Huddersfield Town kick off their season against Preston North End on Saturday in the Carabao Cup. While many will feel the season doesn’t properly start until the following Saturday when we play Wimbledon at home in League One, it feels like a season preview really has to come before the first competitive game.
I’ve already written my optimistic season preview, which you can read by clicking this link. This is the doom and gloom look ahead to the upcoming season. The truth is that nobody really knows how Huddersfield Town fans should be feeling ahead of this season. There are definitely some reasons to be hopeful but, equally, there are some pretty obvious concerns going into this season too. In this article I’ll investigate some of those concerns.
We have a bloated and mis-shapen squad
Plenty of fans of League One teams would dream of having too many players in their squad but it’s actually a problem for Huddersfield Town. Rather than having a nicely balanced squad, with competition for every place without too much duplication, we’re the opposite. Town’s squad reminds me of a home-knitted jumper, which is too short in the arms but far too baggy around the middle. We’ve an overabundance of central defenders and central midfielders but a worrying lack of wingers.
The other issue is that despite having Ledson, McGuane, Kasumu, Kane, Brierly, Iorpenda, Evans, at a push Harness and Vost in the academy capable of playing in central midfield, we’re still lacking a player that can control the game in the middle of the park. Kane can arguably fill this role but has question marks over his ability to cover enough yards. Brierly looks promising but from the friendlies, he looks more like he wants to run forward with the ball rather than dictate play, more of a Lewis O’Brien than a Mooy. So we’re overstocked in midfield but are still missing a player to knit everything together.
The fact that we signed a central defender yesterday, in Bowat, also suggests that the combination of Balker, Low, Whatmough, Wallace and Roughan were deemed to not be able to cover the central defensive positions despite all five most likely expecting to play plenty of minutes this season.
Martin Drury was unfortunate to take over a squad full of failures that are sitting on contracts that few other teams will be interested in buying from us. So the much-needed overhaul of the squad has not been possible this summer. Which means fans have to do the mental gymnastics required to think we can expect anything different from more or less the same group of players.
We have an inexperienced manager… again
The early signs look positive for Martin Drury as Huddersfield Town manager but we’ve been here before and we know the drawbacks that come with an inexperienced manager. Lee Grant had an excellent reputation before coming to Town and talked a brilliant game. The problem was that we saw his high-minded ideals crumble in real time as his unshakable self-confidence quickly morphed into delusion as he failed to get a tune out of his expensively assembled squad (transfer fees might not have been huge but he was allowed to bring in players on decent wages).
I spoke in my optimistic season preview about the potential upsides of Drury as manager but it’s also worth remembering that even Drury himself doesn’t know how things will go for him because he’s not managed a club this size before. Can he cope with the pressure? Is he flexible enough tactically to not be outfoxed by other managers? Will he be tough enough to maintain discipline but liked enough to get the players playing for him? Can he cope with criticism?
All of the above questions would apply to any new manager at Town but the problem is that there’s no track record to hold up to justify picking Drury. So if Town don’t get off to a good start in the league then he’ll be under pressure straight away. And we’ve seen that Kevin Nagle can be quick on the trigger if fans turn on a manager.
The transfer business feels risky
After two previous summers where we’ve invested pretty heavily in the playing squad, this summer feels a bit more like balancing the books. Some of our signings have potential to be very useful additions to the squad but there’s a question mark hanging over all of them.
Here’s my, admittedly very critical, concerns about this summer’s new signings:
- Ashley Fletcher – A very solid looking signing but you could argue that he’s only had two good seasons despite being in his late twenties. I’m also a bit worried that a big, awkward lump of player like him said he didn’t see himself as a target man in his first interview and talked about liking the ball into feet. He’s proved this right with some lovely intricate footwork around the edge of the box during the friendlies but I’d still rather see him bulldozing defenders and flinging his elbows around.
- Derensili Sanches Fernandes – He’s got a very impressive YouTube highlight reel but when you dig into his stats, he’s a very streaky player. He has long runs of not producing much and then suddenly scores goals in a glut. Maybe we can get him to be more consistent but our record of improving players we sign in recent seasons has been poor. Add to that the fact he’s got to adjust from the more gentile Netherlands style of football to the blood and thunder League One style and it’s not certain he’ll fulfill his obvious promise.
