The Liam Manning era hits a significant milestone with Norwich City’s opening pre-season friendly on Saturday against League One Northampton in a behind-closed-doors setting at Colney.
Manning emerged as the strongest candidate to replace Johannes Hoff Thorup as head coach this summer, but that almost feels like a lifetime ago given the pace and frenetic nature of City’s work in the transfer window since.
Mathias Kvistgaarden was the seventh senior addition to Manning’s roster this week. The 23-year-old forward will not be involved against the Cobblers, after interrupting a holiday to complete his Carrow Road switch from Brondby following an extended season featuring for Denmark’s Under-21s at the recent Euros.
City are now tracking Silkeborg midfielder, Pelle Mattsson, and Metz’s winger Papa Amadou Diallo, who they have earmarked as a potential replacement for the Porto-bound Borja Sainz. Josh Sargent’s longer term future also looks to be shaping up as one of the dominant themes of the second part of this summer’s window.
But at 1pm on Saturday the focus settles firmly back on the pitch, and a first chance to see the fruits of that transfer activity and Manning’s initial imprint. Here are some markers to look out for.
Injury check list
Ben Chrisene, Gabe Forsyth and Lucien Mahovo all finished the season either injured or in the early phases of their recovery. While Matej Jurasek’s slow start to his City career, following a headline-grabbing move from Slavia Prague, was the back drop to ‘minor’ hernia surgery at the start of a big summer for the young attacker.
Sporting director Ben Knapper indicate in his post-season round of media the hope was Jurasek could put his own frustrations behind him with a tailored summer recovery programme designed to ensure he was ready to go from game day one of pre-season.
Encouragingly, both Jurasek and young Scottish midfielder Forsyth have featured in some of the club’s social media output from the first two weeks or so of pre-season activity.
But view those fresh transfer links to former West Ham and Ipswich full back, Aaron Cresswell, in the context of a feeling inside the club Mahovo looks poised to miss the start of the new campaign with the torn quad injured after his bright spell of first team exposure.
Chrisene’s season ended through an ankle injury in the same Blackburn away game in March that did for Aston Villa loanee, Lewis Dobbin.
Like Dobbin, Chrisene is still working his way back. More clues will be provided in terms of the personnel on duty at Colney, and Manning’s post-game updates. As frustrating as it would be for all concerned, caution has to be the buzzword around talented youngsters with a long Championship season ahead.
Centre ground
Harry Darling and Jakov Medic look like the type of characters who could work the doors down the Prince of Wales.
Medic carries the air of an uncompromising prize fighter, while Darling’s set piece prowess in the opposition penalty box, during a career which has seen navigate his way up the pyramid from MK Dons and Swansea, underscores City have added some muscle and physicality that was arguably lacking within a squad who were too easy to score against, and who shipped an alarming number of goals in last season’s Championship.
A factor perceptively noted by Medic in his very first club interview following his eyecatching move from Ajax, via a stint in the Bundesliga at Bochum. Darling reportedly had his pick of suitors around the Championship and further afield yet chose to return nearer his Cambridge roots, and reunite with Manning, who shaped his early career so well at MK Dons.
In both cases it would suggest City have settled on a new look central defensive pairing. With the caveat Manning showed his tactical versatility last season at Bristol City when that second half surge towards the play-offs was built on a defensive three. Irrespective of the system, it seems fair to assert Medic and Darling will be cornerstones of a new look backline.
The sooner they can align their games, and find a common wavelength during this pre-season programme, the quicker Norwich can no longer resemble the soft touches they did too often under Thorup.
Shooting star
Pre-seasons of the recent past have thrown up a truism that transcended the identity of the Norwich City head coach in charge.
At least one of the unproven players on the fringes have moved rapidly into the first team set up. This time last summer, under Thorup’s stewardship, Forsyth was the one he plucked from the development pool and put on a fast track that led to a full senior league debut for the club in the home league opener against Blackburn. With a new contract to boot.
Mahovo was the development signing from Notts County 12 months ago who would blossom in the closing stages of the season. The season before that it was the same path Kellen Fisher navigated. Brought in initially as a development option from Bromley he impressed David Wagner so much City were willing to sanction a surprise sale for then League One’s young-player-of-the-year, Bali Mumba.
Go further back into the archives and academy players like Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis appeared with little fanfare, but brought an assurance and maturity that allowed them to carve out senior starting roles in double quick time.
Less easy at this stage to second guess Manning, and who might be on the same fast train.
Elliot Myles is a talented attacker who was brought into Craig Bellamy’s Welsh training squad at the end of the past season. The on-going search for players to fill the void left by Sainz’s pending exit could open up some early windows of opportunity.
But this summer might be less about previously unheard of breakthrough acts and maybe a sense from a Forsyth or a Ruairi McConville they are now ready to step up.
Theory to practice
Thorup also began his reign with a 3-0 friendly win at Northampton, before City failed to win another pre-season affair last summer that rolled into a sluggish defeat at Oxford on an opening Championship weekend dominated by Jon Rowe’s absence.
Which perhaps served to underline it is less about results, beginning at Colney on Saturday, and more about the underlying processes. Manning will talk up the need for fitness and to get minutes into legs in this Northampton opener, and in all probability the four touring games in the Netherlands.
But the new head coach, and his backroom team, will also want to see whether the receptive signals from his players in a training environment at Colney can now start to translate into match situations.
The Championship kick-off will swiftly be upon the Canaries, and aside from navigating unwanted transfer distractions, Manning’s focus must be on ensuring his core principles are assimilated by a group of players who represent a football club that want to get back to the Premier League.
That was the thrust of the decision to dismiss Thorup and appoint Manning. There will be no talk of transition or experimentation this coming season.
The new head coach himself used his first public engagement, when he was officially unveiled at Carrow Road, to reiterate his job is to win games. It is a good habit to form and no better time than in the more relaxed surroundings of pre-season.
