In all fairness that is why I was surprised that the Terriers were prepared to pay up to 11 million squid for him. I hope for you and Toms sake that David Wagner can change his attitude.
When Wagner came in, he straight away introduced double training sessions every day. Only one player threw the toys out of the pram and that was James Vaughan. He'd had his injury troubles of course, but his complaint was not that his body couldn't take it- but that it was annoying to be stuck in M62 traffic at 6pm. Vaughan was quickly shipped out, having soured the high regard that Town fans had held him in. Wagner then introduced a policy that all playing staff needed to live reasonably close to Huddersfield, in part due to his training regime. Any new signings will have to buy into our system, including Ince.
Vaughan of course has just signed for Sunderland for £800k, so I assume he'll have to move house! If he can stay fit and cut out the occasional descent of red mist, he might be classed as a bargain by recent Championship standards.
If we could find someone to sign Jacob Butterfield I would be happy to see him go. I have no idea how the season will pan out but I'll be surprised if we finish in the top six. In all honesty DCFC know that myself and 25,000 other silly sods will turn up no matter how rubbish we are (and God knows we were rubbish for pretty much all season) so why try harder? That's certainly how it feels sometimes!
I imagine Butterfield is on a reasonable wage, so shipping him out might not be easy- could see Barnsley going for him if Derby are prepared to sell him at a loss, as he came through their youth system and they do have money from the likes of Villa and Wednesday raiding their best players!
Going back to when Wagner came in- many felt that Chris Powell was unlucky to be sacked when he was, and it was a surprise to most Town fans too... but attendances were falling and many fans were fed up of treading water at the bottom of the table.
Powell was and is both a gentleman and a talented coach, but in almost every pre-match interview he would cite our small budget almost as a pre-emptive excuse for the inevitable defeat. Admittedly I do, and indeed Wagner does mention this often- but in a very different way. Not as an excuse but as an extra motivational tactic.
Wagner alone is not the reason for our recent achievements though. Dean Hoyle had seen attendances falling, and as a fan was also aware of the economic reality of living in a place like Huddersfield. By using the extra TV money to subsidise season tickets and by completely overhauling the football side, he turned attendances of 11-12,000 into attendances of 20,000.
If Derby fans start to stay away in larger numbers, that's what will drive change. The same goes for clubs with greater problems than Huddersfield or Derby:- Blackburn, Blackpool and Charlton for example, though it helps if you have an owner who genuinely gives a fig about the club!
How much per goal does he think that equates to?