- Ethan Brierly – Looks tidy on the ball and decent going forwards but I’m not convinced he’s robust enough to win many midfield battles. Paired with a midfield enforcer, he may be fine but I worry that he’s a bit lightweight and we’ve previously stated our ambition to bulk up our on-field presence this summer.
- Ilias Bronkhorst – Have we just signed him because he’s friends with Fernandes? Is he like Jimmy Five Bellies was for Gazza? (Sorry to younger readers who may not get that reference.)
- Ibane Bowat – Played fewer than 20 games last season, missed the previous season due to injury and doesn’t have a great deal of experience prior to that. Could be good but I’m surprised we’ve signed someone that’s already had a significant injury so early in their career. Perhaps there’s no additional risk but we’ve previous experience of signing players with a bad injury in their recent past and that approach has generally ended up with another body in the physio’s room.
- Matty Young – A well-regarded young keeper coming in on loan as our first choice keeper. That never goes wrong. There’s not a single example of this approach failing in our history. Apart from last season with Goodman. If you don’t count that, then this approach never fails. Being serious, with Goodman we at least had Nicholls waiting to come in as a steady pair of hands. Both Alnwick and Tzanev struggled last season when they deputised for Nicholls.
Add to the above concerns the fact we’ve loaned Alfie May out for the season and it could be that we’ve let our best player go. Admiteddly, May had a poor season last campaign but prior to that he’s been very good at this level for a number of years. That feels like another bit of business that we’ll look back on with regret. I just hope we’ve got a recall clause in January if he’s back among the goals.
Preseason had some worrying trends
Everyone knows not to draw too much into preseason games, particularly the results from the games. But with that said, there were some consistent issues that I find a bit troubling. Here’s a quick run down:
Giving away too many penalties – We conceded far too many penalties in our friendlies and mostly due to the same kinds of mistakes. A few were the kind of overly exuberant defending that leads to bundling players over from behind. Others were defenders desperately scrambling trying to correct the next issue…
Sloppy passing out from the back – Modern football requires defenders to have more of the ball then they used to and it’s expected that they are comfortable absorbing pressure from the opposition. In several games this preseason we’ve made a habit of coughing the ball up to the other team in the worst areas of the pitch. This is nothing new at Huddersfield Town but it’s a habit that will cost us dearly if we take it into the new season.
Lacking creativity in the final third – The Blackburn game was an exception, as I thought our attacking play was decent against them, but in other games we looked a little bit short of ideas about how to build up attacks. I think we’ve improved in getting the ball out of our own half quickly and with purpose but most of our best chances have been coming from early balls forward or forcing mistakes out of the other team’s defenders. When we work the ball up the pitch and enter the final third, the players often look like they’re hoping someone else is going to do something to break open the opposition. Maybe Fernandes will be that player to find those cracks but we can’t pin all our hopes on one player.
Joe Taylor’s finishing – I feel bad singling out one player but it’s only because I know that Taylor has potential to be absolutely lethal for us but he’s struggled in front of goal this preseason. Despite showing he can score regularly in a pretty poor Wigan team last season, he’s reverted back to his previous Huddersfield Town form this preseason, with a glut of decent chances spurned. He looks like he’s trying to kick the leather off the ball every time he gets into a striking position, leading to most of his attempts ballooning harmlessly out of play. If he calms down a bit when he gets a chance, his natural finishing ability will take care of the rest.
League One looks trickier this season
It’s really hard to predict how strong a league will be before a ball is kicked in anger but this upcoming season looks like it’ll be more competitive than last season. Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester are both expected to bounce straight back up, and are both big clubs for this level. If you speak to a Sheffield Wednesday fan for five minutes it’s inevitable they will tell you how massive they are.
Luton had a very strong finish to last season and seem to have worked out what is required of them in League One. Stockport have been close to promotion for a while now but not quite managed it, maybe this will be the season they step up.
Teams like Plymouth, Bradford and MK Dons are all being tipped for decent seasons too. Not that preseason predictions count for very much. The point is that there are quite a lot of teams with high expectations for this season and only three of them can get out of this league this season.
