Town Boss Lee Clark On The Game

Last updated : 14 April 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Town boss Lee Clark
Terriers manager Lee Clark talked to his club's official website and BBC Radio Leeds about Huddersfield's 1-0 win against Carlisle at the Galpharm Stadium yesterday, Clark also chatting later about the future of Town winger Danny Cadamarteri :


" What I said to the players at half-time was that it looked like an end of season game, and my players haven't got an end of season situation because they are playing for their futures at the club. Basically it is up to them what they want to do so I said to them that we had to up the tempo. Friends and family here today who had got complimentary tickets but even they might have been asking for their money back today the first-half was that poor.

" In the second-half though we upped the tempo a little bit better all over the pitch and created one or two chances. We should have taken the lead earlier than we did, if Nathan (Clarke's) effort that hit the bar and then Gary (Roberts) was very unlucky with his effort.

" So what we did say to them at half-time is that you can't always win playing pretty football but it is about time that we got three points by not playing so well and grinding out a result. Which you sometimes you have to do and thankfully we did that. I think that when you have a result and a performance like this then you have got to credit the defensive lads who keep it tight at the back and get you a clean sheet to have the possibility to nick a goal and win the game basically.

" Anthony (Pilkington) as he cut inside and it opened up and he had that shot that went over the bar felt his groin a little bit. So obviously we had to change personnel, we stuck with the system obviously that had done us so well on Friday night at Scunthorpe. I just felt that the game was really flat in terms of us having any power and energy really so when we went to 4-4-2 we just had a little bit more of a threat.

" Because Danny (Cadamarteri) with his explosive pace can get on the end of flick-ons from Boothy (Andy Booth) and we can still have the legs in the midfield. So as it worked out Boothy ends up coming on and scoring a trademark Andy Booth header. I would imagine that if he had hair then you wouldn't see the stitching on his cut. That is one downside to growing old and Old Father Time catching up with the hair. "



" Danny Cadamarteri is out of contract at the end of this season but that is something that we will envisage to do and sort out in the coming days. Since he has come back into the side after the injury situation he has made a huge contribution. Now I know what has gone on in the past with injuries etc. etc. and not many of a run of games. Up until Hartlepool he had a fantastic run with us and had a spell out but since he has come back he has been terrific again.

" I can only speak of what he has done for me and my staff and he has been nothing short of terrific. Hopefully with the people that I have got in place, people like Steve Black on the fitness side who keep the injuries down to a bare minimum. I think that is one aspect we have had since we have come in, the injuries have been to a bare minimum.

" We can make a massive contribution to getting Danny out onto the pitch on a regular basis because when he is on the pitch he makes a huge contribution and he does produce the goods. So talent has never been in doubt, the big question mark has been getting him on the pitch on a weekly basis and not to have so many injuries. I have certainly got the staff to do that and when he has been on the pitch, 90% of the time he has produced a performance that has been of the highest quality.

" I wouldn't know about rumours saying that he is going elsewhere, all that I know is that I have had a conversation with Danny and we said that we would get the games out of the way over the Easter weekend. Then we would sit down again and if he produced the level of performances that he had previously then there would be a possibility that he would be staying at Huddersfield.

" He has assured me that if that is the case then he would like to stay here. He lives obviously in the area, in Yorkshire, and I wouldn't see why he would want out. He has got family now, at his stage of his career he is happy at the club and everything can be agreed. "



"I wasn't frustrated - I was just surprised that a player of Gary Roberts' ability didn't choose to go on and shoot in the second-half. He scored a great goal on Friday night and if I had scored that goal, I certainly wouldn't have chosen to pass the ball when that opportunity presented itself!

" He is in double figures this season, which is a fantastic return for a wide man, and it is just as well that we have that return from midfield. Gary should have that belief and selfishness to put it in the corner himself. I want the players to have the belief that I have in them to do the right thing. There were plenty of times in my career that I made runs but didn't get the ball, but when the ball flies in the top corner you don't mind so much.

" If you go back to when I gave Tom (Clarke) his new contract, he wasn't in the team but I said at the time that when he got into the team he would be hard to dislodge and he's proving me right. Tom just needed that opportunity through suspension, injury or somebody's loss of form and he has proven at both right back and midfield that he can be a very good player for this football club. I saw enough in training to suggest that he would take some shifting once he broke into the team.

" We don't know about Anthony Pilkington's injury yet, we obviously have to give it 48 hours to settle down. I think that what he just said is that as he pulled the trigger and had the shot that went over the bar, he just felt something tweak in his groin. So hopefully that might just be something short term we are hoping, but we will have to just assess that.

" We won't have any information on that until Wednesday because obviously you need time for it to settle down and see where we are with it. So we are hoping that it is just something slight and that we have got him off as quickly as we could to make it not get any worse. Because you need your Anthony Pilkington's of this world available because very, very good players don't grow on trees. "