[jjamez]

Wednesday night sees lowly Huddersfield welcome promotion chasing Norwich City to West Yorkshire, but most importantly it sees the return of a certain Mr David Wagner. The charismatic American manager led Huddersfield to the Premier League against all odds, and kept them there the season after, he would leave a year later as the club plummeted back down to the Championship, a relegation that arguably started this disastrous situation we find ourselves in.



Now was it all rainbows and butterflies under Wagner and is his legacy untouchable all these years later, the honest answer in my mind is no, there was a whole heap load of signings made in his tenure that were calamitous to say the least, we can look no further than the likes of Adama Diakhaby, who can now be found plying his trade in Azerbaijan for Qarabag FK after a year out of football once he was released by Amiens. Ramadan Sobhi was another waste of a signing, he joined from Stoke in a deal that was effectively a trade of Sobhi for Tom Ince. Sobhi played a grand total of 4 games for Town before he was loaned to Egypt to play for Al Ahly, he would then leave permanently to join Pyramids also in Egypt. Surprisingly, the club made an overall profit on Sobhi thanks to loan fees and the transfer fee received in his time away from the club. Another disastrous signing was that of Isaac Mbenza, the deal to loan the Belgian youth international wasn’t bad in theory, the inclusion of a clause that meant he had to be signed for over £11 million come the end of it, was. Town got a bit of use out of Mbenza with the often mardy looking Belgian, with the winger scoring a few free kicks and creating a few goals during Carlos Corberan’s first season at Town, in truth his injury coupled with the injuries to Schindler and Josh Koroma knocked us back drastically, going from a side on the edge of the top six, to barely surviving.



But it was far from all poor signings during Wagner’s time at the club, the likes of Chris Lowe, Michael Hefele and of course Christopher Schindler and Aaron Mooy, were all key integral signings in the season that we got promoted. Couple that with his training methods early on and that new sense of camaraderie between the players and fans alike built something that when one looks back, is quite truly a remarkable feat, especially considering how we look now and have done this season. You could add that Wagner was able to take some mediocre players and turn them into, well, Premier League players. You look at someone like Tommy Smith, he was fairly average, with some fans the season before feeling he should be moved on, under Wagner he became a squad leader and a major creative force for the side during the promotion campaign. Jonathon Hogg found a new lease of life under Wagner, going from a defensive midfield clogger, to a midfield general, unfortunately he seems to have regressed as age and injuries catch up with him. I could name the whole squad really, in the Championship promotion season, the unity took a vastly mediocre squad and made them something much more than the sum of their parts, he takes a lot of the credit for that, but he also takes a lot of the credit for the Premier League demise season and you could say some of the knock on after effects that followed.



Would I have taken him back as was rumoured earlier in the season? You bet, he brings that charismatic vibe with him and can bring people and players together, we are near the bottom for reason and that is we simply aren’t good enough, but there are also players in this squad that someone like Wagner would have quite possibly been able to transform in a short spell, I look at someone like Rudoni, a Kesler-Hayden or Koroma and think Wagner would have found a way to make them better, the likes of Lees, Pearson and Hogg would be similar in capabilities of what he had in Hefele, Hudson and erm Hogg. Now would we have been shooting up the league, I don’t think so, would we be where we are now, again I don’t think so, but either way I would have been sat here a whole lot more optimistic about this season and the prospect of the coming season. Appointing him would have felt like we still had that ambition of doing something and that Hoyle was back in it properly.
Obviously that wasn’t to be, for one reason or another, Wagner and his family elected not to come back, some say it is due to his family not wanting to, others it is because of a financial package with his former club that was too much to afford, there is also mentioning of Bromby having too much say over transfers for his liking and the fact that Hoyle was wanting out that effectively made up his mind. We could question why Norwich? Well there are a couple of telling factors in play, one being Stuart Webber, Norwich’s director of football was in a similar role at Town and played a big part in brining Wagner to Huddersfield in the first place, the second factor is Steve Weaver, who was head of youth during Wagners time in Yorkshire and he left to Norwich at the same time as Webber, the third factor is Norwich have a better squad at his disposal, a more suited squad for his style at that and finally, they have more financial clout to allow him to shape the squad further in the future windows, we didn’t or couldn’t offer that, we could only offer turmoil and cost cutting. A wise move.

