Huddersfield's promotion chances under the microscope

English Football League / Editor / 28 August 2007 / Leave a Comment

Trotters fan Jon Ski analyses his side's chances of going up

Its early days, or early doors as the former football manager and pundit Ron Atkinson used to say, so anything could happen to my side Huddersfield Town's season.

Two wins and one loss in the opening three games is a return that I suppose I would have settled for before the season started.

Our new manager let go a few players, at the end of last season, significantly, Adnan Ahmed who is now at rivals Tranmere, Martin McIntosh and John McAliskey, the two Macs, dropping a division and signing on for Mansfield. Whilst Mark Hudson has travelled 30 miles down the M1 to Rotherham.

Paul Rachubka and the brilliant if not sometimes inconsistent Gary Taylor-Fletcher have both gone to newly promoted Championship side Blackpool, the latter for an undisclosed fee.

Coming into the club, Andy Ritchie has secured the services of the much travelled and previously much troubled, pacey front man Danny Cadamarteri. His pre-season form was excellent, but he has yet to feature in the side competitively due to injury, and it remains to be seen if he will stay focused enough throughout the campaign to make a significant impact, it has to be said he has not got a good track record, so some might say it is a fairly risky signing by Ritchie.

Malvin Kamara, the winger with pace to burn, has also been signed from Cardiff although he played at Port Vale last season on loan.

The veteran defender Frank Sinclair's loan has been made permanent, and the ex Chelsea, Leicester and Burnley man is still obviously a class act.

Just this last week Robbie Williams, the left sided defender and set piece specialist, has signed from Ritchie's old club Barnsley, although he will not feature for the terriers for a week or two due to an existing injury problem.

The first team squad of now twenty four players is supplemented by some emerging talent from the club's excellent and recognised as such, academy.

Herein lays the problem, due to three or four injuries already this season the side has featured makeshift strike forces, and a distinctly threadbare and untried bench.

On the whole though, last season's obvious problem of lack of pace in the side has been resolved, and in Luke Beckett we have a striker who will score twenty plus goals a season.

All in all, the current Betfair price of 5.5 about the Terriers to gain promotion seems about right, with six other clubs at shorter odds.

Of those six surely both Forest and Luton should not be backed against and look good value still at 2.5 and 3.55 respectively.

I am still sticking with my original prediction of, Forest, Luton, Huddersfield, Crewe, Millwall and Gillingham to take the top six places, although Carlisle, having sacked their manager after only one game, seem to be going well and look reasonable value trading at 6, as they sit in second place in the table currently, after beating Huddersfield 2-0 at the terriers Galpharm stadium on Saturday.

But like the man said, it's not over till Dawn French sings, so there is a long, long, long way to go, but a prudent bet now could reap significant rewards later on, enjoy your football.

This article was written by Jon Ski, editor of the Vital Huddersfield Town website, who can be found at - http://www.huddersfield.vitalfootball.co.uk/