Phil’s exit not what it should have been

£15m, he had helped the Terriers win promotion to the Premier League, scooped the Young Player of the Year award three times and Players’ Player of the Year once.

The Dane - who faces Town today for new club Bournemouth – was such a revelation, he helped inspire the way the club’s academy was set up so they could focus their efforts on finding more Philip Billings: talented youngsters aged 16 or over who have somehow slipped the net.

In Billing’s case that oversight seems especially baffling. As thenHuddersfield Town boss David Wagner put it in 2018: “I can name you not one 22-year-old player who is comparable with him.

“Six foot six, left-footed, unbelievable shot, quick, vision, technique, long throw-in, endurance and fighting spirit.”

Billing is still adding to his game, too. Specifically, he has added the ability to find the net consistently – 13 of his 23 career goals have come in the last eight months including a rare header against his former club on his return to the John Smith’s Stadium in April.

So with all that talent, after such a notable contribution to the club’s history, why is there such animosity towards him from the Terriers faithful?

It is not as simple as ‘he left, so he’s dead to us now.’ Fans retain no shortage of affection for Aaron Mooy, for instance, despite his leaving the club for Brighton.

The fans’ distaste for Billing really dates back to his final season with the club – a miserable time for all concerned, with Town putting in one of the worst seasons in Premier League history, picking up three wins and 16 points all season long.

Head coach Jan Siewert had given up on Billing before their relegation was confirmed after just 32 games, leaving him out of the matchday squad altogether along with his compatriots Zanka and Jonas Lossl.

Rumour had it that the shortlived gaffer had fallen out with several players after a 4-3 defeat to West Ham in the previous game, and while the timeline is unclear, Billing himself confirmed as much in an explosive interview with the Danish media.

He said of Siewert to Bold.dk in May 2019: “He has a real German mentality, a little strange. He came in as if he had won the Premier League five times, a little arrogant, and I think most people lost respect for him after a week’s time. People could see there was something wrong. He almost tried too hard.”

The feeling among fans was that Billing’s heart was clearly not in it and that he was not pulling his weight, with his body language on the pitch often cited as evidence of a player who had given up.

Regardless how lost Town’s cause was, fans won’t accept any sniff of that.

Billing was not helped by having told another Danish outlet, Ekstra Bladet, that he wanted out of the club two months before the Premier League season had even finished, saying: “I have to try something new.”

That stands in stark contrast to Mooy, who went out of his way to sign a new contract at Town to protect his transfer valuation ahead of that move to Brighton.

In fairness to Billing, though, can you really blame him for wanting out? Let us not forget he had received foul racist abuse online from a young Town fan who was subsequently arrested.

Billing has never cited that as being behind his desire to leave. But even the subsequent show of support from right-minded Town fans, including a banner at West Ham organised by fan group Southern Terriers, could not possibly erase the damage that had inexcusably already been done, and which surely can’t have made an already-miserable player feel any more disposed to stick around.