Huddersfield Town’s season ends with a whimper ahead of a summer of change
Huddersfield The town’s 4-1 loss against Leyton Orient on Saturday marked the end of their season-ending collapse.
Leyton Orient wasn’t exactly the best team in the world, but they were well-prepared, strong, and efficient. They
genuinely cared about the game’s result and played as a team. The opposite was true in town. There was only ever
going to be one winner in this game, even though the players on paper were superior.
After 12 years of devoted and faithful service, it is unfortunate that Jonathan Hogg finished his Town career at this
time and with this group of players. The players on the pitch lacked many of the qualities that Jonathan Hogg has
demonstrated throughout his time at Town; they lacked aggression, work ethic, discipline, and passivity, and they
either didn’t want to play well or couldn’t.
The fact that we will now have a few months off from watching these losers is the little comfort this defeat has given
us. Additionally, Huddersfield Town will have a new manager, a new football director, and a half-dozen new players
by the time we see them again. Few supporters will want to relive a season like the one we just had, so maybe the new
Huddersfield Town we witness in the 25/26 season will be very different from the 24/25 one.
I suppose I should talk about the game
following Huddersfield Town’s decline in recent years. At Christmas, we were in the top two, but now we’re settling
for the playoffs, trying to make the playoffs, and now looking like relegation fodder.
This (ostensibly) gifted team had been held back by Michael Duff, and there was a glimmer of hope that his firing
might be the catalyst for change. Regretfully, Duff’s departure marked a sea change, and it now appears that he was
keeping the team together rather than letting it slip.
Therefore, the actions we witnessed on Saturday against Leyton Orient were more indicative of those observed in a
classroom supervised by a particularly ineffective substitute teacher. The eleven players on the pitch performed
noticeably worse than the sum of their individual contributions since Town tends to rely on a “team of individuals” at
trying times. Parts are actually too nice a term to define.
Josh Koroma’s underhit backpass that gave Orient the first goal may have seemed like a fleeting slip-up, but I’ve seen
him do it time and time again this season when he’s collecting the ball in deep areas. The main distinction is that he
typically loses up possession with careless, poor passes on the left side of the field. And although we frequently try to
fix his mistakes, we were unable to do so this time. In an amusing story, Neil Warnock claims that he would punish
anyone who passed to Adel Tarrabt in his own half while he was at QPR. We might have avoided this humiliating
goal if we had implemented a similar method that prohibited Koroma from touching the ball in our half.
The second goal may actually be beneficial in the long run, as Chapman throwing the ball into his own net shows that
he may not be good enough to be our first choice if Nicholls leaves. I like his kicking but his command of his box can
be poor at times and it’s rare he pulls off saves that are trickier than routine.
In the lead-up to the third, Herbie Kane attempted and failed to launch a quite savage attack. He couldn’t get near
enough to kick the player, let alone the ball, because he mistimed his kung-fu kick/tackle so terribly. When our
players are so awful that they can’t even send themselves off correctly, something is about to happen. Strangely,
though, because it was executed so poorly, the clear desire to harm another player remained unpunished.
There’s more to explore in this game, but what’s the point, really? Hopefully, this team won’t look anything like the
one that plays the opening game in August. I would prefer to simply end this season and go forward. We clearly
wanted to be in the middle of another league’s table, even though it’s the mid-table finish we’ve frequently yearned
for following arduous relegation struggles. And because of the investment and aspirations we’ve witnessed, this
season has been even more disappointing than last season’s relegation—at least for me.
Goodbye Jonathan Hogg
What a servant for the club Jonathan Hogg has been. He’s seen a great many highs and lows in his twelve years at
the club and his commitment has never been in question at any point during that spell. It was nice that he got to have
a proper farewell, when most players leave clubs with little fanfare – like the long list of other players that were
announced on yesterday’s retained list.
The most remarkable thing about Hogg, in my opinion, is that every manager he has played for has liked him.
Jonathan Hogg has been hailed by many as a model of professionalism and leadership in recent memory. It would be
strange to hold Hogg responsible for the absence of other leaders on this team, yet it’s likely that his strong
personality may have even limited our capacity to bring up other leaders in the squad.
I won’t pretend that this season’s Hogg has been anything like the Jonathan Hogg of the Premier League. However,
the issue we’ve had is that, despite his progress, our alternatives in his position continue to lag behind him. He is
now leaving to pursue other endeavours, therefore I hope that this creates room for new players to take his place and
contribute both as a player and as an all-around leader on the field.
Hogg is willing to stay on if the future manager wants to, since he has stated that he was pushed rather than jumping
ship. But I think it’s time for him to move on, and I hope he succeeds in whatever he does next. It would be awkward
to watch Hogg playing against Town, but I just hope it’s not a move to another League One team.
