From Terriers to Top Dogs - A Huddersfield Town Story

[iHoward]

Simon Grayson Resigns



Huddersfield today have announced the resignation of their manager Simon Grayson. Grayson was the first manager to take Huddersfield into the championship after a 11 year wait despite knocking on the door for nearly 6 years. Grayson said the following on his twitter page earlier today.

"I am sorry to have to resign as manager at such a fantastic club. It may come at an usual time after just gaining promotion but I have no other choice with family issues taking priority in my life at the moment. I wish the club all the best in their future and I am sure they will succeed with whoever takes the vacancy now left at the club. I would like to thank the fans for their continued support during my short stay at the club."

Talk has now obviously taken to Grayson's successor with club coach Adam Howard favourite for the vacancy. Fans are unsure on the managerial rookie but the board are believed his current knowledge of the squad and a positive relationship with the players will keep the continuity at the club they are looking for. Keep here on ESPN for all the news as it comes in.

[iHoward]

Huddersfield Appoint Howard


Just 4 hours after the resignation of Simon Grayson at the helm of Huddersfield Town they have unveiled club coach Adam Howard as the new manager. Howard a rookie to the managerial side has been a coach at Huddersfield for 3 years and board are believed to have chosen him over someone with better managerial experience due to his knowledge of the squad. New manager had the following to say.

"I am delighted to given the role here at Huddersfield. It is a club with a rich history that has been struggling in recent times but the promotion that Simon achieved here last season is something we must use to push on and get this club eventually back into the premier league were in belongs. The squad here is very balanced but I will want to bring in a few new faces that is obvious just to get some fresh legs into the squad but also to create a squad that can consolidate our place in this league and then to push on."

[iHoward]

Squad Review



The squad I have at my disposal here at Huddersfield is a strong one. It includes some very strong players but after the additions I made over this summer the full squad's quality has improved because of it. The squad I have assembled here can definitely meet the boards expectation of a secure mid table finish but I hope we can push on for that and try for a top half finish if possible.

Key Individuals



Before I considered any signings I searched through my squad and came across the 3 obvious quality players we already possessed. Firstly was the striker James Vaughan who is on loan with us from Norwich and his premier league quality is evident with pace to burn combined with an excellent work ethic make him a perfect team player and will be essential to our moves forward with this squad. Next up is another loanee in the shape of Adam Hammill from Wolves who yet again could easily cut it in the premier league as he showed last season before their unfortunate relegation. Finally was our strongest defender in the shape of Anthony Gerrard, cousin of the ever so famous Steven, and his obvious defensive qualities are evident during our pre season giving me faith in our ability to hold onto a lead.

Transfers



The finances here given to me by the board have given me a lot of ability to change and improve the squad in a hope to push onwards and upwards. The first of our permanent signings was young Jesse Lingard from Manchester United for £550,000 but his quality is evident at such a young age and everyone at the club hopes he can become something special. The only other permanent signing made this window was Adryan, a young Brazilian wonder kid from Flamengo for his release clause of £850,000. The rest of our in comings were on a loan basis but all with a view too buy if they impress during their season long spells. Our 3 loan signings of Mauro Formica, Libor Kozak and Frazer Richardson are all players that wanted to leave their clubs and we took advantage of this and picked them up on a loan spell which will help push our squad forward without damaging the clubs financial position.



Tactical Overview



The board have asked me to make sure the squad involves youth which I have tried to accomplish with my signings but they also have asked for us to play beautiful attacking football and I have tried to accommodate this by using a 4-2-3-1 formation which allows a strong attacking quartet with the defensive solidity required to win games. Overall I think this squad is good enough to achieve the boards expectations and pushing on further may even be a possibility.

[Sam91]

Nice start mate, good work on the transfers too

[iHoward]

August 2012


Squad Assembled and Ready to go


Npower Championship

Match Day 1

Milwall 1 - 3 Huddersfield

Ward
Novak
Vaughan

Match Day 2

Huddersfield 3 - 3 Blackburn

Vaughan (2)
Gerrard

Match Day 3

Bolton 1 - 1 Huddersfield

Richardson (pen)

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Capital One Cup

Round 1

Preston 0 - 2 Huddersfield
Dixon
Vaughan

Round 2

Huddersfield 1 - 0 Blackpool
Novak

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Player of the Month

James Vaughan


2 MoM with 3 goals and 1 Assist.

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Wow. What a month that was. We had some difficult fixtures that month against some teams expected to win promotion in Blackburn and Bolton and to take a point from both will really help improve our tally. A strong win against Millwall and progressing through to the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup rounded off our unbeaten start to the season.

