ANDY RITCHIE stepped in as Town manager today and insisted: "I can re-ignite this place!"
The 46-year-old former Oldham and Barnsley chief succeeds Peter Jackson just a week after Phil Parkinson turned down the top Galpharm post.
Ritchie, who has signed a two-year contract, has a brief to mark Town's centenary next year by guiding them into the Championship.
He will take his first training session at Storthes Hall tomorrow but admits he will take a 'back seat' for Saturday's League I trip to leaders Scunthorpe.
Coach John Dungworth will remain as second-in-command.
"This is a fantastic opportunity and I can't wait to get cracking," said Ritchie today. "The club is meant for success. They've had a little bit of a dip after a lot of success, but it's just there to re-ignite and that's what I'm here to do."
Ritchie is already looking to make at least a couple of signings in the summer and insists 'Parkinsongate' has no effect on him.
"My aim from Day One was to be manager of Huddersfield Town, my CV was in straight away and now I am the manager, so what happened in between times has no effect on me," he said.
"The brief is to get up into the next division as quickly as possible. There aren't mega-amounts of money available, but that's the case at every football club. We've got enough there, though, a good wage bill and the scope to maybe bring one or two people in during the summer, so we are looking to finish this season off as well as possible and make a really good start on things in the summer.
"There's a great club here with one of the top Academies which anybody would be enthusiastic about tapping into, and the ultimate goal is to bring it all together and to get us up."
Ritchie pledged to play attacking football and club chairman Ken Davy said he was delighted to have got a man who has 'been there and done it.'
He said: "We think his arrival sends a clear message of our determination to get up and, while football never carries guarantees, we will use all our ammunition to achieve the objectives we've set.
"What he does with the squad is up to Andy. There isn't a massive budget but we believe there is enough for him to fine-tune the squad, he has learned and improved himself and we are absolutely convinced we've got the right man, with all the attributes and some extra ones."
