What a difference a year makes.
Huddersfield Town sit proudly on top of the Championship with 19 points from eight games as they start the build-up to Saturday’s trip to Reading.
At the same stage last season they were 13th with nine points under then manager Chris Powell.
And while eight players hope to remain ever-present in the league when David Wagner’s side head to the Madejski Stadium, after the first eight games of the 2015/16 campaign, only two had started all the Championship clashes under Chris Powell.
They were centre-back Joel Lynch and midfielder Dean Whitehead, recruited from Middlesbrough during the close-season.
Points Comparison - Chris Powell vs David Wagner
Lynch departed to Queens Park Rangers in a seven-figure deal this summer while Whitehead has had to make do with one start and one outing from the bench following a three-match ban carried over from last season and Wagner’s extensive squad rebuilding.
Skipper Mark Hudson, Elias Kachunga, Chris Lowe, Aaron Mooy, Christopher Schindler, Tommy Smith, Rajiv van La Parra and keeper Danny Ward are the players who have started every league game this season.
Last time around, Powell had utilised three different keepers - Alex Smithies, Joe Murphy and Jed Steer - and 24 players in all, with a further five making a matchday squad but not getting onto the pitch.
This term, head coach Wagner has used 18 different players, with four more unused substitutes.
Players Used - Chris Powell vs David Wagner
24
Chris Powell
18
David Wagner
Powell, of course, had to deal with the departures of Smithies (£2m to QPR) and midfielder Butterfield (£5m to Derby County) after the season had started.
He still had the option of using the Football League loan window (it’s since been abolished) and signed Steer from Aston Villa and centre-back Elliott Ward from AFC Bournemouth, having already borrowed Mustapha Carayol from Middlesbrough, Emyr Huws from Wigan Athletic and Jamie Paterson from Nottingham Forest.
The players used in the league this season are: Harry Bunn, Michael Hefele, Jonathan Hogg, Mark Hudson, Elias Kachunga, Joe Lolley, Chris Lowe, Aaron Mooy, Kasey Palmer, Ivan Paurevic, Jack Payne, Sean Scannell, Christopher Schindler, Tommy Smith, Danny Ward, Nahki Wells, Dean Whitehead and Rajiv van La Parra.
Unused Subs - Chris Powell v David Wagner
5
Chris Powell
4
David Wagner
The four unused substitutes are Joel Coleman, Martin Cranie, Jon Gorenc Stankovic and Tareiq Holmes-Dennis.
The players used after eight games in the league last season were: Philip Billing, Harry Bunn, Jacob Butterfield, Mustapha Carayol, Martin Cranie, Jason Davidson, Kyle Dempsey, Adam Hammill, Jonathan Hogg, Mark Hudson, Emyr Huws, Joe Lolley, Joel Lynch, Ishmael Miller, Joe Murphy, Jamie Paterson, Sean Scannell, Tommy Smith, Alex Smithies, Jed Steer, James Vaughan, Elliott Ward, Nahki Wells and Dean Whitehead.
The five unused substitutes were Lloyd Allinson, Flo Bojaj, Jordy Hiwula, Sondre Tronstad and Murray Wallace.
