Wagner’s so desperate to end misery
DOGFIGHT: Terriers boss wants winning feel back DAVID WAGNER admits he cannot turn off from Huddersfield’s grim relegation fight.
His side are bottom of the Premier League, having lost their past nine games in all competitions and Terriers manager Wagner says he spends every waking moment trying to work out how to save them from the drop.
“There’s no chance to switch off,” said Wagner. “It’s always in your head. Sometimes at the front of your head, but always in your head.
“But this is the case over the whole season, not just because of this period. Even if you have a good period, your football club, your team, your back-room staff, all the employees, all the supporters of this football club are always in your head.”
Wagner says he is not great company for his family but joked they are used to him by now. “I don’t think it’s the most enjoyable period for them,” he said.
And he admits tomorrow’s game at Cardiff, who are 17th, eight points above them, is a must-win clash.
“I would say that,” he said. “As long as you don’t have that winning feeling, it gets more desperate.
“This is a very important game for us. It’s a game we have to win and a game that can affect our season massively.”
Huddersfield have scored only 13 goals in the Premier League and conceded 37, the worst slump of Wagner’s three-year reign, and he feels he is letting the fans down.
He loves making Town supporters happy and said: “I like to put smiles on people’s faces, like we have done over the last three years and a couple of months.
“I’m not able to deliver this right now and this does not satisfy me. I feel the responsibility for this. I’m not happy. I have not delivered what I expect and this means I have to turn this around.
“We all have to be disappointed. No one can raise their hand and say, ‘This is one of the greatest seasons I’ve ever had’.”
Chairman Dean Hoyle said he would not allow the club to “sleepwalk towards relegation” in a statement released on New Year’s Eve, and Huddersfield have taken action by signing P W D A PTS
The Cottagers have been linked with a move for Chelsea’s former England centre-back Gary Cahill and midfielder Danny Drinkwater as Ranieri looks to recruits from one of his former clubs to bolster his struggling squad during the January transfer window.
Ranieri has been promised funds by Fulham owner Shahid Khan this month as he battles to haul his side away from the Premier League relegation zone – and has also been linked with were turfed out of the FA Cup at home by Oldham of League Two – but Ranieri insisted that result would not have any lingering effect on his players.
He said: “I have a lot of respect for the FA Cup. I lost in the final a long time ago with Chelsea against Arsenal. I want one day to return to Wembley.
“But right now the Premier League is most important. I gave opportunities against Oldham to the players who aren’t playing every week to show what they can do. They missed that chance.
“The players who always play in the Premier League show desire and strength – what they show me every day in training. I didn’t understand why in training those other players showed the best – but on the pitch no.
“I used to think how you train you play. But for the first time in my life, training didn’t transfer to how they played.”
@tonybanksxp