Heaven 17 not for Wag
DO NOT talk to David Wagner about being in 17th heaven.
The Huddersfield boss admits success this season for his newly promoted club would be to avoid relegation. That is understandable – and realistic – given that Huddersfield have not been in the top flight since 1972. But Town’s German manager also insists he will not settle for 17th and a fourth-bottom finish, even though that would guarantee safety.
Going into today’s opening home match of the season against Newcastle, Wagner said: “I would absolutely agree that staying in the Premier
League would be a successful season.
“For me, being able to stay up would be a comparable success to winning promotion last season at Wembley.
“For a football club like Huddersfield Town and the budget we have compared to other clubs – and the history of the club and how difficult it is for promoted clubs to stay up – this would be the biggest success we ask for.”
But Wagner, 45, then quickly added: “Would I take 17th place now if it was offered? No. “Maybe we could get 14th or 12th, so no, I’d not take that. You should not give us any limits. “But if you ask me if it is success for us to stay up then yes, it absolutely would be.” Wagner feels at home in West Yorkshire and at a club which identifies closely with their local community and he said: “This is perfect for me and my character. I am used to working in a working-class area, like I worked for Dortmund’s second team and like I played for Schalke. “This is a proper working-class area where the people are very proud and honest and I love this. It works perfectly with my personality to be in this environment.”
Wagner does mix in football’s big time through his friendship with former Borussia Dortmund colleague Jurgen Klopp (left) now boss of a club who have won the European Cup five times. But the Huddersfield boss admits his fellow countryman cannot help him a lot at the John Smith’s Stadium. When asked whether he has sought advice from Klopp, Wagner said: “No, the two clubs are totally different. “For sure, we’ll speak about different opponents to give advice there – things like what he’s done against team A and what I’ve done against team B. “But you can’t compare Liverpool with us – we’re two completely different football clubs in terms of size.” Today, Wagner has to try to get the better of a former Liverpool manager in Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez.
In the second match of last season, Wagner did just that – a 2-1 win was a statement then of Huddersfield’s ambition. The Terriers boss is hoping history repeats itself today.