Whilst Town fell out of the Premier League and nearly straight down to League One, Wagner took a bit of time out of the game to recharge before heading back to Germany to manage Schalke. The Blues in the seasons before had been in Europe, getting knocked out in the knockout stages by Manchester City and had been registering finishes at the top end of the table, at that time they were managed by Domenic Tedesco, but the season he left, Schalke imploded on and off the field. Tedesco was sacked with the side struggling to avoid relegation, they managed to survive and Wagner was appointed as head coach for the next season with his trusty sidekick Christoph Buehler in tow. They began the season well and were competitive, but in the boardroom there was turmoil as funding had gone and everything on the playing side had been cut, then COVID struck, upon the resumption of the Bundesliga, Wagners Schalke side endured a torrid run of results, going well into double figures of games without a win, seeing Wagner eventually sacked. For information, things didn’t really get better for Schalke and they eventually got relegated, returning to the top division this season.



Wagners next stop would be across the border as he went to Switzerland to manager Young Boys Bern, the reigning Swiss champions. Again Buehler followed his American friend and the pair never really got going, they struggled in the league dropping points against surprising oppositions, the main highlight being their Europa League performances against Manchester United, but these wouldn’t save Wagner and he was once again given his marching orders. Some Norwich fans were a bit underwhelmed when he was linked to the Canaries after his previous jobs, but after his first day video at the club, they became more willing to give him a chance, citing how similar to Daniel Farke he was in terms of personality.



When he was appointed on the 6th of January, the Canaries sat 11th in the table following a defeat to Watford. Since then they have had a steady improvement, his first match in charge of Norwich City ended in defeat as the Canaries were knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn Rovers at Carrow Road. Jack Vale gave the visitors the lead in the all-Championship third-round tie just after the half-hour mark following a mix-up in the Norwich defence. His first league game in charge of the Canaries was away at Preston and braces from Teemu Pukki and Kieran Dowell saw him leave with a 4-0 victory. Norwich City won a six-goal classic at Coventry as they hit four away goals for the second Saturday in a row. The Canaries stunned the Sky Blues with three goals in the space of 12 first-half minutes - a Michael Rose own goal, added to by Onel Hernandez and Josh Sargent. Coventry responded with two quick-fire goals of their own from captain Jamie Allen, then a second from a powerful left-foot shot by top scorer Viktor Gyokeres, although it was credited to Kasey Palmer, who arrived as the ball was struck. But, from 3-2 up at half-time, Kieran Dowell fashioned an opening for himself to seal victory with an excellent fourth goal.

Wagners first home game came against Burnley, with the league leading Clarets leaving Carrow Road with an emphatic 3-0 victory, with the Canaries unable to lay a glove on Vincent Kompany’s side. Anass Zaroury opened the scoring before substitute Vitinho doubled the visitors' lead with his first touch as he glanced home Johann Berg Gudmundsson's corner seconds after coming on, debutant Hjalmar Ekdal scored the third. His next game would be away to his bogey side, Bristol City and they duly continued their success over Wagner as Mark Sykes scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for the Robins. His first home win came over Hull City Tigers, where second half goals from Gabriel Sara and Josh Sargent saw them to a 3-1 win after Kieran Dowell saw his opener cancelled out by Jacob Greaves. Wigan then kept Norwich to a 0-0 draw, with the Canaries only managing one shot on target against Towns relegation rivals. Chilean midfielder Marcelino Nunez scored twice as Norwich beat Birmingham City to further revive their Championship promotion hopes. Nunez netted twice in the space of 10 first-half minutes to put the Canaries in charge at the break. The Blues got one back with Maxime Colin's early second-half strike and in the light of their current off-field woes, put up a spirited second-half display. They could not summon an equaliser and their third straight defeat was finally sealed in injury time as Nunez went down the left to set up Christos Tzolis for the third. Marquinhos scored on his debut as Norwich continued to push for a play-off spot with a routine 2-0 win over a lacklustre Cardiff City at Carrow Road. Gabriel Sara fired Norwich ahead on 33 minutes with a precise finish from the edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later the Canaries took control as Marquinhos swept home at the far post from Onel Hernandez's cross.