The retained list
In case you missed it, here’s the list of players that the club have confirmed are leaving or retiring now the season has
ended:
- Jonathan Hogg (maybe retiring, maybe not)
- Danny Ward
- Tom Lees
- Matty Pearson
- Ollie Turton
- Josh Ruffels
- Josh Koroma
- Chris Maxwell (retiring)
- Scott High
Then, obviously, all our loanees will return to their parent clubs:
- Tawanda Chirewa
- Joe Hodge
- Nigel Lonwijk
- Callum Marshall
Neo Eccleston is the only player in negotiations over a new deal. And while he seems fairly promising, few people will
lose sleep if we fail to agree terms with him.
Not offering a new contract to any of the older players whose contracts are about to expire is quite unusual, but I
can’t really argue against any of these choices. Although Matty Pearson has performed well for us, he has struggled
when asked to play the ball to feet and has had several poor games this season. Josh Koroma has scored a lot of goals
and is unplayable on his best days, but regrettably, he has never been consistent at Town. His finest runs have been
interspersed with extended periods of subpar play. For the most part, Turton, Ruffels, and Lees have also been
devoted servants.
Several of the players who were let go were consistent starters throughout the season in which we lost in the playoff
final and ended third in the championship. It’s unfortunate that these players never recovered from that incident and
have gone on to play a key role in Huddersfield Town’s progressively worse teams. Any case to keep any of these
players for another season is outweighed by the need for change and a change of pace.
Unfortunately, a significant portion of these dismissed players will probably succeed at another club, but that doesn’t
mean we shouldn’t let them leave. Although I wouldn’t hold any of these players personally responsible for the
negative atmosphere in the Huddersfield Town locker room, they have been present and haven’t done anything to
change it. It’s time for Huddersfield Town to get a makeover.
Who’s left in the Huddersfield Town squad?
The official club website lists the following players as remaining on the books for next season:
Sorba, Lee Nicholls Thomas
Kasumu, David
Brodie Spencer and Ben Wiles
Chapman, Jacob
Lasse Sorensen
Kane Herbie
Evans, Antony
Radulovic, Bojan
Radinio Mickel Miller Dion Balker Charles
Roosken, Ruben
Healey, Rhys
Taylor, Joe
Freddie Ladapo
Iorpenda, Tom
Curiously, Kyle Hudlin isn’t on this list, therefore despite being much too old to be regarded as a future player, he
must be viewed as a member of the B Team. He’s probably just deemed surplus to requirements and will be sold or
loaned out once more.
When the transfer window closes in September, I anticipate that several of the players listed above might not still be
with the team. Ladapo, Radulovic, Healey, and Balker are all relatively new additions, but due to their form and
injury issues, none of them have had a big impact. If we can work out arrangements to let them go, they might be
traded.
If Brodie Spencer and Lee Nicholls were sold, I wouldn’t be shocked either. However, considering that Sorba Thomas
left under a cloud last summer for his season-long loan, I would be shocked if he ever played for Town again. Despite
his dubious reputation, his consistent selection for Wales and his ability to deliver set pieces make it likely that a
higher level club will take a risk on him.
There are therefore 12 to 14 guys that we will be able to call upon if you take out the players that are unlikely to be in
our first team squad the next season. Specifically, there is a noticeable deficiency in height, strength, speed,
inventiveness, and leadership. Therefore, it will be the new manager and director of football’s responsibility to fill in
all the gaps in the team with players that possess the attributes that the rest of the group lacks.
A big summer beckons
This summer is likely to have more changes at Town that we’ve had in recent memory. We signed a lot of players the
year we went up to the Premier League but that was with the continuity of David Wagner and building upon an
already successful team and system.
The new director of football and manager will need to decide pretty quickly what sort of a team they want to build
and then get busy in bringing in players that fit their vision. And move on the deadwood that we still have under
contract.
It will hopefully lead to positive improvements in most areas but it’s unlikely every decision this summer will be the
right one. While season cards are still on sale, the messaging is very positive from the club, but I wouldn’t be
surprised if we start hearing talk about budget constraints and balancing the books once the deadline passes and
realism sets in. Though with so many of our higher earners leaving, I would hope that we can replace them with
decent quality alternatives.
Thank you for reading
Thank you to everyone who has been clicking on my posts; it hasn’t been an easy season for me to blog about Town
or for fans to read about it either. I also want to thank everyone who leaves a remark and shares so much insightful
and well-considered information.
I’ll post throughout the summer whenever I have something interesting to say. There should be enough real news to
provide a consistent flow of stories, but I won’t engage in a lot of rumor-mongering because I don’t enjoy the never-
ending speculation and transfer sagas. I will finally finish my long-promised essay about Mick Wadsworth’s
misadventures after managing Town if there is a period of quiet.
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