Huddersfield Town hit the jackpot with Ipswich Town transfer...

Resolving Huddersfield Town’s goal-scoring issues will be one of the club’s top priorities as they get ready for

another League One season.

Despite spending more than £3 million to acquire Joe Taylor from Luton Town and £750,000 to acquire Dion

Charles from Bolton Wanderers in January, Huddersfield struggled to score goals in the second half of the season,

which led to a drop in performance that caused them to drop out of the play-off spots.

Owner Kevin Nagle, who is currently searching for his fifth permanent manager since taking over the club just under

two years ago, will still have faith that his two big-money strikers can come good, but it is a department that the

Terriers will likely need to strengthen this summer.

Town supporters would surely love to have a number nine capable of reaching the numbers that Jordan Rhodes hit

during the club’s last spell in League One, and they have former manager Lee Clark to thank for taking a gamble on

him.

In the summer of 2009, Clark recruited striker Rhodes from Ipswich Town in an attempt to lead Huddersfield out of

League One.

Despite not playing a single league game for the Tractor Boys, Rhodes had loan stints at Oxford United, Rochdale,

and Brentford. His tenure with the latter was especially fruitful, as he scored seven goals in 14 games to help them

win League Two.

Known for not valuing Rhodes, then-Ipswich manager Roy Keane permitted him to join the Terriers permanently for

a cost of £350,000 after Rhodes returned from his loan at Griffin Park. Keane later acknowledged that this was a

grave error.

Clark was happy to welcome Rhodes to the team, citing his remarkable goals-to-game ratio despite his limited career

minutes. Rhodes became Town’s third striker signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Robbie Simpson and

Theo Robinson.

Telling Sky Sports, “It has been a long time coming,” Clark said.

“He has a pretty strong goal ratio in the games he has played, but his overall performance is outstanding.

“He works really hard, has a nice touch, and executes the line well. Now that I have four strikers, I couldn’t be

happier.”

Given the high price the club paid for his services, Rhodes’ purchase was not without risk because he had only made

33 professional games before joining Huddersfield. However, Clark saw something in him that Keane did not, and he

was undoubtedly correct.

Sportupdates