Huddersfield Town played out a sub-par 4-1 defeat to Millwall last night. It was a game that felt more like a preseason friendly and few people will worry too much about the outcome. It was another forgettable game in a season to forget. Now it’s out of the way we can look to the future.
Before we do that though, here are a few of my thoughts on the game.
Stearman horrorshow
If I ever have a memory of this game, its likely to be the disasterclass in defending from Richard Stearman. He had a shocking night and his poor defending played a part in every Millwall goal.
Here’s how he got involved in each goal:
- Jumped in to a tackle and got nowhere near the ball. Chalobah’s weak header and Duhaney’s lack of action were contributory factors too but I’d still say Stearman was most to blame.
- Was fouled by the Millwall player that climbed all over him to head in, so he was unlucky to not get the foul. Having said that, he should have fought harder to get in the way of his marker.
- He miscontrolled a simple ball and coughed it up for the grateful Millwall player to run through and score.
- He was so far from his man that he was able to take a touch, pick his corner, text his mum, have a fag and smash it into the goal before Stearman was within a country mile. Leaving an opponent so much room on the edge of the area would be negligent, doing it on the edge of the six yard box is madness.
I’ve said this before on the blog but I’ll say it again, a player having a bad game doesn’t suddenly make them a bad player. Stearman was great against West Brom last week, when it really counted. Last night he stank but he’s done enough for us this season to allow him a horrorshow performance in a completely meaningless game.
Youth vs experience
I love seeing young lads from the academy being given a chance in the first team. Last night might have been a glimpse of things to come, for good and bad.
By the end of the game, once the substitutes had been used, we had probably gone too far and the team didn’t have enough experience on the pitch. Nobody disgraced themselves but we didn’t look like troubling Millwall much and the game fizzled out.
All those young lads on the pitch will have benefitted from the experience last night but it meant we were less competitive.
While I’m sure our academy has some top talent in it, I think last night may help to dampen the expectations of any Town fans that think we’ll breeze the league next season by packing the team with academy players. Getting the balance between youth and experience will be vital for the new head coach when they get started.
Playing with their flip flops on
Last night was full of drama but none of it was at The Den. The Championship relegation and promotion battles were captivating, this game was not. Even though there were five goals, it was as dull as dishwater.
Both sides played at half pace and made errors that would be unthinkable in a more competitive game. All Town’s goals conceded were avoidable and Grants goal, though well-taken, was the result of terrible defending from Millwall.
The lack of fans seems to be more of an issue for the players when there is nothing riding on the game. This would have been a completely different game if either side had something to play for.
As it was, both teams seemed to be playing like they were getting up early the next day for a flight to Marbella and didn’t want to be too tired.
A fitting end to a season to forget
This season has been pretty poor. Not as bad as last year, where we were the Premier League whipping boys, but still far short of expectations. The hangover of relegation had a crushing effect on many of the squad and I’m not convinced it’s fully out of our system even now.
Town finish this season in nearly as much disarray as they started it. There are significant problems to solve both on and off the pitch before the start of next season. Hopefully more positive times are ahead but there is a lot of hard work ahead too.
The writing is on the wall for Hodgkinson. If he thinks that the academy will ride to the rescue then he is mistaken. The club needs to recruit for next year mindful of Hoyles big spending on rejects. The Cowleys were forthright intheir views for the future, practical and hopefully not too expensive. What we are going to find next year will be panic buying and a mish mash team that does n’t gel together. I hope that I’m wrong.
I’m a bit concerned too. It sound like we’ve chosen a path that is riskier but has the possibility of greater rewards too. The only thing we know for sure is that it won’t be boring.
to be honest no one knows what the makeup of the squad will be and as the transfer window runs till early October the team willhave played 4 or so games only then we know.
I just wonder where next season’s team is coming from. We are set to lose 75% of the senior squad either at the end of contract, end of loan, or being sold (Grant). We may have seen the last of Schindler as he may return to Germany and when he doesn’t play we are all at sea. The Cowleys probably asked for a significant investments in the squad and it looks like any incoming manager/coach will ask for the same as there doesn’t seem an alternative. It all just seems a wasted opportunity. Promoted to the Premier League, loads of money squandered on indifferent players and now starting again from scratch. Where did it all go wrong???