Huddersfield’s January signings of Nahki Wells and Joe Lolley continue a commitment to lower league scouting and youth development that is the envy of many at QPR.

Overview

There were one or two shifty looks and innocent whistles around Loftus Road when Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle fired a broadside on the Championship's reckless spenders before Christmas.

Hoyle told BBC Radio Leeds: "This season our wage bill has gone down to £9m. The top clubs in this league are paying around £25-30m and that is horrendous. I've heard of a club in our league paying loan players £34,000 and they are taking huge risks. Some clubs that have come down from the top division have behaved unbelievably."

Who on earth could he be talking about? Not exactly a case for Taggart that one is it? Incidentally, there have now been more episodes of Taggart without Taggart in than with.

It's a stark role reversal from the 1999/00 season when Huddersfield , managed by Steve Bruce, came to Loftus Road as the big-spending promotion favourites to face Gerry Francis' cash-strapped QPR team. Big money, relatively speaking, was spent that season on Greek winger George Donis from Sheffield United (£1m), Chris Lucketti from Bury (£750k), Kenny Irons from Tranmere (£500k), Clyde Wijnhard from Leeds (£750k) and others.

Rangers, on the other hand, were being forced to scrape around the lower reaches of the non-league pyramid for the likes of Jermaine Darlington and Stuart Wardley with Chris Wright's money long since dried up. The Super Hoops won 3-1 on day one all the same, Darlington scoring a spectacular first half goal, and when Huddersfield made the odd decision to sell their top scorer Marcus Stewart to promotion rivals Ipswich during the run in they ended up missing the play offs altogether, while the Tractor Boys won through to the Premier League by beating Barnsley at Wembley.

That set about a decade of decline in West Yorkshire which saw Huddersfield dip right down to the bottom division of English football as recently as 2004. No wonder they're a bit wary of clubs spending beyond their means chasing the Premier league dream.

What's odd now is that a portion of the QPR support actually envy the way the Terriers are going about things. While QPR remain signing obsessed, always trying to solve long term problems with another short term acquisition for ever higher wages, Town are doing things in a more considered way. The acquisition of Bradford City striker Nahki Wells — 53 goals in 112 appearances while at Valley Parade — paid some immediate dividends when he scored a last minute winner on his debut against Millwall last week. But it's the overall ideal of scouting in the lower divisions and taking a chance on younger, hungrier players that appeals to many in W12 after several years of paying colossal wages for supposedly proven players who, wouldn't you just know it, didn't give much of a stuff about QPR and had highly questionable fitness records besides. Some would even like to have seen Rangers go for Wells himself, and will no doubt watch with interest to see how he does this weekend and in the Championship over the coming months.

And then there's Duane Holmes. The couple of hundred QPR fans who headed down to Loftus Road at the back end of last season to watch the youth league play off final between Rangers and Huddersfield will recognise the diminutive midfielder immediately — standing little more than five feet tall with a good 30% of his weight carried in his scrunched up pony tail he stood out a mile that night even before the game had kicked off, and then when it did he belied his slight frame by controlling proceedings and guiding his side around the park. QPR had some good players on show that night as well, Josh Laurent for one, but while they, and the more senior youth team graduates above them — Michael Harriman, Max Ehmer, Tom Hitchcock and others — seem a million miles from the first team in W12, Holmes has made 12 first team appearances this season and impressed in a televised outing against Blackpool before Christmas.

Not only is it heartening to see Huddersfield putting faith in their home grown talent — and depressing that QPR refuse to do the same — but the promotion of Holmes despite his tiny physical frame, when no doubt the more traditional English coach would have feared for such a slight lad in a physical league like the Championship, is in keeping with an attractive, almost continental, style of play employed by manager Mark Robins. In the first game between these sides this season former Leeds United trainee Adam Clayton played in the hole behind two strikers — not a shape you see utilised often in the modern game and one that worked well and made for an attractive, entertaining encounter.

QPR's ambitions are markedly different from Huddersfield's of course — it's Premier League or, perhaps literally, bust for the R's and chairman Tony Fernandes, while Town are, for the moment, just happy to survive at this level after winning promotion 18 months ago. But there's a lot to admire about the work being down in this corner of West Yorkshire , and plenty of good practice that Rangers would do well to take heed of.

Interview

For the second time this season we welcome Huddersfield fans Charlie Johnson and David Siddall back to LFW, and thank them for their input on the Terriers...

Assess Huddersfield’s season for us so far — as you expected?

CJ: It's been better than I had personally hoped. We've won games we shouldn't have, and lost games we should have won, but results have often been secondary. We've been playing excellent football. It's been an absolute joy to watch, and I've been incredibly impressed by how swiftly we've changed from a turgid long ball team, to an exciting forward thinking passing team.

