Dean Hoyle has given his full backing to David Wagner as Huddersfield Town boss – even if the club are relegated from the Premier League this season.
The club owner believes continuity and consistency are vital for Town moving forward and that Wagner – who has the final say on all transfer dealings – is the right man to build with the blue and white stripes.
Confirming redevelopment of PPG Canalside will go ahead regardless of where the team finish the season – and that ideally they want to move the Fanzone closer to the stadium – Hoyle said it was hugely important to keep the head coach and reward him with a new contract during the last summer.
“I never felt we would lose him, I just had to pay him more! Simple. That’s how the world works,” said Hoyle, in interview with BBC Radio Leeds.
“David is committed to the football club and he always wanted to stay, but we had to make it right for him.
“He is a manager who has performed miracles.
“He has done really well with Huddersfield Town, not because we are a small club because I think we are equal in size to a Watford, bigger than Bournemouth and equal to Cardiff, but we are not an Everton or a Manchster.
“So for what he has done for Huddersfield Town he deserves to be rewarded well.”
Hoyle says Town are feeling the benefits of being a Premier League club because they can redevelop the training complex, and he says the primary objective for the club is simply to stay up.
“Keeping David was absolutely key to continuing things,” added the chairman.
“He will be our manager all season, even if we have a bad season – and I don’t expect us to. He will still be manager of Huddersfield Town.”
Even if the club get relegated?
“Absolutely. 100%,” he answered.
“If we have a bad season and, let’s say, with 10 games to go we make a change, what is that going to do?
“It would be trying to give us a bit of a bounce, but Stoke didn’t get that bounce.
“Continuity and consistency will bring you rewards over the longer period and that’s how we look at it at Huddersfield Town.”
Hoyle praised the work of all the coaching and club staff and said he didn’t believe Town could have better people involved.
“If we set our expectations for next season, we want to be a Premier League team,” he explained.
“So if we finish one place above the relegation placings then, actually, that is our job done.
“That is the main thing (we want to achieve) and if I was to ask the Town fans now if they would take that, I think that everybody would say yes.
“At the same time we are ambitious. We don’t want to finish down the bottom, we want to finish as high up the table as possible.
“We have our expectations – we want to be a Premier League club for a third season.
“Do we have limits on our ambition? No we don’t. That’s where we are.”
