Preston 2-2 Norwich City: Paddy Davitt Championship pointers

1. Never-say-die

Another mad turn on the Johannes Hoff Thorup carousel. Two goals behind inside 12  minutes, both concessions the result of individual errors in a sluggish, off-colour start from the visitors. But Borja Sainz’s stabbed close range finish in the final seconds of the first half was a watershed moment.

Norwich returned with a different shape and a different mindset. Shane Duffy can hardly have scored a better goal in 300-odd league appearances. The Republic of Ireland international roamed deep into the Preston half and continued his run into the penalty area to sweep home Josh Sargent’s cut back.

It was hard to tell if the stunned silence was the Preston fans or his team mates at the unlikeliest of goalscorers in green and yellow. By the end, it was home voices whistling for full-time as Norwich pressed for a late winner.

Not to be, but to return to Norfolk for Middlesbrough’s visit on Sunday unbeaten from testing trips to Stoke and a Preston who had not conceded in three previous home games underlined again it is not just skill, but heart, powering this Norwich collective.

2. Cracking the code

Adapt or get found out in the Championship. Too many games, too many rivals and too much analysis and footage to keep anything secret for too long.

Some of the dash and verve served up so far under Thorup has felt ahead of the curve this season; Kellen Fisher in that inverted role, ball-playing centre backs, quick, incisive movement and motion through midfield.

Norwich swept away the likes of Hull and Watford at home, and melded that dash with defensive resolution at places like Derby and even Stoke at the weekend.

But the manner the Potters, under Narcis Pelach, packed central midfield areas with bodies, and the difficulty City had to break them down consistently in the second half on Saturday, will have been duly noted.

Preston were no less obdurate for long spells in the opening period, after cashing in on individual errors to get themselves 2-0 up inside the opening 12 minutes.

Norwich went in at the break having enjoyed nearly 75pc possession. Or should that be endured. Until Sainz’s predatory near post finish there was very little to show for such a weight of ball control.

Thorup’s response was a back three, and Kaide Gordon introduced at the interval as one of two wing backs, alongside Ante Crnac.

It gave Preston a different problem to solve, with Sainz suddenly operating in a new area of the pitch, and Emi Marcondes looking far more at ease in those central tracts. It also underlined again Thorup’s ability to change tack mid-game, his tactical flexibility and mental agility.

After Duffy’s majestic intervention there was another late shift, when Jack Stacey was introduced and City switched to a 3-4-3. Such invention will help ensure Thorup’s unfolding strategy retains an air of mystery for Championship rivals.

3. Fast track Emi  

The Dane cautioned it may take free transfer signing Marcondes a good month or so to get up to speed, after his recent debut from the bench against Hull. But such is the trust Thorup possesses in his compatriot it was Marcondes he turned to in the injury absence of Marcelino Nunez.

The claims of Oscar Schwartau, even Amankwah Forson, appeared more compelling but the 29-year-old was deployed alongside Kenny McLean and Anis Ben Slimane, until he inevitably tired and was replaced on the cusp of the final quarter.

In the intervening period we saw glimpses of that quality and the cleverness of his movement and peripheral vision. It crystalised in the slide rule ball that released Duffy to gallop clear, before producing the finish of a striker after an exchange with Sargent.

Marcondes was also the source of arguably Norwich’s best chance prior to Sainz’s late first half strike, when he gracefully plucked a ball out of the air and guided it around the corner for Slimane to pick out the Spaniard for a trademark whipped right-footed effort just wide of the far post.

You look at Marcondes' pedigree and Norwich have acquired a player who was a key figure in Brentford’s rise, and then consolidation in the Premier League, before a top flight move to Bournemouth.

He may have had limited game time on the south-coast, but Thorup’s connections have found a player who looks to offer something different to the metronomic passing of Nunez, or the darting threat of a Sainz.

4. Wheels within wheels

Plenty of action on the pitch this week for Norwich City. Now the focus tilts to developments off it in the run up to Middlesbrough’s Carrow Road weekend visit.

Jack Wilshere’s appointment as a new first team coach is expected to be confirmed in the coming hours.

A statement of intent from sporting director Ben Knapper to headhunt and then convince a former England international, and a highly-regarded Arsenal Under-18 coach.

Thorup stopped short of confirming Wilshere’s identity at his pre-match press call, but what he did reference was that desire to also hothouse coaching talent as much as those they are tasked with improving on the park.

Norwich are striving to build a culture of continual improvement at all levels of the football club. From the renewed focus on the academy to recruitment to embedding data at the heart of the operations to the early Championship evidence under Thorup, the evidence is stacking up.

While Wednesday’s night general meeting is expected to confirm Mark Attanasio and Norfolk Holdings in de facto control of the football club, heralding the end of Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones’s long tenure as figureheads.

A momentous transfer of power from the old to the new. The soon-to-be life presidents will remain a visible presence around Carrow Road on matchdays, but Attanasio and his group are now framing the direction of travel.

It will be evolutionary in nature, and in many aspects more of the same set in train on the football side by Knapper and Thorup.

As the Dane himself said on Monday, results and performances can ebb at this early stage of his tenure – we saw both extremes in one night at Deepdale - but the cultures and the behaviours and the laser focus on achieving that Premier League goal has to be a non negotiable lightning rod.

You can almost feel the palpable excitement from fans watching Thorup’s brand of entertainment. But there is also a renewed sense of purpose and energy driving City forward from above. It promises to be some ride.