DS: I am personally very happy at how our season has progressed so far. At the start of the season I thought we would be around 17th-18th (and still might be) given that we only just avoided relegation on the last day of the season. However there has been a marked improvement on our style of play and we are looking in good shape, we have put together some good performances and sometimes have not got the results that our performances have deserved, Ipswich away and Reading at home in December spring to mind, I think with a little bit more belief/experience in certain situations than we might be a little bit higher in the table. I think that is a sign of how far we have progressed that we are in mid table believing we could be further up, however we take nothing for granted as the Championship is a very tough league and you can go on a losing run as quickly as you can a winning one. We are trying to play a passing game, keeping the ball on the deck as much as possible from back to front and the development of young players such as Tommy Smith, Murray Wallace and Duane Holmes has been a real positive, likewise players such as Hammill, Clayton and Norwood have improved under Robins and you can see a clear improvement from how we were playing last season.

How do you rate the job Mark Robins has done overall?

DS: Overall I think Robins has done a very good job given that he has been at the club less than a year and you can see the overall improvement in the team. The team looks a lot more organised and are comfortable playing a variety of formations and can adapt in game a lot better than we could last. The style of football we are trying to play is a lot better and although we are not the finished article the improvements under Mark Robins is noticeable and you can see the football team and the club going in the right direction. Robins seems quite a disciplined manager and handled a rumoured training ground bust up between Paterson and Clayton by dropping both before we were due to play Leeds and since then the two players in question have arguably been playing some of their best football while at the club. Robins was also heavily involved in the current design of the under 21 and under 18 development leagues and this is evident in his tenure and fits in with the clubs vision, he has given players involved in the under 21's and under 18's a chance to progress and players such as Tommy Smith and Duane Holmes are prime examples of this 'pathways' policy the club and Robins are following by putting faith in the players that the club are developing through the academy system.

CJ: He's really won me over and now I'm struggling to think of a recent Huddersfield manager who's made a greater impact. He's clearly tactically astute, and will always make changes that he feels will have a positive impact. If a game is getting away from us, he reacts to it. He's bold and forward thinking, and as already mentioned he has got his team playing truly entertaining football. I'm a big fan and I hope he's at the club for years to come.

Nahki Wells looks like a bit of a scoop given his record at Bradford, what’s the general consensus and reaction been around that signing?

CJ: I think it's a positive mix of excitement and shock. I think everyone expected him to go to a bigger club, but I think we're a very good move for him. He'll be able to develop as a player, and prove whether he can handle the Championship. He's probably the most important signing the club has made since Marcus Stewart, and he's joining a club on the up.

DS: I am not going to lie I honestly did not believe we would sign him I thought a club would come in with a bit more money than we could offer and outbid us. Nahki is now our record signing and I think this is a great statement of intent by the club to show we mean business and are trying to progress at this level . The reactions from the message boards and supporters I know has been very positive and it has created a bit of a buzz and excitement around the place, we have sold out our allocation for Saturday and the fact it annoyed the Bradford fans is just an added bonus. His goal scoring record at Bradford was superb and hopefully this signing will add a new dimension to our strike force. I think him and a fully fit Vaughan and Wells could rival a lot of strike partnerships at this level hopefully this will propel us up the table and maybe dark horses for a play off push.

What’s the situation with James Vaughan? Hasn’t played since December 21, was scoring for fun before that.

DS: Vaughan picked up a knock against Sheffield Wednesday I believe and played a few games his last was away to Brighton and he must have aggravated it slightly think given Vaughan previous injury record we ere on the side of caution as it maybe better to miss five games over Christmas, as opposed to missing two or three months further down the line at the business end of the season. He has been linked with a move to Celtic however our Chairman has stated he will not be sold this window and I am more than inclined to believe his word. Vaughan started the season on fire but got sent off away at Leicester and missed three games, after that suffered a slight dip in form I think he scored one goal in six and that was from the penalty spot. We are certainly a weaker side when he is not in as his link up play, work rate and all round play is hard to replace and when he is out of the side we certainly miss him, there are not many strikers better than him in the championship and were it not for his injury record I have no doubt he would be playing in the Premier League.

CJ: As always with James Vaughan it's a mix of injuries and suspensions that keep him out. In this instance he's had a knee injury. He could actually be back for the game on Saturday, though. I would suggest, that although he's a great player, that he isn't generally a prolific goal scorer, so his early season form would eventually dry up. He's very important to us though, and despite persistent rumours that he'll leave us, I suspect he'll be at the club for at least the rest of the season.

Who have been the stand out performers this season? And where are the weak links in the team?

