Michael Duff's Huddersfield Town appointment makes a 'lot of sense' after 'absolute chaos'

EFL pundit Sam Parkin believes Michael Duff and Huddersfield Town are a “much better fit” compared with his previous job at Swansea City.

Duff is embarking on his fourth managerial role with the Terriers, having been in charge at Cheltenham Town, Barnsley and the Swans prior to joining his new club.

The 46-year-old guided Cheltenham to the League Two title in 2021 before moving on to Barnsley the following year. The Tykes reached the League One play-off final in his single season at Oakwell, before Duff joined Swansea last summer.

Read more: 'Incredible will to win' - What Huddersfield Town can expect from new head coach Michael Duff

Having had two successful spells with his first two clubs, Duff’s stint with the Welsh outfit didn’t go to plan, with the head coach sacked in December with the Swans sitting 18th in the Championship table.

Duff now returns to the dugout after a five-month spell out of work, and former Swindon Town, Ipswich Town and Luton Town striker Parkin believes the new boss’ playing style is better suited to the Terriers than the Swans.

Reacting to Duff’s appointment on the What The EFL?! podcast, Parkin said: “I wouldn’t say it felt underwhelming when I saw the announcement, because I think that’s unfair, and maybe I’m just a little bit still thinking about that Swansea spell, where obviously it just didn’t go well whatsoever.

“I think mitigating circumstances, that was a bad fit really for what Swansea have been, and what they were trying to be again, which is that really heavy possession-based football team, which Michael Duff hasn’t encouraged in his sides.

“He’s got great success by being high energy, defensively really good, he likes that 3-5-2 system, and I think Huddersfield absolutely on the face of it is a much better fit, if you think about the last two, three, four managers that they maybe had in charge there, and in terms of the playing squad that is in place.

“Good record at the level, obviously promoted to League One with Cheltenham, consolidated them and did that outstanding work at Barnsley last season, getting them into that play-off final. It makes a lot of sense, and we’ll see what the stability is like at Huddersfield next season, because it has been absolute chaos there over the last 12 months, and inevitably led to that relegation.”

Fellow pundit and former Arsenal, Southend United and Stevenage midfielder Adrian Clarke also feels that Duff and the Terriers are well matched, with Town setting out to secure an immediate return to the Championship following their relegation from the second tier.

With predecessor Andre Breitenreiter having suggested that a “total reset” is required at Town, Clarke believes that Duff is a good appointment to oversee any potential rebuilding of the playing squad.

“I think he’s a better fit than pretty much all of the other ones were,” Clarke said. “I quite like watching Duff’s teams play. Even though they don’t have a lot of the ball, they have got a good energy, and they really press you and break ever so quickly.

“I like the two up top, I think it always causes the opposition a few headaches. Centre-halves these days are too used to playing against lone strikers, I think if you’re bold enough to play with two up top, it can really unsettle opponents.

“It just feels the right fit, and you would expect Huddersfield to be top end of League One, so it’s quite a good gig for him as well really. It’s a big club, he’ll be able to attract decent players I would imagine.

“After what Breitenreiter said on his way out, there might be a big turnover in personnel, and that’s probably long overdue. He’s obviously someone that knows the level, he knows the calibre of player that you need to at least be in the play-offs, because that’s where he’s used to being at League One level.

“He’ll have good knowledge I think of who to target, and I think it could be quite an exciting summer actually at the John Smith’s, in terms of recruitment. I think this is the soundest appointment they’ve made since Carlos Corberan.”