"Massive gamble" - Danny Mills questions big Norwich City call made by Ben Knapper | OneFootball

Danny Mills admits that Norwich City have taken a big risk with the appointment of Johannes Hoff Thorup as their new manager.

However, the former England international believes that the Canaries did need to make a change in the Carrow Road dugout after the events of last season.

The 2023/24 campaign saw Norwich finish sixth in the regular Championship season, earning them a place in the play-offs.

However, despite drawing the first leg of their semi-final 0-0, they were then beaten 4-0 by Leeds United in an underwhelming performance in the second leg, ending their hopes of promotion.

That then prompted Norwich to sack manager David Wagner, with Thorup now being brought in to replace the German at Carrow Road.

Mills however, believes that the club have taken something of a gamble with their choice of replacement for Wagner.

Norwich City given Johannes Hoff Thorup warning

Thorup has signed a three-year contract with Norwich, that secures his future at Carrow Road until the end of the 2026/27 season.

Prior to taking over the Canaries, the 35-year-old's only prior managerial role had been in charge of Norsjaelland in his native Denmark.

That is a position he had held from January 2023 until his appointment as the new manager of Norwich City last month.

During his time in charge of Nordsjaelland, Thorup won 34 and lost 16 of his 67 games in charge of the club, guiding them to a second place finish in the Danish top-flight in the 2022/23 campaign.

He then followed that up with fourth place last season, in what was his only full campaign in charge of the club.

However, Mills believes it is a risk for Norwich to appoint the Dane, pointing to the example of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who struggled with Cardiff after a more successful time in Scandinavia with Molde.

When asked for his thoughts on the appointment of Thorup as a replacement for Wagner by the Canaries, Mills - who made 73 appearances for Norwich at the start of his career - said:

“I completely understand why they decided to part ways, they were way off it. When you look at the way that they played against Leeds, they were miles, miles away from it.

"They sneaked into the playoffs, and then they didn't really perform in that. So I understand that decision. They wanted more than that.

"I think they wanted a different style of football as well. More on the front foot and expected to be challenging, sort of almost guaranteed playoffs, pushing for automatic promotion. "I understand that side of it. If your remit is to do well in the playoffs and you don't that's the nature of the job. It happens. “I think the appointment is a huge gamble. Massive gamble. Unless this is a Southampton back in the day where they pulled Pochettino from left field or do what Brighton do and pull in managers out of thin air, unless they know something that we don't know about. "The Danish League. It's a huge gamble, To come to a country where you've not managed and the rigours of the championship are so, so difficult. They are so hard. Saturday, Tuesday it's relentless, the culture, everything else. It's not easy, you know, It can be very, very tough.

"Ole Solskjaer did well at Molde but struggled at Cardiff. There's a lot more doubts than there are positives, I think in that appointment."

Canaries have gambled with Thorup appointment

It does feel as though there is more than an element of risk involved with this move to appoint Thorup as manager for Norwich.

At 35-years-old, the Dane has very little experience of management in general, and of English football especially.

As a result, he is going to be facing plenty of unknowns when he takes charge of the Canaries, and it remains to be seen exactly how he will cope with them.

If he is unable to deal with what will likely be some new challenges that he will face when he takes charge of Norwich, then he and the club could find themselves in a challenging position.

That is something though, that the Canaries will want to avoid, given their aims will surely be to build on their run to the play-offs from the 2023/24 campaign.

Consequently, those expectations and the fact that others may be concerned about his lack of experience, means the pressure and scrutiny is likely to be on Thorup from the start.

With that in mind, it does feel as though it is essential that the Dane starts strongly at Norwich, or this could quickly become a gamble that does not pay off for the Canaries.