Huddersfield Town have decided to press on with Martin Drury taking permanent charge of the club rather than search for outside candidates.
The Terriers have been left on the lookout for a new leader after it was announced that Liam Manning would step away permanently from the side after being given compassionate leave in March.
Nagle Opts For In-House Promotion
Since the former Bristol City boss stepped back, two of his coaching staff in Martin Drury and Jon Stead, have led Town through the remainder of the League One campaign, overseeing their final seven matches, in which they only suffered one defeat.
And now, according to Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke, the pair are set to be handed the reins full-time by Huddersfield chair Kevin Nagle, who had previously stated on social media that a decision would be reached by Tuesday.
A native of the West Yorkshire town, Drury has limited managerial experience, having taken charge of non-league Bradford Park Avenue for a year, before a brief interim spell in charge at Bradford City following the departure of David Hopkin during their League Two days.
He only arrived at the Accu Stadium in January of this year, having bounced about various clubs, including Valencia and Brentford in assistant coaching roles as well as a stint as a youth coach at Manchester United.
Stead meanwhile stepped into the coaching world following his retirement in 2022, and has EFL experience with Barnsley and Bristol Rovers under Darrell Clarke prior to joining Manning and Drury in Kirklees.
Town Will Rally Behind Pair
After yet another season of disappointment for Huddersfield Town, they now look forward to taking a different path by sticking with the staff they have rather than bringing in new faces.
Martin Drury and Jon Stead may not have the experience of many candidates linked with the role, but with the offerings they gave while in interim charge, fans of the team should give them full backing to try and launch them back into promotion contention.
Naturally, there will be rightful scepticism from some about their credentials at this level, and with an important transfer window ahead of them, it remains to be seen how much input, if any, they will be given into deciding the business conducted.
As two local lads as well, they are a pair who understand the club and fanbase and have seemingly struck a chord with the players, who delivered some strong performances against Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers, both of whom have since been promoted.
Of course, Manning’s appointment did not work out for off-the-field reasons, but with Lee Grant and Michael Duff failing before him, giving a chance to people already at the club who have delivered some encouraging signs rather than the same external appointments may be a formula that works.
3 responses
Good luck to both of them
Must give them a chance as we’ve tried the normal channels of the manager merry go round.
Let’s get behind them and hopefully we will see better commitment and recruitment this season. UTT.
Not all good players became good managers. But I’ve like the way Steady talks.
He shows pertential .
Time will tell AGAIN!