Kevin Nagle gamble at Huddersfield Town simply needs to work – Supporters could turn otherwise | OneFootball

Ipswich Town first-team coach Lee Grant has been appointed as Huddersfield Town boss and that is a big risk for chairman and owner Kevin Nagle.

Huddersfield Town are heading into another season in League One, and they have confirmed the appointment of Ipswich Town's first-team coach Lee Grant as their new manager, but it is a decision that brings huge risk for both the club and chairman Kevin Nagle.

Nagle, who is also the owner of the Terriers, finished last season miserably with supporters already unhappy and another poor appointment could spell disaster for Nagle with the potential of the fanbase properly turning against him.

Following their relegation from the Championship last season, Huddersfield were tipped as one of the pre-season title favourites in the third-tier this year but, despite Michael Duff having them well in the mix mid-way through the campaign and some investment into the squad during the January transfer window, Town completely collapsed.

Duff was eventually sacked by mid-March and interim coach Jon Worthington then oversaw a six-match losing streak to finish the campaign, collecting just nine points from their final 15 games of the season.

Following Grant's appointment, Huddersfield supporters may well be ready to pounce on Nagle and the club if results and performances do not drastically improve from what happened at the end of the campaign.

Huddersfield in strife under Nagle’s stewardship

In June 2023, Nagle took 100% ownership of Huddersfield, and he was in charge of a relegation from the second-tier before a fairly humbling mid-table finish in the third-tier.

The club surprisingly parted company with Neil Warnock just over a month into the 2023/24 season before Darren Moore was then sacked by late-January, as they battled against relegation.

The appointment of Andre Breitenreiter was a gamble, due to his lack of experience in English football, and the former Schalke and Hoffenheim coach could not prevent Town’s relegation.

Duff seemed a safe pair of hands for a League One season with a strong squad, but supporters were pleased by his dismissal in the early spring, despite the fact that there had been no permanent replacement lined up to try and battle back into the promotion race.

Instead, Town had to endure a poor end to the campaign with club legend Worthington at the helm. Getting a caretaker or interim boss in to raise spirits at a club is often a good idea and his first game being a 5-1 demolition of eventually relegated Crawley Town, perhaps gave a false idea of what could be achieved by the 42-year-old.

In just two seasons as owner and chairman, Nagle has already made several major and surprising decisions with regards to the dugout and none of them have gone well.

The risk of Grant at Huddersfield

Many clubs have had success in handing rookie coaches their first full-time gig as a manager and there will be a hope that Grant’s influence at Ipswich Town is one that is greater than it appears.

The former Manchester United goalkeeper became first-team coach at Portman Road in May 2022 and was a key part of Kieran McKenna’s backroom staff as the Tractor Boys propelled themselves from League One to the Premier League in back-to-back seasons.

However, he is indeed a rookie, and it cannot be known the extent to Grant’s influence on Ipswich’s extraordinary success – leaving Huddersfield supporters a little concerned as to what may happen during his tenure, as outlined by FLW Fan Pundit Nick Barlow.

There is potentially a very high ceiling to Grant’s coaching credentials, due to the unknown, but that unknown also comes with it the possibility of quite a low floor, too, and with Huddersfield sinking like a stone towards the end of the campaign, that would be a major concern for those Town fans quickly losing faith in Nagle.