Drury’s promise, The Dribble King, exciting youth and unfulfilled potential – A positive preview of Huddersfield Town’s 26/27 season

Huddersfield Town kick off their 26/27 season against Preston North End at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, in the Carabao Cup. The whole thing is a bit odd, playing at a neutral venue because PNE’s pitch isn’t ready, a league cup game on a Saturday and it being the season opener. But at least it will be a return to competitive football for Huddersfield Town after a summer break that was just about long enough for me to put last season’s disappointments behind me and start with a fresh sense of (cautious) optimism. 

As has been the tradition on this blog for many years, I’m breaking my season preview into two halves. This first one is the positive, sunny-side-up look ahead at this season. A more pessimistic (and historically speaking, more accurate) preview will follow soon. If you want to get emails to let you know when new posts go up, please subscribe to my mailing list (there’s a sign up form at the bottom of the page on mobile or on the right on desktop). 

Here’s why I’m hopeful this could be a good season for Huddersfield Town.

The “Dribble King” has arrived in Huddersfield

By far the most eye-catching of our summer signings has been Derensili Sanches Fernandes. I’m hoping we truncate his name, because it’s too long to type. For now I’ll call him DSF (though it’s inevitable this will morph into DFS, then just simply: sofa). While it’s unfair to put too much pressure on a new signing, who’s not yet played a single minute of competitive English football, I’m pinning all my hopes on him to single-handledly guide us to promotion. 

DSF has arrived from the top-flight Netherlands outfit Excelsior for a “significant fee” that the club didn’t specify in detail but I’d guess is high six figures or just tipping over a million. Excitingly, he’s an actual winger and a good one at that. There are encouraging stats but I’m most excited by him being referred to as “The Dribble King” by the Dutch media. In recent seasons the only dribbling you’d get in the Accu Stadium would be down the chins of the old folk in the Riverside stand, nodding off as we tap the ball around the back line. 

After two consecutive years of barely playing with wingers, I’m hoping this signing will mark a change to a more attacking approach, where wingers actually take on fullbacks and get the ball into the box from wide areas. DSF will hopefully play a large part in this switch to a more exciting brand of football.

Martin Drury could be an excellent young coach

All the nice things I can say about Martin Drury now are exactly the same nice things I said about Lee Grant at the start of last season. So while I’m genuinely optimistic about Drury, it’s hard not to remember how Lee Grant’s good ideas withered in the face of League One reality. The same could be true of Drury too. 

This is the optimistic preview though, so it’s worth remembering that sometimes taking a risk pays off. There are some factors that encourage me with Martin Drury too. Firstly, I liked what I saw of him during his caretaker spell last season. We played a more attacking type of football, he got a team low in confidence playing again and his ideas about how to play made complete sense when he explained them to the media. The results weren’t reflective of the quality of the football we produced and with some better game management, he could have got us into the playoffs. So with a few small tweaks and recruitment, it’s not hard to imagine Town being far more difficult to play against in the coming season.

While I’m sure he has his own ideas about how he wants to do things, Drury feels very similar to Carlos Corberan in his approach (no surprise, given Drury was his assistant at West Brom and Valencia). This Corberan-style approach should mean a fanatical attention to detail, insisting on high standards and a high-intensity style of play. If he delivers on these things then the squad he has available could easily shift from underperformers to a team capable of competing at the top end of the league.

The fun factor is a clear priority for the club

Both Michael Duff and Lee Grant came in as new Huddersfield Town managers and promised front-footed attacking football and then both retreated to stodgy approaches that valued control over creativity. Liam Manning seemed to be going through a similar journey before he left too. All the messaging coming from the club lately has been an acknowledgement that it’s been hard to watch Huddersfield Town in the last few seasons (or maybe a whole decade if you were going to go back through history). 

I have a feeling that Martin Drury may actually stick to his guns and play attacking football even if there’s a temptation to revert to a more cautious approach. While I doubt we’ll play like Kevin Keegan-era Newcastle United, I’d happily take a few 4-3 defeats if it means we’re playing a more open and expansive type of football. If our players are as good as we’re often told they are, free-flowing and attacking football should help get the best out of them. 

