Thorup backs interim coaching duo to ease Pelach blow

Both Declan Rudd and academy manager Joe Shulburg will step up to join Thorup's staff whilst the search for a successor continues after Pelach and goalkeeping coach Paul Clements departed the club earlier this week. 

Whilst the external view may be that Pelach's and Clements' exits have caused unwanted disruption, City's boss has explained why it was natural for the club to turn to their academy for continuity as they plot a route past Watford tomorrow lunchtime. 

"I'm delighted for Narcis. That is a very big job for him and also well deserved," he said "There are no hard feelings at all. We only wish him the best, and also the two other guys joining him. 

"He has been quite open from the start, and also in a media interview before this season, that he had that ambition to go out and try to be a head coach somewhere. That means we have had the time to prepare and the time to be quite clear on what we want and how we want it to be if and when Narcis was about to leave. 

"The disruption has been very little. We have a great connection to the academy so we had a replacement from day one with the goalkeeper and assistant coach. These are guys who have been around the group from day one. 

"It is a little bit different but not too much to step into that role. They fill out those roles very good. It was an easy decision to bring them to the group, and now we have to find two replacements."

Declan Rudd has joined Johannes Hoff Thorup's coaching team on a temporary basis. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd) For Diss-born Rudd, 33, the moment is a particularly big one. The former City shot-stopper has a long association with the Canaries and Thorup has backed him to make a positive impact on the first-team group. 

"We are not talking about him as the first day or first week; he has been around the group since day one supporting Clem, the goalkeepers and being in the office," Thorup said. 

"It isn't something completely new. He is used to the way that we work and train. He is a guy with a big history at this club, and it's important we have guys like this supporting not only the coaching staff but also the playing side."