Will the Terrier’s break into the top-half?…
Huddersfield Town
Last Season:
A 17th place Championship finish does look as good as the season Huddersfield had last campaign. After securing their Championship survival on the last day the season before Huddersfield built last season with a number of solid signings adding a touch of quality with the January addition of Nahki Wells. This time around they were never in danger of getting into relegation difficult but at the same time were never able to put a run of games together to really threaten the play-off places. The Terriers biggest problem last season was their indifferent home form, losing one more than they won. Despite sitting comfortably in mid-table until February they suffered a late season dip in form which meant their final league standing probably doesn’t represent the quality of the squad. They let themselves down defensively too conceding 65 goals across the season losing a fair few matches by the odd goal in a high scoring encounter. If they can improve that record this season then a top half finish is certainly a realistic one.
The Manager
I always feel as though Mark Robins is an extremely underrated manager in English football. Wherever he has been he seems to have done a good job and having guided Huddersfield to safety at the end of the 2012/13 season he certainly moved them on last season to a comfortable finish. Robins has excellent experience of English football from his time as both a player and manager and at 44 still has plenty of time to make a name for himself. Given the right backing this summer there is a chance he could do it at Huddersfield.
Transfers
In: Joe Murphy (Coventry City), Lee Peltier (Leeds Utd)
Loans In: Radoslaw Majewski (Nottingham Forest)
Out: Callum Woods (Preston North End), Keith Southern (Fleetwood Town), Chris Atkinson (Crewe Alexandra), Peter Clarke (Blackpool), Ian Bennett (Released)
This Season
Anything is possible but I don’t see Huddersfield as genuine play-off contenders. They will be competitive in every match and on their day have some match winning players but they are just not consistent enough to put together a sustained promotion bid. On the other hand, they are certainly a lot more talented than last season 17th place finish suggests and they should be capable of a top 12 finish.
