Norwich City: Knapper admits pressure on in head coach bid...

Ben Knapper acknowledges that he is under pressure to make the correct choice for Norwich City’s next head coach.

Questions about Knapper’s own judgement have unavoidably been raised by his decision to fire Johannes Hoff

Thorup just ten months after he hand-picked the Dane to succeed David Wagner.

It is thought that the city is still sorting through possible applicants.

The sporting director and his staff are searching both domestically and overseas for coaches who are now employed

or unemployed.

Knapper understands he must make this decision immediately following a botched Thorup experiment and wants a

replacement in place by the end of the month.

After dismissing interim Jack Wilshere for lacking senior coaching experience, he declared, “I have to own that and

be accountable for that, and I am.” You see, there are never any assurances, are there? It makes no difference if you

sign a coach or a player.

“There’s a process that you can go through to try to manage risk, but you never know with certainty whether

something is going to work or it’s not. And sometimes, on paper, something can look a fantastic fit, and it just doesn’t

play out that way. You have to accept that and focus on where can we learn, where can we reflect, and where can we

make sure that that doesn’t happen again.

(Does it put you under more stress?) Yes, in my opinion, but it’s also thrilling. It’s an opportunity, in my opinion. We

have set out on a voyage, and it is currently in progress. Now is our time to fix that and get back on track since we

didn’t feel like we were making the kind of progress we wanted to.

There is, of course, more pressure. When something hasn’t exactly worked, that’s normal, but it also presents an

opportunity, which excites me.

Knapper insists the process that led to the original appoint of Thorup was not flawed.

“Whether it works or not, you have to think about it and eventually apply what you’ve learnt to other situations,” he

said. In many aspects of our football organisation, we go through that procedure on a daily basis.

“It’s crucial to avoid making too many corrections and sort of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” by

claiming that everything was incorrect and that we must now drastically change to a different profile.

We’re not going to be there.” Here, we are explicit about the type of profile we are looking for. It won’t go too far

from that, in my opinion. It won’t be a significant shift, but we must undoubtedly learn and think.

“I am more disappointed than anyone else in the way things turned out with Johannes. On a larger scale, however,

hiring a head coach is maybe the most significant decision you will ever make for any football team. We will ensure

that every possibility is explored in our procedure.

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