The transfer window slammed shut last night and ultimately ended in disappointment for many Town fans who hoped an additional striker would have been added to the ranks. Despite extensive links to a wide variety of forwards none of the rumours materialised into actual signings. From the outside it came across as an unseemly scramble to try and court multiple players that ultimately led to us getting nobody through the door.
While this transfer window will be remembered because of our inability to bring in someone to provide competition and support for Fraizer Campbell in the striker role, I thought it would be worth looking at the business we actually managed to conduct.
Arrivals – 6 new players coming through the door
The disappointment of deadline day makes it easy to forget that Town had already done a reasonable amount of business well before the deadline countdown clock started ticking. Here are some details about the six signings we made in January
Danny Grant from Bohemians
An exciting prospect that we snapped up from Irish football, he’s an attacking winger that can play any one of the front three roles but typically plays as a right-footed, left winger that likes to cut inside. Picking up a muscle injury in your first few weeks at Town is becoming as much a tradition for new signings as singing an initiation song in the hotel the night before a game. Grant has followed this trend and almost immediately picked up a hamstring strain, which is no surprise given he previously trained twice a week and will now have to put his body through training twice a day.
There’s a big step up from the top-flight in Ireland to the Championship, so it’s likely we’ll see more of Grant in the B Team than first team matches this season but hopefully he’ll adjust quickly and force himself into contention towards the end of the season.
Sorba Thomas from Boreham Wood
Another speculative acquisition, this time from Boreham Wood. He seems like a bit of a character judging from his interview when he signed and the screenshots someone put up on Twitter of him trying to seduce someone else’s girlfriend (unsubstantiated, unproven and since deleted but funny nonetheless). He’s another wideman (as well as being a bit of a wideboy) and has already impressed in the B Team with a couple of assists to set up Kian Harratt goals. He featured as an unused sub in the Bristol game too, so we may get a glimpse of him sooner rather than later.
Rolando Aarons from Newcastle
The fax machine was plugged in and had a fresh ink cartridge installed this time and we managed to finalise the deal that should have gone through at the climax of the last transfer window. We were so short of wingers that we dispensed with the usual softly, softly approach to bedding players in and he’s played every game since he arrived. He’s not played regularly for a while, so it’s no surprise that he’s been a bit patchy so far but he’s shown enough glimpses to make me think we’ve signed a goodun.
Richard Keogh from MK Dons
Many Town fans were unimpressed with this signing due to his age and the controversy he was involved in at Derby. There is a kind of logic to this signing, as he’s got the experience we currently lack due to injuries and is supposedly comfortable playing out from the back. The fact that his sloppy passing was a major factor in the goal we conceded against Stoke gives me some concern. He may also end up part of a pack of 30-plus central defenders if all our currently injured defenders successfully return from the treatment room. Elphick, Stearman, Schindler and Keogh seems like too many right-sided, experienced central defenders but I suppose it’s better to have too many than too few (just look at the strikers on our books for proof of this).
Duane Holmes from Derby
I think this was the best bit of business we did this transfer window. It’s not guaranteed to work out with Holmes but the prospects seem good. Holmes knows the club, having come up through our academy, knows the Championship and still has his best years ahead of him. While his career stalled at Derby due to being played out of position and being ultimately frozen out, it’s possible that Carlos can draw the best out of him and he could become a real asset.
Jayson Leutwiler as a free agent (after recently being released by Fleetwood)
I’ve not got a lot to say about this signing. With a bit of luck we may never actually see him between the sticks at Town but it’s a sensible signing anyway to cover us in case anything goes wrong with Schofield. He’s a cheaper insurance policy than Hamer and has the experience to support our other keepers even when he’s not playing.
Departures – 4 players leave (though 2 are only going out on loan)
There wasn’t a lot of movement heading in the other direction for Town this transfer window, mostly because our squad is so thin that we can’t let too many leave. Keeping O’Brien and Toffolo is a major boost as both look to have the ability to play at a higher level. Rumours linking Pritchard away ultimately came to nothing, so he’s now got to try and get his career back on track with us.
Ben Hamer to Swansea
I’m pleased that Hamer managed to turn around fans’ opinions of him before leaving the club. Had he gone in the summer he would have been remembered as a bit of a disaster but he gradually turned things around for himself at Town with some steady and mostly error-free performances before his bad luck opened the door for Schofield to come in and impress. It may have been more sensible for Town to keep him as cover for Schofield but I’d guess his wages were too high for us to justify keeping him on as a second-choice keeper.
