Bouncing Back - Chris Hughton must avoid getting pulped like Partridge

Alan Partridge returned to UK television screens earlier this year, where he took audiences on a whistle stop tour of his favourite places in his home city of Norwich.

One place the fictional character did not stop, was Carrow Road. Where Chris Hughton will lead his side into battle this weekend to attempt to earn an all important three points after last weekend's disastrous mauling at the hands of Fulham.

Alan Partridge's story is one of a man who enjoyed brief but happy success, before a downwards spiral, and attempting to re-build that. He even wrote a book called 'Bouncing Back', but he never truly bounced back, and the unsuccessful book ended up getting pulped.

New boss Chris Hughton may be a far less controversial character, but if you allow a bit of creative license, there are parallels between his career and the one of the fictional Norfolk DJ.

Hughton rose from the shadows as a number two to take charge at Newcastle United in their hour of need, leading them to a highly impressive promotion from the Championship, where they reached the 100 point mark.

He was adored by thousands of fans, who were fully behind his Newcastle team. Packed with strong figures such as Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, and Andy Carroll, they were a force to be reckoned with.

Upon their return to the top flight they destroyed Aston Villa 6-0, thrashed local rivals Sunderland 5-0, and led the team to an impressive 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates stadium. And that was after just four months back in the Premier League.

Suddenly the bad news came. The second series was terminated. Newcastle lost 3-1 to West Brom and 'sunk' to 11th in the Premier League table, a more than acceptable position for a newly promoted club, and it was only December. The club have gone onto justify his controversial dismissal, but Hughton's career has not progressed since.

Alan Partridge had his wilderness years after being sacked from the BBC, where he drove to Dundee in his bare feet. For Chris Hughton, his travails were spent in the Championship, patching up a messed up Birmingham City side reeling from relegation, taking in the Europa League sights of Genk, Maribor, and Braga along the way.

Getting semi-serious and dropping the analogy for a moment, Hughton is clearly a very talented boss who was given a big opportunity at Newcastle, which he proved more than capable of handling. His sacking was badly handled and unwarranted, and he was treated badly.

Leading Birmingham to the play-off semi-final was an accomplishment in itself. But what he did do was prove he has still got the talent, tactics, and nous which made him succesful on Tyneside, and he was rewarded when he was offered the Norwich City job this summer to replace Paul Lambert.

In returning to the Premier League, he has finally 'bounced back'. Like Partridge it is an appointment which is less high-profile, but it is a really challenging task as he found out on Saturday.

The radio DJ's attempt to return to the big time was unsuccessful, his autobiography was so unpopular it was pulped, and he now occupies the minor North Norfolk Digital league of (fictional) radio.

Ladbrokes are offering odds of 10/1 on Chris Hughton being the next manager to be sacked, and 11/5 he does not last the season. Norwich are 6/5 on to be relegated. The manager's task is clearly a tough one.

Many have discussed Norwich suffering 'second season syndrome', after their excellent season last year, but the manager and players must ignore that and simply concentrate on one game at a time. Tomorrow they face QPR, the Premier League's other side to lose 5-0.

Mark Hughes is equally under pressure, and Norwich can erase memories of last weekend's dismal effort with a win. New signings Sebastien Bassong and Javier Garrido could feature and help patch up a leaky backline, but they will have to settle quickly after arriving this week.

After this weekend they face a tough trip to Tottenham, where they won memorably last year, but will have to go some to repeat the feat. Then they will have a home game against West Ham which is absolutely crucial to their early season chances.

The reason is that after that Norwich have four successive games against Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea, before they come face to face with former boss Paul Lambert at Villa Park.

It is a spell of fixtures which does not make easy reading for Canaries fans, but if they 'bounce back' to a win over QPR at the weekend, then they might just feel a lot more positive about the challenges ahead.

Can Norwich bounce back this weekend? What do they need to do to improve on the Fulham performance?

image: © blenky64