Jonathan Hogg, his new contract and a jumper that should have gone to the charity shop years ago

I have a jumper in my wardrobe that has been my favourite for around 12 years now. It fits me nicely, I feel comfortable in it and it works in a variety of situations. To begin with the jumper was unquestionably my best jumper and was my first choice for a number of years. Then after a while it got a bit older, and having been worn a lot and put through the wash plenty of times it started to get a bit bobbly and didn’t look as good as it used to. So obviously I got other jumpers. But those jumpers never quite fit the same, or the material would feel cheap, or after a few washes they would shrink and not feel right. So I’d got back to my old jumper, because even though it is past its best, it’s still better than all the available alternatives I had in my wardrobe. I really should have sent this old jumper to the charity shop years ago but my complete inability to find a better alternative has meant it remains in my wardrobe even though its best days are far behind it. 

Are you seeing where I’m going with this? Jonathan Hogg is Huddersfield Town’s comfy old jumper that they can’t bear to send to the charity shop. Which is why we have given him another contract, this time a one-year extension that will see him still playing when he turns 36 later this year. But it’s not his fault that he continues to be a much-needed part of Huddersfield Town’s plans. I believe this will be the 12th season that Hogg will be entering as a Huddersfield Town player and the umpteenth new manager that he will become the favourite of too. In fact, Michael Duff has pretty much already confirmed his love for Hogg – pointing out that Hogg was his first phone call to a player in his first press conference and gushing praise for him this week too. It’s not my jumper’s fault that I keep wearing it, it’s my fault that I can’t find a better alternative, and the same goes for Jonathan Hogg.

Anyway, in this article I’ll stop talking about jumpers and look at Jonathan Hogg’s contract extension and what it might mean for Huddersfield Town’s upcoming season. 

Jonathan Hogg’s contract extension is a good thing for the club

My long-winded, meandering introduction may have been a bit unkind on Hoggy, as he still has plenty to offer despite his advanced years. For starters, few players take care of themselves as well as Hogg and that means playing into his late thirties is more viable. All you have to do is compare Christiano Ronaldo to Wayne Rooney to see the difference that a good lifestyle and full commitment to a health can make to lengthening your playing career. Ronaldo is still playing while Rooney hung up his boots well before he might otherwise have done if he hadn’t spent so much time enjoying the traditional extra-curricular activities of a superstar footballer, in the tradition of George Best and Frank Worthington. 

There are some creaking bits of Jonathan Hogg’s body that mean he’s unlikely to be playing every league game and the Autoglass Trophy’s latest incarnation too, but when he’s free from those recurring injuries, his general level of fitness and strength should be good enough for this level. I don’t like talking down League One too much but the step down from the Championship may deliver the reduction in quality that helps him to still be a decent option. 

As I alluded to in my introduction, Hogg is far from the player he was in his prime but I think he’s still capable of giving a lot to the team. Particularly if you deploy him in the right system where his strengths are allowed to shine and his weaknesses are masked by the players around him.

How many games will Jonathan Hogg play this coming season?

There was an intriguing quote in the stuff the club put out around Hogg signing his extension – he said that “Whenever I’m called upon, I will continue to give everything I have for Huddersfield Town” – which suggests to me that the discussions he’s had with the club may be that he’s expected to be needed as more of a backup role rather than a starter. Given our aspirations and Hogg’s performances last season, I think that’s probably about the right way to pitch it. He’s a valuable guy to have in the dressing room, can still do a job for us on the pitch but we should have better options most of the time and shouldn’t expect him to be starting most games this coming season.

Having said that, Hogg currently sits on 372 Huddersfield Town appearances, so may want to make at least 28 outings for Town, so he can get to 400 appearances, which would be some achievement. Milestones like this may be relatively meaningless to some but I think it’s nice to have targets and it is remarkable in the modern game to have a player that sticks around at one club as long as Hogg has. 

In a way, it is probably a bad thing for Town if Hogg does play a lot of games for us because it means we’ve failed to find an adequate replacement for him. While he’s unquestionably still got something to offer, if we want to be an ambitious club that is pushing for promotion, then we should hopefully have a variety of options in midfield that can offer something different and not constantly fall back on expecting Jonathan Hogg to hold everything together. 

Where will Jonathan Hogg fit into Michael Duff’s system?

It’s a bit early to know what tactical system Duff plans to use at Town but most people seem to expect he’ll use the 3-5-2 shape he’s used at previous clubs he’s coached in the past. Which means Hogg’s most natural position would be one of the two deeper midfield positions behind the more attacking midfielder. However, it’s debatable how this role will suit Hogg’s natural midfield playing style. 

The absolute best spell of Hogg’s career was when he played in David Wagner’s 4-2-3-1 system, where he had Mooy next to him to be the creative maestro and Hogg could focus on the destructive elements of the role. Then in possession he would drop into defence to make a back three and enjoy a bit more time on the ball because he was sitting so deep. I suspect the midfielders in Duff’s system will be expected to push up and press the opposition rather than drop off, which may or not be something Hogg can manage at his age – I think he’s got the fitness but I’m not sure he’s got the speed to press high up the field and to not get caught out if a player gets past him. 

So this is all a long-winded way of me wondering if Hogg might be better deployed as a third central defender. He’s played the position plenty of times in the past, and can do it well apart from the fact he’s not really tall enough. But if the other two central defenders can win the aerial battles or the opposition don’t have a giant striker to lump the ball up to, I think Hogg could be a useful option to play in the middle of a back three, where his organisation and defensive skills will be an asset and his legs starting to go won’t be quite so obvious. 

Hogg’s influence off the pitch 

I was a little bit surprised that the announcement didn’t make reference to Hoggy becoming a player-coach or something similar but it seems on the surface that this deal is purely a playing contract. Hogg has been a leader at Town since he joined, so it seems obvious that he should be brought through as a coach and even groomed as a potential future manager (we’re getting through so many it doesn’t hurt to plan four or five managers ahead). Yet for now the talk is only of him as a player but one that obviously still holds a lot of sway in the dressing room. 

Given the much-talked-about issues in the dressing room last season, Hogg’s continued presence has to be a good thing, as he’s one of the few players in the team that enforces standards among others. I think his injury in last season’s run-in was a key part of the dressing room falling apart, though it sounds like multiple problems contributed to the mess that we ended up in under Breitenreiter. 

I’ve seen some critical comments online about Hogg but I don’t think you can question his attitude or his professionalism. He’s a model pro and a good man to have in the dressing room as an example to the other players. If we’re focussing on character in this summer’s recruitment then Jonathan Hogg isn’t a bad template to follow, as he would run through a brick wall for the club and then, after he’d run through it, go back and kick it a few times to make sure it had got the message.