You can sense the fierce resolve within David Wagner, despite his relaxed demeanour.
The 44-year-old German has a ready smile and likeable wit and gave an impressive first pre-match press conference as Huddersfield Town manager at PPG Canalside.
Many more turned up than usual to hear what the new man had to say ahead of the trip to Sheffield Wednesday and, while he was giving no clues about personnel or formation, you got the impression this is a man who knows exactly where he’s at and where he’s going.
Six feet tall and smartly dressed in a zipped grey sweater ahead of a mid-afternoon training session, Wagner appears the polar opposite of his style of play.
On the pitch it’s about wall-to-wall hard work, a frantic commitment to all aspects of play and a high-tempo approach to using possession and winning it back once lost, Wagner comes across as a charismatic, almost affable character – but a leader nontheless.
He says he’s been careful not to overload the team with information about a new style of play, but he accepts the match at Hillsborough is an important first step into the new era.
Wagner reveals he will go to South Yorkshire with attacking intention, but he’s man enough to accept that Town will have a battle on their hands.
He peers through his glasses and smiles again when asked about the pressure of taking over a Championship club ahead of a big Yorkshire derby, and bringing a fresh approach to the blue and white stripes of Town.
“I don’t feel pressure, I’m just excited to be here and now we have a game, rather than only training, so it’s an important first step,” he beams.
“There will be ups and downs, so we have to be patient.”
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Wagner, revealing Joel Lynch and Phil Billing will be out for two to four weeks with their injuries, has wasted no time in adding Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell to his squad.
While Chilwell is only 18, Wagner insists his gegenpressing style is not dependent on youth.
“As long as the players are open-minded to stay on the front foot then they will be fine,” he said.
“It’s about fitness, and we are building that up, but we just want to defend very good, attack very good and look to win the game.”
Wagner says he intends to blend the best of footballing culture from England and Germany to help the squad lift Town in the standings.
It’s step one on a long ladder, but the reassuring nature of the new head coach leads you to believe, given time to shape things as he likes, there will be plenty of solid steps to come.
