Lee Clark talks to his hometown paper about managing Huddersfield Town
Below is a section of an interview between Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark and John Gibson of Clark's hometown paper (and sister paper of the Examiner), The Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
LEE CLARK is walking in the footprints of greatness and loving the comfortable fit.
He is striding the corridors of Huddersfield Town where the spirit of Bill Shankly and Herbert Chapman stirs to galvanise an ambitious young Geordie.
Clark may have swapped the banks of the Tyne for eeh bah gum country, but in footballing terms history is still on his side.
Just as Shanks went on to become a legend at Liverpool and Chapman achieved much greatness with Arsenal to go with his back-to-back league titles at Huddersfield, Clark is looking towards such possible glories back at St James’s Park, home of a club whose present frightening predicament breaks his black-and-white heart.
Lee, who still has a home on Tyneside, laments the self-destruction of his beloved club but right now his drive is to take his current Toon team up into the Premier league.
It’s a mighty jump from League One, of course, but Huddersfield have the tradition, a sound fan base, and an ambitious owner to help fuel the drive of their 36-year-old manager.
“What Wigan Athletic and Hull City have achieved gives everyone real hope,” Lee told me.
“They not only got into the Premier League but did well and survived. Why can’t Huddersfield with a lot of hard work?
“We have the history and the fan base. I know, because I’ve done my homework on Town’s past and I’ve gone out to meet the fans at a series of meetings across the area.
“Sure, everyone knows about Shanks and Herbert Chapman, and that Denis Law, World Cup winner Ray Wilson and Frank Worthington played for Huddersfield, but it runs much deeper than that.
“Two former Huddersfield managers, Steve Bruce and Peter Jackson, were the first to phone me when I was appointed last December to wish me well.
“They know what a great club I’ve walked into and I’m determined to make a real go of it. I’ve thrown myself headlong into the job.
“We can get crowds of 15,000 to 17,000 – we had just under 25,000 for the derby against Leeds United – and we’ve sold 11,000 season tickets already.
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