Jack Wilshere was earmarked as a Norwich City head coach of the future but ended up collateral damage in the dismissal of Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Expected confirmation of a mutually agreed exit arrived on Saturday afternoon, after the 33-year-old was overlooked by sporting director Ben Knapper in the on-going hunt to replace Thorup.

The timing in itself should be seen as significant with the net tightening around Thorup’s successor.

Knapper’s admission in a post-season recent media round Wilshere was not being considered, following his uplifting impact in a two-game interim spell at the end of a dire Championship tour, proved a wrong-footing moment.

Most, not least Wilshere himself, felt he would be a genuine candidate after the Dane’s abrupt exit in the wake of a wretched Easter run became a Championship tipping point.

Knapper spoke of Wilshere’s ‘disappointment’ when he had to break the news. Speak to those around Wilshere and there was genuine surprise his race was over before it had really begun.

The logic around a relative lack of senior coaching experience was indisputable. Knapper’s room for experimentation in his next head coach hire is wafer-thin after the failure of the Thorup phase of the project.

When he said he must detach the emotion and the human side and instead ‘manage risk’ he well knows the consequences if the next turn of the head coach wheel unravels.

Even Wilshere himself, in those assured public dealings that spanned the Dane’s exit to a goal-laden final day victory over Cardiff City, admitted the opportunity had possibly come too soon.

But this, lest any forget, is a person who made his Arsenal debut at 16 and his senior England debut two years later. Injury may have curtailed his blossoming career as a player, but he carried an inner confidence and assurance when he stepped into the head coach chair.

Countless Norwich players queued up to publicly back his credentials to succeed Thorup. When he took the temporary brief his message internally was to put smiles back on faces.

Not to dramatically unpick Thorup’s tactical template in a fortnight, but to get a group who had massively under-performed to run harder, tackle harder and visibly demonstrate to a disgruntled fan base the commitment and desire that should be a given.

Look at how those travelling City fans responded at the final whistle to a goalless draw at play-off chasing Middlesbrough. There was an instant connection that rolled on to a final day against the Bluebirds full of emotion and farewells.

As Wilshere toured the Carrow Road playing surface with his young family he was not expecting to be one of those set to follow Thorup and Glen Riddersholm out of the Carrow Road exit.

These were some of his final public words as a Norwich coach in the aftermath of plotting that Cardiff win.

“Honestly, I’ve loved it,” he said. “I’ve loved the intensity. I’ve loved the feeling of a little bit of pressure, because when you are the head coach or interim head coach, everyone’s looking at you and I think I’ve been quite lucky.

“I’ve said it before, but I can’t keep saying it enough, I felt the support of the players, the love from the players. They tried to do everything I asked and also the staff around the training ground, the match day staff, honestly, everyone’s been amazing.

“I came here as an assistant. I came here to try and help push the strategy of the club and the plans of the club. I came here because I believed in that, and I still believe in it. I feel like I’m ready to make an impact.”

What next for Jack will be fascinating. He feels he is ready for the final step on his coaching journey, and his status and name within the game should ensure he is touted for jobs this summer.

Wilshere himself spoke about overtures during his spell in charge of Arsenal’s Under-18s. Clubs like Wycombe were among those quick to express interest during that period. But he stayed because he felt he was not ready to take the next step.

Norwich seemed the right fit in October 2024, although those initial discussions with Thorup and Knapper included the understanding Wilshere’s end point was a first team dug out, and a head coach role.

Had plans not been upturned, as City’s season careered south, Wilshere could have learnt his trade as part of Thorup’s backroom team before a seamless ascent to the top job at Carrow Road. That was certainly the implication from the Dane following his own recent departure.

But timing is everything.