Huddersfield Town rounded off a rocky September with a morale-boosting win over Blackburn Rovers – and can celebrate tying up star midfielder Lewis O’Brien on a new two-year contract.
O’Brien, who has risen through the academy ranks, has seen the dramatic ups and downs which the club has had to navigate over the past decade.
Having become a vital component in Town’s squad, Carlos Corberan was keen to keep hold of the 22-year-old.
Born in Colchester, O’Brien has quickly found a home here in West Yorkshire. A loan spell at Bradford City in 2018 helped his development.
Having impressed in a Town shirt, local rivals Leeds United came sniffing. Over the course of the summer they tabled four different bids to buy him, and were prepared to pay £13m. However, Town chairman Phil Hodgkinson wasn’t satisfied with the deal’s structure and so rejected all advances for O’Brien.
The player has now signed a new contract at Town, putting pen to paper until 2025. It remains to be seen how much of that contract he will see out, of course.
Personally I think the club has done well here to hold off on selling O’Brien. The fact he’s signed a new contract should mean his value will rise even higher.
The player himself needs to add more to his game, in my opinion. Sometimes, for example away at Swansea, he gave the ball away or was easily pushed off it. He needs to be more physical on the field if he is to become the combative talent we all know he can be.
One thing O’Brien has shown is his integrity and respect for the club by dealing with things behind closed doors. All too often we see players down tools or speak out in the media, this can’t be said of O’Brien and he deserves credit for that.
Another piece of good news to happen in this month is the announcement that Sorba Thomas has been selected for the first time in the Wales squad.
On Twitter Thomas said that dreams have become reality and in his case they certainly have.
Born in Newham, the 22-year-old attacker has had a meteoric rise in his career. Having started at Boreham Wood at just 16 he eventually emerged as one of their best players. Thomas signed for Town in January and has since gone on to make 16 appearances so far in a Town shirt. The majority of them are in this campaign.
Thomas won August Player of the Month for the Championship and has now been selected in Rob Page’s 28-man Wales squad which will face the Czech Republic and Estonia in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Reflecting on results on the pitch for the Terriers, they haven’t necessarily been as positive as they were in August with three losses from five games, Town have slipped to seventh in the table.
They started the month with a defeat to Stoke City. An unfortunate Matty Pearson own goal meant the Terriers left empty-handed. However the performance at Stoke deserved at least a point.
Town quickly moved on and dispatched a poor looking Blackpool side 3-0, Matty Pearson, Josh Koroma and Jonathan Hogg grabbing the goals by the seaside.
The Terriers feebly went down to Nottingham Forest at home 2-0 in their next fixture. It was a disappointing display and not one Town fans have been used to this season. Another defeat followed that with a loss to Swansea City away. It was a long 12-hour round trip for Town fans who didn’t have much to cheer throughout the game.
However the month ended on a real high with a sparkling performance at home to in-form Blackburn Rovers. The red rose club had demolished Cardiff City 5-1 in the fixture before. This had Town fans sweating before the match.
However two goals from Danny Ward helped to seal a fantastic 3-2 win and put Town fans in great spirits going into October.
