To be fair to David Wagner he did spell out this would be an uncomfortable, bumpy ride for Norwich City.

He was actually referring to the journey his players faced, when he spoke at his formal unveiling in January, to accompany him and his trusted aides down a path where intensity, energy and ‘full throttle’ football have to become second nature.

But it applies equally to the fan base, and those above Wagner shaping the direction of travel.

Each passing Championship game that lurches from elation to deflation reinforces the feeling the club have entered a period of transition. Be it in the dug out, the dressing room or even the boardroom.

With confirmation expected in due course the Mark Attanasio group have expanded their existing shareholding, following the recent general meeting, that process of change is underway. All that remains to be decided is how quickly the accelerator is depressed, and who is part of this new era set to rise over Carrow Road.

But that is for the future. In the here and now, Wagner has inherited a group of players who, if Wigan was placed alongside Burnley and Bristol City, may need considerably more time to imbibe his philosophy, and attain those demanding standards.

In all three of those Championship shut outs, City have mustered only a solitary shot on target. At best. The contrast with Preston, Coventry and Hull City could hardly be more marked.

On the better days, under this head coach so early in his Norwich tenure, he clearly has personnel who can produce. But it is the intermittent inconsistencies in performance and results, interspersed with the tastiest vintage, that checks any sense Norwich can realistically have a major say in the promotion race.

The league table tells you they can. Both in terms of games left to play, and the points gap to the top six as it stands, the statistical challenge is not an onerous one.

They retain a core of players who have been over this course and distance before. But on both previous occasions when it ended in triumph, by this stage of a season the wind was in their sails and there was a relentless momentum pushing them to the Promised Land.

What you see now with your eyes tells you different. It was visible in a desperate second half attempt to break down a spirited Latics team under new management, who finished the day bottom of the pile.

Wagner is striving to apply an alchemist’s touch to raw material he inherited and with precious little time for actual experimentation. That was the hand he readily accepted when the call came from Stuart Webber, but there is a world of difference between gazing from the outside and immersing yourself in the fabric of your new football club.

The German cut a frustrated figure at times, if you observed his obvious agitation during the second half at Wigan. Numerous changes from the bench failed to find that spark.

But for Angus Gunn’s fine first half array of saves this would have been a second consecutive Championship away defeat at one of the lesser lights. It all added further credence to the theory it will take a transfer window or two, and certainly a proper pre-season, for Wagner to fully implement his methods.

“This is the situation we have known that we will face,” said the City chief, speaking after a clean sheet draw that, in truth, felt like a retrograde step from the heights of Hull. “We didn't have a pre-season, where you have six weeks where you really can work on certain details, and you take the pre-season games to try one or other thing.

"We are here maybe five or six weeks, like a pre-season, but the games we had were pretty competitive, all of them, and very important as well. I'm really looking forward to the next one. Now it's Birmingham, bring it on, we like to perform better and hopefully we can collect the points at home on another Tuesday night at Carrow Road.

“Looking at the table, for me personally, it only wastes energy because it changes over three days. I look at the performance, which was not good enough (at Wigan) from what we expect. A clean sheet is very important, because when you don't have so much firepower available, because of injuries, you will not always be able to score five, six or seven goals.”

Wagner has the personality to galvanise a support who need something to believe in again. In pretty short order we will discover, beyond doubt, whether he has the personnel to deliver this season.

Given the increasing sense of déjà vu, perhaps it is worth recalling it took Webber and Daniel Farke three transfer windows, and a full season of Championship football that ended in a 14th placed finish behind Ipswich Town, to engineer that unexpected promotion first time around.

There will be no quick fix, on or off the park.