Huddersfield have become the first side since Derby in 2008 to be relegated from the Premier League in March.
The Terriers’ fate after two seasons in the top flight was sealed with a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday, and Burnley and Southampton both winning their games.
Here, Press Association looks at five things which contributed to their return to the Sky Bet Championship.
Summer signings’ wings clipped
Huddersfield’s former boss David Wagner opted to add pacey wingers to his squad in the summer rather than a proven goalscorer after his side had survived their first season in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth. But the likes of Ramadan Sobhi, Adama Diakhaby and Isaac Mbenza failed to make an impact and Wagner abandoned his 4-2-3-1 system. Without added firepower Town’s struggles in front of goal continued and the arrival of £2million January signing Karlan Grant from Charlton came too late.
Strikers fire blanks
Strikers Steve Mounie and Laurent Depoitre were signed in the summer of 2017 in readiness for Town’s first season back in the top flight since 1972 and scored 13 goals between them. It proved just enough to help keep their side up as others chipped in with vital goals, but the warning signs were there. The Terriers have mustered just 18 goals in 32 Premier League matches, only seven at home, and failed to score in 17. It is those statistics which ultimately led to their downfall.
Slow out of the blocks
Town made a sensational start to their first season in the Premier League by winning their first two matches and by early November had gathered some momentum by chalking up 15 points, with another nine on the board before the turn of the year. This time round it was early November before they clinched their first win and it has been an uphill struggle since. The Terriers have won only three of their 32 league games and set a new club record of nine straight defeats – eight in the league and one in the FA Cup – in December and January.
Terriers lacked bite without Mooy
Aaron Mooy has been instrumental to Huddersfield’s success and his knee injury in December proved a hammer blow to their survival chances. Town’s midfield dynamo and main creative threat was sorely missed. His absence coincided with that unwanted club record – plus the long-term injury to fellow midfielder Danny Williams – as the Terriers took one point from seven games during his absence until late January.
Lady Luck turns back on Wagner
Wagner enjoyed no luck in his last few months in charge before his departure by mutual consent in January as a string of crucial refereeing decisions went against his side. Mounie’s controversial and game-changing dismissal in the home defeat to Brighton in December and referee Lee Mason’s decision to change his mind after awarding Town a penalty at Cardiff in January were two of several big decisions that left the German coach perplexed. Town fans will vehemently argue they have had the thin end of the wedge.
