Huddersfield Town digest as Nagle lays out Breitenreiter expectations
Huddersfield Town digest as Nagle lays out Breitenreiter expectations
Plus injury latest, a look at the next opposition, and a predicted line-up for the trip to Watford
We’ve had an influx of new We Are Terriers readers over the past couple of weeks, no doubt inspired by the manager news and a rather lovely thread on Down at the Mac that was brought to our attention. Thank you to everyone who said such nice things!
This feels like a good time to say once again that we’re absolutely blown away by the support you’ve all shown to this project. Launching We Are Terriers was a bit of a step into the unknown after my departure from the Examiner, and I’m thrilled that the take-up so far has allowed me to continue to cover the club.
For those who missed our initial launch back on 1st December, I just want to set the expectations that our aim is not to give you multiple pieces of press conference quotes or rumours every day. Frankly, you can get that stuff elsewhere free of charge, whether that’s the rumour mill of the national media or via the club’s website, social media and YouTube channels. That’s why this weekly digest is free of charge to all readers.
Our goal with our paid content is to bring you quality, in-depth coverage of Huddersfield Town that you simply aren’t going to get elsewhere, at the times that it counts most. Best of all, it’s all ad-free and presented in an extremely readable format, delivered directly to your inbox.
Matters on the pitch will naturally take precedence for the next few months, which I will cover in our five conclusions on every single game and via the We Are Terriers podcast every week alongside the excellent David Hartrick. But we’re also making exciting plans for our summer content schedule, including exclusive interviews and documentary-style podcasts.
To those who have been with us for longer: thank you massively for your continued support. And to those who are new…welcome along! Enjoy We Are Terriers: we couldn’t do it without you.
Huddersfield Town ins and outs
Huddersfield Town were finally able to reveal their new head coach on Thursday evening, with Andre Breitenreiter unveiled as the long-term successor to Darren Moore.
The new gaffer has signed a two-and-a-half year contract at the John Smith’s Stadium and is set to take charge this week. You can find out all about Breitenreiter’s career here, if you’re yet to do so. We also talked about the appointment on the We Are Terriers podcast.
Details of who will make up Breitenreiter’s coaching staff are yet to be announced, but further details are expected in due course.
What’s been said
“Jon has just done a fabulous job as an interim manager. It was a tough one but I’m not sure Jon really wants the job. But he’s just done a fantastic job for the organisation, being a Huddersfield Town guy through and through.
“We knew we had a great opportunity with Andre, and we got him.”
— Kevin Nagle, on X on Friday evening, on the job Jon Worthington did as caretaker boss
“It’s been an absolute privilege for me to be honest. There’s been some real special memories that can’t be taken away from me — proud moments for me and my family, but also just in terms of connecting with the players and the supporters again. There’s been loads of special moments.
“[My staff] have been massive, absolutely massive. I’ve been the person sat here in terms of the interviews, but it’s been across all departments.
“Probably a special mention to the coaches: Neil [Bennett] who’s been working closely with Lee [Nicholls] and Maxi (Chris Maxwell), but also Kevin [Russell] and Michael [Tonge].
“We’ve got a real good mix of personalities and I think that’s worked really well. There’s been really good balance to the team and everyone’s had a voice and chipped in in key moments. I think that’s been really important.”
— Jon Worthington, at his pre-match press conference on Friday, on how he feels about his spell as caretaker manager
“We scanned the market and really Mark [Cartwright] did a great job. We were patient, and it took a couple of weeks longer to get what we wanted, but it also give Jon the chance to take the limelight a bit and get the lads playing the way they were playing.
“… We’ve got good relationships with our previous managers … [but] the bottom line is they’re [now] playing the way we wanted them to play.
“I think you’re going to see Andre playing them the same way, and in his interviews we really hammered home that we want them playing this brand of football, which frankly is the brand of football that he plays.”
— Kevin Nagle, on X on Friday evening, explaining the club’s process in their search for a new head coach and what he expects from Breitenreiter
“We’re not out of the woods by any stretch, we are not. I feel we are going to ascend and that we could ascend quite quickly, with just a little bit of luck and the ability everybody has.”
— Kevin Nagle, on X on Friday evening, highlighting the task ahead for Huddersfield Town
Coming up next
It’s felt very difficult to get the measure of Watford from afar this season, and their record in the league spells out exactly why: 11 wins, 11 draws, 11 defeats, 11th in the table.
On Saturday they halted a five-game winless run in the league with a one-nil victory away to rock bottom Rotherham United — but that was only their second Championship victory since Christmas, the other coming away to QPR last month.
