What do MK Dons and Millwall fans think of Kasumu and Mahoney signing for Huddersfield Town?

Huddersfield Town made their first signing of the summer fairly early and we’ve had to wait a seeming eternity for them to announce their second and third signings of the summer. But we’ve finally made a couple of acquisitions and I have something to write about! So I’ve pushed aside my plans to write an investigative piece about Mick Wadsworth’s disastrous time in Africa and instead I’ve looked into what our new signings fans really think about them. 

In case you didn’t pick up the news yesterday, Town signed David Kasumu and Connor Mahoney yesterday. Both were free agents but as Kasumu is only 22 years old we have had to pay compensation to MK Dons for his development (someone on Twitter guessed £60,000 – which seems low but not crazy). 

I’ve waded through the online comments from the fans of these players’ former clubs to see what they had to say about the players and tried to boil it down to the key messages. On the whole I think we’ve picked up a couple of players with some promise but also an element of risk, which is just the kind of signing we’ve specialised in these last few years.

What are the positive comments about Davis Kasumu from MK Dons fans

Going over the Twitter reaction to Kasumu signing for us, there seems to be genuine sadness from Milton Keynes fans that he’s left them. They felt like he was a player that could have developed further for them if he’d signed a new deal and could have left for big money.

Here are a few of the kind of comments he attracted:

• Hard worker
• Ball winner
• Can pick a pass
• Kante of the EFL
• A very good player
• Great
• Tenacious midfielder

From reading some of those adjectives it sounds like he can replace at least some of the qualities we are likely to lose if the inevitable happens and Lewis O’Brien leaves us this summer. There isn’t anything about being able to carry the ball up the field and dribble like O’Brien but it sounds like he has that ability to buzz about the midfield and close down space, which Russell, for all his other qualities, lacks.

What negative comments do MK Dons fans make about David Kasumu

Of course, it could be sour grapes, but there are a few negative comments about David Kasamu from MK Dons fans too. There’s no need to do a bullet pointed list for this section because they all collect around three common themes. 

Firstly, their fans are a bit disgruntled about the manner of his leaving. He clearly engineered this move by not signing a new deal. This is hardly his fault because he’s managed to get a better deal for himself by letting his contract run down and is just common sense. We’re currently seeing a similar situation play out with Harry Tofoflo and him not agreeing to a contract extension so he has more options open to him.

Other criticisms focus on his injury record, which are a bit of a concern. Sometimes that can be bad luck or poor training methods but other times it can just be that certain bodies are more injury prone than others. He’s still young and it may be that he’ll be able to keep fit. Town did a far better job last season at keeping their squad in good condition than the year before, so maybe we’ll be OK on this front but it’ll be something to keep an eye on. In Carlos’ first year at Town nearly all his signings picked up a hamstring injury in the first month of training, so don’t be stunned if that happens to Kasumu.

The final common criticism of Kasumu, who their fans seem to shorten down to Kas, was that he can be a bit reckless in the tackle. Which I think many Town fans may see as a positive! Though picking up silly suspensions and giving away needless free kicks is annoying and hopefully this will be a side of his game he can have coached out of him without losing the aggressive quality to his defending. Hopefully Jonathan Hogg will seek him out and mentor him on the skill of controlled and targeted aggression.

What positive comments did Millwall fans have to say about Connor Mahoney?

I’d say there was less of an outpouring of love from Millwall fans for Connor Mahoney than Kasumu received from MK Dons fans but I suppose that’s understandable as the former was released and the latter turned down a new deal for more money and football in a higher league. It’s also fair to say that Mahoney didn’t ever fully establish himself at Millwall for whatever reason. Regardless, there were plenty of positive comments, even if some of them came with caveats.

Here’s what I found from Millwall fans on Mahoney:

• More ability than most of our players but held back by Rowett, he will do good if he gets minutes
• Showed some real signs of quality at the Den
• Capable of magic
• He’s got talent
• Quality from dead ball scenarios and wide positions

I think Town have had a few players on their books like Mahoney has been at Millwall, not a bad player but for some reason it hasn’t quite clicked for him there. In a new environment with a fresh start he might kick on and do well. Or he might not. I’m hopeful that these positive things that Millwall fans have seen can be latched upon by our coaching staff and teased out of him in the coming season.

What negative comments did Millwall fans make about Mahoney?

I see Millwall fans as a negative bunch anyway, so it’s no surprise that they had some grumbles about a player they released. Some of their comments also fit the mould of stereotypical skinhead Milwall fan with a thick neck and tattooed knuckles. I’ll not directly quote some of the things said because they were not exactly politically correct. A subsection of their fans didn’t rate him much at all though.

A common thread seemed to be that they thought he was a bit lightweight and didn’t throw his weight around the pitch enough. That’s an interesting thing to hear as I’ve always thought that was an absolute requirement of any Millwall player regardless of position or temperament. Carlos doesn’t expect the same level of naked aggression as Millwall players  but he does expect forward players to put in a lot of defensive work and tackle back. If Mahoney isn’t willing to do this then he may find minutes as hard to come by at Huddersfield as he found them at Millwall. 

A more scathing Millwall fan called Mahoney Yodel because he never delivers. Which may be harsh on both the player and the delivery company. I’m too much of a fence-sitter to possibly comment.

The thing that seems really obvious from the comments I read about Mahoney is that he seems far too nice to be a Millwall player and a fairly large chunk of their fans didn’t take to him on this basis. His stats bear out that he didn’t shine while he played there either but I think beyond the stats there are comments that point towards there being quality in this player that hasn’t been fully realised. I suspect that’s why we made this signing and while it is a bit of a gamble, it’s relatively low stakes and is the sort of bet that has paid off for us in recent seasons.

TerrierSpirit.com opinion on Town’s two new signings

I’m quite pleased with this two new signings. Of the two, Kasumu is the most exciting. He’s younger, seems to be more likely to succeed and fills a more obvious need in the squad and is on a more obvious upward trajectory.

Mahoney isn’t bad business though, he’s just more of a gamble. He’s one of those players that’s had a tricky few seasons and has something prove. We need to provide him with a nurturing environment and the right training regime to help bring the best football enviornment to get the best out of him. We’ve already proven last season we can be a good club to do that for players.

One of the great things about the current set up at Town is that we don’t need to sign the finished article for huge transfer fees and wages. We can’t compete at this level in that way without imploding financially, so instead we’ve set ourselves up to pick up project players and to try and improve them. Both of these signings fit that model and hopefully we’ll be able to get the best out of them.