With star names departing and the bookies queuing up to tip relegation, LFW caught up with Huddersfield fans David Siddall and Charlie Johnson to find out what's really going on in this corner of West Yorkshire.
Assess Huddersfield 's 2014/15 season for us — losing a manager after the first match seemed a bit odd, what went wrong for Robins and how did it go after that?
DS: We didn’t sack Mark Robins he resigned. The rot had set in the season before when we had a very poor finish, winning two out our last 13 matches. Getting hammered 4-0 at home in the opening game did not help his case and I think he felt it was best he moved on as he had lost the fans I think. Chris Powell came in and had a good start, helped by the signing of Grant Holt, then as seems to be normal we tailed off after Christmas although we went six/seven unbeaten at the end of the season we still only won two out of our last 13 matches. The abandonment at Blackpool put a bit of a dampener on the end of our season, not helped by the subsequent lack of punishment handed out by the FA and Football League. Overall I think we may have finished a bit higher we still made progress.
CJ: Officially Robins 'walked' after the first game. Whether he walked out with a shotgun pressed into his lower back will probably never be known. The official club line is that he certainly wasn't fired. After actually doing a passably decent job in his tenure, he seemed to lose his control overnight and despite it being the first game of the season his departure actually wasn't such a shock After he'd gone we managed to put together enough decent performances to safely steer clear of what seemed a certain relegation. However, the season felt oddly familiar. Play ok most of the time, occasionally over exert ourselves, and then play appallingly all before finishing, once again, in lower mid-table. This familiar process is starting to cause an increasingly distant and disengaged fan base.
What did you make of the Chris Powell appointment and how has he done so far?
DS: I was very happy when Chris Powell got appointed given his record at Charlton and how respected he is within the game. He started very well but, as we seem to do every season, we tailed off around January — March time but picked up a bit towards the end. I think he has done ok so far. I’m hoping he has really done some work on our defence as it has, at times, been laughable over the last two or three seasons. I would like to see better use of substitutions but I think he knows what he is doing and given the division and resources we have not sure many would do a better job than him.
CJ: I was happy enough with his appointment. He fits the bill for recent Huddersfield managers: relatively young, decent record, fairly nice but somewhat dull. Clark, Grayson, Robins and now Powell are all fairly interchangeable. Powell's done fine, but isn't really inspiring anybody. He is as nice and decent as everybody says, but has been very cautious and this caution is stopping fans truly warming to him. He isn't blooding youngsters and allows the game to develop too much before making substitutions but he's certainly got the players putting effort in, and he really gets excellent performances from them against the 'bigger' teams. Personally I like him, and think he's doing a good job with limited resources. Whether he's getting exactly what he wants from the board isn't clear, and will remain so as he's too decent to get publicly upset about not having much money to spend.
What transfer business have you done over the summer? How do you think it's gone?
DS: Feeling a bit underwhelmed this window so far as I do not really think we have improved the squad from last season. We have signed an experienced midfielder in Dean Whitehead and left back in Jason Davidson which were areas we needed to strengthen. We sold Connor Coady and Alex Smithies and although Joe Murphy looks a capable replacement given how much other teams have strengthened I can’t help but feel our squad lacks a bit of quality and depth across the board.
CJ: Initially our transfer business looked very canny and shrewd. We bought in the experienced Dean Whitehead, who was supposed to allow Conor Coady to develop, but then we sold Coady to Wolves. A few very promising youngsters have also come in, and Martin Cranie and the very promising looking Jason Davidson certainly cannot make our defence an awful lot worse. However, after Coady's sale (one we didn't need to make according to the board) we've now sold Alex Smithies (more on him shortly) and in it seems we will sell Jacob Butterfield if Derby pay the right price. These players were cornerstones of our first team, all guaranteed starters and amongst the best performers at the club. The departures are souring what originally looked like a good transfer window. Ask me on September 2 though, as things change so swiftly. After the high profile departures, admittedly for good money, a big signing would go a long way to appeasing doubtful fans.
