Sunshine and kittens! The happy clapper preview of HTAFC’s chances this season

This is the second part of a two-part season preview. The first looked at all the reasons to be miserable about Town’s chances this season. This article will focus on things to make Town fans feel positive about for the forthcoming season.

So pop on your blue and white tinted spectacles and let’s get try generate some warm fuzzy feelings.

There’s a chance for the academy lads to shine

Matt Busby famously said “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.” and that will be how Corberán approaches his team selection this season. He was brought in, at least in part, because he’s proven at improving young players and getting them playing first team football.

There will be opportunities for our academy players to get into the first team this season and it’s exciting to see how they do. Just from the glimpses we’ve seen in preseason we’ve got a taste of some of their qualities.

Many won’t be ready, some might get a chance and fail but I have a feeling a handful will break into the first team picture and get some games under their belt.

Austerfield, Rowe, Daly and Edmonds-Green seem like the most obvious names to float as the ones with potential to break through. But Crichlow, Jackson and Diarra have all shone at times in the friendly games so could get chances too.

More new faces to come

We’ve seen lots of departures from Town this post-season and only three new arrivals so far. It seems inevitable that we’ll have more players join us before the window shuts in October. It’s just taking time to get the deals over the line.

It’s understandable that some fans are concerned about the quality and depth of the current squad (I know I am). But if we can hold off judgement until the end of the transfer window then we’ll be in a better position to judge.

Hopefully we’ll have four to six new players that are all capable of going straight into that match day squad. We’ll all feel much happier if that’s the case.

We already have some gems in our squad

While it’s easy to focus on the players that have gone and the holes they have left behind, we still have some decent players in our squad.

Lewis O’Brien is one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the league in my opinion and is likely to keep improving. Juninho Bacuna isn’t consistent but on his day he can be absolutely unplayable. Hogg and Schindler both have the experience and leadership qualities to guide the team. We even have a decent leg back in Harry Toffolo, which is something I’ve rarely sais as a Town fan over the years.

Carlos’ vision will bring entertainment

We’ve watched some shockingly bad football from Town this last couple of seasons. Switching to an attacking, dynamic and possession-based system has its risks but we should at least see some entertaining matches along the way.

I can imagine there being a few games where we draw 4-4 with the opposition. Alongside matches where it goes wrong and we get a hammering (we’ve plenty of experience of that anyway). But it will be worth it if we see a couple of games where the philosophy clicks, the players execute the plan and we blow away our opponent. It won’t happen straight away but I’m hopeful if we stick with the new approach long enough we’ll see it bear fruit.

In the meantime, I’d probably rather watch Town draw an eight-goal thriller rather than see us grind out a turgid 1-0 win by running the clock down and faking injuries. I mostly watch Town to see enjoyable football rather than to follow a successful team (sadly we’ve not had either for a while).

Some players may surprise fans under the new regime

I’m stretching a bit with this piece of positivity but we might find ourselves pleasantly surprised by some of the players that have disappointed in the past.

Mbenza feels like an obvious choice for this kind of player, he’s played for Belgium Under 21s, has pace to burn and has shown flashes of quality but had limited opportunities. If Carlos can work a bit of magic he may be able to rehabilitate him and turn him into a useful player for us.

A similar argument could be made to Diakhaby but it’s a tougher sell. We all know he’s had games where he doesn’t look like a footballer but what if someone puts in the work to show him what he needs to do. He had a spell in the home game against Hull where he was brilliant, only a short cameo among an ocean of abject performances but he has shown he can torment defenders with his pace when given the right instructions. Mostly, use your pace to get past your man and then keep it simple with the final ball.

More realistic targets for players that might have a resurgence under Corberán are Kongolo and Pritchard. Both have shown they’re top quality players at times in their careers but need to recapture former glories.

We’re going to be much fitter this season

The fitness within the squad was a huge issue last season, from my perspective. Danny Cowley couldn’t set his team up to aggressively press for longer than 10 minutes in a game because half the team would end up on the floor gasping for air if we had.

I was appalled at how poorly Jan Siewert prepped the team in the last preseason and we paid the price when we looked dead on our feet after 70 minutes in many games.

The players have all talked about the intensity of the training under Corberán and I’m delighted to hear he’s pushing them hard. I think being fitter than the opposition is one of those free ways you can have the edge over teams that might have better players.

Leeds ran more than any other team in the Championship last season and I see that as a big factor in their success. If Corberán has got our squad even close to that level of fitness then we’ll be able to put a lot of pressure on the teams we play with constant pressing of the ball.

Phil Hodgkinson is better than a lot of owners

I have a feeling I’ll get some stick in the comments for this, but I think we could do a lot worse than have Phil Hodgkinson running the club. He’s far from perfect but he’s a Town fan and I think he’s trying his best to be a sensible steward of the club’s interests.

Most of the club’s current issues surround the way we bought poor players for over inflated fees and big wages in the Premier League days. None of that was Phil’s fault, he just had to try and salvage what he could from the mess.

I can’t say I particularly agree with his decision to get rid of Danny Cowley and being in Carlos but I do admire that he has the balls to make a big (and costly) change that puts him at risk from severe criticism if it doesn’t work out.

It’s easy to point out Phul’s mistakes (wearing coaching kit on squad pictures, squabbling with fans on Twitter, promising signings before they’re confirmed) but when you look at the financial state of other clubs right now, I’m quite pleased we’ve got a chairman that’s not splashing cash around willy nilly.

The bookies fancy Town’s chances of survival more than the fans do

The majority of Town fans currently seem to be very concerned about Huddersfield Town’s chances this season and relegation is seen as a real risk. However, bookmakers are still offering odds of 9/1 for Town to go down, which seems like very long odds considering we escaped going down by three points last season and are going into the new season with a weaker squad and an inexperienced manager.

Bookies offer a more dispassionate analysis of how likely things are to happen. Clearly they can see something that many Town fans can’t and think it’s likely we’ll be mid table (the odds of us going up are similarly long).

Here’s a list of all the teams that bookmakers think are more likely to down than Huddersfield Town: Wycombe, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Reading, Luton, QPR, Coventry, Birmingham and Barnsley.

If these odds are correct then our relegation fears may end up being completely unfounded.

What do you think of Town’s chances this season? Has the article gone any way to making you feel more positive? Put your thoughts in the comments below.