David Wagner is poised to accept the challenge to lead Norwich City’s stab at Championship promotion.

Wagner knows the scale of the task after he previously guided Huddersfield to the Premier League via a play-off final win at Wembley.  

The man identified as Dean Smith’s successor is expected to officially be confirmed once the formalities around a work permit process are completed. 

The 51-year-old has spoken before about his footballing philosophy, faith in young players and thoughts on the Championship. 

This is what he had to say on his first day in the job at Huddersfield Town, when he was headhunted first time around by Canaries’ sporting director Stuart Webber. 

What is your footballing philosophy? 

It is very easy. I am sure you have seen Borussia Dortmund (when Jurgen Klopp was in charge) and this was exactly the type of game I prefer. I prefer passion in the game, I like speed, I like to score goals. Everybody knows the ‘full-throttle’ event that we try to create. In Germany we call it ‘gegenpressing’.

That means speed in our game, working hard for this. To do this you need a lot of big fitness. I know this is possible on every level. We did it on the second team at Dortmund, we did it with the first team.

When Jurgen was at Mainz, we did it there. It of course depends on the players you have but you can create this style in every team. What you need is players who are open-minded with the right mentality.

The first part of the new chapter is we have to work hard and take it from there. The mentality is very important and you hope that is already within a team. If you have to build up that mentality it is much more difficult.

We have to open their minds to embrace new things, but not everything is new. It is football. It is an easy game. You play on a green pitch, one goal you have to defend, the other goal you have to attack.

So keep things simple. But at the end bring the right information to the group and the squad that they can change a little bit of their style to play   

Talk about your reputation for trusting young players 

Yes, of course, I am fan. I like to work with young players, but we have to bring experience as well. If a young player has no experienced players to lean on, it is difficult for them. The most important thing is not the age, but that they are ready to go. This is what we have to build up.

Maybe I am a little bit braver to bring in young players than other coaches. But I only like to bring in young players when they are ready. I don’t bring them in when I am not convinced.

But what I can say is in the past I do not get disappointed by young players. They can only get experience when they play.  

Your impressions of the English Championship? 

A very tough division. Everybody can beat everybody. When I have seen the results in the past the result does not depend on whether you are at the top or the bottom.

In that regard it is similar to the second division in Germany. Some games will depend on the key points, you need a little bit of luck. It is a powerful game in the Championship. 

The dynamic with your long time assistant, Christoph Buhler 

More important than being good friends is to be honest with each. If you can do that it is better, and the most important thing is we have the same ideas on football. 

Buhler: I met Dave playing in the same team (in 2002). Then he was with Hoffenheim and their under-18 and under-19s and we worked together since. Apart from a few short breaks.

I am his right hand. We have a friendship also, but my job is to help him win games.