22/23 Squad building - The Forrads
Matt Shaw, Founder.
Twitter: @TTCMatt
The Philippines. Day 8. Captains log.
Not so much Captains log, it’s more like captains tap after 8 days here, the food is good, but food hygiene? Not so much. But enough about that.
Here it is, the last squad building article. The thriller from 1 hour south of Manila. The crescendo, the Final Countdown - NO MORE 80’s ROCK LYRICS, MATT FFS! Ok, ok, I promise. Can I do my Mr Brownstone one? No? Ok let’s move on.
One of Town’s great success stories of last season was Danny Ward. After a turbulent first season back at the club Wardy surpassed all of our expectations in season two. His phenomenal work rate, pleasantly surprising link play and 14 goals made him the highest goalscoring central striker in a Huddersfield shirt since Nahki Wells in 2015/16. But the goals weren’t quick to come. Earlier in the season Wardy was so isolated and starved of service that by December he’d only scored 4 goals in 20 games, so I launched a Christmas appeal video to #FEEDTHEWARD
Now, I’m not the kind of guy to expect credit for rejuvenating Town’s season or anything… But was it me who knocked over the first domino that ended with Huddersfield Town at Wembley? Well, I’d like to think so… But seriously, it was nice to see the club and players embrace the hashtag. As soon as this video was under construction Wardy scored 3 in 3 (which required some alterations on the original video) and Town and Toffolo in particular found him more often than not on their radar. Wardy ended the season with a goals per shot ratio of 0.18. When you consider that the league’s top scorer Aleksander Mitrovic had a ratio of 0.19 you do wonder what Wardy’s goal tally would have been like if we’d been a little more creative in the final third, never mind if he had had 198 shots on goal like Mitrovic and not the 79 he ended up with.
During this period Jordan Rhodes had been quiet. His 2nd Town debut was eventful and hilarious. Rhodes stuck his hand up to take a penalty in the shootout in the EFL cup game at Hillsborough which promptly caused a mouth frothing and venomous reaction from thousands of Wednesdayites for him not taking one against us in the 2017 Championship playoffs. Rhodes casually strolled up and stuck it in the corner, cue more teeth gnashing and foaming at the mouth from our southron neighbours. Jordan arrived at the club in the summer with a slight back issue, tried to play and train through it and made it worse. He was to miss close to four months of the season and came back in December. I have to hold my hands up. On our season preview podcast I was rather critical of the Rhodes signing because I didn’t understand how he fit into the Carlos Corberan style of play that we saw the previous season. However, we saw a big shift in how we played and when Rhodes came back to the side around Christmas, we saw how he neatly fitted in as a sub. In February, Jordan would start against Birmingham and we then saw that as well as being a good sub to throw on to change a game he could also offer a good starting option and played a key role towards the end of the season as Danny Ward started to succumb to injury which I presume was the Samson effect of him cutting his hair.
Fraizer Campbell deserves an honourable footnote. A player who was a key component off of the pitch if not quite on it. Campbell failed to register a goal in his final 26 Town appearances going back to last season but his influence was more than goals. According to those at the club Fraizer’s training was exemplary and he was a core part of a small group of leaders who would manage and help the other players. All the best Fraizer.
Finally, Kian Harratt and Kieran Phillips both had loans in League 2 with varying levels of success. Kian Harratt started like a train with a goal against Brentford (and former Town keeper Jonas Lossl) and finished like a locomotive with his goal at Wembley to help Port Vale seal promotion to League 1 although the part in the middle was a bit rockier. Phillips was loaned initially to Walsall and played 33 times scoring 5 goals, but Walsall’s tendency to play him wide or off of the bench seemed to be a contributing factor in a recall and loan back out to Exeter where he played 11 times, scoring twice. One of them was a key goal against Barrow but that was the only time Phillips played in Exeter’s final seven games.
Ordinarily here, I’d talk about what kind of striker Carlos Corberan likes but seeing as he’s left the club, I am now presuming that Danny Schofield has stepped in due to his consistency with what Town are producing and for the continuity of Carlos’s work. If Danny is anything like Carlos, then I presume Town will want to be able to rotate pressing from the front with sitting in and blocking the passing lanes and a striker is as much the first line of defence as opposed to the last line of attack. Going forward, hold up play and guile is key to bringing the midfielders into the game so Town are unlikely to bring in a striker who solely thrives from balls over the top of the defence. A dying breed those types. Do what Huddersfield already have fit in with the alignment? Let’s have a looksee:
The systems of Carlos Corberan
The experience matrix shows what we already know. Our senior strikers are at the experienced end of their careers and Town don’t really have anyone up there at their peak. Josh Koroma is not really a recognised striker, although he has played there, but there is a big gap in experience from Danny Ward to Kieran Phillips.
