If you want the latest, freshest Huddersfield Town transfer stories from someone with the inside track at the club then… look away now. If you want a compilation of wild speculation and unverified claptrap, read on.
With expectations set suitably low, here’s a collection of all the stories flying around the internet. Most will probably not come to pass but just as a stopped clock is right twice a day, there may be some truth in one or two.
Feeling Low(e)?
Let’s start with a two-for-one rumour as Joe Low and Nathan Lowe are both linked with moves to Town. The spelling of their surnames confirms there’s no family connection but you can pretend they’re brothers if you like. Joe Low is an out-of-contract central defender from Wycombe and is sought after by a host of League One clubs, including Town. Nathan Lowe is a Stoke player who had a good loan at Walsall last season and is likely to be loaned out to one of the host of League One teams chasing his signature.
If Nathan Lowe’s name seems familiar, he scored two against Town for Walsall last season in the Car Dealership Cup. He missed a penalty in that game too, suggesting he’d fit right in at Town. In all seriousness, though, he’d be a quality signing for Town even if he’s not the target man we are meant to be bringing in.
Signing one or both of these Low(e) brothers would be a statement of intent from Town. Good players tend to have many suitors and beating our divisional rivals to sought after players sends a message that we’re building a team to have a good go this season. It also makes further signings easier to convince if they can see we’re investing in our squad and are serious about competing for promotion.
Antony Evans to Wigan
One rumour that came out of the blue was Antony Evans being linked with a transfer to Wigan. The move may either be a loan or a cut-price permanent deal, according to journalist Alan Nixon, who seems to always have stories about Town but not necessarily accurate ones.
I’d be sad to see Evans leave, as he didn’t hit the heights for Town in his first season and I hoped we might see more from him under Lee Grant. I won’t shed too many tears if he leaves though, as his freak toe injury held him back in the second half of last season, even after he came back to playing. Duff mentioned that he was playing through constant pain, and I saw him frequently wincing whenever the ball touched his poorly toe. Being a footballer who struggles to kick a ball is definitely sub-obtimal, so I can understand why he struggled.
Excuses aside, Evans was involved in quite a few of Town’s most miserable performances and never really showed why he’d been Bristol Rover’s player of the season the year before. He looked slow, his passing was erratic and his end product was often not good enough. As the cliche goes, there’s a player in there somewhere but we’ve yet to see it. Maybe he needs a different environment to produce his best.
Sorba leaves for Stoke
One bit of concrete transfer news was Sorba Thomas’s transfer to Stoke for a “generous” transfer fee. The need for the club to emphasise the scale of the undisclosed fee suggests we’ve had Stoke’s pants down. But given they sold us Ramadan Sohbi, it would even things out.
Sorba Thomas was excellent on his day and was a huge part of the playoff season under Carlos Corberan. He’s also stunk the place out with his poor attitude at times. Thomas was dropped after André Breitenreiter complained publicly about the rotten culture at the club, so it seems likely he was part of the group that shocked the German with their unprofessional behaviour.
Regardless of his antics, I hope he does well at Stoke. In the right environment and if he applies himself, I can see him succeeding. The fee is said to be in the region of two million, so while generous, it’s not crazy for a Welsh international with a track record of creating a lot of goals at Championship level.
Wycombe leading the race for O’Connor?
I mentioned in my last article that Paudie O’Connor was linked with a move to Town but now it’s being reported that Wycombe are the most likely suitor to snag his signature. After apparently losing Fraser Horsfall to Blackpool, it would be a blow to lose another decent League One centre back to a rival.
There is a limited pool of experienced defenders available for transfer and willing to come to an ambitious League One club. Given we have no fit central defenders (Balkers’ injury is likely to linger into the new season), we’re going to have to bring some in pretty quickly. Helik, Pearson, Lees, Turton, Ruffels and Lonwijk have all left this year and have not been replaced yet. Even Ayina was let go, so the B Team’s most promising defender has gone too. Rebuilding our defence will be one of the most important jobs of this transfer window.
Owen Goodman on loan from Crystal Palace
After a season on loan at AFC Wimbledon in the campaign that’s just finished, Crystal Palace seem to be shopping around their young keeper, Owen Goodman. Town have been linked with him but it’s hard to see how this one makes sense. I’d have thought he’d be expected to be the first choice at any club he went to but we’ve already got Chapman and Nicholls.
If we do bring in a loanee goalkeeper, it suggests both Chapman and Nicholls aren’t seen as first choices for this season, and for Nicholls at least, it would mean a likely exit. While Town have gaping holes in other positions on the pitch, it would seem odd to recruit players for a position that seems pretty much fine. Chris Maxwell retired at the end of last season, so we need a third-choice keeper at least, but young Francis Hurl in the academy may throw his name into the ring if he has a good preseason.
Paul McShane to join coaching team
Paul McShane, famous for playing Ted Bovis in Hi Di Hi (kids may need to ask their parents for this reference) died in 2013, so it seems that Town are going to bring in the most famous living Paul McShane as an assistant coach to Lee Grant alongside a couple of others. I remember him most for playing for Sunderland years ago but he played more games for Hull and Reading. Since retirement, he’s been coaching and worked at Manchester United when Lee Grant was there a few years ago.
It’s hard to have strong opinions about the coaching team coming in but it’s good that Grant is being allowed to bring in his own men. And while Manchester United have been pretty dire in recent years, I still suspect learning the coaching job in that environment will be a good education and it’s likely his experience of how one of the biggest teams in the world operates will benefit Town if he comes.
Lee Grant said he was very close to nailing down his coaching team in his first interview but it still hasn’t been confirmed. With that in mind, I have a feeling we’ll get confirmation from the club in the very near future.
Savage linked as Director of Football
There was a story in Football Insider yesterday about how Town are closing in on Joe Savage as Director of Football. I’ve never heard of him either but he’s been a Sporting Director at Hearts as well as previously being a head scout for Preston North End and Norwich.
This isn’t the first time he’s been linked with this job at Town but lately we’ve been more frequently rumoured to be interested in Ross Wilson at Nottingham Forest. There seems to be a spanner in the works that is stopping Wilson coming to Town so Savage looks like the next best option. Kevin Nagle said in recent interviews that they were holding back after not being blown away with the people they’ve talked to so far but I’m sure he’ll walk back that narrative if Savage does join soon.
It’s really hard to know how someone in this role will pan out. Each club is different and it’s not easy to transfer success from one place to another. Regardless, I think it is probably right to bring someone in to take some strain of Lee Grant. Even if Grant believes he can handle a lot of the wheeling and dealing, it’s sensible to let someone else be on the phones to agents all day so Grant can focus on the training pitch side of things.
I don’t love the structure of a head coach working under a director of football but in our current situation, I think the Town job is too much for a first-time manager without having someone to provide support and guidance above them.
Have you heard any rumours or gossip about Town that I’ve not covered above? Pop a comment below. I always love those “my wife’s, hairdresser’s, cousin knows an estate agent who took X player viewing properties in Huddersfield ahead of their transfer” type of rumours.