No need for panic as Clark is backed to deliver for Huddersfield Town

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN chairman Dean Hoyle has made the right decision in backing Lee Clark to mount another promotion challenge next season.

That is the view of his experienced performance coach Steve Black after defeat at The Den consigned them to another campaign of League One football.

Promotion not only to the Championship but the Premier League remains the target for everyone behind the scenes at the Galpharm Stadium.

Putting behind Tuesday's play-off disappointment against Millwall, Black said: "You have to have a vision and, as New York Yankees coach Yogi Berra said 'if you don't know where you're going you might end up somewhere else'.

"It's true – you have to focus your efforts and enjoy the journey but you have to plan it. If you don't enjoy the journey you're probably not going to get there. There has to be a focus, a plan and a vision that you emotionally buy into.

"With us, the Premier League is very much the focus.

"We came here in Christmas 2008 and I think we made good progress.

"We put a sub-culture in place. There are only three things you can do.

"One is to train well, one is to play well and one is to live your life well in between. You can't train well, play well and have a horrible life in between because you will never fulfil your potential.

"I had to explain that is what the sub-culture is and we built it day by day in a manner which the players enjoyed and saw the benefits of.

"We set that in place but did not make the play-offs but had made great progress. Did we win? Probably yes because we made progress.

"This season we have made progress because we got in the play-offs deservedly. We could have had another 10 points which would have got us promoted.

"We have not got to Wembley so we have to look philosophically at things. Winning is whatever you want it to be. If you keep making progress you will get to where you want to be.

"We'll dust ourselves down and say the job is to be as good as possible from the next day.

"So do we panic? No. Do we over-react emotionally? No, because you shouldn't be involved in the game if you do that.

"You can only win, lose or draw. If you are not prepared for any of those three you should not be in the game. When you win, you are not the best team that ever was. And if you get beat you're not the worst team there's ever been.

"You have to keep it in perspective and maintain your professional decorum and look to improve in all different areas. We have to try and ensure we do it next season."

Regarding Clark, who was given his first managerial experience by Town's multi-millionaire owner Hoyle, Black says: "I love him to bits, he's like a brother. I coached him at Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham and coached with him in Norwich.

"He is going to be an excellent manager. He's a very young, fledgling manager at present. He's got a great football brain and he will evolve and I'm delighted to help him along the way. So far, our tenure has been successful but we want to keep the momentum."

Hoyle has already decided that Clark and his backroom team will lead the club next season and has pledged to make funds available for new signings even though failure to go up has cost them an estimated 8m in revenue.

He is also in negotiations to buy new training facilities close to the stadium.

Town have already sold over 8,500 season tickets

"I am 100 per cent behind Lee Clark and his staff and they will definitely be here next year," said Hoyle.

"Lee knows that, there is no talk of him going anywhere. We have a great relationship and we will give it a fantastic crack next year."