One of the favourites for relegation this year, is that justified? How have you started?
DS: I would say given our limited budget and comparative squads you would have to look upon us as relegation candidates. That is not to say I think we will go down but we do have to improve massively on the defensive side and be a lot more clinical in front of goal. We have drawn three and lost our opening game at Hull we have not put together a complete performance yet and we lack a bit of confidence I think. If are to survive we need a strong start as we traditionally do poorly at the turn of the year. It is a very strong division this year with a lot of teams prepared to invest a lot of money to try and get promotion.
CJ: We have a small budget, don't come close to filling our stadium and have to sell rather than keep our better players. So, yes it's understandable that we're relegation favourites, especially considering the increased quality in the league. However, we are a solid club these days. We utilise the market sensibly, have a pretty settled manager and we don't lie down against the opposition too often. We're a competent team with players capable of surprising. We've also got Championship knowhow, and should have enough to be safe this year, once again. So far we've lost one and drawn 3 (all 1-1) so not a spectacular start, but if we'd managed to use our brains and maintain concentration in the games we drew, then we'd be very comfortable. Hopefully the draws become wins, rather than marginal loses. As it stands whilst you're drawing games it's hard to know which way it's going to truly develop. Are we good or bad? Too early to say.
What should QPR fans expect from Alex Smithies? Do you rate him?
DS: Probably a bit biased when it comes to Smithies but I rate him very highly. At 25 he has more than 200 senior appearances which is a lot considering he was out with knee injury for 18 months about four or five years ago. He is a very good shot stopper, good communicator and won the Players’ Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons. If I was to be critical I would say he could perhaps command his area slightly better and his distribution from feet could be improved. You have a got a very good goalkeeper with a great attitude who will only improve over time. Can also take a good penalty under pressure.
CJ: On his day he's one of the Championship’s best, and the older he gets the better he has become. He broke through as a very confident young keeper at 17, looked set for superstardom and then a mix of injuries and confidence halted his progress. With a settled defence in front of him, and if he improved his communication he'll be great. He does make the occasional error, sometimes horrible ones, but he's honest, never hides, and could well prove to be a bargain buy. I wish him all the best, as he's been an absolute credit to Huddersfield Town. A true professional who'll work hard to improve.
Best players and weak links in the side?
DS: Best player Jacob Butterfield - he can control the midfield and is integral to how we play, if he has an off day we will struggle. Likewise, Sean Scanell came of age last year and although his end product is not consistent enough he is a threat on the right hand side.
The defence is weak. Only Blackpool and Millwall had a worse defensive record than us last season and although you cannot blame it entirely on the back line they have to shoulder some of the blame. There is not one single aspect I can point my finger at and say ‘that will improve us’ but rather collectively as a squad we have to concentrate better and cut out the individual mistakes that occur too frequently across the squad.
CJ: We concede too many goals. This is a problem that runs through the team, honestly. A lack of decisive action and common sense tends to lead to goals conceded. I don't like to highlight particular players as weak, but some added courage and engaging our brains could reduce the goals against column. Our best player is Jacob Butterfield, by a street. He can dominate a game and if we still have him in September I'll consider this window a success. He's the best player I've seen play for Huddersfield in many years.
Short, medium and long term aims for the club?
DS: Short term aim has to be survival again this season first and foremost. Middle to long term aims have to establish ourselves in the Championship and look to break into the top half/top ten and hope that at some point we can get into the Premier League (going to need a little bit of luck). Sadly that is getting further and further away at the moment.
CJ: Short term is win enough games to stay up, with the medium term goal to slowly work our way up the league, towards the play offs in the next five years. We are taking a very considered and patient approach, and time will tell if it will actually pay dividends. Long term we need to attempt to somehow find five thousand more regular fans. Our small attendances and low season ticket sales are hindering our progress, especially now our owner is against personally overspending on the squad, after being bitten by this approach in the past. Without a bigger fan base, we could be set to struggle in the long term.
The Twitter @loftforwords, @DavidSiddall86
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