New Canary chief scout John Deehan probably gave the best insight into why the new-look management team at Colney might just 'click' – and that's before 'Sparticus' added his presence to the Canary dressing room.
For with ex-Canary club captain Ian Butterworth still reported to be very much on Bryan Gunn's radar as his new No2, so the Canary goalkeeping legend could add a little steel to an already intriguing mix of individuals.
At its head, of course, is Gunn himself. And for those who have already started to fret as to whether his halo could slip should the beast of football turn against him, so Deehan offered words of encouragement.
“He's hewn out of really tough stuff – I'm led to believe he's from even further north than Aberdeen, so he'll know how to survive that's for sure,” laughed the former Birmingham City scout – as he gladly stepped into Gunn's own, old role of player recruitment in last week's Class of 93 reunion.
And having been at Mike Walker's side in those glory, glory days of Munich and Milan and, indeed, having been in the manager's chair as relegation came a-knocking as the regime of Robert Chase started to totter and fall, he knows exactly what makes 'The Gunner' tick.
And, likewise, what life has already thrown at him.
“I think he's a fantastic character – when you hear him speak he's clear, he's concise and he's going to be good for the players,” said Deehan, well aware of his own, mentoring role within the new set-up.
Experience is the biggest chink in Gunn's armour; not necessarily on the man-management front. He's been running departments in Carrow Road for the last decade and successfully getting people to work for him there; nor does the Francesca Gunn Appeal raise over ?800,000 without a charismatic figure at its head.
But there will be the odd, football occasion that might catch Norwich's new boss off-guard; unawares. And that's where the 51-year-old Deehan can step into the breach.
“There'll be situations that he'll have never found himself in before and that's when I would expect him to come to me for a little bit of advice on this situation or that situation – or something similar with this player or that player. And that's the purpose of me being here – as well as being chief scout.”
Whilst everyone sits and waits for the chairman of Hartlepool to play ball over the arrival of Butterworth, the third musketeer is already back in the country and back out on the training ground after Ian Crook jetted in on Friday from his role as 'high performance director' with Newcastle Jets in Australia.
His appointment, Deehan hopes, should open up whole new avenues for the Canaries to explore – be it either in terms of player recruitment Down Under or, more immediately, new coaching ideas and methods that the former Canary playmaker has honed and perfected over the last years. Albeit on the other side of the globe.
“If he takes them up to Cromer beach on Monday morning surfboarding I might be saying: 'I don't think that's a great idea, but I'm sure he's going to have different ideas to that.
“He's worked with some of the best players in the world. I've just been looking through his CV – and it's fantastic. And there might even be a little bit more for me to learn!”
One thing neither new face will have to learn is just how much football matters in this corner of the world; that for the 'Norfolk Nation' – just as much for someone's beloved 'Geordie Nation' – Carrow Road is where the faithful go to worship every Saturday.
Sunday is reserved for telling players and managers a like just how well – or otherwise – they did the day before.
“It's a unique area because of the geographical position of the football club,” said Deehan, who like both his managerial colleagues had children born and schooled in the city – be it either during his five-year spell as a player or his second spell as first coach and then manager.
“And if you do play here, then basically you've got to come and live here and in doing that you can, I think, create a very good team atmosphere in the dressing room – that you've got that one cause that you're all looking to work towards. One mentality.
“We're playing for Norwich; the supporters are all behind us; and I know that if I go and take my family out tomorrow, I'm going to go out for Sunday dinner; I'm probably going to bump into some supporters – and they're probably going to tell me how I played during the game.”
The big reunion comes, of course, on Tuesday night when Southampton arrive for what promises to be a right old Canary occasion on the banks of the Wensum.
It could, very easily, be one of those special nights for the Norfolk club.
And that's what Deehan's looking to deliver – more nights for the supporters' scrapbook.
“That's what we've got to aim for for the rest of the season – a lot of happy memories. Not just for the players, but for the supporters as well,” said Deehan, speaking as he signed in for a third tour of duty last week.
“And if we can get a vibrant team atmosphere within the camp that will take us a long way to getting the points that we need.”
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