PREMIER LEAGUE
Toon and Terriers in fight to keep bosses
®Êby IAN MURTAGH LEE CLARK fears Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez and Huddersfield counterpart David Wagner will be wanted men this summer.
The pair square up at St James’ Park tomorrow with both fighting to beat the drop.
But there will be mixed emotions for Geordie Clark, who admits he wants his hometown club to win - but he’s desperate for Huddersfield to stay up too.
Terriers owner Dean Hoyle gave Clark his first managerial job and he was rewarded with the rookie boss masterminding a Football League record-equalling unbeaten run of 43 games.
But for all Clark’s achievements they have been eclipsed by Wagner, who has confounded the odds in his time with the club.
Clark wants this weekend’s clash to remain a top-flight fixture and is praying it will be the German and Benitez in the respective dug-outs the next time they meet.
Demand
“If Huddersfield stay up, it will be an incredible achievement and David Wagner will be one of the managers of the season,” said 45-year-old Clark, who was at Wembley last May to see Huddersfield go up after beating Reading in a penalty shoot-out.
“But the biggest problem for them will be that he is a man very much in demand.
“Dean Hoyle, who’s a top guy and a magnificent owner, has been fighting off bigger clubs for 18 months.”
Clark, a regular at Newcastle since being sacked by Bury last autumn, is also worried Benitez could quit if he’s not backed by owner Mike Ashley.
“Like David Wagner, Rafa’s been tremendous,” he said. “Of course, fourth-bottom isn’t what he’d have wanted back in August, while staying up is a cause for celebration in Huddersfield’s case.
“Knowing their owner and his ambitions, he’ll see that as the start of a journey. But for Rafa, it’s imperative Newcastle start challenging for Europe.
“The club has a world-class manager and he must be given the tools to kick on and work at the level he wants.
“Newcastle will survive this year and I’m backing Huddersfield to do so as well, but then the two clubs have another battle to hold on to their managers.” TODAY’S DIARY
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