Norwich City icon calls for Johannes Hoff Thorup patience amid slow 2024-25 start | OneFootball

Norwich City have won just one of their opening five games of the season

Former Norwich City striker Iwan Roberts has urged supporters to be patient following an underwhelming start to the new season.

Johannes Hoff Thorup was appointed as the new head coach by sporting director Ben Knapper over the summer, replacing David Wagner, who departed despite taking the Canaries into the Championship play-offs last season.

Thorup has overseen just one win from City’s opening five games - drawing two and losing two.

This hasn’t been the start to the new season that Norwich fans would’ve been hoping for, especially after reaching the play-offs in the previous campaign, but they are in somewhat of a transition period, having lost both Gabriel Sara and Jonathan Rowe over the summer months.

While there is no immediate pressure on Thorup’s position at Carrow Road, a continuation of poor results over the next few weeks could bring more pressure from the terraces.

Iwan Roberts issues Johannes Hoff Thorup patience message

Ex-Norwich forward Roberts, who plied his trade for the club between 1997 and 2004, has claimed that the league table isn’t even worth looking at until 10 games have been played.

He believes that trust should be put in the process at Norwich, as performances have been better than their points tally currently suggests.

“As a player I never really took notice of the league table until about 10 games into the season, so I don’t think it's time to panic yet,” wrote Roberts, via Pink Un.

“Norwich are 15th in the Championship with five points from their opening five games, but I think it's a time for patience - performances have been better than the points tally would suggest.

“A word that's used very often in football these days is 'process'.

“When a new manager comes in, things take time, it doesn’t happen overnight and there's been a lot of change at the club this summer.”

Thorup has previously managed just one other club in his coaching career so far, enjoying an 18-month spell at Danish side Nordsjaelland.

The 35-year-old oversaw 33 victories from his 67 games in charge, leading them to a second place finish in the Superliga in 2023.

Norwich City's Championship league position

Norwich are currently 15th in the Championship table after their opening five league games.

The Canaries are already four points adrift of the play-off places, and seven behind second place Sunderland.

They earned victory over Coventry City prior to the international break, but suffered losses to Swansea City and Oxford United.

Thorup will be hoping to turn things around in the coming weeks, with the team hoping to fight for a top six finish in the Championship again this year.

Next up for Norwich is a home game against Watford on Saturday afternoon, with the two sides set to meet at 12.30pm.

Pressure will grow on Johannes Hoff Thorup if results don’t improve soon

Thorup is still in a grace period with supporters, and will be given time to turn good performances into good results.

However, if they continue to struggle for wins over the next several weeks then the pressure will really begin to mount.

Given the decision to sack Wagner was made after coming sixth last year, that does come with some pressure to deliver a strong start to the season.

It is also imperative for the club’s promotion chances that results improve, as they don’t want to fall too far behind the top six too early in the term.