Huddersfield Town digest as Darren Moore answers Kevin Nagle message
The manager was asked about the chairman's criticism of the 1-1 draw with Plymouth
Kevin Nagle’s frank approach to social media quickly diverted attention (if only briefly) from the frustrating result against Plymouth and onto the question of whether it is appropriate for a chairman to express his views so publicly. Nagle himself addressed that question later on Saturday night, saying he will continue to speak his mind however he sees fit.
Views will be mixed on that approach: some find the candour refreshing, while others worry that it drags the players and manager over the coals in a counter-productive way. We all saw good example of what it can provoke with Neil Warnock’s riposte to a similar tweet back in August.
For us, it’s a tricky one. You’d like to think that everyone concerned is resilient enough not just to take it on the chin, but to accept and echo it when things are not good enough. That was certainly the tack Darren Moore took at his post-match press conference when we pressed him on the matter, as you’ll see below.
Nagle is always quite clear that he includes himself and his backroom staff in any such analysis, and that is perhaps the fundamental point that he feels justifies his approach. There’s also a cultural factor at play. Public criticism is more usual in US sport, and there is little more American than his words: “I’m not interested in comfort, I’m interested in creating a sustained winning culture, which is what you deserve.”
But that argument perhaps ignores fundamental human nature. We are all emotional creatures with emotional responses; I know I certainly wouldn’t have taken kindly to my bosses publicly criticising my performance in a very public forum.
That’s to say nothing of fans on social media, who — with the best will in the world — are not always beacons of rationalism. Nor are you required to be. The biggest criticism of Nagle’s willingness to speak out publicly is that it only pours more petrol onto a fire of rage that needs no encouragement, and indeed should ideally be quelled.
But then, the reality is that any attempt to play things down or stick to corporate platitudes would be tone-deaf in the extreme. Meanwhile, previous administrations can attest that trying to maintain a dignified if slightly red-faced silence winds people up just as much.
It’s a classic English media issue: we berate players, managers and executives for speaking in cliches, but round on them all the more — tabloids and fans alike — for speaking their minds. It’s a vicious cycle created by a peculiar football culture where the most obnoxious voices hold too much sway.
At the end of the day, Nagle will find he can say whatever he wants when the team is winning — and that everything he says is criticised when they aren’t.
Personally, we’re far more interested in action; the club now need to follow through on their plans to strengthen the squad and immediately set about improving results. Nothing else will be good enough.
What’s been said
“I think we’ve all agreed in here that we’ve just dropped two points, so I think it’s fair enough to agree with that. I can only express that even further. We’re on the same page because that’s the high standards we set here.
[See as a personal criticism?] “Not at all. We’ve all got the Huddersfield Town badge on and we all share the same views, so not at all.”
— Darren Moore, on being told of Kevin Nagle’s ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!’ tweet on Saturday evening
"[Sacking Moore is] not going to happen right now, obviously.
“We promised to shore up the squad, we’ve got a lot of injuries. I think we’re going to get more back a week from [Saturday], when we play Blackburn. We brought two guys [into the side], Alex Matos and Brodie Spencer, and in some ways they played out of position where they normally are.
“We need to give everyone a bit more time. I’m not happy with the way we played, I know all the Town fans aren’t happy, so we’re out here and we’re kicking a little fanny right now. We’re going to be here another three weeks and it’s going to be unrelenting — and we’re going to look for some more signings as well.”
— Kevin Nagle, on fans’ criticism of Darren Moore, on X
“I hate to watch that ball move backwards, negative passing. I’m going to have dinner with the players and I’m going to talk to them about that. I do not like passing backwards. It’s a cop-out.”
— Kevin Nagle, responding to the Plymouth game Saturday night, on X
“Mark and his team actually are doing a great job. They let me listen to a CEO of a well-known football team and how he acted just in arrogance. [There was] a very quality player who was ready to come to us, as an example: his agent was ready to go, the family wanted him to go, he wanted to go, was very excited about coming to Town.
