"It's ludicrous" - Michael Duff handed Huddersfield Town vote of confidence after double defeat | OneFootball

FLW's Huddersfield Town fan pundit has given his view on whether head coach Michael Duff's position is under threat.

After a positive start to the 2024-25 season, it has been a tough few weeks for Huddersfield Town in League One.

Huddersfield are back in the third tier for the first time since 2012 after they were relegated from the Championship last season, and they were widely tipped to be among the promotion contenders this campaign.

Michael Duff was appointed as the Terriers' new head coach in the summer, and his reign got off to the perfect start with four consecutive victories, but his side have now lost five of their last six games in all competitions.

Town suffered their second consecutive league defeat as they were beaten 2-0 by a resurgent Blackpool at the John Smith's Stadium on Tuesday night, with first half goals from Kyle Joseph and CJ Hamilton sealing all three points for Steve Bruce's men.

Huddersfield are still fifth in the League One table, just four points behind second-placed Birmingham City and leaders Wrexham, but pressure is increasing on Duff ahead of the trip to face Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday.

Huddersfield Town fan pundit issues verdict on Michael Duff's future

FLW's Huddersfield Town fan pundit Graeme Rayner does not believe that Duff's position should be under any imminent threat, but he believes that supporters are right to be concerned about the direction the team are heading in.

"I think it is too early to be putting a manager under pressure, but it's not too early to say that the most recent run of form is not good enough and whatever's happening needs to be nipped in the bud," Graeme said when speaking to Football League World.

"I don't actually lay the blame at his door for the recent performances because, having watched the last two games, I genuinely think it's an issue with the players, not the manager.

"What seemed to happen is that when Northampton scored their first goal on Saturday which was that own goal from Michal Helik, all confidence drained from the team immediately.

"We'd just come off a 4-0 away win at Bolton, we conceded a ridiculous own goal in a stupid way, and you could almost visibly see confidence drain from the team.

"We have to remember that, new signings aside, this is a team that have been used to losing and losing badly for quite some time.

"Our last really successful season was under David Wagner when we got promoted to the Premier League, which was seven years ago.

"One season aside under Carlos Corberan when we got into the play-offs, we've been a losing side.

"I think there's a malaise at the club in terms of confidence, psychology, mentality - whatever you want to call it - and that's a lot for a manager to turn round in a short space of time.

"His side have only been playing competitive football for seven weeks, we have to give him time to drum that out of them, and we can't realistically expect it to be without blips.

"However, the last two games, particularly last night, the team's performances have been so abject and so dire that it is very, very worrying.

"We were outplayed, outfought and outclassed by Blackpool in every single department last night, and that's a Blackpool team who, until Steve Bruce came in, were hovering in the lower echelons of the table.

"They've won three on the spin now, but it was a worrying turn of events.

"It needs to stop and it needs to stop quickly, but we've got difficult games ahead.

"We've got Reading at the weekend and then we've got Birmingham, both of those games are away, and neither are fixtures that we can be massively confident about.

"Reading are on a bad run themselves, but if we play like we played last night (against Blackpool), we'll get beaten, it's that simple.

"I think it's ludicrous to want him out, but it's not ludicrous to worry that come Halloween or Bonfire Night, we'll be mid-table and wondering whether he's the right man or not."

Michael Duff is under pressure at Huddersfield Town after Kevin Nagle comments

It is difficult to disagree with Graeme that Duff deserves more time at Huddersfield, but he needs to turn results around quickly.

Back-to-back home defeats against Northampton Town and Blackpool are unacceptable for a team aiming to challenge for automatic promotion, and supporters made their feelings clear after the final whistle on Tuesday night, which will be concerning for Duff at this early stage of his tenure.

Owner Kevin Nagle took to social media after the Terriers were beaten 2-1 by League Two side Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup earlier this month to criticise the team's performance, describing it as "not good enough", and while he insisted that he had full faith in Duff, it remains to be seen whether his stance has changed after two further defeats.

It is clear that Nagle has high expectations this season, which is understandable given the strength of Town's squad, and he is unlikely to wait too long for the situation to improve before considering another managerial change.