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"We climbed Mount Everest, and for now, we have to go back and try to climb it again."
That was the motivational message that sports director Stuart Webber had sent to Norwich head coach Daniel Farke shortly after confirming his promotion to the Premier League.
That sums up the Canaries – a great club with a top-notch pedigree, but whose financial challenges mean that winning the league title is quite an achievement.
Key figures at Carrow Road, including Delia Smith, a joint majority shareholder, tell BBC Sport that Norwich may not have reached its peak despite his victory at the top.
"We broke so many rules"
The old stereotype was that to succeed in the championship, hardened players with divisional experience were needed – but that would cost money to the Norfolk team who did not have it. more.
The imminent loss of parachute payments following the 2015-2016 costly relegation campaign led to a change in recruitment strategy. Webber was chosen for its expertise in finding low-profile continental recruits and its confidence in young players.
"If you have a team of old men, in my opinion, you will not be promoted [to the Premier League] unless you're special like Neil Warnock, "said Webber.
That explains why some of Norwich's seasoned activists have left, while younger players, including Alex Pritchard, Josh Murphy and James Maddison, have been sold for a total of more than 40 million pounds.
While last season's 14th place had sparked some criticism from fans, those inside the club could feel that they were going towards something special.
"He [promotion] It was not so unexpected for me because I knew that what was happening here 18 months ago was going to go somewhere, "said famed cook Smith at BBC Sport.
"I would just like to describe Stuart Webber with a word: genius, I think he's amazing and we're extremely lucky."
Smith sat on the Canary Islands board for 23 years alongside her husband, Michael Wynn-Jones, and said the club was "unrecognizable" compared to what it was when Webber left Huddersfield in April 2017.
Farke was named by the Welshman a month later and reinforced the new Norwich model that was going against the tide, thus making his teammates alumni from the Max Aarons Academy, Jamal Lewis, Ben Godfrey and Todd Cantwell .
"The perception was that you always needed experience and spent a lot of money for quality in this league.With a beautiful football, you can not win matches.We have broken many rules at during the season, "said Farke.
To illustrate the rebellion, Teemu Pukki, Norwich's top scorer, signed a free transfer last summer. The Finnish striker has recognized the thoroughness of Farke and Webber for leading him to East Anglia.
"When I first heard about Norwich, I was not sure of that, I thought the Championship was still as before, with long battles and a lot of fights," Pukki said. .
"But when I talked to Stuart and the coach, they explained how we wanted to play football and how I would fit into the system.
"They also knew me since I came back to Germany, it was important to me and they also did homework on who I am as a person and that I would be a perfect part of this team. . "
Going about quietly
As the only professional club in Norfolk, Norwich finds himself in a goldfish bowl and attracts the kind of regional watch that you could badociate with a Premier League team.
However, at the national level, their attribution to the title of champion was pbaded under silence until the promotion is at hand.
"We did not really realize that, but all I hear about it is the Frank Lampard Derby, Leeds United – because it's Leeds United – Aston Chris Wilder's Villa and Sheffield United, because of the great work he's done there, "Webber said.
"If not, we are not too worried or worried, we prefer to stay in the background and not attract attention because we just want to do our work, go home and if everything is fine."
It's a sentiment that echoes Smith, in a club that does not look for headlines.
"The hard work and the humility have allowed us to get promoted, we are just headlong, we work hard, stay humble and keep a low profile if you can," she said. .
The promotion of the Canaries made in West Yorkshire?
Comparisons were made between the ascent of the Canary Islands and Huddersfield, which Webber also helped to reach the high end in 2016-17.
He named another boss of Borussia Dortmund II in David Wagner. The recruitment of players was taken on the same German theme: Elias Kachunga, Chris Lowe and Christopher Schindler signed in Huddersfield, alongside Onel Hernandez, Marco Stiepermann and Christoph Zimmerman.
But Webber insists that it was different projects.
"When I went through the door and we were going to do something similar, I immediately knew that I would be hammered -" he just did what he already did, " "He's trying to copy it," because that's what's happening, "Webber said.
"It was a lot harder here because of the lazy comparison – it was done in a much broader setting and everyone said to themselves: is it possible to do it twice?"
Farke says that a difference in stature between the two clubs means that their achievements can not be compared.
"Huddersfield was rather in an outsider role and he was already happy to play in the championship.They began, in the eyes of many people, to surpbad," added the German.
"For us, we are still an incredibly big club with many years in the Premier League and a great history of playing in Europe – even in Germany, everyone knows that Norwich City beat Bayern Munich."
Can Norwich climb another mountain?
Norwich has prioritized significant spending on player transfer fees and salaries in previous Premier League forays rather than significantly improving its infrastructure.
This contributed to their financial loss during the relegation, with Farke and Webber determined not to make the same mistakes this time around.
"Currently, most of our key players are under contract and it's not like we have to recruit 15 new players or make an incredible number of deals," said the head coach.
"We can not stay in the Premier League with just individual quality and engaging incredibly expensive players.We must stay in the Premier League with our identity, our philosophy, our work ethic and our principles and we will stick to 100%."
But how long will Webber, 35, stay at Carrow Road? The sports director may find himself more in demand than any player in Norwich and has expressed his ambition to work abroad at one time or another.
"Stuart is still young but is working at a higher level, and I'm pretty sure that one day he'll lead this club to incredible success or work for the best clubs in the world," Farke added.
Webber said, "Who knows when this opportunity will come in? But at the same time, I have not done anything here yet, it is only the beginning.
"We will have the smallest budget in the league – we will spend the least money – I can guarantee it now."
The Canaries lack top-level skills and are unlikely to add much this summer, but they have proven that a little naivety was not bad.
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