Norwood More Than Happy Being A Terrier

Oliver Norwood joined Huddersfield Town from Manchester United in the summer after enjoying numerous loan spells out at other Championship clubs such as Coventry City and the midfielder is now happy to have left the red devils to come to the Yorkshire club. Norwood has already netted twice for the terriers in the last two games and with Huddersfield sitting pretty in second spot with the opportunity to go top with a win against Watford today, Norwood is sure that he has progressed his career to the next step.

Norwood has always been open in admitting that Huddersfield Town have made him feel welcome at the club from the moment he signed on the dotted line and when his boy hood club, Burnley, came to Town he knew for sure that The John Smiths Stadium was where his future lied in football;

"Burnley have always been the club I support. I had a season ticket when I was younger and I could see Turf Moor from my mum and dad's house when I was growing up. So, when I saw the fixtures and Burnley were our second home game then I felt really excited. I'd played against them last season for Coventry City when I was on loan, but it didn't mean as much as this year because I am a Huddersfield player now."

"I really wanted to win as I knew a load of my mates were going to be in the away end that afternoon. They gave me a bit of stick during the game. I can't repeat what it was but it wasn't nice. And these were my mates, don't forget. So, when we scored from a corner, I couldn't resist turning round and giving them a little wave. It was a bit of banter but I also think it showed me how much at home I already felt at Huddersfield. Leaving a club like United isn't an easy decision but I felt it had to be made. And, so far, it has been a dream move for me."

"Results have been good and the team has come together well, while the spirit in the camp is fantastic. Everyone is loving their football."

Norwood had a tough decision to make when he left behind 14 years of being a Manchester United player in the summer but with him failing to get just one first team appearance for the club he knew it was time to move on;

"You get to the point where you get fed up of not playing for the first team. I also saw how well all the lads did over at Hull. I grew up with lads like Corry Evans, James Chester and Joe Dudgeon, who will all tell you that the best thing they did in their careers was sign for Hull. I looked at them and thought, 'I fancy a bit of that'. Loans are okay but they can also be tough. I went to Scunthorpe at the start of the year. I was on my own in an apartment in Scunthorpe, which with no disrespect, is not the nicest place I know."

"I was stuck in there after training every day, spending 12, 13 or 14 hours on my own. It made things tough. I decided in the summer that I wasn't going to sign a contract. The big thing about United is they teach you that it is a big wide world out there; every man for himself. They teach you all those lessons, so when you do leave then you are equipped. We all know what to expect. Having said that, it was still a big decision to leave. I'd been there since I was seven so you get into the way of how things are done at United."

"It is every kid's dream to play for the club. They are the biggest one in the world and I have nothing but fantastic things to say about how I was brought up there. So to walk away was a tough decision but it had to be made for the good of my own career, and at the minute, it feels like a great decision as Huddersfield is turning out to be a great move. I did have other options as Barnsley were in for me. I spoke to Keith Hill and his assistant. They put across their plans for the club. But then I spoke to the manager and chairman here at Huddersfield and that made my mind up."

"I wanted to be at the top of the league and there was a real ambition here. Our league position shows that. I want to push on and play in the Premier League one day."

The terriers will go top with a win today against Watford at home and coming off two very impressive 3-1 away victories against Sheffield Wednesday & Blackpool means they will be favourites for todays clash at The John Smiths Stadium.

"We want to do something this season and I think we have shown already that we are able to compete with anyone. Monday was a massive result for us. I think it sent out a statement. I said before Sheffield Wednesday that we are not in the league to make the numbers up. Blackpool have been in the Premier League and they are up there in this league, year after year. They were unfortunate not to go up last year."

"But we went there with our game plan and got at them. We showed that we have some real quality here. What we must now do is do the same against Watford, as anything less and we will get beat."

Norwood is set to make yet another first team start for Huddersfield under manager Simon Grayson and the lad deserves all the credit he is currently receiving. Alongside both Southern & Clayton he has flourished in the middle of the park and has shown off his abilities from set pieces as well as having the eye to play a defence splitting pass. Oliver has a very bright future ahead of himself if he carries on the way he has been playing.

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Norwood Looking Forward To Burnley Clash

Huddersfield Town will host Burnley at The John Smiths Stadium on Saturday and after picking up their first point in The Championship for eleven years the whole squad is buzzing. This is no different for young midfielder Oliver Norwood who has made a very impressive start for the terriers in pre-season & the first two matches of the season.

