Jan Siewert has taken charge of Huddersfield on a
deal until end of summer 2021
Huddersfield have appointed Jan Siewert to
succeed David Wagner as manager.
Siewert, 36, has left his position as coach of
Borussia Dortmund's second team to join the
Terriers on a deal until summer 2021.
Wagner, who held the same position at Dortmund
before joining Huddersfield in 2015, left the club by
mutual consent on 14 January.
Huddersfield are bottom of the Premier League on
11 points - 10 adrift of safety - with 15 games
remaining.
Siewert's first game in charge will be at home to
Everton on 29 January.
The club announced the appointment on Twitter
with a video of a Manchester City fan from
Wakefield, who was mistaken by TV for Siewert
during Sunday's game at the John Smith's Stadium,
taking a phone call in the manager's office.
"Not now, Martin from Wakefield," says the German,
adding: "Hi, I am Jan. I am really happy to be the
new head coach of Huddersfield Town."
Mark Hudson took temporary charge for Sunday's
defeat by Manchester City.
Terriers chairman Dean Hoyle said: "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."
Hoyle says the club have "succession plans in
place for our key roles" and had followed Siewert's
career "with interest".
He added: "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 nearest
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.
"His reputation in the game is very good. He's
known as a coach who is ambitious, has many
qualities and who has strong philosophies. As such,
it came as no surprise to us when he moved to one
of the world's biggest clubs, Borussia Dortmund."
Hoyle also said that Siewert has turned down
several approaches to leave Dortmund, but "jumped
at the opportunity" to join the Premier League club.
"He believes in our ethos and likes what he knows
about Huddersfield Town, which made me very
proud," added Hoyle.
"In the short term, we will continue to fight as hard
as possible against relegation from the Premier
League. We're not giving up on that.
"We will also plan for the medium and long term,
whatever the outcome. Jan is committed to us and
is excited to take on the challenges we have ahead,
whatever they look like."
Terriers planning for relegation?
Former Huddersfield captain Peter Clarke says the
club need to be realistic and the appointment will
have been made knowing they may be playing in
the Championship next season.
"He is someone who is young fresh, energetic and
has different ideas and it's a case of implementing
those ideas as soon as he can"
"It is a very tough period and maybe they have one
eye on next year.
"They have employed the new manager to get his
ideas across and work towards a really successful
season and have good go to get back in the
Premier League should the worse happen come
May."
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