Former Huddersfield Town boss Lee Clark rues some of his choices since his departure from the John Smith's Stadium.

The 45-year-old cut his teeth as a manager when he was handed the reins at Huddersfield Town in December 2008 at the tender age of 36.

And despite leading the Terriers on a 43-game unbeaten run and reaching two League One play-off finals, Clark was dismissed in February 2012 following a 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield United.

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On his time in West Yorkshire, Clark told football website Set Pieces: “I built a squad from scratch that would later have massive value and we went on to do some unbelievable things.

“We went on that unbeaten run, reached the play-off semi-final, then the play-off final.

“When I eventually left they were third in League One and went on to be promoted with about 10 games to go.”

After leaving the Terriers, Clark took the reigns at Championship sides Birmingham City and Blackpool with the ex-Newcastle United player admitting both roles proved challenging.

“The expectation level at Birmingham was still the same as it was when they were fighting in the top end of the Championship,” explains Clark, who was at St Andrew’s from June 2012 until October 2014.

“But the reality was that because the owner (Carson Yeung) got put under house arrest and had his assets frozen, I had no finances.

“I had to cut the wage bill massively, but still make the team competitive. I kept them in the Championship on a fifth of the budget and when we unsurprisingly struggled at the start of the next season, I was let go.”

Bury FC sacked manager Lee Clark after just eight months in the Gigg Lane hotseat.
Bury FC sacked manager Lee Clark after just eight months in the Gigg Lane hotseat.

Clark believes his spell at St Andrew's coupled with his swift return to management with struggling Blackpool has hampered his career ever since.

“Taking the Blackpool job was poor judgement on my part,” admits Clark. “I was still hurting from the Birmingham decision and wanted to prove people wrong when I should have given myself a bit of a break.

“It wasn’t a nice place. The pitch was a potato field, there were demonstrations by the fans. I was only there for six months, but it killed a lot of things for me in regards to getting jobs.

“It’s put a few people off me. If I’d kept away from Blackpool and Birmingham, who knows what my next job might have been?”

Clark has since had spells with Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock before take charge of League One outfit Bury in February 2017.

Manager Lee Clark salutes the Kilmarnock fans after the club's play-off success last season.
Manager Lee Clark salutes the Kilmarnock fans after the club's play-off success last season.

After just eight months in charge of the Shakers, Clark was sacked on October 30th 2017 with the side second from bottom of the table.

Clark hasn’t returned the the dugout since then but is itching to get back into the dugout – if the right job came along.

“I’m not frightened of working abroad and if the right opportunity came along, I’d seriously think about it,” he says.

“In the meantime, I go to a lot of games at various different levels. I’m covering all the bases so if I do go into another job, I know who’s who and what’s what.”