Mike Holden has sussed out who HuddersfieldâÂÂs new chairman really is.
The man destined to take the Terriers into a bright new era might go by the name of Dean Hoyle but I can actually confirm heâÂÂs Richard Madeley, the bumbling TV presenter who makes up one-half of the Richard & Judy double act.
And how exactly have I managed to blow his cover? Well, it was easy really.
You only had to stop and think for a moment about his comments regarding manager Stan Ternent earlier this week to realise he couldnâÂÂt possibly be anyone else.
Those of you who are seasoned daytime TV viewers will be well aware of MadeleyâÂÂs incompetence in a delicate situation.
I remember those moments well...
You would be sat there in your living room â perhaps innocently forgetting to attend a lecture on how to produce a serious, honest and well-balanced piece of journalism â when along comes a feature on This Morning about women whose lives have been ruined by husbands who were bigamists or kerb crawlers.
Instantly, you would always think to yourself: âÂÂGo on Richard, say the worst possible thing you could ever think to say to somebody in that situation!âÂÂ
Not once did he ever disappoint.
"Can you find out how Town are getting on with that thing..."
Now it seems even Madeley (or Hoyle, as he insists on being called) has surpassed himself by likening under-fire Ternent to his nemesis and former Town legend Neil Warnock.
For those unschooled in the long-running feud between the two managers, it basically boils down to a sequence of events that started about a decade ago and culminated with a brawl at Bramall Lane in April 2001.
ItâÂÂs a hostility that rankles Ternent so much he dedicated a fair chunk of his autobiography to the subject, the highlight of which documents when Warnock allegedly sent a spy to listen in on a half-time team-talk that Stan the Man was giving as Burnley boss.
As Ternent himself so eloquently puts it: âÂÂAt half-time we were one goal down and as I was asking how much my players wanted it, I thought I heard a noise on the other side of an emergency door.
"I motioned for them to keep quiet and launched myself into a two-footed kung-fu kick against the door. It exploded outwards and I saw a figure scurry away.
"I then took one of my players to see the referee and heard a voice behind me say: 'Come off it Stan - you are always at it.'
"I turned to see Warnock's No.2 Kevin Blackwell and I shouted, 'Let's have it now.' I ran up, smacked him in the face and nutted him for good measure. He hit me back and my nose ruptured. I jumped on him and we fell to the floor shoving the door to the referee's room wide open.
"Stewards and United staff pounced on my back and eventually dragged me away. I'd given him a few cracks and a couple of follow-ups.
"I've had a friendly beer with Blackwell since, but I won't look Warnock in the face. I cannot abide the man."
"Come down Kevin, I know you're hiding up there..."
Anyway, that was then and, thankfully, their paths have rarely ever crossed since because while Warnock has been chasing the Premier League dream with Crystal Palace, Ternent has spent most of the last four years out of work.
But now heâÂÂs back and having a tough time of it.
As ever, heâÂÂs making plenty of enemies on his mission to show everyone whoâÂÂs boss at the Galpharm but once again failing to get the good-cop, bad-cop balance quite right. Worst-nightmare-cop is how I believe the Huddersfield players refer to him.
Needless to say, the Terriers have won only four of their opening 13 matches and the fans have slowly been starting to get pretty miffed about it all.
So Madeley (sorry, Hoyle) has leapt to TernentâÂÂs defence this week drawing comparisons with WarnockâÂÂs achievements 15 years ago when he turned things around at the club following a difficult start and eventually went on to win promotion.
One can only imagine what went through TernentâÂÂs mind when he heard that, or what didnâÂÂt once you removed the expletives.
----------------------------------------------
FourFourTwo.com: More to read...
Up the Football League home
Blogs home
Latest England news
News home
Interviews home
Forums home
FourFourTwo.com home
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw
