Norwich sack Thorup and place Wilshere in charge

Jack Wilshere (right) joined Johannes Hoff Thorup's coaching team last October

Norwich City have sacked head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup and placed ex-Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere in charge for their two remaining games of the season.

Thorup, 36, was appointed in May 2024 as the replacement for David Wagner, who had been dismissed following the Canaries' play-off defeat by Leeds United.

But the Dane leaves Carrow Road following a run of six defeats in eight Championship matches.

"While we made this appointment with a long-term focus and in line with our wider club strategy and direction, unfortunately recent results and performances have deemed it necessary for us make a change," said sporting director Ben Knapper.

Norwich won 14 out of 47 games under Thorup, who was previously in charge of FC Nordsjaelland. His assistant Glen Riddersholm has also left the club.

Knapper added: "They are both fantastic people who worked tirelessly to help improve and move our football club forward. We all wish the two of them the best in the next stage of their respective careers."

Norwich lost both games over the Easter weekend, to Portsmouth and Millwall, conceding eight goals in the process and are 14th in the table, 13 points outside the play-off places.

"There is no short-term solution here, it's long-term and hopefully with all the decisions we have taken and are going to take we'll build an even stronger team, a team that is better suited to the way we want to play," Thorup had told BBC Radio Norfolk following Monday's 3-1 defeat by Millwall.

Wilshere, who will be assisted by Tony Roberts and Nick Stanley, will take charge of Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough and the Canaries' final-day game at home to Cardiff on 3 May.

He was appointed as a first-team coach last October, having previously been manager of Arsenal's under-18 team.

Wilshere takes over a Norwich team who have scored more Championship goals (67) than any team other than leaders Leeds, but have conceded 66, a total exceeded only by Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle.

Thorup becomes latest boss to bite dust

Thorup's departure means 14 of the 24 Championship clubs have changed managers this season - and he is the third boss to lose his job since the start of the Easter weekend following Cardiff's Omer Riza and Tony Mowbray of West Bromwich Albion.

He was appointed on a three-year contract but had to manage without two leading members of last season's team, Jonathan Rowe and Gabriel Sara, who had both been sold by the club and his plans have been hit by a number of injuries during the season.

Norwich lost their opening game at Oxford United but remained unbeaten at home until a 2-0 defeat by Bristol City on 9 November.

They only managed one point from four games in December but took 10 points from the next four following a 2-1 Boxing Day home win over Millwall.

The experienced Emiliano Marcondes and Anis Ben Slimane were added to a squad containing Borja Sainz, one of the most exciting players in the division, and US international striker Josh Sargent, who scored twice in a 5-1 win over Swansea in January as the Canaries stayed on the fringes of the play-off picture.

But Sainz served a six-match ban for spitting at Sunderland's Chris Mepham and a 3-2 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on 11 March began the poor eight-match run which ultimately led to Thorup's downfall.

Their only win in that period was a 1-0 success against West Brom, courtesy of an added-time goal by Sargent.

The club has been owned by American Mark Attanasio's Norfolk FB Holdings since March, replacing long-term majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones.

Thorup visited Attanasio in the US during last month's international break and afterwards said: "We discussed everything from strategy to player development, from how we do things now to how we should do them in the future, and (it was useful) also just to get some inspiration from each other and get a feeling of where we are as a team.

"We refer to a team - the USA team and the British team over here - because we do things together. It was a good way of just aligning everything."

Recent results, though, mean the playing department and boardroom are now out of alignment and Norwich have begun the search for a new head coach in the hope of a big improvement next season.

Attanasio stated an ambition last November for Norwich to become a Premier League team again in three to five years.

The club have won promotion from the Championship three times in the past 10 years, under Alex Neil - now Millwall boss - in 2015 and Daniel Farke in 2020 and 2022 but each of those successes was followed by single-season stays in the top flight.

Defender Shane Duffy scored the final goal of Thorup's time in charge in the 3-1 loss to Millwall

'Patience in shorter supply' - reaction

Chris Goreham, BBC Radio Norfolk's Norwich City commentator

One win in 10 - the worst performing team in the Championship since the start of March. Not many head coaches survive that.

Only Leeds have scored more Championship goals than Norwich City this season.

However, encouragement from the attacking statistics has been undermined by a lack of defensive resilience. Thorup himself recently told me he was "tired" of watching his side fail to deal with balls into the penalty area.

The eight goals shipped to Portsmouth and Millwall over Easter suggest lessons were not being learned.

With just two games to go, most supporters expected JHT to be given a chance to go again after a tough first season in the Championship.

Parallels with Daniel Farke's first season in English football in 2017-18 have regularly been drawn.

But patience is in shorter supply at Carrow Road these days with new American owners keen to make their mark.