Walker's replacement was the first team coach John Deehan, assisted by Gary Megson, then still a player. Deehan led the club to 12th place in the 1993–94 season in the Premier League. During the 1994 close season, the club sold the 21-year-old striker Chris Sutton to Blackburn Rovers for a then British record fee of £5 million. By Christmas of the 1994–95 season, Norwich City were seventh in the Premiership and challenging for a return to the UEFA Cup, but, following a serious injury to goalkeeper Bryan Gunn, the club's performance dipped; with just one win in their final twenty Premiership fixtures, Norwich dropped to 20th place and were relegated to the second tier of English football. Deehan resigned just before relegation was confirmed; he was replaced in the summer of 1995 by former Norwich player Martin O'Neill, who had taken Wycombe Wanderers from the Conference to the Second Division with successive promotions.