Norwood will go against not only his hometown club but also the club he has supported since a young lad and he is excited to do just that;

"Oh yes I’m a Burnley fan. I was brought up there, I still live there and it will be nice to play against them – really special for me. I played last year at Burnley when I was on loan with Coventry and set up the equalising goal, which was great."

"To be honest, I don’t even think who I’m playing against once I cross the white line, but it will be great if we can beat Burnley so I can have a bit of banter afterwards with my family and friends."

Norwood is confident that Huddersfield Town will be able to compete in this league but insisted that the entire squad must continue with what they are currently doing;

"We have to keep believing in ourselves and we’ll be fine. We’ve shown what we can do against two good sides and we have more than enough ability to do well."

Mixed Emotions For Norwood

A good personal performance was dampened for Oliver Norwood as Cardiff stole a win at the death last night in the terriers opening tie in The Championship. The Yorkshire Club just couldn't hold onto a deserved point and were punished for not being clinical enough which left Norwood with mixed emotions about the game;

"That’s football isn’t it? We came here with a plan and we stuck to it – we kept our team shape. The pre-season friendly against Barcelona B stood us in good stead for this in terms of keeping our shape and working from the shape. We’ve had to put that work in; they are the basics of football. You have to get close to people and play when you get the ball and I think we showed tonight that when we have it, we can."

"The Gaffer has brought the squad together and the lads here are more than capable of playing at this level. We showed tonight that we are a match for anybody in this League because Cardiff are going to be up there; we believe we can be up there ourselves. That is the standard we have set ourselves and that is where we want to keep them throughout the season now. We’re disappointed, but we’ve got to keep believing in ourselves – you’d like to think that if we play like that we will win more than we lose. We need to put some chances away and score some goals, but it was a harsh lesson at the end."

Norwood sent a spectacular effort goal wards for the terriers in the first half and came close to giving Huddersfield the lead but unfortunately it just wasn't meant to be. Norwood heavily praised the Cardiff goalkeeper in his post-match interview;

"I thought he should have caught the first one, but on the second one I thought I’d done him! It was a good save and he went on to get ‘Man of the Match’, which just shows how well we played. I scored a few goals coming through the Manchester United Academy and I’ve scored in all my loans, so I want to add that to my game. I’m working hard at that in training and hopefully I can chip in with a few goals this year."

Norwood admitted that the whole squad were feeling pretty hard done by after suffering the defeat but he is already thinking of the game against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night;

"The lads are really down and disappointed in the changing room, but the great thing about football is that we can bounce back on Tuesday. We’re a confident bunch of lads. The momentum that lads from last year have brought due to promotion means there is a real buzz around the training ground. I think you can see that from the way we’ve gone about our business tonight and we’ll put this behind us now. We’ll take the positives, work on the negatives and bounce into Tuesday night. Every game is tough in this division – there are no easy games. I know that from playing for Coventry from 20 games last season. We’ve got some very good players in the dressing room though."

Norwood thanked the fans for travelling to the Welsh capital and stated a major part of himself playing football is to entertain the fans;

"That’s why you sign for a football club. I’ve seen how excited the fans get and you could see it tonight; albeit it was a smaller number, at times they out sang the Cardiff lot! We have a great set of enthusiastic fans and I think they’ll really be the ‘12th man’ at home, starting on Tuesday night."

Norwood Ready For Crewe Alexandra

Oliver Norwood is ready to step up to the mark and make himself known in today's pre-season clash against Crewe Alexandra. Norwood declined a new contract from premiership outfit Manchester United in favour of joining the terriers and fighting for first team football;

"We're ready to step things up. Training has been tough, but that's what you expect in pre-season, and it's important to lay the foundations for what's to come. So far it's been all about fitness really, but going forward from here, we'll be looking at more specific tactical stuff, and with the Cup game at Preston coming up, there's a real buzz about the lads."

Norwood signed a three year contract with Huddersfield Town which will see him remain at the club until the age of 24 and the youngster is relishing the opportunity to play in the Championship with the terriers;

"I know people don't really remember the results of friendlies, but you want to win every game you play, and that will be the same at Crewe. We've played some good stuff in patches, and at two up, we looked well set to beat Hibs, but we gave away a couple of poor goals. We know we still have things to work on, and we'll be doing our utmost to make sure we're ready for the season."

