After months of speculation, I found it was actually a relief when Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo’s transfer to Nottingham Forest were finally officially announced yesterday afternoon. While I didn’t like seeing two of my favourite recent Town players gurning for the camera in the shirts of our recent rivals, it’s good that the saga is now over and we can move on to thinking about what happens next for Huddersfield Town.
That’s exactly what I’m going to focus on in this article, how do Huddersfield Town move forward now we’ve sold two of our best players? I know many fans expect the club to go out into the transfer market and spend big on replacements but the club’s statement on Lewis O’Brien leaving pretty much confirmed we won’t be doing that: “We knew that we could realistically lose Lewis and Harry in this transfer window, so we’ve prepared for that eventuality by bolstering those positions in acquiring Yuta Nakayama, David Kasumu and Jack Rudoni.
So In this article I’m going to focus on the players already in the Huddersfield Town squad that could step up and fill the boots of O’Brien and Toffolo.
Who can replace Toffolo?
I thought I’d start with Toffolo because it’s an easier role to replace because left back is a specialist position and we already have obvious candidates in the squad. Here are the people I’m thinking are most likely replacements:
Josh Ruffels: He was signed last summer and looked good whenever he was given a chance in the first team but Harry Toffolo was so consistent that his opportunities were very limited. He deserves more chances this season and I would not mind at all if he was bumped up to first choice. He’s not as good as Toffolo but he’s not a great deal worse in my opinion and arguably he’s more solid in defence which is the primary job of a left back when all is said and done.
Yuta Nakayama: Yuta Nakayama was referenced in Bromby’s statement above as one of the literal replacements that we’ve brought in for Toffolo and O’Brien even though he’s primarily a central defender. Going back to his announcement press release the club confirmed he was a “defender who can play at centre back and left back” so they clearly have him in mind as someone who can cover these two positions. I’m both excited and a little concerned about this signing. He’s a Japanese international who might be playing in the World Cup in November but equally, he’s not played in the rough and tumble of the Championship and Carel Eiting took months to adjust to the change in pace from the Dutch top flight to our league. It’ll be intriguing to see how this signing pans out.
Ben Jackson: Not given a squad number so seemingly destined to go out on loan again but he is a promising youngster in our academy that must be either getting close to competing for a place in our first team now after picking up regularly minutes further down the football league on several other loans in recent seasons. He scored a couple of brilliant long range goals in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Morcombe the other day and seems like a nice lad.
Who can replace Lewis O’Brien?
Replacing Lewis O’Brien at Huddersfield Town is a lot more complicated than Harry Tofoflo as O’Brien brought a strange mix of qualities to the team that can’t be replicated in just one player. Instead I’m going to run through each of the qualities he had and pick the player I think is best placed to take over that mantle.
The player that’s been in the academy since they were a child: Scott High: Since the club scrapped all but the oldest age groups we’re now running out of players that have graduated through all the ages of youth football at Huddersfield Town, so Lewis O’Brien and Scott High are going to the last few players to make it into professional football through Huddersfield Town. The rest will have started elsewhere and joined Town at a later date. I know the logic behind the decision was sound but it still makes me sad that we don’t have a full youth system as they provide so much for the community as well as a pipeline of talent to the club. You’ll notice I’m waffling about the academy system and not talking much about Scott High’s talent. I think I’ll let Scott High do his talking on the pitch this season before I pass any more comment on him.
The tenacious tackler in midfield: David Kasumu O’Brien got through a ridiculous amount of work in the middle of the park and ran like the Duracell bunny. That tenacity is going to be hard to replace but the stats on Kasumu are encouraging as he seemed to provide a similar role to MK Dons. His discipline wasn’t quite so good, as he tended to get booked more often and gave away a few too many fouls but he likes a tackle and is willing to put in plenty of defensive work to protect the back line so I think he’s the natural person to take on the workload that O’Brien went through in a typical game.
The player that picks up the ball and drives forward: Jack Rudoni One of the things we’ll miss most about O’Brien will be his willingness to show for the ball in tight spaces, turn and drive forward and take the team up the pitch twenty yards or so with a dribble. Jack Rudoni has been brought in as an attacking midfielder to do that kind of role. He may not play as deep as O’Brien but he will be expected to be able to keep hold of the ball, ride out challenges and to take us up the pitch and develop attacks with direct running. He’ll first have to adjust to playing at a higher level but he’s the summer signings I’m most excited about.
