Perhaps the most interesting moment of a 90-minute fans forum with Norwich City chiefs Ben Knapper, Johannes Hoff Thorup and Zoe Webber was a question centred around why this new era would be any different to those that have gone before.
The question was framed specifically around breaking the yo-yoing between Premier League and Championship, which one may argue has been long since shattered now, but it is an interesting question.
Knapper's blueprint, coupled with the arrival of a relative unknown in Thorup, does feel like City have hit the reset button. It has a distinct back-to-the-future feel about it.
Swap Knapper for Stuart Webber and Thorup for Daniel Farke, flick the calendar back to 2017 and a lot of the discourse, terminology, concepts and ideas are the same, which is why the pair have to prioritise delivery alongside open communication.
Maybe a need for differentiation doesn't matter. After all, it is different characters. A different backdrop. A different setting. Those here now weren't then. The familiarity is unlikely to be known to those trying to enact the changes.
But supporters have longer memories. They remember feeling enthused by the revolution led by Webber and Farke, only to watch it disintegrate after disappointment in the Premier League and poor recruitment. The German eventually departed, and ever since, it has felt like somewhat of a hangover.
Football clubs readily reset, change tact, and alter personnel. They take an approach that, in essence, hinges on winning to prove its success. The key to whether Knapper or Thorup enjoy it will depend on their ability not to be seduced by that initially.
Knapper offered an in-depth and well-reasoned diagnosis of the shortcomings that led to this point; it contained a recognition that despite the facts - a sixth-placed finish, an impeccable Carrow Road record and improved performances latterly in the campaign - there was a soulless nature to last season.
He is a different personality from Webber—more considered, less confrontational, and probably more corporate. One approach is not superior to the other—but they differ. After the Welshman smashed barriers and led change, it does feel like a more steady influence is best placed to build on the very solid foundations already laid.
There is a misconception that Norwich are totally broken. In truth, it has felt like that at points in the last two years when it comes to on-pitch performances. But there are still plenty of positive working structures, departments, and people, which means Knapper and Thorup start from a better base than their predecessors.
The challenge for Knapper and Thorup is attempting to sell this vision as something fresh rather than a simple rebadging of the project that set sail under Webber and Farke in 2017.
Underpinning that will need to be a consistency of approach, even amid any inevitable storm, that the will be a commitment to play positively, to develop young talent and to connect with a fanbase that has felt at arms length in recent times.
This is not a reinvention of the wheel or a radical fresh approach - it is a gear change, maybe even a reversal, to what has gone before at Carrow Road, but what was lost after the identity crisis that followed Farke's exit.
Knapper is a strategist. He does operate in the long term. Even when it came to swapping the head coach, he was thorough and methodical. This event felt like the first real opportunity City's football boss had to explain and expand upon his strategy since his arrival last November.
In conversations with those in the room afterwards, they cited Knapper as the best performer on the night. Every answer was considered, insightful and logical. There isn't the same forthright nature as his predecessor.
Since his arrival at Norwich, Knapper has been dubbed a data guru, but he specialises in strategy and delivery. The initial diagnosis has been completed, and now he is focusing on delivering the new process. That is guided, but not owned by, the metrics.
It isn't purely the delivery of an improved style of play or fan connection, it is developing pathways and altering culture. There are a lot of long-term answers needed to complex questions. That is a tough balance to strike in a football world that operates pretty exclusively in the short term.
That is why these postings are so pivotal - patience is required. A change of head coach doesn't solve a host of issues, time and strategy will be the key.
Consideration also needs to be taken as to the financial backdrop that this is happening against. Norwich have lost parachute payments and thus there will be a necessity to selling key talent this summer. That is a well-worn but always difficult sales pitch to make to supporters.
Losing quality, integrating young talent and yet trying to make progress is difficult. Naturally, if that is the road wanting to be travelled, it cannot come alongside lofty expectations and there has to be an acceptance of time. Perhaps the real debate is how much.
As Knapper and Thorup highlighted, there is quality in the squad. The Dane's style of play will be just as reliant on intelligence and an ability to take on board information as technical proficiency.
If Norwich can play in the way Thorup wants, it will be entertaining, showcase attacking talent in positive light and aid development. But to get to those sunlit uplands, there will be storms as players, some of them young, grapple with the new information.
Establishing a new connection is among the outcomes that Knapper and Thorup are targeting in the new Championship campaign. The hope is a strengthening of the identity, through playing style, will help forge that bond.
This forum proved there is a willingness to engage and bring people on the journey. That is something that has to remain as vibrant and constant even in the tough times amid criticism - only then will City's new era be truly tested.
Before a ball is kicked in anger, there is natural optimism and enthusiasm. The key will be retaining that through a gruelling Championship campaign.
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