Dean Smith slams referees who will be ‘glad to have me out of the Premier League’ after Norwich City relegation

Dean Smith had some grievances to air with Premier League referees after Norwich City were relegated from the top flight – but also blamed a lack of goal-getters in their squad.

Norwich City suffered a 2-0 defeat upon their manager’s return to Aston Villa. The goals came from Ollie Watkins in the 41st minute and Danny Ings in the 93rd.

Consequently, the Canaries are 13 points adrift of safety, with only 12 left to play for. Their remaining games against West Ham United, Leicester City, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur will be their last in the Premier League for a while.

For Smith, who took the Norwich City job mid-season after being sacked by Aston Villa, it will mark a return to Championship management for the first time since 2018-19 if he stays in the role.

His current employers are accustomed to this tradition, having now suffered an instant relegation on each of their past three returns to the top flight.

Once again, it felt inevitable this time for Smith, who nevertheless appreciated his side’s performance.

Smith told Match of the Day: “I’m disappointed with the result to be honest because I thought we played well today. I just said to the players, the reason we’re relegated is not because of today’s performance.

“There’s been performances over the season when we haven’t been quite up to the standard in the Premier League. But today I thought we played well.

“Still scratching my head how we didn’t get a penalty. But I said to the players, I’ll take today’s performance. I thought we quietened the crowd down and I thought we had the majority of possession.

“Probably didn’t create big chances enough – Pierre [Lees-Melou]’s had a good chance early on. If we get the penalty it’s a different game, totally.”

Smith elaborated