July 7 will go down in history as a day of resignations. One – that of Prime Minister Boris Johnson – wasn’t a shock. However, the departure of Huddersfield Town head coach Carlos Corberan certainly was.
Corberan dropped a bombshell on the club on the eve of the new season and so begins another turbulent chapter in Town’s recent history. Terriers supporter and Huddersfield Hub sports editor STEVEN DOWNES offers his thoughts.
What had been a quiet summer – maybe with early rumblings over a lack of transfer activity – suddenly exploded like a volcano this week.
Firstly, we got the positive signing of David Kasumu from MK Dons for a compensation fee of less than £100,000 and then the signature of Connor Mahoney on a free transfer from fellow Championship team Millwall. These look like two shrewd signings.
That all happened on Wednesday July 6. Most Town fans went to bed that evening feeling buoyed that the squad strengthening had begun. By the end of the following day that confidence had been obliterated.
The club announced at 11.15am that Carlos Corberan had resigned from his post. Both Leigh Bromby and Dean Hoyle commented in a statement.
Head of football operations Bromby said: “Carlos has subsequently come to us over the last 24 hours and made it clear that he doesn’t think he is the man to take us forward. The timing is disappointing, with our preparations for the new season already underway.”
Town CEO and returning owner Hoyle added: “I know the timing of this news will come as a real shock to our supporters. We felt the same when Carlos asked to meet Leigh on Wednesday evening and made it clear he would be leaving, as we have been working together to plan for the new season.
“Everyone at the club sincerely thanks Carlos for his hard work over the last two seasons and for the way he has helped to take us forward. I really hope he goes on to have a great career.”
Corberan himself made a statement via social media offering heartfelt thanks to everyone at the club. He added: “As a coach, my approach to my work is based exclusively on the strongest commitment and utmost alignment with the policy of the club I’m serving because that is the only way to ensure the dedication required to manage a football team. There are times in life when the most honest thing to do is to step aside on amicable terms in the best interests of both parties.”
Reaction
When I woke up I didn’t for one moment think we’d be without a manager/head coach three weeks before the season starts. When we first appointed Corberan I wasn’t convinced I will admit that. I didn’t like his style, I thought his subs were poor and his football bland.
Last season that all changed as the Spaniard worked wonders on a shoestring budget. Much like the German David Wagner when he was here, Carlos learned and developed. By the end of last season – which finished at Wembley in the play-offs – the vast majority of Town fans had been won over.
Now I’m not saying the football was perfect because it wasn’t. It was hardly the blood and thunder of Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa, who Carlos previously worked under. However, it was better than under the Cowley brothers and what was played in Corberan’s first season at the club
After (over) achieving a third-placed finish and taking a club with one of the lowest budgets to within one match of the Premier League you would have thought the head coach would have been backed with funds. Albeit modest.
That seemingly hasn’t been the case and that speaks volumes over where the club is as regards its future, its ambition and direction.
I’m not club bashing or screaming and shouting. I’m just disappointed, which is probably worse. We have to give credit to the club for creating a successful culture last year, and praise them for their development of the B Team in which there is a lot of talent.
We can even look at the commercial team and say they are doing a good job with the amount of partners they are bringing on board.
However, it is glaringly obvious that the owner situation is not sorted, and that has frozen things at the top. It has stopped any growth of ambition.
The club talks about Terrier Spirit and says we all need to stick together. Generally I’m an advocate for that. However, there is a sense of reckoning that a Bill Shankly-esque moment could be about to engulf us.
Has lack of investment and ambition been the undoing of all the club’s hard work last year? Can Bromby steer the ship to safety? Can Hoyle and Phil Hodgkinson work things out? Can Danny Schofield, who has been put in charge of first team matters, get the squad ready to face Burnley in three weeks’ time?
My honest answers
1. Bromby has to find a way or it’s a Barnsley-style slip from grace and a season of struggle to fight the drop.
2. It’s getting boring now between Dean and Phil. We as fans just want to see good football played by players that care. Until the ownership is sorted the club will continue to spin in endless circles like a boat without a rudder. Please sort it out and back the guy who is in charge. We have supported the club from the stands by snapping up 15,000 season tickets, so we’ve done our bit, I think that’s fair to say.
3. Schofield is a good professional and one who does care about the club having previously played for the Terriers and winning promotion with us under Peter Jackson in 2004. Whilst Schofield knows the club inside out having been involved at academy and first team level, going from being a coach to a manager/head coach is a big task. It’s also a huge amount of pressure to put on him, and with that I wish him luck.
I’m disappointed Corberan has resigned but I understand his motives. You can’t lead a club if you haven’t been backed after achieving so much on so little.
We can praise Dean and Phil for a lot, but sadly losing one of the best young coaches in the country isn’t one of them. Whether in 60 years we’ll look back like we do now with Shankly, only time will tell.
However none of us can be under any illusions that this is a huge moment for our club and the decisions made from here on in can define it for years to come and, by God, I hope they get it right.
listen to Steven give his thoughts on the Route One Podcast HERE.