Adama Diakhaby to Amiens
I’ve always tried to soften my criticism of Diakhaby while he continued to be a Huddersfield Town player but now he’s gone I think he’s genuinely the worst signing in the clubs history, particularly if you consider the amount of money we spent on both transfer fees and wages. While he was unquestionably quick, he also didn’t look like he’d ever seen a football before in many games. His first touch would look poor at any level of football and he seemed completely incapable of concentrating for 90 minutes, frequently switching off and allowing his man to waltz past him unchallenged. I don’t care if we’ve had to pay him off or cover his wages, getting him out of the club before his contract expiry is a result as seeing him in a Town kit only serves as a reminder of how badly we spent our Premier League money. I wish him well but I’d be stunned if another professional football team offers him a contract after his Amiens deal runs out.
Mustapha Olagunju to Port Vale (loan)
He did a decent job in Town’s FA Cup game against Plymouth and deserves a chance to go and prove himself out on loan. He’s got an handy combination of physical strength and skills on the ball, so it will be interesting to see how he copes with League Two football. He won’t get the same amount of time to dribble forwards as he does in youth football and will come up against more physical players but I think he’s ready for this step up and may be close to our first team not too long from now.
Ben Jackson to Bolton (loan)
Having made his move earlier in the transfer window he’s already started three games for Bolton, playing as a leftback. He started Town’s opening game of the season in central midfield against Norwich (though struggled to get himself into the game) but now seems to have reverted to left back. I really like the look of Jackson in the preseason friendlies and the range of passing he showed off, with both feet, was truly impressive. Another player that might be knocking on the door of the first team if this loan goes well for him.
TerrierSpirit.com opinion of this transfer window
The failure to sign a striker will no doubt be a stick that many fans use to beat the board with over the coming months whenever things aren’t going our way. Given Danny Ward’s body doesn’t seem able to cope with the rigours of our approach to training and Campbell’s age we’re now massively exposed and it feels inevitable that at some stage this season we’ll have no fit senior strikers available and will have to cobble together a forward line by using academy kids that aren’t ready and first team players out of position. Our dithering in the transfer market could prove costly.
It’s a shame though, had we signed a striker yesterday then it would have been a relatively successful transfer window. All the other major concerns have been addressed one way or another. We’ve got an experienced centreback, a first-team ready winger, a creative midfielder, goalkeeper cover and a couple of prospects for the B Team that could come through if they settle well. We’ve also kept hold of all our key players despite rumours linking O’Brien with a move away.
We won’t know until the end of the season whether we’ve judged this transfer window correctly. Looking at the league table, it would be easy to say that we’re effectively safe and it’s better to hold off until the summer to get busy in the market. The recent form and our lack of firepower are a concern though and we’ve failed to address it. Hopefully we’ve got enough about us to get the five or six wins we need to get to safety but it feels like we’ve gambled a bit with the underinvestment in the playing squad in the last two transfer windows. If the gamble pays off and we finish clear of the relegation zone then that’s great but things will turn ugly if we find ourselves fighting relegation again despite being in a handsome position at the start of January.
It’s just so disappointing
We are in serious trouble in my opinion, and I’m anticipating a relegation battle.
We play well we lose, we play poor we lose, we play against 10 men we can’t score.
If the Chairman has looked at numerous strikers and come up empty handed then he realises the position needs strengthening, if its down to silly demands fine, if he’s going all out in the summer then fine, if not its shambolic that we throw enough mud at the wall and come up empty handed.
The players we were looking at in all honesty aren’t required at clubs we really should be outperforming or equivalent to.
And the reason they’re not required, age, don’t score enough or permanent injury problems.
I’m pleased we didnt get the lad from Walsall I’ve seen enough of him to be thoroughly unimpressed that he would have added anything other than being a target to lump at when we are chasing the game.
We are currently stuck with 3 strikers, one is a kid who with his limited playing time although a talent for the future looks currently not on the same planet as what we have, we have another who puts himself about, dives around but can’t score, and another who may be able to score if Steve Chicken is to be believed, but is permanently injured.
Seriously can’t believe we are building a squad of seemingly never ending free transfers some if not all 30 odd year old from lower league teams most of whom are free because they can’t get on the pitch through injuries.
It’s depressing
They will lose our support, the season ticket holders won’t come back.
It PH club to do with as he pleases but he’s just a custodian in a period of time.
If we don’t have the money then so be it, if that’s did to paying our old chairman back then again so be it.
But by God there must be a better way to go about things
We’ve brought 5 or 6 in, and 1 probably is first team, im unsure the rest even strengthen the bench when everyone’s fit
Rant over
Great comment, thanks for writing it. It feels pretty bleak at the moment but we could easily win our next two games and suddenly it would all seem better. Wycombe and Luton are the kind of teams we typically struggle against but if we can find a way to win those games then the mistakes of this transfer window won’t seem as bad.
The number of players out of contract in the summer means we’ll see a much bigger rebuilding job then. With significant earners moved on too we might see a bit more ambition too. Or, the excuse might change to parachute payments have run out we need to cut our cloth accordingly and more cheap options.
