Glen observes...

User Posted Link

I’ve lost faith” – Glen Riddersholm on sacking shock and the ‘many’ transfers Norwich City had planned

Johannes Hoff Thorup and Glen Riddersholm arrived at Norwich City in March of last year, believing they were at the start of a three year project to get the club to where it wants to be.

They didn’t last a year, with the Championship club getting rid of the pair in April, meaning they didn’t even get a third of the way into that plan.

At the end of April, Johannes Hoff Thorup spoke to the Danish media and explained they simply didn’t have enough time to have the impact expected. The manager said that everything was geared towards the long term rather than being judged over the initial season at Norwich City and it was felt that was the feeling throughout the club.

Therefore, being shown the door came as something of a shock, and the same can be said when it comes to assistant Glen Riddersholm. Indeed, he sounds even more shaken by the experience and it’s changed his outlook as he no longer believes there’s such thing as a long term project.

Speaking to Tipsbladet, Riddersholm said: “I guess I’ve lost faith in working in projects a bit. Of course, there are those who would like to disprove me with the perfect project. So I don’t rule it out, but I’ve had many different experiences myself and am therefore more clear-headed about the future. Johannes and I went into this as a three-year project and didn’t make any short-term decisions.

“We felt supported until we no longer had it. So the way of approaching a job, well, I have come to the conclusion that you simply have to prioritise the short-term to an even greater extent than I generally think you should.

“I still believe very much in the long term and that it develops the sustainable foundation that creates short and long term success. But football has become even more result-oriented. In Norwich, we worked strategically, among other things, to become dominant with the ball, score more goals, rejuvenate the team significantly and make major organisational changes that require time. I agree with Johannes that we worked long term. But I have probably lost a little faith that that time exists for a coach.”

Riddersholm believes that underlying data was evidence Norwich City were going in the right direction. There was also a lot of business being planned for the summer transfer window to address areas of concern.

“I have spoken a little with Thomas [Frank] and with other data providers about it, and on the underlying figures we performed in the Top 6. Unfortunately, we had too many injuries and far too many long suspensions for the key and decisive players over the entire season. We never managed to put the same team on the field twice in a row. And then we had a final phase in the spring where we were still thinking long-term and probably would have thought more short-term if we had known that it would be decisive for our future.

“There were many substitutions planned for the summer, according to plan. In the final phase, we suffered from missing those two or three percent to get the results in the end. Some players did not have a future at the club and that combined with being in a vacuum where you could not move up or down, so there was just that extra bit missing to ultimately get usable results.”

Posted By: DrDublin on May 23rd 2025 at 16:52:56

Message Thread

Glen observes... (NCFC) - DrDublin, May 23, 16:52:56
- Well look, both him and JHT have said enough that it's clear (NCFC) - Old Man, May 23, 22:26:19
- I agree with him. (n/m) (NCFC) - Lentil Weaver, May 23, 19:08:09
  - I agree about the project thing (NCFC) - Legacy Fan, May 23, 19:10:29
    - But they didnt play for the long term..... (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 19:13:37
      - Can’t really say they didn’t play the youth (NCFC) - Legacy Fan, May 23, 22:54:12
- Thing is Glen, if the players don’t want to play for you, it ain’t gonna work son. (n/m) (NCFC) - DH Yellow, May 23, 18:56:41
- I still like the idea of a manager’s transfer window, in that they have to stay until the (NCFC) - Augustus Pablo, May 23, 18:54:41
- With any long term project there should be key milestones where certain objectives need to (NCFC) - Ken Dodds Dads Dog, May 23, 18:31:32
  - 100% nailed it. (n/m) (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 19:07:34
- In some ways they were unlucky (NCFC) - Under soil heating, May 23, 17:50:20
  - IMHO I think their arguments dont hold water. (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 18:01:46
    - also the blubbing about the players who were leaving....... (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 18:07:59
    - Hard to argue with that tbh. (n/m) (NCFC) - Under soil heating, May 23, 18:05:50
- "I have spoken a little with Thomas [Frank] ..." (NCFC) - paulg, May 23, 17:21:25
  - Riddersholm and Thorup are both good guys .. (NCFC) - loz, May 23, 17:25:52
    - I agree they sound genuinely good guys but.... (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 17:56:47
      - They took Knapper at his word re a 3 year plan, it seems to me (NCFC) - NxNW, May 23, 18:46:51
        
        Surely nobody is that naive that there is zero re-evaluations (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 19:06:18
        
        True but re-evaluations shouldn't be a surprise. Knapper appears to have extremely poor (NCFC) - The Gaffer, May 23, 19:19:06
        
        I dont disagree, he is far more to blame for the situation than JHT (n/m) (NCFC) - usacanary, May 23, 19:26:47
      - Indeed (n/m) (NCFC) - jamesward, May 23, 18:33:32
      - Can't disagree (n/m) (NCFC) - Yellalee, May 23, 17:58:03
    - Unlucky with some injuries and suspensions (NCFC) - jamesward, May 23, 17:35:49
    - Nothing unlucky (NCFC) - SCC 28, May 23, 17:34:30
- Hmm. Who would they have played instead of those they chose to play? (NCFC) - jamesward, May 23, 17:02:24

Reply to Message

In order to add a post to the WotB Message Board you must be a registered WotB user.

If you are not yet registered then please visit the registration page. You should ensure that their browser is setup to accept cookies.