McCombe Mutually Terminates Contract With Club

Jamie McCombe leaves Huddersfield Town after having his contract mutually terminated by the club. McCombe has only appeared the five times under current manager Simon Grayson and leaves the terriers in search of regular first team football at another club. We wih him all the best in the future wherever he ends up  and Grayson explained the reasons as to why Jamie has mutually ended his contract;

"Much like Antony Kay, Jamie is a senior player and he needs first team football at his age. It is only fair to allow players to go in search of first team football when you can’t offer it to them and his departure also helps our wage bill.

Jamie McCombe was brought to the club by previous manager Lee Clark and has since put in 68 appearances which has seen him score nine goals in all competitions. Not a bad goal scoring record but the tall central defender has never been fighting for a starting XI spot since going out on loan to Preston North End last season.

Skipper Excited With Championship Test

Peter Clarke has expressed how much of a test this upcoming season is going to be for Huddersfield Town but sounded excited to be going into the first match against Cradiff with a host of new signings & the captains armband to his name. Before they travel to the Welsh club a trip to Deepdale to play against Preston North End in the first round of the Capital One Club will see Grayson & his team tested with a weakened squad due to international call ups;

"I think the whole experience of promotion was still surreal up until the fixtures for the Championship came out last month. I think then the realisation set in that we are a Championship club and will be playing against some of the biggest clubs in English football, in some fantastic venues. As with any team that gets promoted into a new league the first objective is to secure your place in it for the following season, but we don’t want to be battling down at the wrong end of the league - we want to be surprising a few people and giving a good account of ourselves."

"The Manager is very shrewd and he has made several acquisitions over the summer. The lads that have come in have fitted in great and through playing games and from training day, in, day out you begin to build an understanding and I think that is beginning to happen, which is a good sign."

Clarke has already played alongside two of the new signings made by the manager, Anthony Gerrard & Keith Southern, and the skipper is delighted to have been reunited with them once again;

"I played with them both before in my career – Keith far more than Anthony. I can certainly say on behalf of the lads that they are wholehearted players who will give you everything that have got out on the field. Keith has a terrific engine and gets around the pitch well; he breaks things up and gives it nice and simple – he can also weigh in with his fair share of goals. Anthony is a tough lad, a no-nonsense type of defender. He is very competitive and he can play a bit from the back."

The skipper stated that The Championship is going to be very tough and having four games in just the opening two weeks is a real challenge for the terriers;

"As in any league, or competition, there is a never any easy game. You have to earn the right to win football matches and that will be no different this season. The start is going to be very tough; we are away twice in the first week and we will do our best to give good accounts of ourselves. Pre-season is always tough and the workload is always long and hard, but it is about getting ready and match fit. When you get to the back-end of pre-season all you want to do is start playing competitive football. It is the first time in my career where the League Cup starts before the season proper, so it is a little bit odd, but it makes no difference and it is a game that we want to do well in."

Manager Speaks Out Before Cup Tie Against Preston

Huddersfield Town will travel to Preston North End in their first round match in the newly named Capital One Cup. The terriers are due to be without a few players due to international call-ups & Grayson believes that its the chance for others to earn their place in the squad;

"We have four players missing the game due to international commitments, which allows four other players to come in and make an impression. It is frustrating missing four players from your first team for the first competitive game of the season, but it is the same case for every manager in the Championship. The call-ups are good accolades for the players in question and for the football club, but they aren't ideal." 

"As I said it gives other players an opportunity to put in a good performance against Preston and stake a claim for a place against Cardiff. If you are in possession of a shirt against Cardiff then it is yours to lose for the rest of the season."

Grayson has already got one eye on the Cardiff game which is also the opening game of The Championship but stated he would like to see his team progress into the second round tie;

"The Preston match is a competitive fixture and we want to win every competitive game that we play in. A win would set us off on the right foot and we would enter the Cardiff game in good spirits. If you get through to the second round the 'big boys' enter into the competition and you could find yourself with a nice glamour tie. It is about getting the balance right between picking a team that is capable of winning and making sure that players are still fresh for Cardiff on the Friday" 

"We have got a lot of reports for all the teams that we are facing within the first month, but for each team they vary because they are experimenting with different formations and players. We have played a number of different formations during pre-season and I won't be letting on what we are playing against Preston until the night!"

