Norwich City: Ben Knapper putting his stamp on Canaries

Less public, less provocative but you can detect a process gathering pace to take the club in that ‘new direction’ he himself cited when former head coach David Wagner was dismissed.

Clearly that remains the single biggest call of his eight months or so in the job of sporting director.

Had Wagner not plotted a dramatic upturn in results around the turn of this year the painstaking path that eventually led to Johannes Hoff Thorup may have required a jarring circuit breaker.

Long before a divorce was announced in the hours that followed an abject Championship play-off semi-final, second leg defeat Elland Road, it was evident there had been no meeting of minds.

Knapper opened up about the clear water between them at Thorup’s unveiling. No close alignment in style of play or perhaps how to finesse the academy pathway. Wagner’s achievement in securing a top six place was in spite of, not because of, a symmetry with the man who replaced his footballing friend, Stuart Webber.

Knapper is a facilitator not a showman. But when he has appeared in full view of fans or media this summer the messaging is clear and the tone optimistic.

Well away from grand gestures or headlines the exhaustive search that led to Thorup’s door was months in the planning, forensic in detail and with data at the heart of everything that underpins his strategy.

There are personnel changes aplenty in train behind-the-scenes across all departments. You can start to peel the layers away with the key appointment of Dean Rastrick as head of football development, to help reconnect that academy pipeline.

Or City’s latest bid to recruit a head of football analytics, with a brief to use data to provide ‘competitive advantages to all of Norwich’s teams’.

But much like Webber and Daniel Farke before them, it is the chemistry with Thorup that will define so much of what unfolds from here.  

Watching how both interacted at the impressive Dane’s official unveiling it was self-evident there is a meeting of minds, and a synergy in how the wish to drive the club forward.

Knapper spoke with a conviction that in Thorup he had a head coach who shares his football philosophy.

Ken Aboh signed a new Norwich City deal this summer (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Youth and the development of academy talent is a guiding principle. Here too, Knapper’s patient work in the background has brought dividends. Ken Aboh looked set to follow his friend, Alex Matos, out of the building at the end of last season.

But Knapper convinced him and his advisors there is a footballing pathway that can lead to the first team at Carrow Road if he continues his upward trajectory. The finances around a new deal were as good as he could have found elsewhere, but that was never the driver.

Professional contracts for highly-rated attacking duo Elliot Myles, and more recently Errol Mundle-Smith, all signpost to what Knapper wants his version of Norwich to be rooted in.

But future-proofing also requires deftness in the here and now.

The great test this summer is how well he can navigate a tricky transfer window balance of refreshing a squad, generating income and ensuring Thorup has the resources to justifiably compete for the top six.

The clues are there. Adam Idah was pursued by Serie A clubs in January before he headed to Celtic Park and a successful loan stint on the pitch that has those in Glasgow craving a more permanent union. Trabzon have made contact this summer for Marcelino Nunez.

But in both those cases, and all the other scenarios that may play out around the transfer status of Jon Rowe, Gabby Sara, Josh Sargent, Abu Kamara, Kenny McLean et al, Norwich are prepared to dig in.

Norwich City midfielder Gabby Sara has been linked with a Serie A move this summer (Image: Martyn Haworth/Focus Images Ltd)

Players under long contracts will not depart for below market values. Beneath the personable exterior Knapper has already shown himself privately to be a steely operator in such give and take.

Easy to form a perception, given the soft focus of his first months in the post away from the public spotlight, City’s sporting director was too nice or too affable. But there is mounting evidence of the ruthlessness and decisiveness required - from calling time on Wagner to pursuing Thorup.

From retaining a talent like Aboh to the astuteness of the move that identified and then secured Jose Cordoba, before his star shone even brighter in Panama’s run to the Copa America quarter-finals.

Or now positioning Norwich at the front of the queue of a Championship pack chasing Manchester City’s Callum Doyle.

There is nothing showy about Knapper. But there is a sureness of touch that is becoming evident in all the key facets of City’s football strategy.

As he himself joked on a Colney guided tour for Cordoba this summer, his first six months in the job had felt like three years. But that graft has seemingly put the foundations in place.

- The Pink Un will be providing full coverage of the Canaries' time in Belgium, including both friendly matches against Club Brugge and Standard Liege, in partnership with Chips Away Norwich