THE latest addition to Bryan Gunn's backroom staff, Ian Butterworth says he's delighted to become assistant manager at the club which meant so much to him in his playing days.
The former City central defender and captain returned to Norwich as Gunn's right-hand man earlier this week, in time for the Canaries 3-3 draw away to Wolves on Tuesday. Rejoining former colleagues Gunn, Ian Crook and John Deehan, Butterworth told canaries.co.uk he didn't think twice when the role was offered to him.
"It was an easy decision to say yes when Bryan put the call in to me," the 45-year-old said. "It was a fantastic opportunity, I felt it was a privilege and an honour to come back and work for a club I played for, because I believe this is a great football club and there are a lot of good people here.
"When Bryan called me, I didn't hesitate in agreeing to come here, and I know the team have had a bit of a dogfight on their hands but it's a great club and it's been encouraging since Bryan's taken over. The lads are taking it all on board and they're up for a fight and they proved that against Wolves the other night. We've added a few reinforcements into the team and they're settling in well."
The move sees Butterworth rejoin old teammates Gunn and Crook, as well as Deehan who Butterworth played under in the 1990s. Asked how it felt to get back together with his fellow ex-Canaries, he commented: "It's been really good to be able to catch up with Ian and Bryan, we're good mates and I haven't seen as much of them as I would have liked to over recent years because we've all been busy with work.
"I'm really happy to see John Deehan again too, we've seen each other a few times because he's been involved with Northampton and Lincoln, so it's good to see them all again. But it's not about us, it's about this Football Club and it's fans - they continue to come in their droves and they haven't always seen positive results out on the pitch. Our main aim is to stay in the Championship, it's going to be exciting and enjoyable and the gaffer's undefeated so far so I just hope we can say the same thing come Saturday night!"
He continued: "Things have changed since I was last here, the training ground was in it's infancy when I left. The City's changed and the ground is different but the pitch is still the same and the goals are still in the same place, and we still have to play the same game and we still have to score. The facilities all around the place are fantastic, even better than when I played here."
With only a few days to get to know the Norwich squad so far, Butterworth told First News he could already see the potential within the Canary camp: "This week has been mainly spent getting to know the players, I knew a few of them already but I've been getting to know the rest of them. They have done well to be fair, and it's a really positive environment now for them to blossom and bring out their real talents.
"They are a really talented group so let's hope it all goes well for them. They made a few defensive errors but overall it was a stirling performance against Wolves. To go to Molineux and to stay in the game throughout was fantastic - they are at the top of the league, they're a powerful side who like to put the ball in the box but there aren't many teams who can take four points in a season from a team which could go on to win the Championship."
With the Canaries' thoughts turning to this Saturday's Championship clash with Bristol City, the assistant manager said he and the rest of the Norwich management team had only one aim in mind: "Our first remit is to stay in the Championship, that may sound harsh but that's what we're concentrating on. We want to stay in this league and get the job done, and I'm not looking any further than the game against Bristol on Saturday.
"That's how I like to approach it and I think that's what the players have to do too. We just have to make sure we can do the job and get all three points against Bristol this weekend."
