Wednesday 2 August 2017 19:29, UK
Will Huddersfield spring a surprise and avoid Premier League relegation? Read our 2017/18 preview with expert views from Charlie Nicholas.
Finishing position: Fifth (Championship, +14)
Total points: 81 (+30)
FA Cup: Fifth round
EFL Cup: First round
Top league scorer: Elias Kachunga (12)
Key stat: Of the 25 games Huddersfield won during the regular Championship season, they won all bar three of them by a single-goal margin. They often did just enough to come out on top and although they finished fifth in the table, they were only the 14th-highest scorers in the division.
Major ins: Steve Mounie (Montpellier, £11.4m), Laurent Depoitre (Porto, £3.5m), Aaron Mooy (Man City, £8m), Tom Ince (Derby, £10m), Kasey Palmer (Chelsea, loan), Scott Malone (Fulham, £5m), Elias Kachunga (Ingolstadt, £1.1m).
Major outs: Kyle Dempsey (Fleetwood, £400k), Tareiq Holmes-Dennis (Portsmouth, loan), Jordy Hiwula (Fleetwood, loan).
Can Huddersfield surprise people?
Well you can't deny David Wagner has the right to have a good crack at the Premier League. You get the feeling that this guy is going to be good to watch. He's going to speak his mind and agitate a few managers.
He's also got that Jurgen Klopp mentality where he won't fear making big decisions if things aren't going well. He's an aggressive guy and aggression is good when you're in control of it and he looks like that sort of guy.
I can't wait to start talking about this guy I can guarantee every other week Jeff bringing up some different antics.
You get the feeling that David Wanger is going to be good to watch. He's going to speak his mind and agitate a few managers.
This club will be so filled with energy and excitement that they will be absolutely at it from the start.
Which of their players are you most excited about watching?
Aaron Mooy's name obviously came up a lot last season and he's obviously warranted his fee. I always say with a side coming up then if you've got a player other than your main striker than can get you 10-12 goals then you've got a great chance of staying up. His goals are going to be vital.
What are the challenges facing the manager this season?
What he needs to learn is you can't keep treating every game like a cup final, your legs will run out. Sometimes you've got to turn up and grind out a result, avoiding the demoralising result, and just make sure you're ready to go again at the games which they need to win.
Their trips to Spurs, Arsenal or Man City will be games they need to accept they may have very little chance of winning but bounce back and win the games at home that they need to.
That's what made Burnley and West Brom were really successful last season and that's the concern for an excited new club.
What are their strengths?
What I like about what Wagner has done is get his business done early to give him time to work with his team. You can bet your bottom dollar he would have had a list of players he wanted within a few days of securing promotion.
He knew which players he wanted and went after them. Sure it's risky making all these changes but what isn't?
It's no gamble to go spend £70-80m on players, especially if you've been clever with contracts.
As it stands right now there's five or six clubs are all sweating on who they are signing, taking the real risk with waiting on who they will get a bargain with.
What are their weaknesses?
The manager not having the experience of balancing out the season and going for every game. He'll want to prove himself against the top managers but his challenge is keeping them 17th or higher and if he does that then we'll be discussing him as one of the managers of the season.
Where will they finish this season and why?
As it stands right now I would be very encouraged that they can stay up and I'm going to put them 17th.
Back Huddersfield to avoid relegation with odds of 6/5 with Sky Bet.