Millwall's Tom Bradshaw scored at both ends as Norwich came from behind to triumph at the Den. The Lions striker opened the scoring with his 13th goal of the season but Jacob Sorensen put the visitors level. Bradshaw then diverted an Onel Hernandez cross into his own net before Gabriel Sara's screamer made it 3-1. Zian Flemming headed in a late corner to give Millwall fresh hope but the Canaries clung on to leapfrog their hosts into sixth place. On Sunday they face Sunderland at Carrow Road, and whilst being largely on top in terms of possession they were unable to break through Tony Mowbray’s side and succumbed to a 1-0 defeat thanks to a Abdoullah Ba goal.



The January transfer window was a quiet one for the Canaries, with a couple of players returning from loan spells in the forms of Christos Tzolis from FC Twente and Przemysław Płacheta from Birmingham. The only signing they made was that of Marquinhos on loan from Arsenal. In terms of departures, there were quite a few more of those.
Former Town loanee Danel Sinani went out on loan to Wigan, whilst younger players in the forms of Josh Martin, Daniel Adshead and Bali Mumba went on loan to Barnsley, Cheltenham and Plymouth respectively. Sebastian Soto left to join Austria Klagenfurt of well Austria, whilst Rocky Bushiri and Todd Cantwell moved north of the border to join Hibernian and Rangers. Young keeper Aston Oxborough also went north as he joined Motherwell on a free transfer, Christoph Zimmerman moved to Darmstad 98, Josip Drmic moved to Dinamo Zagreb, Milot Rashica joined Galatasaray and Jordan Hugill went to Rotherham, all on free transfers. Akin Famewo joined League One promotion chasers Sheffield Wednesday for 60k whilst Stade Brest paid 2.3 million for Pierre Lees-Melou.



As for Town, at the time or writing, things look very bleak, with Town seemingly set to take administration. According to the ever reliable Sun, this is being looked at in order to make the complicated deal, more straightforward. In the same article, it says that an American consortium is interested as is the owner of AZ Alkmaar who is also said to be looking into buying another project club. I’ll leave the news of the takeover/admin to our resident reporter… Take it away!

For me, either or, if the US party have big ideas for the club then great. The Alkmaar group have shown they know what they are doing which is also great.

Personally, it would be great to be backed by some financially powerful people, but it doesn't guarantee success. My issues with the Americans would be if the big ideas are just that, words said that they ultimately are unable to do for one reason or another. But that is a common thing for town fans isn’t it. The other thing would be how much they know about football, some American owners come over and are decent, others, not so much so.
As for the Alkmaar group, they obviously understand football, well continental football, but still. They will have decent links, they have a mantra that we apparently have, but with a better grasp of it and evidence of it working.
I'm not sure which one I'd be most inclined to go with, maybe the Alkmaar one purely due to the fact that they have evidence of success to back up their whole philosophy.



Sticking with Town, a disastrous season continued on Saturday with a tame performance away at West Brom, John Swift scoring the only goal after Matty Pearson conceded a penalty, we do like conceding penalties at The Hawthorns don’t we? I didn’t watch the game, nor did I want to either, so I can’t tell you much of what happened, by the sounds and looks of it, we played negatively and allowed them all of the ball and barely laid a finger on them, only trying to anything in the last few minutes like we did on Tuesday at home to Bristol.

In terms of Wednesday news, one would imagine that goalless golden boy Danny Ward will be back and in to the lead the line, with Jordan Rhodes probably dropping out of the squad once again as Waghorn takes his spot on the bench, this despite Rhodes being our best striker and the most effective of an ineffective bunch, but hey ho, 90 years a manager means Warnock probably knows best. Will Knockaert be back from his issues in France, maybe, will he be used? Probably not. Elsewhere, Scott High has a wrist injury which could be aggravated by contact, should he ever make it, Pat Jones is still recovering from elastic hamstrings and the long term absentees in Nicholls and Yuta continue to be out, Duane Holmes is also likely to be out with Icantbearseditis. Jaheim Headley will also miss out through injury as will Ollie Turton. Wednesday will also see Town don their fourth shirt of the season as they play in a yellow and red number in support of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, it is rumoured that the YAA will be required to give the club some CPR at the rate it is going.



