The Premier League’s newest additions will have a big job on their hands next season but their togetherness and high-energy style may give them a chance
Before Huddersfield’s penalty shootout victory in a grim play-off final their manager, David Wagner, was fond of comparing his side’s promotion charge with Leicester winning the Premier League last season. That might be a touch strong but Wagner’s achievement in bringing Huddersfield into the top flight for the first time in 45 years remains utterly extraordinary.
Wagner was appointed in November 2015 with the immediate brief of making sure Huddersfield avoided relegation to League One. They were 18th at the time, glancing over their shoulders with profound concern. A little over 18 months later those worried supporters turned into the undulating mass of ecstasy that lost their collective minds when Christopher Schindler placed, with ludicrous certainty and assurance, the crucial penalty into the bottom corner. The sight of Tommy Smith, the Terriers’ captain who left the game on a stretcher, dispensing with his crutches in order to join in fully with the celebrations, seemed to sum the mood up neatly. The “little dogs”, as Wagner calls them, barked long and loud.
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