Chris Markham exclusive: 'My job is to ask, what do we want Huddersfield Town to stand for?'

Chris Markham

Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): Chris, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Good to see you. We’ll ask about your role in a moment but obviously, we’re in a very busy period at the moment. So, Lee Grant, obviously you’ve made the decision on him at the weekend. Where do you feel like things went wrong with Lee? Where were things falling short?

Yes, obviously, I would preface [this] by saying I have been here just over nine weeks now, so a couple of months in, and it’s been a busy time.

I knew Lee from before. I was looking forward to working with him for certain. And a lot of the ideas and things that he wanted to implement, I knew from my previous time. So I actually came across him when I was at Bolton, he was looking to get into into management there. So I understood we’d be aligned in certain ways.

And I think it came, you know, that there was a big period of time after the Wigan game where, you know, results, and it had been a bit of an inconsistent sort of run of performances and results. And I think what we were looking at then was, there was an opportunity, some positive fixtures and get some positive results to see if we could build that momentum again.

And obviously we did, the three good wins over Christmas, and, you know, we were going into the new year with a lot of optimism. You know, ground out a point at Lincoln, which looked like we’d turned the corner, and then particularly in those big games; we all know the record against the teams in that top seven alongside us is going to be an important factor between now and the end of the season.

So getting, the second half of the Exeter game, turned into the Stockport game and then obviously turned into the Burton game, and that momentum was gone really.

I think when you then look at, you know, sometimes you just look at the results, and you’ve got to try and step out, because there was a lot of things going on which you’d like, some of the good processes that Lee had, the way that he had with the players, he had a good relationship with them, but when you look at it, when you take a step back, you know, five wins in 18 in the league was not befitting of the squad that we’ve got.

So, yeah, it’s always unfortunate. Look, I’ve been around a long time, and there’s a lot of people in the game, some not-so-nice characters in the game, and we were fortunate here with those guys, they were excellent people, and you never like to see that happen to them but they understood it’s part of the game.

Lee was very pragmatic and understanding about it. He’s a top guy, and I wish him nothing but well going forward.

SC: Is there a sense that maybe, you know, if he didn’t have those immediate objectives, he’s got a bright future, there’s potential there, but it’s just when you’re going for promotion this season you need [results]?

100%. This job is a tough job, particularly coming into this season, for anybody, never mind a rookie head coach, rookie coaching staff. It takes the level of difficulty up considerably.

I’ve read all your pieces, and it’s true. It wasn’t a straightforward decision. There’s a lot of back and forth and discussing it with the wider group. But yeah, ultimately, it’s a results driven business, and it got to the point where the temperature in the stands was sort of reflecting the temperature behind the scenes. And we know that this squad is capable of better results than those.

SC: It seems pretty clear from the statements, promotion’s still the aim.

Yeah, of course. Look, it’s certainly a more difficult objective now than than it was maybe at the beginning of the season but yeah, absolutely every focus is still on getting this club promoted.

We’ve got 20 games left including the cup game, which is also an exciting thing to be involved in when you get to this stage anyway, but yeah, in terms of that ultimate aim for this season, that’s not changed. It is promotion.

SC: You moved quickly to bring Liam Manning in and he’s obviously got a track record. When you look at his previous clubs, MK Dons he inherits a Russell Martin team so he plays passing football; Bristol City, I think it’s Nigel Pearson, so he’s a bit more pragmatic. Is that adaptability part of the appeal with Liam?