Will David Wagner return to Huddersfield Town?

The rumours of David Wagner’s return to Huddersfield Town have been intensifying lately. As well as “in the know” posters on the Down at the Mac forum confirming the club’s interest in a reunion, there has also been a story on Talk Sport’s website. Though, in fairness, I’m almost certain some journalists consider wild speculation on fan forums to be reliable sources, so who knows? 

It seems fairly likely that Town have put feelers out to Wagner or his agent but there has been little in the way of confirmation that he’s interested in a return. With recent stories linking Wagner to vacancies at LA Galaxy and Southampton, it’s possible that someone is putting his name forward for any and all plausible job openings to try and get him some work. Arguably, life in Los Angeles or managing a team just relegated from the Premier League would be a much more appealing prospect than the current version of Huddersfield Town. It’s not nice to say it, but to outsiders we must look like a basket case club at the moment. 

On the other hand, David Wagner’s career highlight came when guiding Huddersfield Town to the Premier League and keeping us there against the odds. He also knows how loved he is by the fans at Town and who doesn’t love being adored by thousands of hard-to-please northerners? 

But is it a good idea to go bring Wagner back? My opinion is: yes but it’s worth considering all the angles…

Never go back… 

The most obvious argument against David Wagner’s return would be that it could tarnish the memories of what he did last time he was in charge. The 2016/17 season was the absolute pinnacle of my time following Huddersfield Town so if David Wagner comes back and lasts as long as the typical Nagle-era Town manager then it will put a smudge on the otherwise excellent memories we have of David Wagner. 

I understand this argument. It was trotted out when Neil Warnock was on the verge of his second spell at Town. However, the Warnock example actually just gave us another chapter of fond memories of Warnock as Town manager. 

There has been a tendency to look to the past rather than the future at Huddersfield Town in recent seasons but I think Wagner coming back makes sense beyond pure nostalgia. There is always a risk with any managerial appointment but I think Wagner is less of a gamble than just about any other person who might get the job. 

It felt like the stars aligned for David Wagner in our promotion season and the circumstances he’d be walking into now would be vastly different to last time. But I still think he’s the best qualified and most exciting name being mentioned in connection with the Town job.

David Wagner makes sense in footballing terms

Going back to Neil Warnock when we did made sense because we needed a firefighter to come in and get immediate results and he’s absolutely the best manager for that situation. Right now, we need someone that can galvanise a dispirited, disjointed and threadbare squad. He’ll need to be involved in building and organising a team that’s made up for roughly 50% new recruits and 50% players jaded by our bruising 24/25 campaign. Wagner is perfect for this situation.

We know from the last spell Wagner had that he can quickly put together a team with a winning mentality with a clear system that is effective in English football. In some situations, Wagner’s approach may look inflexible and one-dimentional but I’d be delighted to see a return to 4-2-3-1 Gegenpressing. One of the most enjoyable games of our relegation season was watching his Norwich team play exactly like his 16/17 Town team. 

At League One level, I don’t think teams need a master tactician at the helm. Instead, successful teams have a system and stick to it. Players are often not that smart when it comes to tactical systems and shapes, so having a clear identity where you know both where you and your teammates should stand in every situation adds a clarity that Town haven’t had for a long time. 

Since David Wagner left, Town haven’t really stuck with any style or approach for any length of time. Mark Cartwright loved to talk about free-flowing attacking football but the managers he appointed typically reverted to safety-first, drab football as soon as the pressure to get results kicked in. 

David Wagner’s style of football is probably too controlled and rigid to be described as exciting but winning football matches IS exciting regardless of how you do it and I believe his system can be successful for Huddersfield Town again. 

David Wagner could help fix the divide with the fans and the club

I’ve seen more angry and emotional fans at games in the last few months than I have in previous years put together. Grown adults screaming in frustration and anger towards people they’ve most likely never met and who are doing jobs they probably don’t fully understand. I’m not going to defend the job performance of anybody linked to Huddersfield Town this season but the way some people have expressed their feelings towards people working for the club has crossed the line at times. 

As well from the vocal minority, there is a larger bulk of fans that have similar feelings but are less emotionally incontinent. These fans that are fed up with watching bad football and are frustrated that they’re now being asked to pay a huge percentage increase on their season card to watch (potentially) more of the same next season. Given the recent extension of the season card deadline, my guess is that a huge number of people haven’t renewed and that’s why the club has offered everyone more time. 

Bringing David Wagner back would be the single most impactful decision the club could make to win fans back. I’ve talked about why it would make sense for Huddersfield Town in footballing terms but the bigger issue is that his return would give fans a huge boost and perhaps repair the broken relationship between fans and club. Season card sales would skyrocket the day Wagner returned and that’s worth factoring in to the decision alongside all the footballing reasons to appoint him. 

But will David Wagner come back to Huddersfield?

Kevin Nagle’s sidekick, Carmichael Dave, has replied publicly about the Talk Sport story linking Wagner to Town. While he doesn’t deny the truth in the story he does suggest that these stories are often not based on facts and gets fans’ hopes up without reason. Reading between the lines, I’d guess he doesn’t expect Wagner to come to Town any time soon. 

Thinking back to Wagner’s time at Town, I distinctly remember him flirting with job vacancies that came up when Town were doing well. Often this was purely to manipulate a more lucrative contact from Dean Hoyle (did Hoyle confirm this in a Q&A once? I have a vague memory that he did). So the point I’m getting at is that David Wagner, or more likely his agent, is skilled at manipulating the press to his advantage. 

This is wild speculation, but it could be that a story linking Wagner to Town may have been typical agent-talk stuff to put his name out there. He may be hoping this rumour will create “fear of missing out” in some other club that he’s more interested in taking charge. 

While Wagner has been out of work for a year, his last job was at the top end of the Championship, before that he was competing in the Champions League and pushing for a title, then he was in the Bundesliga and before that he was a Premier League manager. So it would be a step down for him to come to Town, even if his last few jobs haven’t been as successful as he was in Huddersfield. 

I expect that Wagner would only be interested in returning to Huddersfield if he felt confident that he could get us back to the Championship quickly and then be a competitive team at that level. So it’s going to take a good pitch from the Town side of things to convince Wagner, or any prospective new manager, that we are a serious club and not a basket case that changes managers two or three times a season. 

So will David Wagner return to Huddersfield Town?

Having asked the question in the title of this article, it feels right that I try and give a short answer. My guess would be no, David Wagner probably won’t be coming back.

While Wagner is a good option for Town, I’m not convinced Town, in their current situation, is a good move for David Wagner. While he is fondly remembered by Town fans, the club is in a bit of a mess right now and he may not want to risk his reputation on trying to turn around our fortunes in the third tier of English football. Andre Breitenreiter was offered a similar prospect this time last year and declined because he didn’t want to drop to our level (despite having a minor role in getting us there).

If Wagner was offered a transfer war chest to build a squad in his image then that might be different but I don’t think we’re going to be “doing a Birmingham” this summer. Modest investment and canny use of the free agent market aren’t quite as tempting to a potential manager.

While my gut tells me Wagner’s return won’t happen now, I would be delighted if it did. Despite Carlos Corberan arguably being a better coach than Wagner, and Warnock the more impressive CV, David Wagner is my favourite ever Huddersfield Town manager and it would be wonderful to see him in charge of Town again if we can convince him to join.