OUTS
Fraizer Campbell - released
Kit Elliott - released
Micah Obiero - released
Kyle Hudlin - Wimbledon on loan
INS
Kyle Hudlin - Solihull Moors
The released strikers come as no real surprise. Fraizer Campbell had gone from key player to spare part in the past 12 months and with him hitting his 34th birthday it’s no surprise to see him released. Fraizer though goes with his head held high having arrived at his home town club in a bit of disarray yet his character and hard work has played a part in the revival of Huddersfield Town. Kit Elliott has struggled with injury but is a very talented player. If he can get on a run of games somewhere then there is no reason that he can’t come back to a decent level after rebuilding. Micah Obiero was highly rated at the club for quite a while, I have to admit I didn’t see what others did so this decision isn’t much of a surprise, but Obiero like Elliott has the potential to rebuild and forge a career lower down the pyramid.
Danny Ward
Age: 31
Contract: Expiring 2023
Verdict: Playing for a new deal
Oh Danny Ward, Danny Ward, Danny Waaaard, he got knocked down, but he got up again, nothings gonna keep him down… Wardy has had 1 bad season and 1 excellent season and his future is likely to be decided on which season he replicates next year. I have to be honest; I do have a concern. Towards the end of last season, I just felt that Wardy was starting to unravel from an injury point of view. He picked up a few different injuries towards the latter end of the season and visibly wasn’t fit in the playoff final. Pre-season is huge, if Ward stays fit and we see the player of last season then I suspect there will be a contract extension offer by next June. If he replicates 2020/21 then it could be a parting of the ways at the season end which would be a shame. Fingers crossed that he stays fit.
Jordan Rhodes
Age: 32
Contract: Expiring 2024
Verdict: Provide consistent support
Due to that pesky back injury last August, Jordan’s season didn’t really get going until February. What we saw from them onwards was a striker with the bit between his teeth and someone with something to prove after a couple of years in the wilderness. Jordan is back at a club where he feels at home and in terms of a backup striker Town probably couldn’t ask for anyone better under the current budget. Hopefully Jordan keeps pushing for a start and nicks a few goals when he does.
Josh Koroma
Age: 23
Contract: Expiring 2023
Verdict: Make or break.
I’ve already suggested in the winger’s article that this could be a make-or-break season. Koroma NEEDS to do something this season, could that be up front? If Danny Schofield is going to shift to a 4231 and the no10 is capable of holding the ball then potentially Koroma could be that striker who is capable of getting in behind the defence. I advocated a switch to a central striking role 12 months ago and possibly this would give Koroma more angles to get away that trademark right footed shot. Some aspects of forward play however that we saw Rhodes and Ward do last year such as link and play with their back to goal would be a struggle if we were to get forced deep.
Kieran Phillips
Age: 22
Contract: Expiring 2025
Verdict: Pre-season analysis
It’s important to remember that Phillips missed years of development due to knee injuries sustained at Everton and last season was his first real taste of being with a first team squad week in and out. I have to be honest, I expected Phillips to score more goals than he did and maybe make a slightly larger impact although he was quite well liked by fans of Walsall and Exeter. This leaves me a bit conflicted. Had Phillips gone out and scored 15 goals or so then I think he would be a natural fit to come back as Town’s 3rd striking option to push the elderly statesmen. However, I still feel Phillips is undercooked in terms of being able to compete at this level so after a pre-season with the first team I think a loan back out is more likely, but it’s a gap Town would then need to plug.
Kian Harratt
Age: 21
Contract: Expiring 2023
Verdict: Loaned to Bradford.
The sight of Harratt kissing the Bradford badge was a little cringeworthy but it’s a move I’m unsure about. Harratt had a really good start and finish to his Port Vale loan but struggled for starts in between. Bradford are signing players for a promotion push and as it stands it’s unclear whether he will get the starts required to make this loan worthwhile. Harratt is good enough to start in League 2 and needs to be playing games for his development so I’m sure loan manager David Fox will watch on with interest.