That leaves Valerien Ismael’s side without a home win in their six league games since beating Norwich 3-2 at the end of November, the longest such unwanted streak in the division at the moment.
Top scorer Mileta Rajovic has faltered over that spell, scoring just twice in his past 12 outings in all competitions, one of them being against non-league Chesterfield in the FA Cup.
However, winger Yaser Asprilla (who scored his first goal for the club against Town in the equivalent fixture last season) has stepped up to the mark with back-to-back goals against Norwich and Rotherham, and will need to be carefully watched.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Michal Helik has remained sidelined with the dead leg/knee that he picked up on the trip to QPR last month, with Jon Worthington reiterating on Friday that the centre-back was finding the issue frustrating.
Jaheim Headley is expected back in training in the coming weeks after suffering an ankle injury playing against Leicester City on New Year’s Day.
January arrival from Watford Rhys Healey will miss out on facing his former club with the groin injury that is expect to keep him out of action until late next month.
Josh Ruffels and Ollie Turton are out for the season with groin and knee injuries respectively, while Kian Harratt is suspended for the rest of the campaign for breaching FA gambling rules.
We Are Terriers podcast live show
Don’t forget that David Hartrick and I will record an episode of the We Are Terriers podcast live at Magic Rock Huddersfield Taproom on Wednesday 13th March following the annual general meeting of the Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association.
The AGM will take place at 6:30pm, with the podcast recording pencilled in for an 8pm start, though the exact timing may vary.
Attendance is free for all HTSA members. You can register for the event here — and if you’re not an HTSA member already, you can become one for the next 12 months for just £1. Sign up here.
There is no requirement for you to attend the AGM to attend the podcast live show, but you will still need to be an HTSA member. If you do wish to vote in the AGM, however, you will need to have registered as a member by no later than 28th February.
Predicted Huddersfield Town line-up to face Watford
It’s always difficult to call it when there’s a new manager in the dugout, as we know from plentiful experience over the past couple of years.
We’re going to take a cue from Breitenreiter having generally preferred to use a 3-1-4-2 at his past two clubs, though. Worthington has had his side playing something similar to this shape on the ball in recent weeks. A back three of Matty Pearson, Tom Lees and Radinio Balker has developed a good understanding, so we expect it to be retained even if Michal Helik is back fit.
Sorba Thomas, Jack Rudoni and Alex Matos practically pick themselves in this system, although we expect Rudoni to move back into central midfield, and it’s possible Breitenreiter might prefer to use Matos as his deeper-lying midfielder rather than in a box-to-box role. Either way, we’re going to predict David Kasumu to get the nod ahead of Jonathan Hogg, based on nothing other than a hunch.
The left wing is tricky, but Brodie Spencer did an excellent job in a very advanced wing-back role against Southampton that we imagine to be very similar to how Breitenreiter will look to use his wide players.
Bojan Radulovic has struggled to get a look in under Worthington, largely thanks to Josh Koroma having impressed with two goals in his first game in charge and then doing well against Southampton.
But we’ve gone with Radulovic here because we feel he is a more a complementary partner to our other pick at centre-forward, Delano Burgzorg, who brought an improvement to Town’s attacking play from the bench against Hull and is now hopefully capable of playing for longer.
3-1-4-2: Lee Nicholls; Matty Pearson, Tom Lees, Radinio Balker; David Kasumu; Sorba Thomas, Alex Matos, Jack Rudoni, Brodie Spencer; Bojan Radulovic, Delano Burgzorg.
Substitutes: Chris Maxwell, Michal Helik, Yuta Nakayama, Brahima Diarra, Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles, Pat Jones, Josh Koroma, Danny Ward.
Our schedule
Our planned written piece for our £5-a-month backers is a reaction from inside Breitenreiter’s first press conference, which will serve both as an unveiling and as the pre-match presser for this weekend’s trip to Watford.
I’ll do my best to give you a flavour of what it’s like to be at the press conference, with key moments and first impressions of the new gaffer. At the time of writing we are awaiting confirmation as to when that will be.
The next issue of the podcast will come after that press conference, taking in Saturday’s 1-2 defeat to Hull City and talking in more detail about the presser. The podcast is also exclusive to our backers, so sign up now to make sure you don’t miss it.
We’ll have player ratings for all readers on the final whistle at Watford, followed by five conclusions for backers later that evening/first thing the next morning.
Final notes
The match-worn and signed shirts from the 5-3 defeat to Southampton are up for auction, with the shirt in which Chelsea loanee Alex Matos scored his first-ever senior goal currently the big-ticket item. Bidding closes this Sunday lunchtime.