Norwich City: Ruairi McConville on tactics after JHT sacked

The Danish coach was sacked from his post earlier this month after a run of one win in 10 Championship matches, but felt the strategy was about building for the long-term rather than instant success.

Thorup swapped FC Nordsjaelland for Norfolk last summer to lead a strategy alongside sporting director Ben Knapper built around developing young players, implementing a style of play and building a new culture.

His sacking came as a surprise to City’s fanbase, who were expecting the 36-year-old to be afforded the summer and a second season to continue building the club despite an underwhelming debut year.

Thorup has reflected on his Canaries exit for the first time in an interview with Danish outlet Tipsbladet and feels the goalposts shifted during his time at Carrow Road.

“I worked closer to the sporting director and the other directors than Glen did, so for him it was probably a bigger surprise than for me, because you can see in a football club when things start to change a bit,” Thorup said.

“Communication becomes a bit less, and future plans for next season are put on hold more than they had been done previously.

“So I could see that it was pointing in a direction, but it was still a bit of a surprise, because it wasn’t quite what we had bought into to begin with.

“I always say we didn’t have enough time. We have obviously worked with a long-term perspective, and we also knew that the first season would have bumps in the road. That’s why we also made some decisions based on a longer-term view. That’s why we can be surprised how things can change all of a sudden.

“If the communication from the start had been that we were going to reach the top six and be one of the playoff clubs, we would probably have made some other decisions along the way. Then we wouldn’t necessarily have played with the youngest team in Norwich in generations, as we did in one of the games, where we had an average age of around 23.5 years, which is younger than some of the FC Nordsjælland teams I have sent onto the field.

“We probably prioritized what we knew would give us some performance here and now instead of giving some of the young players a chance. There have been some things along the way that we would have done differently if it had been solely about the performance.”

Jack Wilshere was put in interim charge following Thorup’s dismissal having been added to his coaching staff in October.

Despite that move, Thorup doesn’t feel betrayed by the former Arsenal and England international – but does regret not bringing more staff to Carrow Road last summer.

“I was well aware of Jack’s terms of employment, so I knew that at some point he would step up as head coach, and we had also made a good plan together with him,” Thorup said.