The Huddersfield way

The_President

Ok, its early days , but Huddersfield are sitting pretty at the top of the Championship 4 points clear of team in 3rd place with 5 wins and a draw, including 4 away points v Newcastle and Villa.

David Wagner is acknowledged as being the architect of their success, not having much money to play with, but recruiting the 'right' players in the close season.
A short while after taking over from Chris Powell in November 2015, on 20th November,according to Statto 'Udd were 19th in the table with just 2 more points than us.

Jealous?, you bet i am . But another situation where recruitment, if done professionally, can bring results and happy fans.
I bet Wagner doesnt have some hippie sitting in a shed in Dortmund emailing him telling him who to buy.

Scoham

Of course he's not achieved anything yet but it perhaps shows a foreign manager with (some) signings from abroad can work. I'd like to see a manager come in that can get us playing exciting football but we always seem to end up with more cautious managers, or ones that have one system and stick to it. That was the strange thing about Peeters, stuck rigidly to 4-4-2 but wanted to play a passing game.

That said Slade played a much more attacking midfield yesterday, it'll be interesting to see if he sticks with it. We can't keep Lookman on the bench and Ulvestad is here to play. Can't see Holmes being dropped either.

jamescafc

The trouble is I have yet to see what identity Slade is trying to impart on the team. Our philosophy seems to be give the ball to Holmes or Lookman and hope they create something.

By contrast, you could see that Fleetwood were setup to play a high pressing game. Their front three were quick, agile and would interchange throughout the game to keep us on our toes. I believe Rosler has been in the job the same amount of time as Slade.

The problem is I don't see how we can control a game without a stronger central midfield so I guess our best bet is a counter attacking approach using Holmes and Lookman on the break.

ForeverAddickted

But at the same time Wagner is foreign... Surely Huddersfield need a British Manager if they want to be successful?

RanTooFar

ForeverAddickted said:

But at the same time Wagner is foreign... Surely Huddersfield need a British Manager if they want to be successful?

Made a thread about this at one point

Scoham

ForeverAddickted said:

But at the same time Wagner is foreign... Surely Huddersfield need a British Manager if they want to be successful?

Some of us just wanted a good, suitable manager and players, no matter where they were from or what league they played in.

Big difference between an owner identifying a talented foreign manager that could adapt and do well over here and just picking one he knows that might do ok and will give young players a game.

ForeverAddickted

Scoham said:

ForeverAddickted said:

But at the same time Wagner is foreign... Surely Huddersfield need a British Manager if they want to be successful?

Some of us just wanted a good, suitable manager and players, no matter where they were from or what league they played in.

Big difference between an owner identifying a talented foreign manager that could adapt and do well over here and just picking one he knows that might do ok and will give young players a game.

Yeah thats what I wanted myself...

Yet Wagner was a huge risk from Huddersfield as he's never been a Manager before and was only ever understudy to Klopp... Luzon would probably have been a safer option had they signed him direct from Standard Liege

InspectorSands

Wagner's form at Huddersfield was indifferent until he managed to get his own players in during the summer (something I don't think Powell was ever given the chance to do).

There's been a big feelgood factor about the place since he came in, though - knocking out 10,000 season tickets for £179 has helped. A big gamble that could just come off...

Latimer

InspectorSands said:

Wagner's form at Huddersfield was indifferent until he managed to get his own players in during the summer (something I don't think Powell was ever given the chance to do).

There's been a big feelgood factor about the place since he came in, though - knocking out 10,000 season tickets for £179 has helped. A big gamble that could just come off...

Spot on! The other thing Wagner will ensure is that they will be the fittest team in the championship. Whether they will last the pace or succumb to injuries will probably be the problem. And their chairman is richer than RD and a Huddersfield fan through and through.

killerandflash

It's interesting how opinions of SCP will vary so much between us and them

A legend at Charlton, a Parky type figure at Huddersfield...

WestCountryAddick

InspectorSands said:

Wagner's form at Huddersfield was indifferent until he managed to get his own players in during the summer (something I don't think Powell was ever given the chance to do).

