Norwich Coach Thorup Criticizes Timing of McLean’s Four-Match Ban

Johannes Hoff Thorup, who took over from David Wagner as Norwich’s head coach prior to this season, has voiced criticism regarding the timing of Kenny McLean’s recent four-match suspension. This announcement came just hours before Tuesday’s Championship match against Portsmouth. According to Thorup, the club was notified at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday that their captain, the 32-year-old McLean, would be unavailable. This followed confirmation from the Football Association (FA) of a retrospective suspension issued after Saturday’s loss to Queens Park Rangers. The captain for the Canaries faced a violent conduct charge for an incident that match officials did not initially report, a charge subsequently affirmed by an independent commission. Given that this marked McLean’s second three-game suspension of the current season, the standard ban was extended to four matches. “I’m very surprised by it because it opens up a window for a completely different competition,” Thorup commented to BBC Radio Norfolk after his team’s goalless draw against Pompey. The 35-year-old Danish coach further stated: “The FA have decided this is the way they want to go. “They have opened a door where they can go back in time and take decisions like that and even on gamedays they can present the news to the teams. It’s a completely different world to us.”” He concluded: “Everyone was [surprised] but I can’t go into details – Big Brother is watching and that’s how it is.” Consequently, Norwich will be without McLean for several upcoming fixtures: Sunday’s match against Burnley, an away game at Sunderland on 21 December, and the home fixture versus Millwall on 26 December. His return to availability is scheduled for the match against QPR on 29 December. McLean’s unavailability compelled Thorup to alter his strategy for the Fratton Park game, leading to the inclusion of Chilean Marcelino Nunez in the team, a situation the Norwich manager described as “not ideal.” Thorup stated: “I don’t think I’m giving away too much of our preparation to say Kenny was part of it,” He elaborated: “But at three o’clock we needed to change that and change the line-up and bring a player – Marcelino – on to the pitch, which was not ideal for us because he’s had an injury and it’s not ideal for him to play another game so close to Saturday.” “But that’s the way it is. It’s not the way I’m used to working. It’s a new world to me and I just have to accept it.” He concluded this point by saying: “I think it’s a surprise to everyone working with professional footballers in a professional environment that things like this can happen.”