And nowhere did you mention the coach. With the players available, Carlos is the wrong coach as he is unable or unwilling to vary his style of play. As you say at the beginning we lose and cannot score however we play so it’s down to the coach to adjust his playing style to the quality of players that he has got and at the moment Town just don’t have the quality. Playing out from the back is very pretty but most of the mistakes made by our defenders is down to that. They are not used to, or good enough, for precision passing. They are more used to putting their foot through the ball to clear their lines. We will continue to let in a lot of soft goals if we continue as we are.
On the face of it, it looks like the clubs strategy is solely to try and survive in the championship this season, and as a result all the former premier league ‘big earners’ will be out of contract and released. If we can get any money for them now (whatever that amount is), then we let them go straight away (Diakhaby and Hamer are examples). The others (like Pritchard) will see out their contracts and then find a club on a free transfer basis.
The problem that looms is if we go down. If we go down then salary caps come into force and we may have yet another problem to deal with next season.
My concern as a long standing town fan is why did PH buy into the club and agree the deal with DH, if he is not prepared to invest money back into the club ? To me it looks like DH has played PH big style and PH ego has seen him take on the running of the club but hasn’t the personal finances to support it in the way DH did.
I don’t blame DH for doing the deal with PH. I do though blame PH for being so naive in striking the deal with DH.
Sadly the end result of PH striking the deal with DH is signing players on free transfers (I mean would any long standing town fan have resigned Danny Ward ?) or players for small fees from lower leagues and hoping we can turn them around quickly like Karlan Grant and making a fast buck.
Can town muster enough wins (6 from 20 games) ? Let’s hope so, but I think it’s going to be a tough 4 months until we know whether the strategy adopted by PH has worked. If not then for sure Town fans will vote with their feet because they will see the clubs management (not team management) failing them and for sure Town fans are not very forgiving.
Overall I think the strategy adopted by PH and his team is poor, but unless he is prepared to back the club with his own money (and clearly we will know in due course if he has and by how much, when the next set of accounts are published ), then there is every chance Huddersfield Town could be playing lower league football in the non too distant future.
But as a long standing supporter I hope PH can look us all in the eyes at the end of the season and say he got his strategy right. From sacking the Cowleys, releasing some excellent (if not probably over paid) players, to signing over age, poor quality, under achievers or inexperienced players.
From the highs of 2017 to where we are now is just so disappointing and I fear the financial repercussions could be quite severe going forward if the club drops down yet another division.
Well not much point going over the past too much but why, after 30 days, were we scratching around hours before the window closed to sign someone and failing again. I think our “Head of Football” has a lot of explaining to do as he just isn’t doing his job.
For the future, personally I don’t feel secure with Schofield in goal. I don’t think he is ready yet and if Jayson Leutwiler is any good at all, I would like his experience in the team. Just thinking outside the box for a minute if/when Schindler/Stearman, Edmonds Green and Hogg are back how about giving 6ft 5 in Naby Sarr a run at No 9. He can head a ball, has good ball control and is pretty quick. I’m sure he would be a real handful for defenders if only from his size. Also we have an overload of wingers who will need a big man in the middle The rest of the team more or less as it is with Bacuna and Holmes maybe alternating and variation between Koroma, Aarons, Mbenza and Pritchard at the front. This is not the time to be trying out the youger players.
It would be interesting to see Sarr up front. I think he could make a nuisance of himself and he can strike the ball pretty well but his lack of mobility would most likely mean he’d not be suited to the role beyond the odd cameo when we’re chasing the game. On a similar theme, Toffolo played as a striker in youth football and could be considered (though he’s missed a couple of sitters lately).
I agree about not risking youngsters. If we win a few and are comfortably mid-table we could experiment but until then we need experience in the team.
