'Should not be able to happen' - what prompted angry Johannes Hoff Thorup rant after Norwich's goalless draw at Portsmouth

The Canaries boss said the lack of professionalism with the timing of the decision disappointed him and that all clubs should brace themselves for ‘a whole new world’ in retrospective bans.

Skipper McLean was set to start for Norwich in the centre of midfield at Fratton Park, only for Hoff Thorup to be informed at 3pm that the Scotland international would now serve an automatic suspension for violent conduct during Saturday's 3-0 defeat at QPR.

An off-the-ball incident occurred in the 24th minute, when McLean appeared to catch Kieran R’s winger Morgan in the face with his trailing arm.

The incident was not seen by the officials at the time, but with the clash caught on camera, the FA retrospectively alleged it was violent conduct. McLean, who had just returned from a three-game ban, denied the charge. But an independent regulatory commission found it to be proven.

Venting his annoyance with the decision after Norwich were held to a goalless draw by Pompey, Hoff Thorup told the Eastern Daily Press: ‘Everyone is disappointed with how this has gone, and everyone is disappointed with the professionalism being shown in a league where we spend so many hours to be at our best and prepare players and make sure that we deliver the best possible show for travelling fans as well. Things like this should not be able to happen on a game day.

‘I’ve never had anything like that in my career. I will have to go through every Championship game to clearly find incidents in all the games. And of course, we need to appeal them. I've never seen anything like this, but they opened the door for a new strategy, a new way of working, and a new competition for us, because I expect that the same will happen to all the other teams. Otherwise, we don't compete on equal terms.

‘So I'm looking forward to what we can expect on Sunday (against Burnley), probably the team that we prepare, that we play against, will be different, because the FA will look at possible suspensions, and it will be the case for the rest of the season now the FA have decided this is the way to go.

‘They have opened the door where they can possibly go back in time and then take decisions like that, and even on game days, they can present the news to the team. A whole new world for us. So I'm looking forward to going back and watching all the Championship games tonight and tomorrow, and then find out how many suspensions there will be between now and the weekend.’