New Huddersfield Town manager Lee Grant believes League One is the ideal stomping ground to launch his managerial career.
The 42-year-old retired from playing in 2022, calling time on a 22-year career. With over 500 professional appearances, the goalkeeper had been operating as a player-coach before taking on the position of first team coach at Ipswich Town.
Grant had worked alongside Kieran McKenna at Old Trafford and was a part of the staff that helped the Tractor Boys rise from League One to the Premier League. He was yesterday named as Terriers boss, nearly three months after they parted company with Michael Duff.
Huddersfield failed in their pursuit to earn promotion from League One at the first time of asking, missing out on a place in the play-offs by 14 points.
Grant Feels Well-Equipped To Hit The Ground Running
League One has been the launch pad of some of the brightest young managers in the EFL in recent years, including the likes of McKenna and Steven Schumacher. Grant is the latest to take on a first managerial role in the third tier.
Speaking in his first press conference this morning, the former Derby County man believes his experiences at Manchester United and Ipswich will stand him in good stead:
“Yes I was at Manchester United as a player, in reality that was a player-coach role. I think anybody that looks at my appearances for Manchester United will see that quite quickly. I spent more time in the office studying, understanding, listening, learning and absorbing from really top people, and that leads me to be in this seat today.”
Grant also highlighted the success his new club have had in recent years under previous inexperienced managers:
“You’ve seen David Wagner come in who hasn’t led a team, you’ve seen Carlos Corberan come in who hasn’t led a team, and we’ve seen success on the back of that.
“If you look at League One over the course of the last three or four years, and you take John Mousinho, Kieran McKenna, Steven Schumacher, Chris Davies, the list goes on, I think you can start to create a picture of ‘this can work, this can work and this can work in the middle’.
“What I’m really pleased about is that Huddersfield Town and myself have huge alignment on what we think has got a really great chance of working for Huddersfield this year, and that the trust and belief is there for me to be the man to push it forward.”
Writer’s View
This is a risky appointment for Huddersfield, who will feel that they have to get out of League One next season. This past two years has been a series of disappointments and Grant simply has to get it right from the off. Still, his confidence is shining through and he will feel that his experience at Ipswich in particular will provide the ideal platform for him to build on.