Antony Gerrard is set to make his debut for Huddersfield in the tie against Preston North End and Grayson reiterated how happy he was to have landed the experienced defender;

"I am delighted that we landed Anthony; I had the backing of the Chairman again to go and spend some money on a player. We need to create competition for places throughout the squad and although we have a good bunch at the moment, that isn't to say that we aren't still looking to improve. We are talking to a few people regarding certain areas of the squad, but if we were to start the season now then I would be very satisfied – we have done a lot of work in recruiting new players already."

Grayson also notified all the fans on the fitness of the current squad after finishing the pre-season friendlies against Barcelona B at home on Wednesday;

"We had a few tired bodies the morning after the Barcelona B game, which was expected as we spent large parts of the game chasing the ball. It will have done our fitness levels a lot of good and also our organisation ahead of the new season. Going into the Preston game we have a fully fit squad."

Kay Leaves To MK Dons on Mutual Consent

Huddersfield Town have today announced that they have mutually terminated Antony Kay's contract & that the midfielder has moved to League One outfit MK Dons. Kay has appeared over 100 times for the terriers and will always be remembered by Town fans for his late equaliser against Bournemouth in the play-off semi finals two seasons ago.

Kay has however decided to go in search of first team football and this is one of the main reasons as to why he has joined Milton Keynes on a permanent basis. Grayson thanked Kay for all his efforts in the blue & white stripes;

"Antony has been a good servant to the football club, but he needs first team football. The football club has moved on and I have brought in other new players. It is only fair to allow players to go in search of first team football when you can't offer it to them. I wish him all the best where ever he ends up."

Grayson also stated yesterday that their will be a few more outgoings at Huddersfield Town so expect more players to leave in the near future.




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Clayton Says He & The Squad Are Ready

The 23 year old new signing from rivals Leeds United last night let Huddersfield Town and the rest of The Championship know that he is raring to go along with the rest of the squad. Clayton gave a decent performance in the blue & white stripes last night and was unlucky not to score a goal as he made the Barcelona B goalkeeper work late on in the game.

Clayton, a former Manchester City player, played alongside Norwood & Southern last night and is expected to have a successful season for Town with hopefully a number of goals to celebrate. He spoke to the official website regarding the performance against Barcelona B;

"It was a good run-out, when we had the ball! We played some decent football and probably could have scored a couple of goals. It was a good game for us to have before the start of the season because we won't come against a team like that in the Championship, who use and keep the ball so well."

"For 65 minutes I thought we did quite well at keeping the ball out and I don't think Alex had a save to make really before they scored. It was a good night's work. We can't wait for the season to start now, we are ready to go. The team is raring to go. The camaraderie within the squad is brilliant and the coaching staff keeps everyone happy – it is a good place to be. We have a tough start, but that is the Championship, that is why all the fans went to watch at Wembley because of the challenge that lied ahead if they were successful. Personally I can't wait for the season to start, I have had two months away from competitive football and I can't wait to be back out on the grass, scoring goals."

Clayton linked up well with winger Sean Scannell against Barcelona B and the versatile midfielder expressed his opinions on the pacey Londoner;

"I didn't really know too much about Sean when I joined the Club, he got sent off against us when I was at Leeds last season. He has impressed me a lot this pre-season, but he just needs to shoot a bit more, which I keep telling him to do. Hopefully he will be able to reach double figures this season, as will I, and it will take a bit of the pressure off the strikers."

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Rhodes Has Never Asked To Leave The Terriers

Simon Grayson spoke out about the recent speculation stating that Jordan Rhodes has previously asked to leave Huddersfield to play his football else where. Blackburn Rovers have tabled a number of bids for England's top goalscorer whilst also offering the striker a generous wage packet that may well triple what he is currently on at Huddersfield.

However when Graysonw as asked the inevitable question, 'Has Jordan asked to leave?' He simply replied;

"No."

Simon Grayson paused before continuing his answer to the question that will leave a lot of Blackburn Rovers fans questioning their sources;

"We have spoken many times over the summer and since pre-season started about what we expect him to do over the campaign and I have told him we will keep him informed of any updates in terms of offers etc, that's only fair. I have also told him that we have no intention of selling him unless we get a very substantial bid."