CJ: Vaughan was a cut above everybody early on in the season, but in recent weeks a number of players have really stepped up. After a training ground punch up both Adam Clayton and Martin Patterson have been in great form, which suggests that Mark Robins might hope for more fights during training. Overall though, it's been a team effort this season and most players are contributing to this positive season. We still concede too many goals, but right now I'm just enjoying it too much to see any obvious weak links.

DS: Vaughan has obviously been a stand out player given the amount of goals he has scored, however for me Adam Hammill has come on leaps and bounds, we had him on loan last season and he was frustrating to watch as you could see the lad has talent and ability but was not always applying to the his potential. This season under Robins he has really stepped up, playing in a wing back role he is our top of our assists charts and his all round play makes him a key player, likewise Paul Dixon and Tommy Smith have come into the side and made the left back and centre back spots their own. We also have a young lad Duane Holmes who played against QPR in the under 18's league final last year breaking through and he looks a very promising talent given the right coaching and guidance he could have a very good career in the game. While we have improved defensively I still believe that the defence is a problem spot and we are liable to a lapse in concentration or giving away possession cheaply for which we will punished at this level, this is a consequence of the change in the style of play and the players are adapting to it so I might be being a bit too harsh. I also think we lack a little bit of strength in depth in the centre of the park and maybe that link up between the front two and the centre midfield could be improved upon.

Any suggestion of further additions this January?

DS: We have been strongly linked with Joe Lolley a young striker/winger from Kidderminster who has been impressive in the conference. I do think that Ronaldo's recent Ballon D'Or win may have just put him out of our price range but you never know. Other rumours have been players leaving with Oliver Norwood being linked with a move to Celtic and likewise Vaughan has been linked but this has been strongly dismissed by our Chairman. Overall our club is very good at keeping transfer dealings quiet with leaks few and far between this professionalism can be frustrating to fans but it is good to see the club running professionally and not see our business all over the press.

CJ: Joe Lolley, who is a highly rated attacker, has just signed from Kidderminster , but I don't think that we'll be looking to actively beyond that now. Mark Robins seems keen to use his squad rather than dip into the loan market, and if needed I think he'd promote from within and give a youth team player an opportunity.

Ambitions in the short, medium and long term?

CJ: Short term: to keep on playing well and picking up points. Medium: Championship survival, which is dull but very important to the continued development of the club. Long term: to see the club become self sufficient. To ultimately see crowds increase and to maintain this style of football for years to come. I'll probably be alone in my desire to avoid the Premier League. I just don't think I'd enjoy seeing us get thrashed every week.

DS: Short term aim for me is always ensure our survival in the Championship; hopefully we can do that sooner rather than later and ideally finish as high up the table as possible.

Medium to long term aims for the club are varied. I think getting the club into the Premier league is the ultimate goal on the field and is what every club is trying to achieve as the rewards are so great. Off the field the Chairman has invested alot of money into the club not just on the playing side but also the infrastructure with a new training facility at Canalside and the modifications required to make our Academy a top grade 2 standard academy. The aim of this investment is to make the club self-sustainable in the long term, through developing and nurturing good young talent with a clear structure for developing these players into first team players. Supplementing these with good players we have signed who we can sell for a profit such as Rhodes or keep and help the club achieve on field success. We have a great Academy with players such as Jake Charles and Phillip Billing on long term deals already, and ideally we would like to see as many of these players progress into the first team like Duane Holmes has done. Wether or not this is achievable is a different matter.

Links >>> Official Website >>> Down at the Mac Forum >>> Terrier Bytes site and forum >>> HTFC World (the cartoon match reports) >>> Huddersfield Examiner local paper >>> 90 Second Football

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Photo: Action Images

simmo added 01:09 - Jan 17 *sigh* More and more I read these opposition profiles with complete envy. 'Striker from Kidderminster', 'we will probably promote from within', 'manager heavily involved in the design of U18 and U21 teams', 'pathways policy'. We are probably paying Luke Young 50k a week and he doesn't even play. FML.
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QPRski added 07:24 - Jan 17 "...but results have often been secondary. We've been playing excellent football. It's been an absolute joy to watch ..." It seems the Huddersfield fans are really enjoying the football in the pure sense. Certainly a case of style over substance. It will be interesting to see who turns on the entertainment this Saturday.
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QPunkR added 12:11 - Jan 17 Gerry Taggart wasn't any good even when he did make an appearance, to be fair Clive...
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themodfather added 20:56 - Jan 17 i dont' envy huddersfield, they have a newish stadium and have made a few signings and i imagine vaughn isn't there free..many point the finger at qpr for buying success, hahhahhhaaha last day survival and a dismal surrender = success?? many clubs are using qpr as the ones to BLAME, like it or not we are everyone's cup final....no one gets "up" for leicester!
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