1 week Ago
Jack Wilshere knows he has it all to prove to convince Norwich City fans, players and sporting director Ben Knapper he can step up as head coach – with a little help from kitman Pete Dye. Wilshere’s two-game interim spell upon replacing Johannes Hoff Thorup started with a battling 0-0 Championship draw at play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough. The current first team coach has one more match to press his claims at home to Cardiff on Saturday, and he is ready for the challenge.
“Honestly, I loved it,” he said. “I'm really fortunate to have the support from everyone. I felt that all week.
Support from the staff here, top to the bottom, not just Nick (Stanley), not just Tony (Roberts), but they've been amazing as well. But all the staff, and there was a real togetherness. "And, yes, I was the one standing at the front, but it's been a week where we've all come together to make decisions and try and come together to produce a performance like we did.
“My ambition from when I started coaching was to be a coach. I didn't want to take the step before I thought I was ready to impact at this level. It took, probably, two and a half years, and I was okay with that, and I can still improve, and I'm still hungry to get better and learn different things, but I feel like I'm ready.
“You know that feeling when you are stood there and people are looking at you, and probably rightly so some people are asking, ‘How's he going to do? What's he going to speak to the players like?’ But I didn't feel any of that sort of pressure. And the players have been brilliant. "The staff have been brilliant.
We just need to keep going like this. This is, for me, the level of desire, of mentality that we need when we step into games, and then we all know the quality we've got in the team.” Wilshere revealed the role City’s long-serving kitman, Dye, played in his pre-match planning.
“He did the last speech before the players went out,” he said. “When you talk about unity, you look at people in this club, and this club is full of good people, and someone like Pete, who's been there, he really cares, like this is his life, that was important for the players to hear that, and it worked. With the emotions of this week we needed a little bit of inspiration and Pete gave us that.
“Friday night was nice (at the hotel). We sat down as staff. We planned a few different scenarios that could happen in the game, just to give us some real clarity going into the game and clear heads that we know we'll get if something happens that we can be ready for that.
"Saturday morning, woke up, did a little 3k run, getting ready for (the London marathon). And then we had a set piece meeting, sat down with the players, had a little bit of lunch, and I delivered the team talk, and the team obviously, and the game plan.”.