“The problem was [their] chief executive, for whatever reason, didn’t really have anything against Town, but he’s new on the job and said ‘I’m not ready to let him go’, so the deal died, at least as we know it today.
“But we’re pursuing some others. This is a ruthless business, we just need to get a little bit tougher.”
— Kevin Nagle, on Town’s continuing efforts in the transfer market, on X
Coming up next
Town will take on Blackburn Rovers for the second time in three and a half weeks when they visit Ewood Park hoping to replicate the 3-0 victory they claimed at the John Smith’s Stadium on Boxing Day.
Things haven’t go any better for Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side since then: in the interim they’ve lost with ten men away to Hull, drawn at home to rubbish Rotherham, and been trounced 4-1 by West Brom. A 5-2 win over Cambridge United in the FA Cup hasn’t done much to improve the mood, either.
We’d normally call any away draws a decent point well-earned, but with Blackburn out of form and sliding down the table, and especially in light of Town having dropped two points against Plymouth, nothing but a victory on the road will feel sufficient.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
David Kasumu and Jonathan Hogg returned from a knee injury and illness respectively against Plymouth, with both completing 90 minutes.
Not sure if you noticed but Bojan Radulovic was missing with a slight groin issue. Darren Moore explained after the game that his exclusion was hoped to be a precautionary measure taken with the rest of the season in mind.
He joined a long list of forward absences that also includes Delano Burgzorg (ankle), Kian Harratt (hamstring), Pat Jones (hamstring) and Danny Ward (achilles). From what Moore has told us, only Ward is potentially expected back anytime soon, and even then he was tentative about the prospect.
There’s issues in defence, too, with Matty Pearson (calf) and Josh Ruffels (groin) recently joined on the injury list by Jaheim Headley (ankle). There’s no indication any are expected back in the near future, while Yuta Nakayama is on international duty for another few weeks yet.
Goalkeepers Jacob Chapman (ankle) and Chris Maxwell (hamstring) remain sidelined.
Predicted Huddersfield Town line-up to face Blackburn Rovers
3-5-2: Lee Nicholls; Tom Lees, Michal Helik, Brodie Spencer; David Kasumu, Alex Matos, Jonathan Hogg, Jack Rudoni, Ben Jackson; Sorba Thomas, oh please God Bojan Radulovic
Substitutes: Giouse Bellagambi, Loick Ayina, Tom Edwards, Josh Austerfield, Brahima Diarra, Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Tom Iorpenda, Ben Wiles, Josh Koroma.
Our schedule
The next episode of the podcast is pencilled in for release on Wednesday, and I can promise we have loads to say on the back of Saturday’s game. Five conclusions could easily have been ten there; in fact, we may well go into more forensic detail in a written piece later this week.
We’ll be at the B team game on Friday evening as Town host Nottingham Forest as the group stage of the Premier League Cup resumes after nearly two months off.
A point or more for Forest would see them go through to the next stage as group winners, but Town’s place in the knockout stage remains in the balance: they’re just a point ahead of Fleetwood and two ahead of Newcastle. With a trip to Fleetwood still to come, taking four more points from their remaining games would guarantee Town’s progress.
Fans can also attend the 7pm kick-off — details here. In any case, we’ll bring you something from that game.
On Saturday we’ll have the usual player ratings from the trip to Blackburn, followed by conclusions probably on Sunday morning/lunchtime.
Final notes
Tom Iorpenda spoke to the club’s podcast series HTAFC Sounds about his journey to first-team football after his recent senior debut — well worth a listen.
The club reunited the 1973/74 FA Youth Cup side on the pitch at the John Smith’s Stadium at the weekend. That team are the best-performing Town youth side in the history of the competition, reaching the final before losing to Tottenham. Rumours that their centre-forward was asked to bring his boots are unconfirmed.
Also honoured on the day were Rashida Saloo, Helen Pearson, Hamzah Haddouche, Jeremy Meadowcroft, Finley, James Carter, Dave Bretton, Mihai and Anne Firth, who were recognised for their outstanding community work as part of the EFL’s Community Weekend - a big well done to them all.