The £300k Huddersfield Town transfer deal that flopped - It was only saved by Jordan Rhodes | OneFootball

Robbie Simpson never scored a league goal for Huddersfield Town

Robbie Simpson’s stint at Huddersfield Town proved to be a complete disaster, and it would probably get talked about a lot more if it wasn’t for Jordan Rhodes sparing his blushes.

Considering the Coventry City forward dropped down a division and cost the Terriers a reported £300k in 2009, he arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium on a three-year deal with plenty of promise.

However, FLW take a look at what exactly went wrong for Simpson in West Yorkshire, at a time when the club were embarking on an exciting new era under chairman Dean Hoyle and manager Lee Clark.

Robbie Simpson never scored a league goal for Huddersfield Town

Firstly, it's worth noting that Simpson was joining a club in transition.

Clark was appointed manager in December 2008 and Hoyle became the majority owner the following June, so there was lots of optimism about the future.

As such, Simpson’s move to Huddersfield was billed as a statement of intent from Clark - who was beginning to shape a squad capable of competing at the top end of the third tier.

Yes, Simpson only scored four goals in 61 appearances for Coventry, but had netted 17 times in 32 matches before that for non-league outfit Cambridge City playing in a more central position. At Coventry, Simpson played "95%" of his games out of position, according to Clark.

Even though he was still only 24-years-old, the striker's time in Yorkshire would prove to be even worse than the West Midlands.

Making just 15 appearances for the Terriers, with only four of those coming as a starter, Simpson failed to leave any meaningful mark on the pitch - and didn't score a single league goal.

Not long after signing, Simpson told BBC Radio Leeds: "I want pressure to be on my shoulders to score goals again like it was at Cambridge where I delivered.

"Hopefully I can now deliver here at Huddersfield," he added.

His reoccurring thigh injury didn't exactly help things, which happened at a time when Clark said that Simpson's "had a really stop-start beginning to his Huddersfield Town career".

In fact, it never really started at all. His only goal for the Terriers was to send then-League Two side Rotherham United out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Jordan Rhodes made Robbie Simpson's Huddersfield Town struggles irrelevant

Jordan Rhodes had first signed from Ipswich Town in the same summer Simpson made his move - and for around £100k more, the Scottish striker put the ex-non-league bagsman to shame.

While Simpson languished on the fringes, Rhodes - who was five years younger - seized his opportunity with both hands.

The 09/10 season saw Rhodes emerge as Huddersfield's leading scorer, notching an impressive 19 league goals in 47 appearances. When all competitions are factored in, Rhodes finished the campaign with 23 goals - incredible for a teenager.

In many respects, Rhodes' brilliance for Town during that first season, and beyond, effectively erased the memory of Simpson's spell at the club.

Across three full seasons in League One, Rhodes had scored 19, 16, and 37 league goals in each of them. Even before his move to Blackburn Rovers, he had netted two Championship goals for Huddersfield.

Ultimately, you could perhaps make the argument that Clark expected Simpson to be the one firing in all the goals straight away and not Rhodes. The manager described the ex-Coventry forward as a "young, hungry player who wants to get better and that is exactly what I want."

Simpson spent time on loan at Brentford the year after both him and Rhodes signed, and whilst the latter obviously had a great time, Simpson claimed that debut season was "one of the worst of my career - it's been a nightmare."

The £300k spent on Simpson was a gamble that had not worked out, but the slightly larger amount on Rhodes would come to be viewed as probably one of the greatest pieces of business the club had ever done. Especially when you take into account the Scotsman re-signed on a free transfer nine years later.