The tamping down of expectations by the management at Huddersfield Town has been notable this season. While Kevin Nagle does have a habit of making big, ambitious statements, I think even he knows that the important thing this time around is to let our football do the talking and not worry too much about setting specific targets. Particularly when the stronger league could lead to an improvement on the pitch not leading to promotion if some of these other teams get their act together too.
Is it really looking this bleak?
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so uncertain about a Huddersfield Town season as this one. There are reasons to be optimistic, as I wrote about in my other preview, but there are also plenty of question marks and red flags hanging over the club.
A couple more key signings and a positive start to the season would do a lot to settle the nerves. If the opposite happens and we struggle early on and don’t fill in the gaps in the squad then we could easily be shopping for a new manager before Halloween.
My guess at this stage is that we’ll see a notable improvement on the pitch this season. We might not always win but I think we’ll see a Huddersfield Town team that plays with more determination and commitment. So at least when we don’t get the result, we’ll at least feel like we’ve watched a team that has tried. That might sound like a low bar to set for them but it’s a bar they’ve not cleared in the last few seasons.
If this article has made you feel miserable, I’d suggest you check out my optimistic preview to make yourself feel a bit better.
Excellent previews both, TS. Thank you. The image that will stick in my mind is that of the misshapen “home-knitted jumper”, and I totally agree. Surely those within the club see the same? Maybe there’s some more transfer activity to come? The shedding of one or two central midfielders and a centre-back combined with the signing of a winger, maybe a loan signing, that would make that jumper almost be fit for purpose.
I’ve watched 4 of the pre-season friendlies; not great value for money but I couldn’t resist the temptation. The one conclusion I’d draw is that it’s still not clear to me what formation our inexperienced manager is trying to play. That’s a bit of a concern. And players I thought would be ‘preferred starters’ don’t seem to be by the time pre-season ended. I was convinced that McGuane and Iorpenda would be in the line-up but weren’t; and I thought it would be 2 up front with Taylor combining with Fletcher; but seemingly not. So, like you, I go into my 63rd season as a Town supporter scratching my head. But always starting with Hope!
I might be wrong but memory tells me that the fixture list was fairly tough at the outset last season but Town faired pretty well. I reckon the fixture list is much kinder this season, many opponents where Town at least ought to be operating on the front foot with quite a bit of the ball. Those first half-a-dozen matches should be revealing.
Thanks Simon. I think the people behind the scenes will be painfully aware that the mix of the squad isn’t right but are limited by the players that are surplus being sat on decent contracts. It may be that we cut our losses and loan a few out to cover a fraction of their wages for the ones that are unlikely to play.
You’re right that the formation has changed quite a lot even within games this preseason. My guess is that Drury likes to tinker with the shape of the team regularly instead of sticking to one system relentlessly. David Wagner had Town playing their best when it was 4-2-3-1 every week, as every player knew exactly what they should be doing and where to expect the others to be stood too. Corberan tended to make dozens of adjustments every game, communicated through frantic hand flapping. Either approach could work but I sometimes wonder about the average football players ability to take onboard complicated instructions. I suspect some just zone out and do what they want anyway.
Many successful teams are managed by 2 people. Jackson and Yorath, Warnock and Jepson, Clough and Taylor, the Cowleys to name a few. Town now have Drury and Stead but I don’t see any reference to Stead in any blogs even though they combined to manage the last games last season and will continue this season. Drury is the name at the top but he is only half of the head coach team.
During the caretaker spell Drury and Stead were co-managers. I got the impression that each individually put their hat in the ring for the sole head coach position and Drury was picked. So Stead will most likely have a lot of influence but Drury is clearly the one in charge. Alan Knill is also likely to have a good amount of input given his experience in the game too. From the outside looking in, Stead looks like the one that will put an arm around players and Drury is the one that will give them a rocket when required, so each compliments the other.
Are there any loan signings planned?
Hi Martin. I think our only loan signing so far is Matty Young in goals, so there’s scope for more loanees to come in. Unfortunately, we’re further down the food chain these days, so have to wait for the Premier League teams to decide who they’re keeping and then the most sought after players will go to lower Premier League, Championship and European clubs. So I’d guess it’s tricky to find players that are significantly better than our own academy products that parent clubs are willing to send to us. Though we did alright with Castledine last season, so maybe Chelsea will give us another or their top prospects.