Wagner’s going to Town but he refuses to be a dreamer
THE final whistle had barely finished when Huddersfield’s stadium announcer took the microphone to release two snippets of news.
First came the attendance. There were 23,548 inside this raucous venue for Southampton’s visit and they were thanked for their support. Then, in the next sentence, came the big announcement.
‘Town fans,’ he boomed after the 0-0 draw. ‘You’re top of the league!’
In that particular moment, it was an indisputable fact. At 5pm, after three rounds of matches, the pre-season favourites for relegation sat looking down on everyone, undefeated with seven points and not a goal conceded.
‘It’s a perfect start,’ said David Wagner, Town’s impressive head coach. ‘But it is only a start. Everyone knows I am not a dreamer; I’m a worker. If you are a dreamer, you switch off and if you switch off in the Premier League, you get punished. We cannot switch off.’
There were no goals, but that did not stop this from being an entertaining tussle, Huddersfield’s high-energy approach ensuring the spectacle never became dull.
Had it not been for some outstanding work by Fraser Forster, this would have been a fourth consecutive win in all competitions for Wagner’s side. Forster made a number of excellent saves, the pick of them the double parry in the 19th minute to thwart Stevie Mounie and Elias Kachunga.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s side could easily have punished Huddersfield’s profligacy, the best opening of all fell to Ryan Betrand, who saw his injury time header kicked off the line by Huddersfield captain Tommy Smith.
Pellegrino was satisfied with a point. His next week is likely to be more fraught than Wagner’s, with the spotlight on whether Virgil Van Dijk leaves St Mary’s before the transfer window closes.
‘If we decide that someone can improve our squad, we will be ready to move,’ said Pellegrino. ‘And Virgil? I think he will be here on September 1.’