Corberan Appointment A Hodgkinson Masterstroke
Zak Armitage, Feature Writer
Twitter: @ZakSportWriter
Source for image above: HTAFC
Phil Hodgkinson has divided opinion from Huddersfield Town fans since his takeover in 2019. His first season at the helm saw Huddersfield finish a disappointing 18th on the back of their relegation from the Premier League. The shock departure of Danny Cowley who was sacked after retaining the Terriers survival came as a surprise to many Town fans, but did Hodgkinson have it all planned out?
Carlos Corberan is no stranger to football in West Yorkshire, being that he was an assistant coach to Marcelo Bielsa, as well asthe u23 head coach at the Terriers bitter rivals Leeds United. Many Town fans were unsure of Corberan’s appointment citing his lack of experience in senior football management as a reason to be concerned, however it hasn’t taken long for the Spaniard to demonstrate his leadership qualities, with the Terriers picking up 10 points from their last four games and at the time of writing sitting 9th in the Championship table.
A factor in Corberan’s impressive start to life at Huddersfield has been due to his clean slate approach with players who were seemingly in exile under previous boss Danny Cowley. An example of this is Belgian winger Isaac Mbenza who has flourished in the early days of Carlos Corberan’s tenure, making more appearances in the opening two months of the season than he did in the whole of his campaign with the Yorkshire club last season, before he made a January transfer to French side Amiens. Another player resurrecting his Huddersfield career is goalkeeper Ben Hamer who had a tough first campaign with the club as they endured a nightmare season suffering relegation from the Premier League. A poor loan spell followed at Derby last year as the Rams finished mid table, and the future of the goalkeeper at Huddersfield looked uncertain, but an impressive start to this season including a clean sheet against former club Derby has seen Hamer become the clubs undisputed number one.
There is a growing optimism around Huddersfield that Carlos Corberan is the right man to take the club forward. An impressive transfer policy saw Huddersfield recruit creative players who are capable of playing Corberan’s style of play, such as Dutch midfielder Carel Eiting and experienced defender Naby Sarr. And the way that Corberan has offered a second chance to players who seemed to have no future with the club, has created an impressive team that are capable of ruffling some feathers within the Championship this season. The credit for the turn of events at Huddersfield in my opinion has to go to Phil Hodgkinson who was bold enough to make a brave decision at the time by changing the club’s leadership and playing style, a decision that appears to be paying off.
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