Kyle Hudlin
Age: 22
Contract: Expiring 2024
Verdict: Loan to Wimbledon.
Everyday I’m Hudlin, Hudlin… A protracted move that seemed to take a little while to get completed and then whoosh he was gone. Kyle Hudlin has never been in an academy or until Solihull anything resembling a full-time environment, so his technique and decision making by all accounts is a bit sketchy. I suspect that the original plan was to keep Hudlin close to the B Team and first team squads until January to have the technical coaches work with him daily to improve the areas of weakness and it would have been time well spent. However, it looks like he was needed as a makeweight to get the Rudoni deal over the line so it will be interesting to see how Hudlin handles the step up in quality. Let’s hope it’s a good move.
Conor Falls
Age: 18
Contract: Expiring 2025
Verdict: Keep progressing
Conor Falls has had a good couple of years for Town’s u17’s and 19’s but now is the time for him to push up to the B Team and for him to keep progressing through Town’s system. The club have rewarded him with a fresh 3-year contract so the club clearly have belief in his ability to keep moving in the right direction.
Strikers Verdict
Here are the strikers:
GERRIT FORRAD
It feels like Town are at a bit of a crossroads in their striking options. Town have two recognised strikers coming up to veteran age with a recent history of injury and are only a relapse or two away from a bit of a crisis. As I mentioned earlier in the article, Danny Ward’s injury spell at the end of last season is hopefully not a sign of things to come but more of a sign for the need to rotate him more often to decrease the impact on his body. Last season’s third choice striker Fraizer Campbell was needed on 20 occasions so it would be irresponsible for Town to go into the new season with just Danny Ward and Jordan Rhodes.
It would be easy to suggest that Town go out and sign a new quality starting striker but with our budgetary constraints and fiscal prudence this isn’t going to happen. So, Town are Town at a bit of an impasse waiting for the old guard to move on and Harratt and Phillips to step up? Maybe. A quality loan striker such as a young Cameron Archer, Dane Scarlett or Liam Delap would be coming to the club expecting to start and not just play 15/20 games as a fill in as and when needed due to Danny Ward being ensconced as Town’s no1 striker.
The key to Town’s striker ambitions is 22-year-old Kieran Phillips. In my humble opinion using last season’s evidence, Phillips didn’t look ready to surmount a decent challenge to Ward or Rhodes and I’m not sure if having him as 3rd choice this season is in his best interests in terms of development but Town may be forced into this due to the position, they find themselves in, although I would prefer to see him loaned back out. Josh Koroma can also cover the striking role and it may be that if both he and Phillips were on the bench and a change was needed centrally then Koroma may get the nod over Phillips. In fact, a wide player who can play as a central striker may be the smart move. This way, it may be easy to integrate a potential new striker as a wide option with Ward or Rhodes before eventually moving them centrally. A player that I think had a good end to 2021/22 is Troy Parrott. Parrott was on loan at MK Dons from Tottenham and played wide left in a 433, but can also operate centrally and over the long term his future will lay at no9. In the last 12 games of last season, Parrott registered 6 goals and 1 assist. Parrott is unlikely to ever force his way in at Spurs, so if Town could use some of the potential Lewis O’Brien money to make a move, then this would be an excellent addition going forward, although no doubt Spurs would ask something ridiculous for the Irish international.
Joel Mumbongo has spent the summer training with Huddersfield Town and at 23 seems to be on the high end of the scale Town would look at age-wise but he has followed a similar path to Jon Russell. Unable to force his way into a Premier League side, Mumbongo spent time on loan with Accrington Stanley last season and his release has alerted Town to take a look. Older strikers from lower league such as Cole Stockton or Ryan Hardie would be good signings for Town, Hardie in particular with his ability to press from the front and link would be a good signing but this again goes back to being able to dislodge Danny Ward or Jordan Rhodes.
In all likelihood Town are unlikely to make significant waves in this area until Danny Ward or Jordan Rhodes moves on unless it is a player that can play wide or central and Phillips or Koroma are likely to be 3rd choice. If Town do change their mind though, my preference would be Ellis Simms. Simms first caught my eye at Blackpool with his impressive hold up play and channel running. He’s had a few injuries but two good loan spells now at both Hearts and the aforementioned Blackpool. Simms will be 22 next season and the Oldham local isn’t realistically going to break through at Everton, he could be expensive but he’d be a great long term investment if Town could pull that off.
