Huddersfield Town urged to consider League Two manager and ex-Sunderland boss | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

A new manager is on the things to do list for Huddersfield Town this summer, as they prepare for their first season back in the third division.

It's been over a decade since the Terriers were last in League One, when they won promotion to the Championship via the play-offs by beating Sheffield United on penalties at Wembley.

As opposed to the euphoric feeling that they last had playing third tier football, this time there is a glum state that is hanging over the John Smith's Stadium - they have no manager, a less than inspiring squad, and a general feeling of unsureness.

Reports of a second pursuit of former Swansea City and Barnsley boss Michael Duff have recently come out, after holding talks with him earlier in the 2023/24 season.

They are set to battle with the Tykes for his signature this summer though, and there is no confirmation yet of who will be leading Huddersfield when the first games get under way in late August.

Huddersfield Town told to consider Alex Neil and Scott Lindsey in manager hunt

Football League World's Terriers fan pundit Graeme Rayner, has revealed a couple of managers that he feels could be good options for the club.

The Town fan hasn't been overly inspired by any of the realistic names that have been linked with being the man to take over the reins, after Andre Breitenreiter let them go, but he did pick out two names that could be of interest to Huddersfield.

"It's a really tricky one because the names that are being banded about are either realistic not necessarily ideal, or ideal, but not necessarily realistic," Rayner told FLW (before news of Duff being of interest to the club once more emerged).

"For example, if we're talking about Liam Rosenior, in terms of performance at Hull City, very good. Some Town fans would dislike his style of football, and then, is it realistic? Is he going to drop down to League One?

"Then you could look at someone like Nigel Pearson, who has been banded about. Is he ideal or realistic?

"There are a lot of names in the hat. None of them have got me jumping up and down with excitement.

"Alex Neil could be a good option, and is probably realistic. He certainly has a track record of getting people out of League One. But some Town fans think that his ego makes him far from ideal.

"One name that I've seen mentioned as a possibility would be Crawley Town's manager, Scott Lindsey. They've just reached the play-off final to go up from League Two to the third tier. They play exciting football, he's a manager that has a decent brand of football, so he's someone that could be interesting. But he doesn't have a great track record.

"At the moment, I'm still waiting for a name to be strongly rumoured that feels like a good fit for the club's future, plays attractive football, and is a realistic option.

"I don't see anyone with all three, at the moment, but hopefully someone will come out of the woodwork."

Huddersfield need to give transfer assurances to their new manager

Had Neil Warnock not come back to Yorkshire to rescue the club in the 22/23 campaign, Huddersfield might have been down in League One a season earlier.

Their squad, as has been proven by their league position in the last two seasons, really isn't up to the Championship standard.

A lot of that, if not all of it, is down to their poor recruitment. They've not made huge amounts of moves in the most recent transfer windows, and the ones that they have made haven't had a significant enough impact.

Whoever comes in to be the new boss of the Terriers, the expectation will be that they will return to the Championship sooner rather than later.

To be able to do that, they must improve their squad. The problem is that they haven't shown an ability to do that, even with a smaller budget.

Town have to show their next manager that they are making proactive steps in the transfer market to give them a squad that is capable of winning promotion in the near future.