Liam Manning’s Norwich City appointment was not days but years in the making for the club's sporting director Ben Knapper.
Manning’s move from Bristol City marked a homecoming for the Norwich-born, Bungay bred coach, and the culmination of a seven week process following the dismissal of Johannes Hoff Thorup.
But Knapper made it clear at Manning’s recent Carrow Road unveiling how long the 39-year-old had actually been on his radar.
The City sporting director was previously at Arsenal for a period with one of Manning’s key lieutenants, James Krause, who along with long time assistant Chris Hogg is expected to follow the 39-year-old to Norfolk once the Robins have confirmed Manning's replacement.
“He's somebody that we've been aware of for a long time,” said the City chief. “We've followed his career and I’ve got some really close connections to Liam as well, to be honest. Just a couple of staff that Liam's worked with along the way that I'd worked with at various points in my past as well. I've been aware of him for many years, even before he took a head coaching role.
"Football's a bit of a village, right? It's not the biggest industry in the world, so it's often the case. That all just helped to put Liam on my radar years and years ago, to be honest. And as I said, I’d followed him closely ever since.
"Before Bristol as well, though, the job that he did at MK as well, but last year was obviously a big step as well. It was always something that drew us to him even more.”
Pep Lijnders was in the Norwich City head coach race before joining Pep Guardiola's backroom team at Manchester City (Image: PA)
Knapper conducted a lengthy search that also included another domestic option in Gary O’Neil, and former Liverpool assistant, Pep Lijnders, as well as coaches currently working in European leagues like the Eredivisie.
City were also one of a number of Championship rivals recruiting for a new head coach in a congested summer job market.
“You have to be aware of it, because timing in this game is everything. It's always kind of in your mind, thinking of the chain effects that can happen in this game, and it's naive to be blinkered to those, because you can get blindsided if you're not careful,” he said. “Thankfully, it didn't impact us too much, and we were able to run the process that we wanted and get the outcome that we wanted as well.
“We're always running processes in the background anyway, even if we were top of the table and winning every week. It's never a case of you take that decision and then you start from zero.
“But everything played out kind of as we'd have hoped. Obviously, always challenging times, never easy to go through a change of head coach but pleased with how it went. I felt we could run a really diligent process, and ultimately, we are delighted with the end result.
“It didn't pan out the way that we'd have hoped (with Johannes), but in Liam I think we've got somebody that understands the league, knows the level and he's demonstrated an ability to over-achieve consistently in his career so far.
"And I think he's someone that plays with the sort of requisite flexibility that we need as well. That was something that we lacked a little bit last year. I think it can be a really good fit.
“Understanding how to build a culture, and the kind of culture that we want at the training ground every day. That was a big thing. The human side, to be honest, the ambition, the drive, but the humility with it as well was big.
"And then, of course, the technical side, playing style, but an adaptability within that flexibility at times of a pragmatism as well.”
Manning pledged to give Norwich fans a team they can be proud of, and Knapper insists that is also the driver at the top of the club.
“I hope that they can be excited by this and understand what we're trying to achieve,” he said. “Yes, we've got a young group, but that doesn't mean that we're happy just to meander along. We're not. That's the reason why we made the decision that we made. We understand that things take time, but still that there needs to be progress.
"There needs to be real clear progression as a team on an individual level, and we have to get results along the way. That's just the nature of this industry, and like I said, the owners have got really clear, really ambitious targets, and we've not got time to kind of waste meandering along and hope that things get better with the function of time.
“You need to have the feeling that you're moving closer and closer towards those targets. And that's why we're in this position. That's why we've recruited Liam, we believe he can help us deliver that.
"It's a big collective effort. But we're crystal clear on what we're trying to achieve, and we're looking forward to it. It's a big season, an important one, but one that we're ready for.”