Red-hot Blues striker sends warning to Town
DAVID Wagner’s shock departure from Town has left the Terriers managerless with four months left of the Premier League season.
The boss departed the West Yorkshire side by mutual consent on Monday, leading to questions over who Town will approach to follow the promotion-winning manager in the John Smith’s Stadium hotseat.
A number of names have been floated by pundits and bookies, with GABRIEL Jesus has warned he, and Manchester City, are determined to keep the goals and the wins flowing when they play Town on Sunday.
The Brazil striker scored another two – taking his tally to seven in three appearances – as City beat Wolves 3-0 on Monday to cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League back to four points. the market leaders in the betting odds seemingly dropping every 10 minutes since Wagner’s exit.
Sam Allardyce was the early front runner until effectively ruling himself out yesterday. David Moyes had been hot on his heels, but has dropped behind in the betting. Alan Pardew has been at odds as low as 12/1.
But, personally, I don’t see Town going for one of the ‘usual suspects’ as a replacement for Wagner.
What Dean Hoyle has built with the former head coach has been too successful, too exciting and too ground-breaking to revert back to a stereotypically British manager.
That does not mean that Town will not look closer to home in their search for a new head coach, but a domestic boss would have to have fresh ideas and want to play a similar brand of football to the outgoing Wagner.
The likes of Aidy Boothroyd and Lee Johnson stand out further down the betting list, but both may come with a price and both are under no real pressure in their current roles.
The most likely move, in my opinion, would be for Hoyle to once again find a foreign candidate with similar beliefs to Wagner, who has, like the former boss, a big personality and a positive outlook to breathe
The 21-year-old, who has now 14 goals for the season, said: “I am feeling good and my confidence is better for scoring goals.
“It’s important to me because I am a striker who plays for a big club with amazing players, management and staff, so I need to score goals – but I helped the team by playing well. The team played very well to win the game.
“We believe in every single game new life into the Terriers. Who that will be is anyone’s guess at this moment, with Wagner’s arrival itself showing how left-field Hoyle may go for a new boss.
As my eyes cast over the list of odds, names such as Martin Schmidt, Alexander Nouri, and Domenico Tedesco look more likely than those of Mark Hughes, Carlos Carvalhal and Nigel Pearson.
Schmidt, in particular, could be an interesting fit for the Terriers.
He, like Wagner with Town, took his Mainz players into the wilderness for a team bonding session, selecting the Bernese Alps over Wagner’s choice of Sweden.
No football was played on the tour, with Schmidt instead highlighting the importance of a strong team spirit within the squad.
After the trip, he said: “It glues the team together. The players took photos that now hang in our dressing room.
“Whenever they look at them, they think back to this day and recall the very special atmosphere. and every competition. We are training and working a lot for the moment when they give out the title at the end of the season.
“We are second in the Premier League and want to win it. We need to go onto the pitch in every single game and win it.
“We need to keep going, working hard and playing well if we want it to be us.”
City were never extended by a It’s a tie that binds players together.” That philosophy is eerily similar to that of Wagner’s ‘Terrier identity’, which guided the Yorkshire side into the Premier League in the former boss’ first full year in charge.
Tactically, Nouri could also fit the Terriers, however.
The IranianGerman manager prefers a 4-2-3-1 system, but is flexible enough to change shape and move to a back three.
And the 39-year-old too has history with the gegenpressing style synonymous with Wagner’s rein at Town.
“It’s about getting immediately into the counterpressing at ball losses,” Nouri told kreiszeitung.de in the build up to a clash with Darmstadt 98 in the 2016/17 campaign. “We have worked in training.”
Finally, Tedesco could provide the passion which was seen under the previous regime, with Wagner seen sprinting down the sidelines to celebrate with his players in victories over Derby County and local rivals Leeds United.
The club has come too far to simply play it safe and opt for standard Premier League name
Wolves side who played for 71 minutes with 10 men after Willy Boly – scorer of a controversial goal off his hand when the sides drew at Molineux in August – received a straight red card for a poor challenge on Bernardo Silva.
But by the time of his dismissal the visitors were already 1-0 down, with Jesus having slid in a 10th-minute opener. He then doubled the lead with a penalty.