By Steven Downes, Huddersfield Hub sports editor and Town fan
Neil Warnock is staying at Huddersfield Town for #OneMoreYear and the biggest open secret was finally confirmed at a press conference with Warnock and the club’s new CEO Jake Edwards. So what have we learned?
Well, we learned why we all love Neil Warnock so much. What a character! We learned about Edwards’ background in the United States and why he chose to come to West Yorkshire, and we also learned a little more about owner-still-in-waiting Kevin Nagle’s plans for the club.
We heard about squad strengthening and that Warnock’s “not going to spend money stupidly” and that he tried to sign a striker who was then offered two-and-a-half times Town’s best wage.
Town are going to be “limited financially wise” said Warnock, who has now re-signed Danny Ward and wants Josh Koroma to stay.
Overall it was an enlightening, impressive and humour-packed happy hour-and-a-half press conference. Warnock just loves his one-liners.
It has been the biggest open secret for weeks that the club were trying to persuade Warnock, 74, to stay on.
In my article HERE I explain why keeping Warnock was essential to the overall plan and why it wasn’t just a sensible appointment to make but a smart one too.
During his press conference Warnock said about staying at the club: “I didn’t envisage carrying on again. Everything that happened at the end of last season, the emotion and the support that we got.
“Talking to Jake over the last few weeks, it all seems right. We’ve got a special attachment to Town. It has been a difficult time behind the scenes and it is great for me to calm the waters. It gives the club a bit of breathing space. It has been a bit hectic.
“It was just good to come back last year and put smiles on their faces. It will be a difficult task. You have seen the teams coming down and the teams coming up. We are going to be limited financially. We are not going to bring in loads of players. We are going to have to do it in a sensible way.”
Warnock returned last season to create a miracle and save the club from what seemed certain relegation. He won seven of his 15 games in charge, drawing another four. Warnock was emotional at the end of last season as fans – and one or two players – begged him to stay.
In his press conference Warnock said it was the fans who had helped him make his mind up. He added: “It was a very, very difficult period. Everyone had to pull together.
“To see the club transformed like that made me quite emotional. It meant an awful lot to me. Sharon (Neil’s wife) came to the last game and could see what it meant to everyone. Sharon loves the club and I do too. I feel that the club needed stability and the fans really showed me in the last two games, what they thought, I had never experienced that.
“The club seems to be together again and that’s what you want as a manager. You have got to think about the longer picture. The club is changing. It will be easier for me to continue than if Jake had to start from scratch.
“The crowd was fantastic home and away last season. They really supported us. All you can do is your best and that’s what I will be doing.”
Joining Warnock on his backroom staff will be Ian Bennett and Carl Serrant. Serrant worked at Cardiff with Warnock and Bennett has also worked with the experienced manager too. Bennett was a player at Town when the club won promotion from League One in 2012.
The club also announced a number of pre-season games with a tour around Cornwall from July 10-15 and a home match against Dutch side SC Heerenveen on July 29. That’s the first home pre-season game Town have had for four years.
The next big announcement all Town fans are waiting for is to see the takeover with Nagle finally go through with Edwards confirming on Wednesday that there is just one last formality to complete. The club should have good news on that front soon.
Having Warnock at Town is like a safety blanket, you know going into the new season we will be competitive despite the strength of the Championship with the return of L**ds United, Leicester City, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday.
Edwards has come over from America where he spent eight years as the president of the United Soccer League (USL), the USA’s version of our English Football League (EFL).
He oversaw the transformation of their professional divisions and led a period of extraordinary growth in the sport in the USA.
Edwards speaks with authority, a calm persona and, like Dave Baldwin who has now stepped down from his managing director role, you get the feeling Edwards knows what he’s doing. Baldwin will remain a strategic advisor to the board, another shrewd move for a club in transition.
After the press conference I felt excited, optimistic and have a sense of a new start. I feel that my football club is in safe hands.
Warnock isn’t promising promotion but admits: “Anything is possible in football if you get the dressing room right…”
And Warnock’s main aim for the new season? “To see Tom Lees smile,” he said. Let’s hope Tom Lees isn’t the only one smiling. I, for one, can’t wait. The new season can’t come quickly enough.
Watch the whole of Neil Warnock and Jake Edwards’ press conference below.
