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Why Huddersfield Town had to say yes to Neil Warnock at start of Kevin Nagle era
Kevin Nagle’s takeover of Huddersfield Town is complete, and the American arrives with a steady pair of hands in place in the dugout who should allow the new regime to concentrate on matters off the pitch.
Retaining Neil Warnock as Terriers manager after a phenomenal end to last season has saved Nagle and his team the task of finding a suitable replacement – but does the knowledge that Warnock will only be in place for another year mean they are simply deferring a longer-term decision, or is the time it buys them valuable in itself?
What follows is a transcript of the discussion Steven Chicken and David Hartrick had on the topic on the latest episode of our Town podcast Ooh To Be A Terrier. You can subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts by searching for “Ooh To Be A Terrier” – or click here to download the latest episode directly.
Chicken: “I think going into 2020/21, Carlos [Corberan]’s first season, they did put a bit too much faith in some of the youngsters to be back-up going into that season – and I think to be honest it maybe did a little bit of harm to those players’ reputations, and people might be a bit more excited about this crop of players now if they hadn’t had to play as emergency cover 2-3 years ago [before they were ready].
Read more: Neil Warnock to give untested Huddersfield Town youngsters chance with Brodie Spencer namecheck
“But I think the big benefit of Warnock is you look at the squad with Warnock in charge and you think ‘oh, actually, I have less doubts about Rarmani Edmonds-Green now, I have less doubts about Ben Jackson now’ – Sorba Thomas as well, and Josh Koroma are big ones as well [if Koroma stays], there’s a few player who now you know Warnock is in charge you think they’re going to be absolutely fine.”
Hartrick: “That’s why Town had to say yes to Neil Warnock, because I’m with you there, you look at that squad now and think they do need less. Let’s be honest, when a new owner comes in you have two different types of fan: you have one who goes ‘let’s just spend loads on the first team squad and have a proper go’, and another who goes ‘let’s go and spend more on the club and sort various things out’.
“I think with Neil Warnock you get more of a chance to sort things out club-wise rather than just having to plough money into the first-team squad. If that’s the case and we get a year of announcements about [for example] the stadium, and we can see the academy progressing, and some roles that have been trimmed back are being expanded again, I don’t think me or you have any problem with that whatsoever.
“… If you buy yourself a year on the pitch to have a year sorting everything out off the pitch, absolutely fine – but what you want to see next year is the benefit of that 12 months. There are things that need some progress and need sorting, and if that’s what Warnock buys them, brilliant. We don’t know exactly what’s on the to-do list but we know the to-do list will be pretty big, so let’s see what gets ticked off it.”
