The new season is upon us. And FanStand is back – the feature where we chat to away fans about their team and their upcoming fixture against the mighty Bees. First in the interrogation chair is TerrierCass – Scott Castle (@Terrier1987Cass) who gives us his take on Huddersfield’s new signings, that joker Harry Bunn and whether Brentford will hump the Terriers 5-1 again this time out both in this article and in the Pride Of West London podcast linked below.
Huddersfield have been busy in the closed season. Are you excited with the players you have bought in?
It’s been a huge summer for us in terms of transfers and I think it’s fair to say everyone’s excited. Joel Lynch was the only notable departure while there were plenty of incomings.
Our defence has been awful for as long as I can remember and this summer we have attempted to completely rebuild it. We broke our transfer record signing centre back Christopher Schindler (1860 Munich), while Michael Hefele (Dynamo Dresden) and Jon Stanković (Domžale via a loan at Borrussia Dortmund II) will also compete for that position.
Chris Löwe came in at left back, midfielder Ivan Paurević came on a free transfer, while loanees Elias Kachunga and Aaaron Mooy finished off our foreign imports.
Domestically, Jack Payne was signed from Southend while Danny Ward (Liverpool) and Kasey Palmer (Chelsea) arrived on loan with decent reputations from the Premier League.
So yeah, a lot’s changed this summer and expectation levels have increased as a result.
How was your pre season match schedule ? Did you get any decent results?
I’ve only seen one pre-season game as I don’t read too much into friendlies. They’re basically glorified training sessions with the main aim being to increase fitness levels and get everyone used to playing together.
As far as results go we made light work of Accrington, Rochdale and Oldham. Lost 2-0 to a close to full-strength Liverpool team and got two good results against Werder Bremen and FC Ingolstadt during our Austria training camp.
Last match of the season Brentford humped you 5-1. How are you going to prevent a similar score?
Luckily for you, I think we reserved our two worst performances last season for Brentford!Five of the players who started that game are no longer with the club, and we’ve brought in a mass of new players during the summer.
We ended last season poorly. But there was a general feeling around the club that the job was done and the summer would provide Wagner with an opportunity to make the squad his own. That’s definitely how things panned out and the team you face on Saturday will be much better prepared and motivated.
Who should we be looking out for this season?
The obvious player to look out for is Nahki Wells. He performed extremely well once Wagner came in last season and managed to reach a very good tally in a pretty poor team.
Given how much we’ve improved the team around him I’d expect big things from Wells this season if we manage to hold on to him amid apparent interest.
It should be worth keeping an eye on our new look back four as if we can avoid giving away as many soft goals as we have in recent seasons, we stand a much better chance in every match we play.
Finally, Aaron Mooy looks a very tidy player from the little pre-season action I’ve seen. He’s a midfielder who can get up and down, create chances and chip in with goals himself.
Harry Bunn wound up Bees fans with his provoking antics the season before last with Vaughan who has left you for pastures new. He came for some stick at Griffin Park last season. Which player can we make fun of this season?
Harry Bunn will always wind fans up by going down too easy. If he starts and gets a run at your full-backs, he’s likely to give you reason to get on his back again.Other than him there’s nobody I can think of you’d want to make fun of – especially to their face – as a few of our new signings have been of the six feet plus hard-man variety. So I’d expect more of your players to be rolling around than ours on Saturday!
Big match on Saturday. Give us your thoughts
It really is huge for us. Expectations haven’t been this high in a long time and with more than 15k season tickets sold there should be a great crowd – 18k plus has been touted.
It will be really interesting to see how all the new players blend together and whether we can hit the floor running. But I have full faith in Wagner regardless of how we start the season. That said, I’ll go for a comfortable home win with our defence comfortable for the majority of the game.
Score prediction.
2-0
Thanks to TerrierCass for taking time out to give us the lowdown on Huddersfield in this article and also on the podcast. For where Bees fans will be drinking in town and more Brentford-related chit chat, check out this week’s Pride of West London podcast above.
Infographics supplied by kickoff.co.uk
Billy Grant
@BillyTheBee99
