Johannes Hoff Thorup is keeping play-off chat to a minimum with Norwich City’s promotion hopes all but over.
The Canaries trail sixth-placed West Brom by eight points, with only eight games left to salvage their target of a top six finish and six teams between them and Championship play-off qualification.
They’ve gone four games without a win and claimed just one victory in their last eight, many supporters already looking ahead to next season as a result.
Head coach Thorup says he’s trying to take the pressure off his players as the campaign nears its end, with constant reminders of short-term goals a hindrance to his young side’s prospects of progress at large.
“No, not too much,” he admitted, asked if the play-offs were referenced regularly behind the scenes. “Everything we do is so much about us, how we perform and how we improve.
“It’s probably more realistic and better to set up some clear targets when you have played your system for a while and you know exactly what your role is, when you have the experience in that role.
“Talking about player profiles, I don’t think it’s the best thing in the world to put pressure on. We talk about Vinny (Reyes) playing in goal, I don’t think it would be the best thing for me to talk to him about having to reach the play-offs. That would probably not support him or help him in the best way.”
Although Thorup doesn’t believe that his current group of players are right for such an approach, he says there are circumstances in which it can work. For now, however, he’s simply focused on improving performances.
