Wild Swedish bonding and personalised bracelets: New Norwich City boss David Wagner's unique methods
ITV News Anglia's Andy Ward reports on Wagner's arrival at Carrow Road
Norwich City have confirmed the appointment of former Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner as their new head coach.
The move sees him reunite with Norwich's sporting director Stuart Webber who left the Terriers to join Norwich in April 2017.
Despite Webber's departure, Wagner still went to on to gain a fairytale promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs with little-fancied Huddersfield that same season, and then managed to defy the odds again to keep them up a year later.
Canaries fans will be hoping that Wagner, 51, can repeat the trick again this season but he's certainly got a big job on his hands with the club currently 11th in the Championship table, and struggling to live up to expectations.
But who exactly is the man tasked with getting Norwich's promotion dream back on track and what makes him tick?
Extreme team building
"If you are hungry, take your rod and get a fish. If you are thirsty, go to the lake and put your bottle in. If you are cold, make a fire."
It sounds like an episode from a celebrity survival show, but this was the reality that faced Huddersfield Town's players in their first pre-season under Wagner.
Having signed a whole influx of new players ahead of the 2016/17 season, Wagner needed his new team to gel quickly, so he came up with the idea of taking the squad to a tiny uninhabited island off the coast of Sweden for four days of intense bonding.
Mobile phones were banned, players had to sleep in tents, and there were no toilets or electricity.
Instead of ball work, players spent the majority of their days canoeing, with the pairings being constantly rotated so that a real togetherness could be formed among the entire squad.
"I am convinced that the better you know your mate off the pitch, the more you are able to work for him on it in uncomfortable situations," Wagner told The Guardian at the time.
"I can say now that it was a 100% success, and that is the feedback from the players, too.”
To call it a "100% success" is certainly accurate, as Huddersfield went on to win the Championship play-offs that season, despite being many people's favourites for relegation.
Absolute belief
Before Huddersfield's play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday in May 2017, all of the squad were given blue and white wristbands to wear, which had the tagline: '#NoLimits' printed on them.
The bracelets were also inscribed with the message: "We're on our way to W....", as well as each individual player's initials and squad number.
It was a bold call from Wagner, but one that ultimately worked, as his team achieved their ultimate goal.
“From the start, he told us there are no limits and he had these wristbands made for us. Every single player has one to remind them," centre-back Chris Schindler revealed.
“It was his idea, and when a coach comes up with something like that, it makes you believe in him."
A high-profile best mate
It's fair to say that Wagner and Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp go way back.
The pair met when they were both young players at German club Mainz 05 in the early 90s and remain exceptionally close to this day.
In fact, Wagner was even the best man at Klopp's wedding and he was also tasked with organising the stag do.
"In Germany, we have a Christmas market and in Mainz, they have one of the biggest Christmas markets in Germany," Wagner said to Sky Sports.
"We put Santa Claus masks on us and there were 25 Santa Clauses, because Jürgen was not able to go in the Christmas market as a normal person. But everybody recognised that here was a group to join Klopp to celebrate!"
Back then, they could hardly have imagined that they'd be facing each other in the dugout one day - as they did following Huddersfield's unlikely promotion to the Premier League.
It was Klopp who won the bragging rights as his Liverpool team won 3-0 both home and away in the 2017/18 season.
Klopp's side then won the first meeting between the two clubs the following season, before Wagner left Huddersfield in January 2019.
A multicultural upbringing
Wagner may have been born in Frankfurt, Germany, but that only tells half of the story.
His biological father was from Thailand, but his German mother married an American man before he was born.
Wagner went on to make eight international appearances for the USA between 1996 and 1998 having gained eligibility via his stepfather.
That was as good as it got for him though, and after he failed to make the squad for the 1998 World Cup in France, he never pulled on the American jersey again.
Similarities to Farke
Just like former Norwich boss Daniel Farke, Wagner was plucked from Borussia Dortmund's reserve team by Webber, who gave him his first shot in senior management.
Farke had huge success at Carrow Road, winning not one, but two, Championship titles - albeit with a Premier League relegation in between.
He also formed a real connection with the fans, something that Webber recently admitted was missing under Dean Smith.
Getting that connection back will be one of Wagner's first priorities at Norwich.
One thing Farke never did was keep a team in the Premier League, an achievement Wagner has pulled off in the past.
His last two jobs at Schalke 04 and Young Boys haven't exactly gone according to plan, but if he could get Norwich back to the top flight, and keep them there, that would certainly go a long way to restoring his reputation.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...