Bowen to fly off with Canaries?

Having recently been linked with the vacant managerial post with West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers assistant manager Mark Bowen is again being linked with vacant managerial positions.

Mark Hughes would quickly move to quash speculation linking Bowen with a move to the Hawthorns however one of the two jobs Bowen is now being linked with is one that should it be offered he may find too good to refuse?

Also being linked to the hot seat at Elland Road with Leeds United, the position most likely to interest Bowen would be that at Carrow Road with Norwich City, a team with whom he spent many years with early in his career.

Having begun his playing career with Tottenham Hotspur in 1981 Bowen would find it had to get regular first team football at White Hart Lane, so he made the switch to Norwich in 1987 for £90,000.

Bowen is a Norwich legend, making his debut in August 1987 and despite playing as a left-back he would end the 1989-1990 season as the clubs joint-top goalscorer in the league, seeing him earn the Player of the year Award. Also being a part of the Norwich side which finished the first Premiership Season of 1992-1993 in a more than creditable third place, as a result they would qualify for the UEFA Cup, and would knock out the mighty Bayern Munich in the second round with Bowen himself scoring in Germany.

Rovers' title winning season of 1994-1995 would see Norwich relegated, finding them in desperate financial trouble, with Bowen leaving the club in 1996.

The Welshman has built up his credentials with his work with Hughes in the Welsh national set-up, also working alongside Steve Bruce as his assistant at Crystal Palace and Birmingham before re-joining Hughes at Ewood Park in the summer of 2004.

Following Norwich's disappointing start to the Championship season, compounded by the 4-1 home drubbing from Burnley on Sunday the club sacked manager Nigel Worthington shortly after. Bowen is said to be likely to face competition from former Glasgow Rangers boss Alex McLeish and Alan Curbishley who is looking to get back into management having left Charlton Athletic at the end of last season.

Mark Bowen's former Norwich team mate Ian Crook, currently coaching in the Australian A League with Sydney FC is rumoured to be being lined up by Bowen to work alongside him, a move which Crook has denied, stating he is happy where he is.

A return to Norwich is far more likely than a position at West Brom was, and even indeed is with Leeds, so should an approach be made although Hughes will not want to see him leave I think Bowen's past could history at Carrow Road could well work against Hughes and Rovers.

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