Huddersfield Town appoint Jan Siewert as head coach

Huddersfield Town have appointed Jan Siewert as their new head coach, signing a contract at the club until 2021.

The Terriers have been on the search for a new manager since fan-favourite David Wagner left the club by mutual consent seven days ago.

The club announced the appointment via Twitter with a video of a Manchester City fan, Martin from Wakefield taking a phone call in the managers office. Martin was innocently watching City’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield at the John Smiths stadium yesterday when he was approached by a Sky Sports reporter who seemingly believed he was the new Huddersfield head coach Siewert. The video ends with the actual head coach introducing himself- “Hi, I am Jan. I am really happy to be the new head coach of Huddersfield Town.”

? Welcome to #htafc…#NotMartinFromWakefield (SE) pic.twitter.com/n0s3RFG2w5

— Huddersfield Town (@htafcdotcom) January 21, 2019

Siewert joins the terriers from Borussia Dortmund’s second team, who play in the fourth tier of German football. Sound familiar? Wagner, the man who Siewert replaces, also managed the Black and Yellow’s second team.

Huddersfield Chairman Dean Hoyle was quick to address the similarities and explained the appointment on the club’s website:

“Let me start by addressing the obvious. We enjoyed tremendous success under our previous Head Coach, David Wagner, and we’ve subsequently appointed a new Head Coach that bears many similarities to him; a young, aspirational German from Borussia Dortmund II.”
However, that does a disservice to Jan, who is his own man. There is much more to this appointment than that.

Like any good football club – or successful business outside football – we have succession plans in place for our key roles. A major one here is the role of Head Coach. “Given David’s success at Huddersfield Town, we knew that it was prudent to look to the future in case an offer came in that he couldn’t refuse.

David was fully aware that we were undertaking this work; you must prepare for the future. “Jan’s name came to our attention in his previous role as Assistant Manager and Under-19 Coach at VfL Bochum. We first spoke with him over two years’ ago and we’ve kept in communication since, watching his progress with interest.”

The full statement can be read here.

The new head coach has a huge challenge ahead of him but at this moment in time it feels as if there isn’t much to lose. Huddersfield currently sit bottom of the Premier League, with eleven points from 23 games and ten points from safety. If Siewert can keep the terriers up this season it would be somewhat of a miracle, if he doesn’t then he’ll be able to rebuild and shape his side in the Championship next season.

Siewert’s first game in charge will be a home game against Everton in the Premier League on Tuesday 29 January.