Jack Wilshere appointed interim Norwich manager | OneFootball

Jack Wilshere has been named interim head coach of Norwich City, stepping into senior management for the first time after the Championship club parted ways with Johannes Hoff Thorup.

Photo by Harriet Lander/Getty Images

The decision, announced following a 3-1 defeat at Millwall, comes as Norwich see out a disappointing campaign in 14th, with only two wins in their last 14 matches.

The move places the former Arsenal and England midfielder in charge for Norwich’s final two games of the season.

Photo via Wilshere’s Instagram story

Wilshere, who left his post managing Arsenal’s under-18s at the end of last year, had joined the Norwich staff as part of a developmental coaching pathway, working closely with Thorup and sporting director Ben Knapper, another former Arsenal man.

“Whilst 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 Knapper in a statement confirming Thorup’s departure.

Wilshere, 33, has made no secret of his ambition to take the next step in his managerial career. “I think I’ve been pretty clear with my ambition to be a head coach,” he said in February when explaining his decision to leave Arsenal. “I felt like it was the right step for me to step away from academy football.”

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His decision to join Norwich was shaped in part by Thorup’s project and style of play. “As soon as I sat down with Johannes, and Ben, but Johannes in particular, with the playing style, and what he was trying to do, and how he’s trying to bring young players through, I thought it was the perfect step for me. He’s a young coach as well, but with some really, really good clear ideas. Someone I can learn off, and we can grow together.”

Now Wilshere is left to finish what Thorup started, though there will be little time for experimentation.

The club’s play-off hopes vanished weeks ago, and with nothing but pride to play for, Wilshere’s task is to stabilise the dressing room and prepare for what could come next – for Norwich, and perhaps for himself.

His own coaching education began in the most familiar surroundings possible: back at Arsenal, the club where he came through the ranks as a teenage prodigy and made 197 appearances across a decade. “I went back to Arsenal and worked with Mikel a little bit, and he actually really inspired me (to get into coaching). The way he coached, I’d never seen anything like it.”

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta celebrates scoring their first goal of the game from the penalty spot with team-mate Jack Wilshere (right)

That return also helped shape his coaching values. “I didn’t want to step directly into first-team coaching, I am really, really passionate about development. I wanted to start there. I felt like it was a nice story as well, that’s where I started my career coming through, and just to give a little bit back to the young players. I absolutely loved it, from the first day.”

He did more than just enjoy it. Wilshere left a clear mark on the Arsenal academy, with several youth players said to be disheartened when he moved on. But for Wilshere, that decision was rooted in a desire to test himself.

This temporary assignment at Norwich offers the chance to do just that, in a setting where expectations are somewhat lower but scrutiny will be high.