit.

It feels as though Smith is now in last saloon territory and, if the next two home games see a grim continuation of recent performances – and results – disillusioned fans will not hold back from delivering another vociferous verdict on this currently miserably misfiring outfit.

And it will be at that point, and if this current run intensifies to a record of just one win in 10, I will admit I was wrong about Smith and acknowledge that change is required.