Moving the ball quicker, creating more chances and scoring more goals should lead to better results but at this stage I’m more interested in coming away from games feeling like I’ve been entertained. Chris Markham and David Thelfall-Sykes were on the Radio Leeds season preview and both spoke about the need to put smiles on fans’ faces again. If that message is being communicated to Drury too, then hopefully the emphasis for this season will be to get the team playing the right way rather than a defined points target. And, if we do start playing football that’s easier on the eye, it wouldn’t surprise me if the results take care of themselves anyway.

Some of our players owe us a good season

Out of the current squad, we’ve got several players that have been brought in with good reputations, either in the bottom end of the Championship or the top end of League One. If even half of these players can turn their form around and stay fit, then we’ll automatically be a stronger team without any further recruitment. Here’s a quick list of the players that I think have underperformed or been unavailable for large parts of the last season:

• Anthony Evans
• Joe Taylor
• Marcus McGuane
• Bojan Radulovic
• Radinio Balker
• Lynden Gooch
• Herbie Kane
• Jack Whatmough
• Joe Low
• Bali Mumba
• Cameron Ashia

Not all of the above list will be able to remain fit or recapture their past form but I suspect at least a few will be able to find both fitness and form enough to make a solid contribution to the team. Jack Whatmough hardly kicked a ball for us last season due to injury but prior to coming to Town he’s been a solid Championship-level defender. Joe Taylor proved he can find the net regularly at Wigan during his loan but never really had a chance to play his natural game for us before we loaned him out. And Balker has already shown how influential he can be when he gets a run of games but he did miss a lot of the early parts of last season due to injury.

Then there’s the likes of Lynden Gooch, Bali Mumba and Cameron Ashia that have shown flashes of real quality at times but have also been a bit hopeless at other times. With a bit of consistency and hard work, all three could be key players but if they continue to put in a duff performance for every good one, they’re not likely to have much of a future at Town.

We’ve got a crop of promising youngsters to bring through 

Town’s first team squad is actually fairly big going into this season but there’s even more depth when you consider the academy kids that are getting closer to getting into the first team. One of the brightest parts of our preseason has been how comfortable some of our younger players have looked in the first team set up. Here’s a quick run down:

Tom Iorpenda – Maybe it’s cheating to consider Iorpenda a promising youngster, as he’s proven himself to be very effective at League Two level, helping Notts County to promotion last season as their Player of the Year.  He’s back at Town now and should get regular minutes, either in central midfield or further forward as a number ten. Regular commenter on the blog, Simon, pointed out that his style of play is similar to Jude Bellingham’s, even if he might not have quite the same quality as the England star. I believe he’s yet to sign a contract extension for Town though, so there could be a temptation to cash in on him this window rather than let him run his contract down (Derby are rumoured to be sniffing around him).

George Sebine – Looks strong, quick and able to finish. He’s a bit rough around the edges but with more game time, I can see him developing into a useful player for us. A loan to League Two would probably be best for his development but it may be that he’s deemed ready to compete for a place in our team.

Jay Sway – Rumours linking him to Norwich seem to be wide of the mark, which is good because I want to see more of him in a Town shirt. He’s very natural on the ball, has a bit of pace and is willing to dribble past defenders when the opportunity is there. Frequently played at fullback or wingback but I suspect he’d be better deployed further up the field.

Max Murray – His long throws are absolutely ridiculous and a video of one made him internet famous for a few days. Freakish throwing ability aside, he also looks like a pretty useful fullback. I’m not certain he’s ready for regular League One football yet but I’d love to be wrong, as having someone who can launch flat, fast and curling throw-ins into the box would be a huge asset. 

Daniel Vost – Not as eye-catching as some of our other youngsters but also rarely gets things wrong, which is important when you’re playing in the middle of the park where mistakes can be costly. Now he’s been sniffing around the first team for a while, I’d like to see him showcase his talent a bit more.

Does all this feel a bit too happy clappy for you? Don’t worry, I’ll publish my pessimistic season preview in a few hours to redress the balance. In the meantime, what are your expectations for Huddersfield Town this season? Let me know in the comments.