My team for Wednesday, if I was the manager would be;
Vaclik in goal. Lowton, Lees, Helik and Jackson in defence. Central midfielders of Hogg and Kasumu, with Hungbo on the left and Knockaert on the right and to be ballsy, Rhodes and Simpson up top together.

A bench of Bilokapic, Pearson, Camara, Rudoni, Ward, Koroma and Hudlin/Harratt so we have most/all bases covered.




Norwich meanwhile are without Isaac Hayden who has had an operation on a troublesome knee, Placheta returned from Brum with an injury and is most likely still missing, whilst Kieran Dowell is missing until April through injury. Josh Sargent has been out but returned to the bench against Sunderland. Otherwise it seems as though Wagner has a fairly fit squad to pick from.

On Sunday they lined up with Angus Gunn in goal, Max Aarons (yes related to Rolando), Grant Hanley, Ben Gibson and Dimitrios Giannoulis in defence. Kenny McLean operated as the holding midfielder with Adam Idah, Marcelino Nunez, Gabriel Sara and Onel Hernandez in front of him, with Teemu Pukki leading the line.
On the bench was Tim Krul, defender Andrew Omobamidele, Marquinhos, Christoph Tzolis, Jacob Sorensen, Josh Sargent and Liam Gibbs. Krul, Gibbs and Omobamidele were the only subs not used. Wednesday could see Sargent and Marquinhos get given starts, with Hernandez one of the likely candidates to make way.




In terms of ones to watch, they have quite a few players that are way better than anything we have on offer,

Teemu Pukki- Has been a major performer for the Canaries whenever they have been in the Championship and continues to be so now. Currently second in their top scorers list for the season, The Fin knows where the goal is and how to punish teams.



Josh Sargent- The leading scorer for the Canaries, the fire haired American international joined from German side Werder Bremen back in 2021 and whilst he struggled initially to find the back of the net, he has started to get used to the English game and has 11 goals so far this campaign. Is coming back from injury however.



Gabriel Sara- The Brazilian midfielder was a big money signing in the Summer for the Canaries, costing them over 10 million from Sao Paulo. He’s made 30 appearances in the Championship so far this season, with 5 goals and 4 assists to go with them. He is primarily used as an attacking midfielder that keeps defences occupied for the wingers and strikers to do the damage. 



In terms of head to heads, Town don’t have a great record when it comes to facing the Canaries and I would heavily back that record being extended on Wednesday evening. It currently sits with Town having won 13 of the meetings between the two sides, Norwich having won 16 and 17 draws between the clubs. The first meeting came all the way back in 1960, when the Terriers lost 2-0 away from home, the first Town victory was in 1962 when they won 2-1 away from home, the first home victory would come until 1968 when Town won 2-0 down Leeds Road, perhaps Snoots can regale us with some tales of that game? The most recent meetings between the two sides came earlier in the season when Danny Schofield’s side lost 2-1 at Carrow Road. Josh Sargent got Norwich off to a flier in the 6th minute before Sinani made it 2-0 before 20 minutes had elapsed. Tom Lees showed signs of his season to come when he received a straight red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity, Norwich toyed with Town and allowed things to get edgy when Pat Jones scored his first goal in Town colours, but it remained 2-1. Before that, the two sides met when Daniel Farke was in charge of the Canaries and Carlos Corberan had just taken charge of the Terriers. On the first day of the season Town would lose 1-0 at home to Norwich with Adam Idah scoring relatively late on after Teemu Pukki put it on a plate for him following a Richard Stearman error, Stearman had earlier been on the receiving end of an elbow to the head from Todd Cantwell that the referee deemed not worthy of a red card. The game at Carrow Road was one to forget as Town melted in sub zero snowy temperatures and whimpered to a 7-0 defeat. Pukki scored twice in the first 20 minutes before Emi Buendia and Cantwell both got on the score sheet before the game was 30 minutes old, Kieran Dowell made it 5 before half time. In the second half, Pukki wrapped up his hattrick just past the hour mark before Hugill completed the rout in the 78th minute.


