New Huddersfield boss Mark Fotheringham's father runs a scaffolding business in Scotland – now he's trying to build a Terriers side who are poles apart in the Championship.
Once Celtic's youngest-ever player when Kenny Dalglish handed him his debut as a 16-year-old 22 years ago, Fotheringham used to clean Paul Lambert's boots an an apprentice.
Lambert, who went on to win the European Cup with Borussia Dortmund, cheerfully described himself as “the crap one” in an outstanding side. Fotheringham followed Lambert's trail from Scotland to Germany, where his last stop was as assistant to ex-Fulham manager Felix Magath at Hertha Berlin.
After Huddersfield's play-off heartbreak at Wembley five months ago, and exodus of their best players, Fotheringham is trying to cure the hangover with his caledonian brand of Vorsprung durch Technik. But the Championship is a crazy division, with seven different leaders already this season, and his predecessor Danny Schofield lasted only 69 days after losing six of his first eight games in the job.
“It's a competitive league, for sure, but that's what attracted me to this club,” said Fotheringham. “I've worked in three divisions of German football, where I've promoted Ingolstadt with record points, I've been at Karlsruhe - who could get 36,000 fans for the derby with Stuttgart – in the second tier and I've worked in the Bundesliga.
“I feel I've ticked all the boxes so far, and I was ready to sacrifice myself and my family, see how we could deal with adversity and upheaval of moving to a new culture and a new language. But everything about this place feels like a Premier League set-up, it feels like a family. Everyone is so personable and the fans are brilliant. I've come here to give them a team that plays with spirit and without fear.”
Outside, at the Terriers' high performance training centre, it was raining cats and dogs – or Katzen und Hunde in Fotheringham's second language – but walk in the door and the furniture reeks of a famous club dripping in history.
On the walls, there are murals of 1966 World Cup winner Ray Wilson, a young Denis Law and the great showman Frank Worthington. Arsenal give pride of place to a bust of Herbert Chapman, who led the Gunners to two titles and the FA Cup – Huddersfield have got one, too. And Chapman led the Terriers to the title twice, and the Cup, before he set foot in north London.
Huddersfield were short-changed by two poor penalty decisions in the £180 million promotion shoot-out with Nottingham Forest at Wembley, and their conquerors paid them the compliment of siging the two players fouled with impunity, Lewis O'Brien and Harry Toffolo.
“I'm embracing the history, I'm loving the challenge and I'm looking forward to climbing this table,” said 38-year-old Fotheringham, whose first four games have yielded as many points ahead of this weekend's trip to Middlesbrough. "There has been a hangover from the play-off final, but it's my job to instil the hard work, discipline and belief that gives the players a platform to win games.
“I made it clear when I came in: If we could go to the play-offs with Huddersfield this season, it would be my fourth consecutive play-off final. We've got no Toffolo, O'Brien or Levi Colwill this year, but I'm not here to make excuses. We need to get wins on the board.”
Unlike Fulham fans, who regard Magath's vain attempt to save them from relegation in 2014 as a bad dream, with players complaining of exhaustion from his demanding double sessions, Fotheringham reveres him as a mentor.
“After Fulham, he went to work in China and took a team (Shandong Luneng) from the bottom of the table into the Asian Champions League, but nobody writes about that. I'm so privileged that I've worked with the master. He's won everything in club football with Hamburg, played in two World Cup finals and he's the king of German football.
“In the Premier League, he inherited an ageing squad in a season where they had three managers. He was trying to get his work in quick, and sometimes these things don't work out. But last season he came into Hertha Berlin at 69 years of age and he kept them in the Bundesliga in a play-off with 80,000 people in the stadium (after losing the first leg at home). Give him the respect he deserves.
“But I also like to think I bring my own skills set and my own knowledge to this job. I'm no an old-school manager who shouts and screams at his players. Throwing teacups around the dressing room is not my style. I have unfinished business from my playing career. I never felt I fulfilled my potential, and that's why I have so much desire to do well for Huddersfield.
“I come from a working-class family – my dad and my brother (both called Andrew) have a scaffolding company where it's all about work ethic – and when I go back, I like to help out. Keeps me activated, keeps me grounded.”
