Norwich City chief executive David McNally wants both Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa to remain part of new boss Chris Hughton's brains trust.

Paul Lambert's key lieutenants have been widely tipped to link up with the ex-Canaries boss at Aston Villa, but McNally is adamant they have a future in Norfolk alongside Hughton's deputies Colin Calderwood and Paul Trollope.

'They are very much part of the team,' he said. 'We had been encouraging Paul for some time to expand his team at Carrow Road and this is an ideal opportunity to do that. Ian and Gary's roles are exactly as they were, their responsibilities are exactly as they were and they will be joined by a bigger team.

'We want this football club to continue to progress – on and off the football pitch – and through the efforts of Paul and many others we have done that in the previous three years. For us it is now about tomorrow and the next day and the next season. We want to move this great football club forward and continue to improve in every aspect.'

Hughton also endorsed the new look coaching network taking shape at Carrow Road.

'In this day and age the areas you want to be able to cover, you need the manpower to do that,' he said. 'It's not just about what you do on a match day or on the training pitch, it's about helping the scouts out, it's about coaches watching games, about having a real interest in the development squad and the academy squad. Results and the games mean so much now you have to protect yourself the best way you can and make sure you're able to cover all the bases.'

McNally declined to reveal the level of compensation paid to entice Hughton and his backroom staff from Birmingham, but the former Blues' boss was the outstanding choice of the City board.

'There was no other candidate, no other interview. It was clear that he was the right man for us and we were the right club for him, in our opinion,' he said. 'Clearly we looked at the market – and the market is the UK as well as the international market – and we did that quietly as a board. We looked at the contenders and the candidates. We had a detailed period of reviewing who was available, who wasn't at other clubs and really wanting to try to find the person who could take this club forward.

'Chris joins us probably at one of the best times, financially, in the club's history. We looked at the names and Chris stood out as the outstanding candidate. We recognised that and having identified Chris we approached Birmingham for permission. We were pleased to find that they were very professional. There was some to-ing and fro-ing, but we got there reasonably quickly.'