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It's impossible to fault Mark Fotheringham's enthusiasm. Belief in oneself is not to be frowned upon in a world in which plenty of individuals are crippled by self-doubt but there can also be a point when blind optimism tips over into delusion. Fotheringham, though, has the benefit of hindsight to draw on.

“I am the kind of guy that when I say I'm going to do something, I do it,” he told The Herald this time last year. “I told my mum and dad when I was a wee boy that I was going to play for Celtic and I played for Celtic. I told people I was going to manage in the Bundesliga and I have done it. I want to be successful in football and I'm going to do it my way.”

Fotheringham is not one for taking chances. In that same interview, the former Celtic, Dundee, Norwich City and Fulham midfielder said that his work ethic was what helped him to understand that anything which comes to you in life is as a result of preparation. It was why, Fotheringham said, he had been driving all over the UK to watch players and matches, equipping himself with the kind of knowledge that – on the off chance – he might need for some future, as-yet-unannounced opportunity.

That chance eventually arrived with Huddersfield Town in September last year and there has been exponential progress from the point when he took over the Terriers with the club marooned at the bottom of the Championship to where they are now, three points from safety with two games in hand over Cardiff City in 21st.

His is an all-or-nothing mentality, there is an intensity to Fotheringham but also a presence and it is clearly something that has transmitted to the players he has inherited at the Yorkshire club. 

Having been part of Felix Magath's management team at Hertha Berlin last season, Fotheringham knows what it is like to be part of a reclamation project. The Dundonian was credited by Magath as having played a major part in Hertha's survival after they won a two-legged play-off against Hamburg to secure their Bundesliga status.

After a win against Hoffenheim earlier in the season, the legendary German manager said: “Most of the work was done by my assistant Mark Fotheringham, on the bench, in training, in conversations with the players.”

The Herald:

It's not the first time he's been a success, either. His work alongside Tomas Oral at Ingolstadt yielded a promotion from the German third division to 2.Bundesliga and made Magath sit up and take notice of someone he first encountered as a player at Fulham in 2014. Speak to Fotheringham and his circle of contacts in Germany includes those such as Bayern Munich legends Jurgen Klinsmann and Thomas Linke.

“When you look at the three of them with the Bayern connection what I would say is the similarity with them all that rubs off on [me] is there is a saying in Germany which is immer weiter which means 'keep going'. 

Certainly Huddersfield managing director David Baldwin and director of football Leigh Bromby have liked what they have seen from the 39-year-old and furnished him with five new signings so far this month with Championship stalwart Anthony Knockaert and Burnley right-back Matt Lowton arriving to supplement ex-Rangers striker Martyn Waghorn, former Ross County loanee Joe Hungbo and the erstwhile Hibs, Rangers and Aberdeen front man Florian Kamberi, players whom Fotheringham might have more than a little bit more knowledge about as a result of their spells in Scottish football.

“I want to know the inside and out from all leagues because you do get rough diamonds and if you are getting a chance to go into the transfer market then you will know exactly what you want. Leaving no stone unturned and continuing the work ethic that I have learned from being out in Germany,” he said as he emphasised the country's importance in shaping his footballing philosophy following his move to Freiburg at the age of 22.

“There are not many Scottish lads at that age who would have gone to the Bundesliga to play for Freiburg. I was in a team full of internationals, who went on to play for the biggest clubs in Germany. Boys that went and played Champions League. That was the environment that I was in and I really learned from that. It made me the man I was.” 

Fotheringham, meanwhile, is well aware of what he needs as Huddersfield attempt to escape relegation for the second time in four years having dropped from the Premier League in 2019. Their main problem has been scoring goals with just 25 in 26 games on the tally sheet for Fotheringham's side which is why Knockaert, Waghorn, Hungbo and Kamberi have all arrived on free transfers or loan deals.

There has been no chance for his new strike force to all play together and that will continue to be the case when Huddersfield face Coventry City tomorrow. City have not not won in a month so even without Waghorn, who is unavailable to face his parent club, Fotheringham will hope that his resurgence continues.

And if not he'll just keep reminding himself of those lessons he learned in Germany.