I think we all know where we are going under the current leadership we’ve seen it all before
Old chairman takes his money back new chairman no ambition looking for cheap deals for old defenders or untried kids
We should expect nothing else I have been watching this club for over 50 years and nothing changes. I thought things had changed under Dean Hoyle but I was wrong We may survive this season but we can all see the trend we will soon yo yo between league 1 and championship
I for a chairman with money and ambition who can bring in a decent scouting set up and youth policy. Get rid of all the dead wood (Leigh Bromby)
Reading a lot of comments i have to Agree with most of Them im afraid the Manager has his hands Tied and its Obvious That Bromby and Potless Phil are pulling the strings on signings and making a pigs Ear of it they have had a week to identify a Striker not just Deadline Day they had no intention of signing an Expericened Striker and its all Down to not wanting to spend money thats why lee Gregory chose Derby his Wages most Town Fans under them we are Doomed Carlos will go onto being a Great Manager but not at Town cant wait for season Ticket Sales Get out of our club Phil and Take Bromby with you
Not just the carlos should get lost the whole board should go too Every one knew we needed a strike even from day one in the P L. WITH THAT SAID WHYDID WE GO THE WHOLE HOG WEBOUGHT OLD BOYS NET WORK BUT LEFT ONR BEHIND A GOAL SCORER NAMED RHODES
Good peace again terrier, six incomings yes but only two will play big parts for rest of season when everyone is fit, I personally think Aarons is the best closely followed by Holmes I like his trickery & ability to get down the wing then drive into the box, not sure what role Holmes will play as yet, I agree the tweaks we have done to the squad in January in & out have not been too bad along with some injuries coming back we do look in a slightly better place, yes we could win our next two games but we could also loose them & with games in hand teams below us have things could be looking very different in a couple of weeks, I know money is tight everywhere but the gamble not to get a striker in is baffling & could cost us, I hope not & hope CC can find a way of getting us converting some of the chances we are creating, we have done our business now for the season so all we can do is sit back & see it all unfold fingers crossed
I think we are treading water this year like a lot of other clubs. Campbell has been in for a lot of stick. He likes charging around making a pest of himself and the manager likes this too. Is it really fair to expect him to be in position to score a goal when he is really our first line of defense, somebody else ought to be in position if he isn’t. It’s not his fault Ward is injured all the time and he’s getting no respite. If we want him to be scoring more goals, just tell him to play like a no. 9.
A previous post has hit the nail on the head. Carlos is NOT the right man for this job, and most definitely a one trick pony that is working with a squad with too many donkeys, lame ducks and sick notes. To say the the transfer window was underwhelming is a massive understatement and as I said at the time we signed Pritchard, if we sign Championship players then that is where we will end up – and so it proved. My thoughts remain, and if we sign lower league players then that’s where we will end up. Danny Grant and Sorba Thomas will not provide the answers upfront, Richard Keogh doesn’t even fit a short term hole. Ryan Schofield appears to have had a dip in form since Ben Hamer left and I can’t see the fella we signed from Fleetwood putting any pressure on the No1 shirt. So we tread water last season and we are treading water this season so where will it all end? The club appears to be in terminal decline and I imagine it won’t matter if you are any good or not, if you are a big earner chances are you are on your way when your contract expires. What a mess!!!!
The club we love is unrecognisable to the one that last performed in the championship last time round. Will it be Ince and the Walsall boy who score the goals on Saturday, or maybe Gregory for Derby, whoever we are pretty rudderless at recruitment . Looking at sponsorship, that looks very thin on the ground, nothing draped over the seating at home matches, local butcher adorned on the shirt, where are we going? Upward hopefully my friends but don’t hold your breath.
ian here we go again carlos in my view is the right man and despite the transfer window i think its typical tpown supporters total over reaction. i am not saying we will stay up or go down but people just need to calm down things arnt perfect but not as bad as some on here and other outlets think. utt
I cannot believe the negativity here. Yes, I am bitterly disappointed that we have not signed a striker and it will probably impact on the rest of the season somehow but we have more quality in the squad than at least 3 other teams. We are not a club with huge amounts of money but I think our finances will be in pretty good order. If we are ever to threaten the PL again, we need a model that works for us. Developing youngsters is the way forward but unfortunately it is too early for many of them. We therefore need experienced players as a stopgap. I think that the recruitment team has broadly got it right. I am confident that they will have strikers identified for the summer. I don’t expect Campbell to be with us next season. So all they needed was a short term fix and those are hard to find.
If we manage to stay in the division, then this window will have been a good one with significant rebuilding to come in the Summer. I think we will be ok.
Thumbs-up emoji 🙂
I agree with Mike. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a Terrier fan disease to always look at the dark side of life (and I know that there are good reasons for that), but both this and the previous transfer window really were quite ok for the club, while last January was brilliant. It’s true that the recruitment department has messed up big time in the past, but they didn’t this time, to be fair. They’ve now managed to get rid off most of the useless-PL-signings-on-too-big-wages (to actually sell an injured Kongolo in September and to ship out Diakhaby now is impressive); the only recent “outs” I would’ve liked them to keep are Mounié and Hamer. On the “in” side this time, they managed to fill all the urgent needs by signing a left-winger, an attacking midfielder, a centre back and an experienced backup keeper. Only after having done that, it would be reasonable to scream “sign a striker”, someone who could be a targetman/poacher, which isn’t what Campbell is (nor Ward, as far as I know). And finding someone like that in January, for a reasonable price, is clearly not easy (and finding someone on a free transfer now is even more difficult, albeit not impossible). Still Town have now bee associated with pretty much all decent lower-division strikers and all out-of-favour Championship strikers. Most of those names left me totally unexcited; imho only Lukas Jutkiewicz would’ve added quality to the side (and he was probably never for sale).