In terms of played for both, there are quite a few that come to mind, some had a more telling impact at one of the clubs than the other, players like Danel Sinani who has struggled to get consistent game time at Norwich, but found success on loan at Town last season, although he drifted in and out of games a lot, much to the derision of Town fans.

James Vaughan signed for Norwich as a promising youngster that had lost his way a little bit, he didn’t find it there and was soon loaned to Town where he formed a decent partnership with Jermaine Beckford, when they were both fit. He would join Town permanently and in between injuries and suspensions he was a key player, but couldn’t adapt to David Wagners training methods and soon orchestrated a move to Birmingham. It was a career of what could have been for Vaughan as injuries plagued him at almost every turn and he never achieved what many felt he could have.

Another James to have played for both is James Husband, the full back had a spell at Town on loan, when Wagner was in his first half season in England. He was nothing spectacular, but came in to replace Ben Chilwell who had set the bar fairly high. He was at Middlesbrough when he came to Town on loan and moved to Norwich from Boro, he featured 19 times for the Canaries before moving on loan to Fleetwood and then Blackpool where he still currently plays.

Sticking with the J’s and one that is in our current squad in the form of Jordan Rhodes, he joined Norwich on loan from Sheffield Wednesday to offer back up to Teemu Pukki, Rhodes would score 6 goals for the Canaries as they achieved promotion back to the Premier League. A deal couldn’t be reached between the two clubs to turn that deal permanent and he would return to the Owls. He rejoined Town in the summer of 21 and has scored 8 goals for the club, 6 of which have been this season, making him the top scorer for the Terriers. He has been nowhere near as prolific as he was for the Terriers in his first spell where he scored 73 goals in 124 games.



Sticking at the top end of the pitch and we move to Alex Pritchard, believe it or not we had a choice of James Maddison or Alex Pritchard, one is hot property in the Premier League, the other plays in the Championship for Sunderland. It’s not that Pritchard had no talent, he was highly thought of as a young player, but his time at Town coincided with a loss of form and belief and at times it looked like he had forgotten how to kick a ball properly. He ended up with 3 goals in 80 games for Town, whilst at Norwich he scored 7 in 38.

A man who made 0 appearances for Norwich and began his career there, had a much bigger impact at Town. Harry Toffolo came through the set up at Norwich before numerous loans saw him released and join Millwall, where once again no appearances saw him leave and join Lincoln. Under Danny Cowley he started to flourish and when they joined Town, he made the move in the next window. His best form came under Corberan last season where he was a pivotal part of a partnership with Lewis O’Brien, seeing both join Forest and become bit part players at best.



The first player in the list to have a big impact at both clubs is the Irish international Anthony Pilkington. The winger joined Town back in 2009 as one of Lee Clarks first signings. He soon became a fan favourite with his direct nature and a habit of scoring long range goals like the one against Sheffield Wednesday, soon Norwich would come calling and he would move to the Premier League, where one of his highlights would be scoring at Old Trafford against the team that released him as a boy.

A final one from me, and I know I have missed some names like Jacob Butterfield amongst many others. But Grant Holt, who came in for a brief loan spell under Chris Powell, despite only scoring twice for Town, his hold up play was something we had been missing for many years and was something we needed. His time at Norwich made him a bit of an icon there as he scored 68 goals in 154 games.

Anagrams
1) Evading Draw
2) Even Ink Leak
3) Inaudible Anomie
4) Inane Island
5) Outwards Acid Armor

[Lord Snooty]

The first meeting came all the way back in 1960, when the Terriers lost 2-0 away from home, the first Town victory was in 1962 when they won 2-1 away from home, the first home victory would come until 1968 when Town won 2-0 down Leeds Road, perhaps Snoots can regale us with some tales of that game?

