Huddersfield Town boss Lee Grant throws down the gauntlet to last season's players - and gets a pleasant surprise
THE summer headlines at Huddersfield Town have been dominated by a signings count which extends into double figures.
For new manager Lee Grant, working and truly getting to know the players and individuals whom he inherited when he was appointed in late May and trying to detect if there is any 'scar tissue' lingering from a difficult past year - in some cases longer - has been every bit as important.
Grant, who steps out on Saturday for his first league game in charge against visiting Leyton Orient - who thrashed Town on the final day of last season - acknowledged: "For me, that has been one of the most interesting parts of it.
"In all honesty, before we were even back in, I laid the gauntlet down a little bit for one of two individuals.
"The way they have responded has been tremendous and the way they have taken it on.
"Several of them, for me, have actually taken on real leadership roles within the group.
"We have got varying degrees of leadership, but for each of those individuals who have been here for a longer period of time, the way they have stepped up, carried themselves and helped the new guys integrate has been first-class.
"Full credit to them as well, as I think it is probably one of the keys as to why this group has been able to gel so quickly."
In receipt of one of the strongest squads at League One level in 2025-26, Grant is spoilt for choice in terms of his options ahead of Saturday.
His squad depth and the tactical flexibility of a number of players will allow him to rotate where he sees fit and that is something which is very much in his thoughts.
Up front for instance, the likes of Joe Taylor, Alfie May and Dion Charles can play in several positions, while the likes of Marcus Harness, Ben Wiles and Lynden Gooch also provide adaptability behind or out wide.
Grant added: "Nobody has a guarantee to play a set amount of games, there has to be a fight and challenge for every shirt in this team.
"Do I see our frontline currently as having options to play personnel across it? Absolutely.
"With the personnel we have got, I feel we have individuals who can play several positions across our frontline and I am delighted to see that take shape.
"We will rotate because we have a squad which I feel can be competitive throughout.
"Each week, I want to be able to pick a team to win that game, not just the team who won, drew or lost the last game.
"I want to be able to look with fresh eyes each week at the opposition and what their strengths and weaknesses are and feel like we can be successful with each individual in each slot.
"That was one of our main goals in terms of our recruitment process. It was to be able to say: ‘okay, this opposition is going to offer us something different to what last week’s opposition did’ and ‘we need to select a different team or individual to help us win this game’. I think we are getting close to that now."