Johannes Hoff Thorup drops Norwich City, Jack Wilshere revelation | OneFootball

Johannes Hoff Thorup has spoken about the events that led the current Luton Town boss to become his assistant at Carrow Road

Jack Wilshere has already got his first taste of silverware as a manager, as his Luton Town side were victorious in the EFL Trophy final, defeating Stockport County 2-1.

The former midfielder, who won two FA Cups and a Community Shield during his time at Arsenal, has had a tumultuous opening six months to his senior management career as he managed the lofty expectations of a Luton side who were back in League One just two years after playing in the Premier League.

And, while it's taken him a little longer than many may have ideally hoped to get into a groove, the Hatters are starting to hit their stride late on in the campaign, currently in the midst of their longest unbeaten run this season with a trophy to their name and, possibly, a late surge at the play-offs up ahead.

Regardless of the outcome of the coming weeks, Wilshere's first half-season in management has thrown up more positives than negatives, and his former boss at Norwich City, Johannes Hoff Thorup, isn't surprised at the 34-year-old's step-up into being the main man in the dugout.

Johannes Hoff Thorup reveals why he brought Jack Wilshere to Norwich City

One year on from his time at Norwich coming to an end, manager Johannes Hoff Thorup broke the silence on what he learned from his time at Carrow Road on the official SK Rapid podcast, the club he's been in the post at since late December.

He spoke about how important it is to assess the current coaching staff at a football club, left behind after the former boss leaves, but also in bringing in new people who are aware of how he wants to work and how he wants his sides to play.

One of those new members of staff was Wilshere, who Thorup brought to the club in October 2024, departing his role as the Under-18s boss at Arsenal to take up an assistant role in the EFL. The 34-year-old always had the manager's role in his eyeline, but, according to the former Canaries boss, he wanted to spend some time as an assistant first.

"He wanted to be a head coach. The reason why we took him to Norwich was that he felt it was a little too early in his career to be a head coach at senior first-team level," he said.

"He was head coach at the academy at Arsenal, but he wanted to be an assistant at first-team level and see how that works before stepping into a head coach role.

"He was also very clear that this would probably be his first and only job as an assistant coach. So, if the timing was right, and he could get a job as a head coach, he wanted to do that."

When Thorup was sacked in May, Wilshere was placed in charge on an interim basis for the final two games of the Championship campaign, picking up four points in games against Middlesbrough and Cardiff City.

Unfortunately for him, Norwich made it clear that he wasn't going to be considered for the job permanently, which led him to leave the club. In October, he'd make the move to Luton.

Johannes Hoff Thorup's revelation highlights Jack Wilshere's drive - Luton Town fans can be encouraged

As Thorup said, Wilshere was determined to become a first-team manager sooner rather than later, but understood his need to serve his time as an understudy before diving in headfirst to the first job which came available to him.

After a short time as an assistant, the 34-year-old was evidently ready to make his mark as the number one, refusing to stick around to be part of the coaching staff at Norwich to whoever the Canaries chose as their new head coach in the summer.

This determination can only be a positive thing for Wilshere's career and Luton's trajectory, as, while the relatively inexperienced manager hasn't gotten everything right during his six-month reign at Kenilworth Road thus far, he has that passion and drive to improve.

And while it may have taken him until the final months of the campaign, his Hatters side is finally starting to string a strong run of results together, culminating in success at Wembley last weekend.