There's been a big feelgood factor about the place since he came in, though - knocking out 10,000 season tickets for £179 has helped. A big gamble that could just come off...

Exactly. Chris Powell was the same when he first joined. He had someone else's signings and we finished mid-table. The next season when he was given money to build a squad, we won the division convincingly. If only he had been given the cash to add to that squad and build a Championship side. I have no doubt he could have replicated what he did in League One and had us challenging for the top six spots. Unfortunately, as we know the financial rug was pulled from under him and he was eventually sacked by the current regime, and we see where that has got us.

jamescafc

I wonder if anyone ever fully explained to RD exactly what CP did for us in league 1. Crazy as he had the financial clout to support CP in the way he needed. Still, no point going over old ground.

The_President

jamescafc said:

I wonder if anyone ever fully explained to RD exactly what CP did for us in league 1. Crazy as he had the financial clout to support CP in the way he needed. Still, no point going over old ground.

Dont depress me even more !

SDAddick

Scoham said:

Of course he's not achieved anything yet but it perhaps shows a foreign manager with (some) signings from abroad can work. I'd like to see a manager come in that can get us playing exciting football but we always seem to end up with more cautious managers, or ones that have one system and stick to it. That was the strange thing about Peeters, stuck rigidly to 4-4-2 but wanted to play a passing game.

That said Slade played a much more attacking midfield yesterday, it'll be interesting to see if he sticks with it. We can't keep Lookman on the bench and Ulvestad is here to play. Can't see Holmes being dropped either.

Like Aitor Karanka who finished 2nd last year? Jovanović the year before?

I agree with the rest, all good points. I would personally go as far as to argue we get managers stuck to a rigid 4-4-2 who don't play exciting, possession-based football because we have English managers but that's just me.

SDAddick

jamescafc said:

The trouble is I have yet to see what identity Slade is trying to impart on the team. Our philosophy seems to be give the ball to Holmes or Lookman and hope they create something.

By contrast, you could see that Fleetwood were setup to play a high pressing game. Their front three were quick, agile and would interchange throughout the game to keep us on our toes. I believe Rosler has been in the job the same amount of time as Slade.

The problem is I don't see how we can control a game without a stronger central midfield so I guess our best bet is a counter attacking approach using Holmes and Lookman on the break.

Rosler is a much better coach though. His teams often have that identity, 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, like to keep possession and are very good about pressing up high up the pitch. I think I got laughed at when I said he was exactly the type of manager I wish we'd gone after.

Also note, he came into the job just before the season started and these "aren't his players" and yet they're flying high in the league. Also, there are changes, but not wholesale ones to a team that finished 19th last year.

jamescafc

Agreed - would love to see their budget vs ours.

Scoham

SDAddick said:

Scoham said:

Of course he's not achieved anything yet but it perhaps shows a foreign manager with (some) signings from abroad can work. I'd like to see a manager come in that can get us playing exciting football but we always seem to end up with more cautious managers, or ones that have one system and stick to it. That was the strange thing about Peeters, stuck rigidly to 4-4-2 but wanted to play a passing game.

That said Slade played a much more attacking midfield yesterday, it'll be interesting to see if he sticks with it. We can't keep Lookman on the bench and Ulvestad is here to play. Can't see Holmes being dropped either.

Like Aitor Karanka who finished 2nd last year? Jovanović the year before?

I agree with the rest, all good points. I would personally go as far as to argue we get managers stuck to a rigid 4-4-2 who don't play exciting, possession-based football because we have English managers but that's just me.

You're right there are already examples of it working in the Championship.

Maybe English managers are more likely to play that type of football though there are some that have a more attractive style such as Eddie Howe.

Stig

It's well worth a listen to their President (and former Chairman) David Taylor on Yesterday's 606. A proper gentleman, loves his club and is full of enthusiasm. When asked if he'd see the day's game, his response was, "I haven't missed a game home or away for 23 years". I bit of a contrast to our owner who looks set to average one match every 23 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0070hz6/episodes/downloads

For anyone who wants to download the podcast the DT call is on 1hour 15minutes.