Jordan Rhodes has been at the centre of transfer rumours this year and some believe it is a shock that the terriers have managed to keep hold of the Scottish striker but Grayson explained how they have done so;

"I think we are in a very fortunate position because we are in control of the situation. It's not as if we have to sell him or we are being dictated to by anyone above – the banks maybe saying 'there is an asset, you have to sell him to balance the books'. We don't have that with Dean Hoyle in charge of this football club."

Simon Grayson also responded to the question as to if there will be any more signings before the season gets underway;

"Possibly. We are still working hard behind the scenes on one or two deals because we want to keep competition for places strong, both in training every day and in matches. You might see one or two going out over the next few weeks, whether that's on loan or permanent, and we are working hard on one or two other deals."

So great news for Huddersfield Town as the manager confidently states that there may be a few more new signings coming to the club before that first competitive clash against Cardiff City in The Championship. Antony Kay is also very likely to be the first out of the door as he is set to join League One outfit MK Dons.

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Grayson Happy With Barcelona B Friendly

Simon Grayson & Huddersfield Town may have ended their pre-season campaign with a 2-0 defeat at home but the manager stated that he was pleased with his team and how things have gone since promotion into The Championship. Grayson spoke to the official website after last nights match and this is what he had to say;

"First and foremost, you don't get to play against Barcelona at any level very often and I thought we were good tonight. There were a lot of aspects we had to work on – we knew we weren't going to have a great deal of possession, so we had to be disciplined and organised with our shape of the team. We limited them to very few opportunities in the first half, which was pleasing, and when we got the ball we passed it like we can do and had some exciting moments in their final third."

"It took a penalty to break us down, but it probably was a penalty. I was pleased with how disciplined we were. They have some good players. The way they have been brought up to pass and move was always going to make it a difficult night for us but I thought we acquitted ourselves well."

"We've worked on our shape over the last few days and we're not going to only do that tonight – we're going to have to do it in the Championship too. There will be good players in our division and we can't be too open – we have to be hard to break down, because we have players that can hurt people when we counter-attack."

"We're not going to play like that all season; we'll play 4-4-2 and other systems at times because we have that flexibility. However, tonight was a great exercise in what we have to do when we don't have the ball and I thought the players stuck to what they had to do. The players will have learned a lot tonight, even from what they did when they had possession of the ball. They make things look so simple at times and we have to learn to do the simple things, because that can help you."

Sean Scannell received the man of the match award and looked extremely dangerous when he had the ball at hus feet. Grayson expected this from his signing and stated he wanted to see it in every game;

"Hopefully he will continue to do that – that's why we brought him to the Club. Sean has great strength, speed and awareness as well as a few tricks in his locker and I thought he got better as the game went on. He also performed a disciplined role; Sean is a player who likes to do things in the final third, but he stuck to his task on the left hand side and helped Paul Dixon out. That is what we have to do; when we get the opportunities, the players need to go and express and enjoy themselves."

"It was good to get some younger players time on the pitch against them as well, because some of their players will be the future stars of Barcelona. When we look back at the team-sheet in future years we will all be proud of who we faced and realise what a great achievement this was by our players. Jimmy Spencer could have had a couple of goals tonight and he certainly would have remembered the game well if he'd managed it."

On Tuesday night Huddersfield managed to comfortably defeat Chesterfield away with a 3-0 victory and Grayson was pleased with how the final two pre-season friendlies went;

"Looking at the two games, I'm really pleased how well the group of players did at Chesterfield last night and I'm pleased with how we did playing in a different way tonight. The pieces are coming together now as we get towards the end of pre-season, but the true test will come on Monday when we start the Cup campaign and then over the next nine months in the League."

"There will be some tired bodies at the training ground tomorrow, but we'll train in the morning ahead of the photo shoot in the afternoon. The players will have a day off on Friday to recover before a couple of days preparation work for the Preston game."

"Everybody has come through the two games and only Scott Arfield and Jamie McCombe, who both played last night, missed lots of pre-season. We've got a good level of competition here, which is healthy."

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