I sure can!

This was my first season and I remember going to this one. My dad had taken me to my first game in November and I reckon this would've been my third or fourth game, remembering it being on Easter Saturday. My dad was a self employed builder and often worked Saturdays so he didn't get to take me to many games. I always remember the place stank back then. Think it was the gasworks.

It was a game between two mid table sides, long before the Play Offs were thought about and so nothing whatsoever to play for with Ipswich, QPR and Blackpool fighting for the two available promotion slots. Town manager Tom Johnston, in his final season in charge before Ian Greaves took over, had splashed out £8,000 on new signing John Archer from Crewe and this was one of only nine games he played for us before moving on to Chesterfield. Maybe Devongone can tell us more about him, because I certainly don't remember him.

One player I do certainly remember though was Frank Worthington and he scored the second goal in the 2-0 win, after Brian Hill had opened the scoring, in front of a crowd of 9,727.

So, anyway, nice match thread jjamez and thanks for asking.

As for this current match. I will probably go. Don't want to. Only going on a stupid sense of misguided loyalty and if work ask me to do overtime, I'm not turning it down just to go see this pisch. Warnock and his waistrels can do one.

[Baggiebob(BBB)]

JJ. I have just read this whilst eating chips, egg, and pea fritter, and I must say without any bull shhhh, that was brilliant. Wagner would be pleased as punch to have this as a booklet for him to present to future employers.. I don't know what you do for a living, but think you ought to write blogs like this about their manager/club to sell to clubs in uk.


 And before anyone has a go at me, I do know there are also other brilliant bloggers on here.
The Hud's are very fortunate, and are appreciated.   

Me Lord just said - As for this current match. I will probably go. Don't want to. Only going on a stupid sense of misguided loyalty and if work ask me to do overtime, I'm not turning it down just to go see this pisch. Warnock and his waistrels can do one. - I mean you have to applaud his honesty. Grins.

[jjamez]

I'm going too, also don't want, but going because I want to see Wagner one last time, it'll be a while until our paths cross again me thinks, I didn't go to the wba game

[Lord Snooty]

1) David Wagner

[Lord Snooty]

2) Kevin Keelan

[theo_luddite]

I'll have a proper read in the morning jjamez but another top effort from what I've seen on my first skim through.

Been a long day and my Spanish mate Rio Oja is slowly driving me into the arms of Morpheus right now.
Most of tonight's results haven't done us any favours either but we are well into make your own luck time, which we just aren't doing. We need to make that turn Wednesday, though it could still be way too little far too late.

[WakeyTerrier]

Top effort is that JJ. If only Town could get 3 points for the quality of pre match write ups you guys and gals do we'd be top of the League

Once again, I don't think this will shock you but our party of 5 season card holders are going to be absent tonight. The forecast is cold and wet and I'm sure it'll be raining goals in the Town net. I can't justify going just to hear the home support blow smoke up Wagners backside.

As I've said elsewhere blame is everywhere down at Town and for me the only ones who aren't to blame is us supporters. Wagner as you say certainly shoulders a fair proportion of that blame but to be fair to him he wanted Traore from Wolves not Billy Wizz from France who had the Pace of Bolt and the skill of a pub league player..

Takeover talk, ongoing...all is not lost off the field just yet but I imagine we will know one way or another if Administration is really on the cards by the 23rd March which others believe is the cut off for taking penalty points this season rather than next.

As for tonight's game, I just don't see us doing anywhere near enough. We struggle all over the pitch, right back is a real problem, left back is still a struggle. Central defence have all the confidence of a chocolate fireguard in front of a roaring fire.
Midfield has little to no creativity and the forwards might as well go sit on the beach.
It won't take much to beat us, simple pass and move will do the trick as it did on Saturday when WBA earned the penalty. Town 0-2 or 0-3 is my guess.

Thank the Lord the International break is coming and we all get a break from this dross .

[theo_luddite]

Having read it properly

4. Danel Sinani

[WakeyTerrier]

Expecting the US group to break cover this week.