Norwood has featured in all three pre-season friendlies so far and is set to be in the line-up for today's game against Crewe.
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Interview With Performance Analyst Chris Markham

We were privileged enough to get the opportunity to interview Chris Markham who is the performance analyst at Huddersfield Town. Many of you will indeed be following Chris on Twitter (@boulet_6) so we thought we would get to know his opinions, thoughts and his personal career a little bit better;

Match Report: Guiseley 1-0 Huddersfield Town

The terriers visited non-league side Guiseley for their first pre-season friendly of the new season and took with them a strong squad as Grayson promised he would do. Guiseley came out of the tie on top thanks to an early first half goal courtesy of Danny Forrest.

The first 45 minutes say Huddersfield dominate all areas of the field but were undone by a lovely Guiseley move which ended with Forrest shooting past Alex Smithies after just 15 minutes. The positives of the first half for the terriers was the ability on show by new signings Oliver Norwood and Sean Scannell. Both looked dangerous on the ball especially Scannell who managed to cause trouble down the wing despite having to receive on-field physio treatment to his ankle just 10 minutes into play.

Paul Dixon & Murray Wallace also featured in the starting XI for the first half and both looked impressive as they held their own at the back. Guiseley tried hard early on to get the breakthrough and prior to doing so, Smithies had to push away a good headed effort from James Walshaw at his near post. Huddersfield failed to threaten the opponents goal but did come close to equalising through a free kick from new boy Oliver Norwood but his curling effort went inches wide of the upright.

The other close effort for the terriers came from academy graduate Jimmy Spencer when he was superbly played through by Wallace but he could only hit his volley wide of the mark. The first half came to a close and as the teams re-emerged after a 15 minute interval, Grayson's entire lineup had changed. In this brand new eleven was newbie Adam Clayton as well as Last seasons top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes.

Although the second half wasn't as naturally flowing as the first from the terriers you could see why Grayson has brought Clayton in to play underneath him. Hard tackling & neat passes came from Clayton as he tried his best to impress and dominate the middle of the park. However, Guiseley were not giving in and they started to get lucky as Rhodes smashed uncharacteristically over the bar. Shortly after, Novak was denied by Guiseley goalkeeper Steve Drench who pushed away his drive at goal from a free kick.

Jordan Rhodes was the centre of all the second half attacks and it looked like he had equalised for the terriers with a header but an amazing near post block denied him. Things just didn't go Town's way and the final whistle went to end the first pre-season friendly with a 1-0 loss.

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Norwood Joins Huddersfield

Huddersfield Town announce their third signing this afternoon with a deal negotiated with Manchester United for youngster Oliver Norwood. The terriers had to fight off tough competition from Championship rivals Barnsley to get the midfielder's signature.

Oliver Norwood With The New
Huddersfield Town Home Shirt

Norwood has enjoyed spells at Carlisle, Scunthorpe & Coventry and although he never made an appearance for Manchester United, his experience of Championship football will be a welcome addition to the Town squad. Simon Grayson gave his opinion on the midfielder to the official Town website this afternoon;

"I am delighted to have secured the signing of Oliver - he is a brilliant footballer and someone that I believe will do well for the football club. He is an excellent passer of the ball from the centre of the park and shows good composure on it - he will add a different dimension to our midfield. He is a young, full international who is full of desire and has excellent potential."

"He also knows Glynn well from when he was a part the Northern Ireland international coaching team. Oliver turned down a number of other clubs to be a part of our team and with the Championship experience that he will bring; I believe he will be a key player for us. Manchester United offered him a new deal, but he wanted to leave to pursue his career, which says a lot about him."

Norwood spoke about his very first move away from Manchester United and athough it was always his dream to play for the red giants, he is more than happy to start making a career for himself in the blue & white shirt;

"I am over the moon to have become a Huddersfield Town player. I met with the Manager and after speaking to him and the Chairman there was only ever one Club I was going to join. His ambition for the Club matches where I want to take my career and I see this move as the best step for me."

"I had been at Manchester United from the age of seven and I love the Club - it was always my dream to play for United - but there comes a time when you have to be realistic. I want to make a career for myself; I don't want to be constantly going out on loan. I want to settle down at a Club. I think we can have a real go at the Championship this season and, you never know, maybe follow in the footsteps of Norwich and Southampton. Looking at the squad and who the Manager wants to recruit there is no reason why we can't be challenging for promotion."

"I can't wait to get back into training - I was hoping it would start sooner! I was a little bit gutted that I have to wait until the 12 July before I can get going. I am looking forward to meeting the lads - I have heard that they are a great group to be a part of. My first aim now is to come back fit for pre-season, get in the Manager's plans and be in the team from the start of the season. I just want to play football; that was the main reason behind leaving United and I will do everything I can to be a success and help the Club achieve its aims."