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Sitting Pretty in 7th Place

[KLIPPYBO]

Good luck mate - always had a soft spot for Huddersfield - even more so recently when they had some Newcaslte legends in their coaching staff!

[iHoward]

September 2012


Players Celebrate Derby Win

Npower Champioship

Match Day 4

Huddersfield 3 - 2 Sheffield Wednesday

Novak (2)
Hammill

Match Day 5

Barnsley 1 - 5 Huddersfield

Novak
Adryan
Kozak
Clayton
Clarke

Match Day 6

Huddersfield 1 - 1 Hull

Vaughan

Match Day 7

Birmingham 0 - 0 Huddersfield

Match Day 8

Peterborough 1 - 4 Huddersfield

Adryan (2)
Vaughan
Brisley (O.G)

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Capital One Cup

Round 3

Huddersfield 2 - 1 Swansea

Vaughan (2)

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Player of the Month

Adryan


3 Goals and Everything Good came Through him.

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This unbelievable run continues and wow some of the performances got even better. I tried to change something up with my match preparation in a hope to please the bored and the fans and it worked pulled off a 5-1 win against local rivals Barnsley to top off a sensational month. So proud of the lads.

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Only Remaining Unbeaten team in the league in 3rd

[iHoward]

October 2012


Huddersfield No Match for Blackpool

Npower Championship

Match Day 9

Huddersfield 1 - 4 Blackpool

Kozak

Match Day 10

Huddersfield 4 - 1 Ipswich

Clark
Vaughan (2)
Gobern

Match Day 11

Bristol City 1 - 1 Huddersfield

Vaughan

Match Day 12

Watford 0 - 3 Huddersfield

Formica
Vaughan
Kozak

Match Day 13

Huddersfield 2 - 1 Nottingham Forest

Richardson (pen)
Novak

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Capital One Cup

Round 4

Derby 3 - 1 Huddersfield

Formica

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Player of the Month

Oliver Norwood


An all round dominant midfield display all month

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That was a difficult month. It was full of highs and lows and as a manager it had my heart racing. It was painful to watch us self destruct against Blackpool and I made my feelings clear to the players and they bounced back well but it is obviously sad to fall out of the Capital One Cup just as the month ends.

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Finally Breaking into the Automatic Promotion Spots

[iHoward]

November 2012


Heads Drop After First Back to Back Defeats

Npower Championship

Match Day 14

Huddersfield 2 - 0 Leeds

Hammill
Novak

Match Day 15

Middlesbrough 1 - 2 Huddersfield

Gerrard
Scannell

Match Day 16

Derby 0 - 1 Huddersfield

Gerrard

Match Day 17

Huddersfield 3 - 1 Crystal Palace

Ward (O.G)
Vaughan
Gerrard

Match Day 18

Huddersfield 2 - 3 Wolves

Formica
Kozak

Match Day 19

Burnley 1 - 0 Huddersfield

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Player of the Month

Anthony Gerrard


Strong Defensive Displays Topped with 3 Goals from Centre Half

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The month started so well with 4 wins and we looked to have recovered from our heart breaking Capital One Cup defeat to Derby, especially after taking all 3 points from them in the league but the game against frankly superior opposition in Wolves had knocked our confidence and that was evident in our poorest attacking display of the season against a struggling Burnley side. It is fair the say I was not happy and the players knew it.

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Stay in 2nd Only on Goals Scored

[iHoward]

December 2012


Fans Smiling Again After Strong Month

Npower Championship

Match Day 20

Huddersfield 3 - 3 Brighton

Adryan (2)
Formica

Match Day 21

Huddersfield 1 - 1 Cardiff

Adryan

Match Day 22

Leicester 1 - 4 Huddersfield

Kozak (3)
Drinkwater (O.G)

Match Day 23

Huddersfield 1 - 1 Charlton

Hammill

Match Day 24

Huddersfield 1 - 0 Millwall

Vaughan

Match Day 25

Huddersfield 1 - 1 Bolton

Adryan

Match Day 26

Blackburn 1 - 4 Huddersfield

Adryan (3)
Kozak

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Player of the Month

Adryan


7 Goals in 7 Games

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Thank God for that! I have to say after the pain of the Wolves defeat and then the Burnley game were we did not create a single chance I was fearing the worst for our season but we pulled through and came out of December and into the new year undefeated in 7 games with a huge 4-1 over Blackburn who crumble in the last 10 minutes allowing Adryan to score 2 more to make the scoreline secure. Let's hope this form continues and promotion this season could be a high possibility. I now have more funds available to me in the January transfer window after I assured the board following our fantastic start that a top half finish was to be our minimal goal.



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The Fight for First Place Remains on Goal Difference