Johannes Hoff Thorup sat down with Canaries TV after his appointment as Norwich City head coach.
Johannes, congratulations and welcome to Norwich City. What are your thoughts on arriving here at the Lotus Training Centre?
It's a fantastic place, with great facilities, outstanding. Of course, there's a vacation now but I'm ready to start. It looks amazing.
You had a long affinity with FC Nordsjælland, tell us about the connection you had with the club and the people there.
It's a special place for me, I was there for nine years. It's a family club, I would say, so many people in the club have been around for many years. The sporting director, Jan (Laursen) is about to leave the club in the summer after 25 years. It's obviously a place where people stay, and it's a huge part of developing young talents to be as good as they can be. A big, big part of my life and a place where I've had some fantastic times.
With those memories and that connection, why was it the right time to leave now?
It's actually because I had the same kind of feeling about this place, as Nordsjælland. I feel the connection with the people, the club and the city. Everyone I have met with so far is so humble, nice and easy-going. And of course, a fantastic academy here. There's been some good players from the academy into the first team, so a little bit of the same feelings. Of course, it's a different league and against different clubs, but I definitely have the same vibe as Nordsjælland.
You mentioned your previous relationship working under a sporting director, how did you find it working in that model and what conversations have you had with Ben Knapper?
We have been in contact and started to plan both for the season, the players, the structure, the environment, but most important is the foundation of the club. How we can build with that, build a fantastic environment, a clear structure. I've been used to that, and that's the way I prefer to work. It's not just my own ideas, it's us instead of only me. I have the same feeling with Ben that he's also referring to many of the staff here. It's a journey we have to build together.
What is your shared vision with Ben of what Norwich City will look like in this forthcoming season?
We have some ambitions on the way that we are going to play, more possession-based play and clear positional structure. We want to control, we want to dominate the games that we play. Mostly with the ball, but feel we can dominate without the ball. We have some very clear ideas on how we're going to build the structure and how we're going to build the team.
What are the characteristics and attributes that you like your players to possess?
That we always play with an offensive mind-set. It's always about the next action, the next thing that we can do but with the ambition to score a goal. I see that the game starts with the ball, that's how football is. We have to take care of the ball, we have to be dominant on the ball. We have to have players who like to be on the ball and can control the matches as well. It's about the ambition to score that next goal. That's how I see football. It's also when we defend, we take positions with the ambition to make that interception we can actually go fast forward and score a goal.
You will be joined by Glen Riddersholm, what experience will he bring to you?
He knows the way from being an academy coach, taking his steps from first an assistant coach to a head coach. He knows the system, he knows how to work with young players as well. He had been with FC Midtjylland in Denmark for a number of years, also famous for developing a lot of young talents for their first team and even bigger clubs in Europe. He also has a lot of experience being a head coach in Denmark and abroad, he's been in Sweden and also in Belgium. He brings that knowledge from working with young players, but also that knowledge from being abroad.
You'll both be working with the existing staff that are here. What conversations have you had, and have you had time to meet any of the current coaches in place?
Not met face-to-face, but we've had conversations and I have a very good feeling about the coaches that are here. It seems that they are very passionate about Norwich City, and the way that we can develop together. Talking with Clem (Paul Clements), the goalkeeper coach, his ambition for the future. I've talked with Narcis (Pelach) as well, being responsible for a lot of the training but also analysing opponents together with all the other analysts. And of course, Andy (Hughes) as well, taking care of set-pieces. I have a very good feeling, and like I said at the beginning, fantastic people and a fantastic place. You have to be proud of it, and I will definitely be proud of being here.
A lot has been made of your experience of coaching youth and youth development. Did Ben make that clear how important that is to Norwich City?
Of course, we are famous in Nordsjælland for bringing these players to the first team and to bigger leagues in Europe. I think from Nordsjælland, we have Mohammed Kudus playing for West Ham, we have Simon Adingra at Brighton. That's a big part of it, but of course the ambition of it is to be able to compete with these players. Anyone can play with a young team and with young players, it takes something to be able to compete on the highest level. That's the ambition that we have.
When you take on a new challenge, what are the areas you try to address first?
First of all, that it's a we project and it's not me coming in and deciding everything from the beginning. Of course, I have my ideas and I have my principles in the way that we are going to play, but I am also here to listen to some of the good stuff that has already been done. I have to make sure that I am very clear that this is something that we do together and everyone has to have that feeling. We have to build on a team that can dominate the games and that's what we are going to start with from day one. That's going to be very exciting, I will say.
Talking of day one, what can the Norwich squad expect from your pre-season?
They can expect a pre-season where we will build the way we want to play, and that's down to phases of the game where we start somewhere and build it to the next step and to the next step. Luckily, I can see that the pre-season is quite long so we have the time that we need. We have to be intense, we have to work hard and use all the days that we can to prepare the team in the best way. I hope that the players will enjoy it, because the sessions will be intense but they will also be with a clear purpose every time we train. I'm sure that they will get involved with it rather fast.
Does the environment at Norwich City (the Lotus Training Centre) help you implement those plans?
I could start now. Some vacation first, but it's a fantastic place and fantastic facilities. We have all that we need here to be able to build that squad in a good way.
What's your message to Norwich City fans, whom you'll get to meet in person very soon, upon joining the club?
I'm excited, I hope that they are excited as well. I hope that we can create something together, it's so important that they are proud of the team. It's also so important that they feel that its also young players from here, and that they support with everything that they can. The stadium is a fantastic place, a lot of excitement ahead of us.
Where did you get your love of football from and how has that developed?
My love for football started when I was four or five years old, watching World Cups and so on, watching the biggest games and the biggest players. I tried to play myself, I think I was okay but the coaches didn't think the same. I had to find the second best job, which was to be a coach. I started as a coach when I was 19 or 20, and worked my way up from academy to senior football. More or less, being a head coach all the way. Only one season where I was an assistant coach. My love for football is the passion in me, what drives me is the ambition every day to get better, to study and how to play in a way where it excites but also gets the results that we need. To study the game, to analyse the game, to be on the training pitch as well. I love training as much as the games. That's really where you can prepare and you can develop, everything about this world where there's this ambition to be a little better. It drives me a lot.