Why Huddersfield Town should be cautious this transfer window

The January transfer window has opened and fans are ravenously consuming every scrap of a rumour they can lay their hands on. Instead of engaging in the usual tittle tattle, I’ve written a two-part post about whether it would be wise for Huddersfield Town to spend some money on new players this transfer window. The first part argued that now is the right time to invest in the playing squad, if you’ve not read it yet you can check it out by clicking anywhere on this sentence.

In this second part we’ll look at the argument for Phil and the board keeping their hand on their collective tuppence when it comes to this transfer window. It’s never exciting to argue for restraint but there are some solid reasons for Huddersfield Town to show some caution in this transfer window. Here are my main reasons:

We’re doing fine with the current squad

Phil Hodgkinson confirmed earlier in the season that Carlos Corberán’s only goals this season were to stay clear of the relegation fight and to implement his style of football. So far he’s on track for both of these goals and potentially even over achieving.

Given that we look unlikely to either go up or down this season it seems a bit pointless to spend much money on this window. Particularly when January transfers are notoriously trickier to get over the line and potentially more expensive as teams are reluctant to part with key players mid-way through a campaign (Burnley should be aware of this fact too before they go eyeing up Lewis O’Brien). So why bother spending money we don’t need to?

Splurging money on players is exciting for fans but isn’t a guaranteed route to success. We know better than most the damage that can be done by bringing in the wrong players on big-money contracts.

Rather than unbalance the team with loads of new bodies, it would make more sense to trust Carlos to get the best out of the players he already has. A few sensible additions to fill the biggest gaps is all we really need.

We need to keep pathways open for the kids

Our approach to bringing through youth players in the past has lacked patience and it’s resulted in us signing players rather than giving opportunities to our younsters. There are several players that went through our youth ranks and made good careers in football despite Town casting them aside (Josh Windass, Jordan Williams and Matt Crooks are the three that immediately spring to mind but I bet there are more).

Every player we bring in this window has potential to block the pathway of one of our exciting young prospects. While not all of our youth players are ready for the step up to Championship level football, many have proven that they are in this season alone. Schofield, Koroma and Edmonds-Green have all looked more than capable of competing at this level but might it have been given the opportunity if we’d spent more in the last window.

While there’s a constant clamour for new signings, bringing through exciting youth prospects can be just as exciting. The kids in our academy also have a stronger connection to the club and help to preserve our identity too. Otherwise it can feel like watching a rotating cast of mercenaries turn up to play for your team and leave the second a better offer comes along.

The pandemic still brings uncertainty

While the roll out of the vaccines is very promising, football is still going through an uncertain time and many clubs face huge financial challenges. Going wild in the aisles when we still don’t know when it will be safe for fans to get back to games would be a big risk.

Town are in an enviable financial position thanks to the parachute payments from the Premier League and the ongoing trickle of instalments from historic player sales. It would be daft to throw away our advantage and stability for the sake of a few players.

I’m not going to get drawn into the discussion about debt repayments and their impact on how parachute payments are spent but it’s worth pointing out that Dean Hoyle has already deferred some of his repayments from the club (according to Phil when interviewed on Radio Leeds) so despite our significant debts we’re once again lucky as our main creditor is someone I trust to do right by the club.

The summer is a better time to rebuild

A huge chunk of Town’s current squad and some of our highest earners are out of contract in the summer, so that would be a better time to carry out extensive transfer business. The ongoing financial pressures of coronavirus and newly introduced salary caps will most likely mean we can pick up quality players that fit our approach on decent terms.

This season was always going to be one for rebuilding and bedding in our new philosophy. It’s tantalising to look up the table and see how close we are to the playoffs but the game against Reading last weekend showed, in my eyes, the difference between Town and the teams genuinely competing at the top end of the division. While the gap isn’t huge, we’re not there yet and it will most likely take time for us to get to that level.

TerrierSpirit.com opinion on this transfer window

I think it’s probably best to take a cautious approach in this transfer window, having made both sides of the argument. While we’re not far off the top-six places in terms of points, I think we’re quite a way off that level in terms of the quality we have right now. The club’s new approach isn’t to spend money on the finished article but to invest in players that can grow with the club and I expect that’s the theme we’ll see from any transfer business this season.

Danny Grant’s arrival from Ireland may not be the kind of big-money signing we all hope for, his arrival is indicative of our current approach. Snapping up youngsters from unlikely places and giving them time in the B Team to adjust to our way of playing before eventually breaking through into the first team. This approach may need a bit of patience and will yield as many duds as it does diamonds but should provide a sustainable model for the club to gradually build for the future.

I’d like to see a few new faces brought in during this window to fill the most obvious gaps in the squad until the summer, whether it’s loans, free agents or permanent deals. However, I won’t be too disappointed if those players aren’t household names or multi-million pound acquisitions.

I know not every Town fan agrees with me but I don’t think this season is the right time to mount a promotion push. I’d rather we kept our powder dry during this transfer window and saved any money we have to invest for the summer when we’ll be able to make better use of it and build a squad that Carlos feels is capable of a promotion push for the 2021/22 season.