Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. An iconic quote from Mike Tyson but at least, in a metaphorical sense, a sentiment that might encapsulate the mood around Norwich City.

The countdown to a new Championship season is underway. A campaign with a new head coach, a new playing style and a sporting director driving the Canaries in a new direction; one where data informs every area of the business.

Faith in youth and the promise of a brand of exciting, possession-based football built on chance creation and entertainment whets the appetite.

But City’s patchy pre-season progress on the pitch curbed some of that rising enthusiasm. Results are irrelevant, but as the scales tipped away from fitness some of the later performances left more questions than answers. Thorup acknowledged as much after the St Pauli finale.

All set against a transfer backdrop that has seen Gabby Sara depart, Adam Idah wearily touted with Celtic and the farcical late show in Austria, and now Jon Rowe reportedly on Leeds’ radar.

Distractions Thorup and his coaching team could do without.

Then add the fitness dimension which has seen headline summer signing Jose Cordoba play less than 15 minutes of pre-season, after joining his new club following the conclusion of Panama’s run to the Copa America.

Add the waiting game before Callum Doyle could arrive at Colney at the start of this week, on loan from Manchester City, and little wonder this remains a voyage of discovery and still a leap of faith for many City fans.

Patience and ‘building for the future’ are admirable clarion calls, but two fitful outings at Carrow Road against Magdeburg and St Pauli, followed by Sara’s exit, did little to shake the belief plenty wait to be convinced.

Norwich City were punished defensively for some big mistakes against St Pauli in their final pre-season friendly (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

But the evidence is there, and with each passing week one hopes Thorup’s approach becomes second nature and intuitive to his evolving squad.

Cordoba, Doyle and Ben Chrisene have arrived. Dimi Giannoulis, Sam McCallum and Ben Gibson departed at the end of last season. On one level a visible representation of that lowering the age profile Knapper identified very early in his tenure as sporting director.

But on the other a trio specifically recruited to fit Thorup’s template, and the demands he places on defenders to build the play as well as handle one versus one situations, and be equally comfortable defending large tracts of space, as City seek to condense the pitch in possession.

In the gap between Thorup’s vision and his footballing principles is the current reality. Shane Duffy and Grant Hanley are needed, and their experience perhaps valued in this early transitional phase of the Thorup era.

But the sight of Duffy and Hanley operating in tandem against St Pauli, while Jaden Warner and Brad Hills deferred, jars with the stated aim to develop pathways and give young players opportunities.

There is an easy counter for Thorup here. Look at the exposure a teenager like Gabe Forsyth got in pre-season. Or the sense Kellen Fisher has moved up the pecking order and Liam Gibbs could be a beneficiary of Sara’s departure. The signs are there, both in personnel and playing style.

In those home friendlies against German opposition Norwich’s start was vibrant, front footed and infused with a speed of thought and forward thrust. But some of City’s defensive work this summer was no less flawed than Thorup’s predecessors.

Hardly a surprise given the Dane spent the opening weeks of pre-season focusing exclusively on Norwich’s attacking profile, rather than any concerted shape work out of possession. But any who have familiarised themselves with his 18 months or so in charge of FC Nordsjaelland would surely have realised this is a coach who is pragmatic as much as he is philosophical.

He might favour youth, but he knows the value of experience. He might want to create chances and score goals, but he is not naïve to the requirements of finding a solid rest defence, and a robust structure for a Championship that is relentless and unforgiving.

There is a plan coalescing around Thorup and Knapper. But to paraphrase Tyson there is a sense City’s fan base may have to navigate some painful moments and accept some faltering steps.

That should be a given when you consider the task being undertaken. The great unknown, before a ball is kicked for real at Oxford, is how long it could last.