The person that can make something happen when we need it: Jon Russel Lewis O’Brien didn’t get a lot of assists but if there was such a thing as pre-assists for hte pass before the pass that leads to the goal, I think he’d get quite a few of those because he regularly sparked off the moves that ultimately led to goals going in. We’ll miss that initial creative vision now he’s gone and someone is going to have to step up to replace that. I think Jon Rusell has already shown that he has a little bit of magic in his boots and the vision to be the player that can get moves started. This could be a very big season for our massive midfielder. He broke into the first team in January last season but this year he could kick on further and really dominate.
Should Town buy replacements for Toffolo and O’Brien?
If there is money available in the transfer kitty I don’t think left back or central midfield are the priority positions to strengthen at the moment. Town have been criticised over the years for selling players late in the window and not leaving themselves enough time to bring in replacements. This time they’ve done it the right way and brought in their replacements in advance, fair play.
I find it a bit full to get too deep into the accounting side of things but if there is some money in the pot left to spend then using it to splash out on a loan fee and wages for a Premier League starlet such as Tino Anjorin (rumoured by the surprisingly reliable Dr Nose on Twitter) and another striker then that would be lovely. But when do Town fans not want Town to sign a striker? Oh, and while we’re being greedy, quality backup for Nicholls would be nice too.
Like yourself, I’m just glad this saga is over. When the final whistle blew at Wembley in May I knew O’Brien was going, maybe a little naive of me not to think his best mate would be out of the door too, I can’t say I thought Toffolo would leave, but the writing was on the wall when the contract negotiations were never resolved. I think it was wise to get some money for Toffolo rather than allow him to go for free. Whilst I was gutted to see those overly red publicity photos and headlines that they were now the property of Forest, I am excited to see what our new batch of talent brings. Rudoni already looks like he’s ready for the step up and I am optimistic that he’s bringing much more attacking intent than O’Brien did. One downside of relying on O’Brien to do the job of two players was that he wasn’t two players. Fatigue, opposition’s tactics, injury, an off day, meant that if O’Brien wasn’t in the game we were in effect two positions down. Spreading the defensive and offensive responsibilities between two players is much better and means we’re not hugely reliant on one man. I think Toffolo is the bigger hole to fill to be honest, I like Josh Ruffles a lot; I think he, like Rudoni, has the potential to be very important to Town, but it would be a massive ask for him to replicate Toffolo’s goals and assists from last season. I do think extra defensive solidity on the left is a positive though, especially without Levi Colwill this season. All in all, I think Town dealt with this situation very well. They didn’t come out and talk nonsense about how they’re our players still and we’re planning on them being here for the season, they sorted out replacements quickly and negotiated what we presume is a decent return. Let’s just hope the recruitment is as successful as it was last season. UTT.
Nottingham Forest are throwing money around like its confetti. They are reported today to be offering Jesse Lingard £200,000 per week to sign for them. No doubt, though not in the £200,000 class, Toffolo and O’Brien will have also had their wages doubled or tripled. The only thing is that a lot of players joining Premier League clubs in effect give up being footballers and spend their time training and sitting on the bench, counting their money. That’s ok to a point as it can secure their financial future, but it is such a waste of young talent. I suspect both players will fall into the benchwarmer category with just cameo roles every now and then. Whether spending loadsa money will work for Forest is a mute point. There have been many instances where spending doesn’t buy success and it will be interesting to see if it works this time.
I feel a bit sick that they both went to Forest after the unfair result at Wembley, they will have plenty more interaction with VAR from now on. Where on earth are Forest getting their money from, if they get relegated they will be in a right pickle. I think our defense will be ok, Pipa fell off towards the end and made some odd decisions. Looking forward to seeing if Rudoni lives up to all the hype, if he does then I suspect he will setup/score than O’B did. We spent a lot of effort in getting Tino fit last season, so it may be nice to see him return to repay those efforts. Upper half this season I think, but look what happened last year, anything is possible.
I’m very surprised that they’ve gone the team that robbed us of two pens and gone and tryed to get colwill again with Vue to buying
I am pleased with the way that the club have done their business. Changes seem to be evolutionary and I think we will be close to last season in performance, particularly if we can get a quality loan signing as a striker/winger.
I will miss HT and LOB but it does rankle that they have moved to Notts Forest. My dream would be for us to gain promotion this season and wave at them as NF crash back into Championship. UTT
I couldn’t agree more Town were totally conned by referring of Jon Moss and VAR even some of the Forrest supporters can’t see why at least one penalty was not given but obviously happy it wasn’t, the money Town have received for the two players is peanuts compared to being promoted to the premiership. I am hopeful for the coming season but things at Town have suddenly changed dramatically maintain championship would be a success for me