Whitehead discusses Youth Alliance game at Lincoln City

- Huddersfield Town Under-17s played at Lincoln City on Saturday
- Dean Whitehead took control of the team for the first time
- ‘Deano’ reviews his first time leading a side as a Coach

Dean Whitehead took control of Huddersfield Town’s Under-17 side for the first time on Saturday as the Young Terriers travelled to Lincoln City for the latest U18 Youth Alliance game.

The 36-year-old, who called time on his fantastic playing career this summer, has been working as part of David Wagner’s First Team staff so far this season, learning the specifics of becoming a full-time coach.

The plan is for ‘Deano’ to become Under-17 Coach in the New Year, but he took advantage of the international break to begin his integration into the Academy setup last week.

“It’s been a bit of a strange experience for me, of course, but I’ve really enjoyed it,” Dean told htafc.com on Monday.

⚽️ In less-than-ideal conditions, #htafc Under-17 midfielder @JHeadleyOne netted his third goal of the season with this poacher's finish at Lincoln City on Saturday#YoungTerriers (DTS) pic.twitter.com/YLLpGTALht

— HTAFC Academy (@htafcacademy) October 15, 2018

“We had a good week in the build-up to the game. The players really responded well to me and took the things I wanted them to do on board.

“As Leigh (Bromby) has explained before, we’ve been working on the ‘Deep Fight Zone’ with the players recently. I can tell you from experience that it’s a detailed system and it’s not easy to implement on the pitch – and that was for a set of experienced professional footballers when the Head Coach arrived in 2015! We’re now trying to teach it to a set of inexperienced 16-year-olds and when you’re that old, all you want to do is get after the ball.

“That’s why, despite the result, I was really pleased with the boys on Saturday. The weather conditions were horrendous, and the pitch was not good, but they tried their best throughout.

“I wanted to see Reactive Pressure and a willingness to fight against an older side and, for large periods, they did so well in those regards. I praised the players afterwards because of that.”

Really pleased with my boys today in really tough conditions and a pitch not suitable for football. Application attitude and a willingness to do the right things was very satisfying. https://t.co/ksyU5iboZS

— Dean Whitehead (@442Dean) October 13, 2018

The youngsters were defeated 4-1 on the afternoon by Lincoln City, with midfielder Jaheim Headley netting his third goal of the season.

Whitehead will continue to work with the Under-17s as his First Team duties allow as they prepare for Saturday’s Youth Alliance game at home to Burton Albion; 11.30am kick-off at PPG Canalside.

“I’m really looking forward to getting more involved with the Under-17s, whilst still learning all I can with the First Team,” said Dean.

Don’t forget that Mark Hudson’s Town Under-19 side takes on Harrogate Town in a 7pm start on Monday night – and you can watch the game LIVE for FREE on #HTTV!

Town’s U17 team vs Lincoln City (4-1-4-1)
Giosue Bellagambi; Sam Sharrock-Peplow, Mustapha Olagunju, Seth Meeson, Taylor Annakin; Tom Bell (George Alfieri, 70’); Andrew Ijiwole, Jaheim Headley, Josh Austerfield (c), Darnell Mintus (Remi Thompson, 70’); Kian Harratt

Unused subs
Nassim Kherbouche, Mohammed Diaby

Final score
Lincoln City 4-1 Huddersfield Town U17s

Scorer
Jaheim Headley, 76’