Four friendlies, four wins and a fair amount of optimism.
Huddersfield Town haven’t yet faced a side at Championship level or higher, but there are positive signs as that Saturday, August 6 home date with Brentford gets closer.
This was a fourth warm-up match at Oldham Athletic in five summers, and the first victory in that series.
Chris Powell’s Town lost at Grimsby Town, Rochdale and Barnsley, then of League I, last pre-season, shipping nine goals in the process.
Wagner’s reshaped side have scored nine and conceded only one in the games against Guiseley, Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and now Oldham.
And there have been six different names on the scoresheet, with late strikes from Harry Bunn and Jack Payne bringing the win at Boundary, or as it’s officially known, SportsDirect.com Park.
Town aren’t the finished product, and at this stage, you wouldn’t expect them to be.
They looked a little leggy at times, perhaps not surprisingly given the number of training sessions undertaken so far, including one on the morning of this match.
But there was plenty of evidence of the traits Wagner wants - playing out from the back, moving off the ball to provide options, passing crisply and reacting well to regain possession when it is lost.
And while much of the focus was on the new players, with both Jon Gorenc Stankovic and Aaron Mooy making their first public appearances (the Accrington and Rochdale matches were behind closed doors), the 814 travelling fans in a 2,163 crowd will have enjoyed seeing homegrown teenage products Rekeil Pyke and Jordan Williams.
Pyke, 18, started in place of knee-injury victim Nahki Wells, and didn’t look out of place up front in Wagner’s trademark 4-2-3-1 formation.
And Williams, 16, has now played a part in three of the friendlies, and provided the cross from which Bunn opened the scoring on 72 minutes.
Wagner is trying to contain expectation levels over the England junior international from Meltham, but the right-back certainly looks a prospect.
Dean Whitehead, somewhat more seasoned at 34, provided the delivery for Payne’s 89th-minute header, a second pre-season goal for the new signing from Southend United.
And it’s testament to the former Middlesbrough midfielder’s professionalism, experience and attitude that he played amid the possibility of a move to Championship rivals Rotherham United.
Whitehead’s chances at Town may be limited given the competition Wagner has created throughout his squad, and if he does move, the Millers will be getting a really good operator.
As the player ponders his future, attention now turns to Wednesday’s appetising showdown with Liverpool.
The fact the fixture could well attract a 20,000-plus crowd is a reflection not only of the quality of he opposition, but also the momentum created by the ‘Wagner revolution’, and it’s certainly an intriguing time to be a Town fan.
Team for first hour: Coleman, Smith (Hogg, HT), Hefele, Stankovic, Davidson, Billing, Mooy, Scannell, Dempsey, Lolley (Bunn, HT), Pyke.
Team for final half hour: Coleman, Williams, Schindler, Cranie, Lowe, Whitehead, Hogg, Van La Parra, Payne, Bunn, Kachunga.
