Town hit the self-destruct button on Saturday afternoon with an abject performance that effectively gifted the game to Charlton. While the hosts played well, Town showed a complete inability to cope with any pressure and good saves from Lee Nichols are the only reason the scoreline wasn’t worse than 4-0.
While the defeat dumped Town out of the playoff places, they’re still only a point away from Reading in sixth. However, this game left me not caring too much about whether Town can finish in the top six as it showed Town are way off the pace when compared to another likely playoff contender.
Was it really that bad? Yes!
I can’t remember many games as disappointing as this one. Previous pumpings have come during times when the team have been on a downward slide but this match came after a 5-1 win in our previous game and a refreshed sense of optimism in Jonathan Worthington’s potential to get a tune out of this squad.
Each goal is like watching a car crash in slow motion, with various players making horrendous errors and others being too slow in thought and deed to fix them.
Radinio Balker was Terence-Kongolo-away-at-Bristol-City levels of bad in the first half. It’s rare to see a defender who cares so little about passing to his teammates, as Balker seemed content to give the ball straight to Charlton players with alarming regularity. Despite being culpable for conceding Town’s first, he continued to try to pull off impossible passes and consistently got it wrong.
Oli Turton was another player that had a torrid afternoon, with Tyreece Campbell completely overwhelming him and turning him inside out. Campbell made Turton look like Tom Edwards at times, and those that remember last season’s loanee from Stoke will know how scathing this criticism is. I’d previously thought of Turton as a safe pair of hands but this season has been littered with poor showings despite dropping a level. I worry he may have realised he’s not going to get a new deal in the summer and has taken his bat home. Though he’s always credited as being a model pro, so perhaps he’s just not the player he once was after his terrible luck with injuries.
I could go through each player and list off all the ways they annoyed me in this game but that would take too long. The defence was disorganised, seemed unfamiliar with each other and made some shocking mistakes. Midfield was completely overrun, with Hodge ineffective and Evans and Wiles barely in the game at all. The forwards were pretty anonymous too, Roosken in particular looked lost despite being one of our best players against Crawley.
Joe Taylor had no supply at all but still made a nuisance of himself and Nicholls made some decent saves but that’s more or less it for positives. The addition of Kasumu and Hogg to the midfield added a bit of solidity and bite to midfield but the game was over by that stage, so it’s hard to be too gushing with praise.
What does this game mean for Town and Jon Worthington?
Based on Saturday’s evidence, Town aren’t going anywhere this season. While there’s time to turn it around, it seems more likely things will get worse rather than better between now and the end of the season. The result looks bad on paper but watching the game and seeing how gutless and incompetent Town were really drained all optimism from me.
It was even worse that this crushing defeat came against a team that is very likely to be in the playoffs. It’s hard to see how Town could get the better of Charlton in the high stakes environment of the playoffs when they took us to pieces so easily in this match.
This result is also a blot on Jon Worthington’s copybook too. I don’t think his selection or tactics were the problem, it was more the lack of character and professionalism from the players that he put out. This isn’t the first Town manager that has picked a team capable of competing in a game but have collectively fallen to pieces for no obvious reason. The fragile mentality of Town’s players as a collective is baffling but Jon Worthington will need to think of a way to draw better out of the sorry bunch we have in our squad currently.
I’m still curious to see more of Jon Worthington between now and the end of the season but I hope he shows a bit more nous than he did in this game. The changes he made were all too little, too late, unfortunately. It’s not fair to compare an inexperienced manager to Neil Warnock but I’m certain Warnock would have acted more quickly than Worthington did, most likely making a first half substitution or two to try and stem the bleeding in that disastrous first half.
There was a feeling that Michael Duff wasn’t getting the best out of this squad and that was what got him the chop. It’s possible that his drab tactics and stern approach were the only things stopping this team from imploding. Worthy has to find his own way to make this team tick but I worry that he’s been given a task that is too much for someone that’s pretty new to management. The next eight games will show us if he has what it takes.
Dion Charles goes to watch Bolton
Despite feeling actually angry with how bad Town played on Saturday, I find it hard to get too agitated about Dion Charles going to watch Bolton lose to Blackpool. It’s obviously not a great idea to be stood in the stands supporting one of our rivals but it’s not the crime of the century either.
Jon Worthington said that he’s received an apology from Charles and it seems that the matter has been dealt with. The bigger issue is that Charles has been a pretty disappointing addition since January and his current injury means he’s not contributing anything to Town’s cause.
Can you think of many Town players that would come watch us next season if they leave in the summer? Not many have that kind of connection to our fans. Success on the pitch is the easiest way for players and fans to bond but even allowing for it being another bad season, the fans and players seem further apart than I can remember.
Thinking back to the big personalities Town had in the squad under David Wagner and comparing them to the current bunch, there’s a huge lack of character in the 24/25 Town squad. Doing daft stuff, like sitting in the away end of a rival or shushing your own fans are both symptoms of a deeper issue with this lot.
Some thoughts on season cards
This is my first post since the season card renewals came out, so I should talk about them, even though it’s been done to death by this point. Expecting fans to swallow a huge percentage increase after another failed season is crazy to me (the goal was automatic promotion, so we’ve already fallen short, barring a miracle). What’s even crazier is that I’m going to renew anyway.
Renewing a Town season card is a bit like returning to a bad relationship. You hope they’ll change but deep down you know they’ll keep on hurting you. That disappointment is going to cost more per game next season but maybe things will be different this time. Maybe Town will change and it will be different this time.
Though if you calculate the value of a Huddersfield Town season card on the moments of entertainment you receive rather than the hours of drudgery you sit through, even our cheap tickets are overpriced. If raising prices means improved performances on the pitch, then I’d pay more without a grumble.
Recent history suggests any extra revenue will be squandered on crocked players and even more manager payoffs. Trying to convince fans the club needs more money when they’ve frittered so much away so freely in recent years is pushing the limits of credulity. The fact that I know all this and will still be handing over my money shows that I’m exactly the kind of mug they think I am.
Yes it was grim viewing, especially as my previous live outing was down in Bristol. All been said, but I think you were a bit kind on JW, he got some big calls wrong. Spencer should never be in a back 3, consistently makes mistakes; his strengths are best seen when he playas at wingback. Ruffels should have started. Was Balker still unfit? I still think there is a good player in there, he was hung out to dry by Nicholls for the first goal who clearly pointed out wide to where he should pass the ball, when an obvious back pass was needed. On Nicholls I thought he was poor on Saturday. His distribution was woeful. Chapman is much better in this regard.
JW at fault also imho in not making radical changes at half-time, at two down we had a shout, and the game was crying out for Kasumu and Chirewa. His other changes were Duffesque: too late and baffling. Hodge was the least of our problems in midfield. What is it about Wiles, just astonishing that he played the full 90. He is awol for long periods; has this knack of being where the action isn’t, and he made a zero contribution on Saturday. He should have been hooked at half time. Evans was his usual languid self, just hard to believe he was supposedly a L1 player of the season last time. I think Roosken is also a decent player who had a bad day. Taylor was visibly angry at being subbed, not his fault he received zero service all match.
Cartwright and Nigel were cosied up in the directors’ box so that suggests the latter ain’t going anywhere, that’s all been said too.
Tonight will be interesting!
I see your point about Nicholls kicking. I think he felt he had no option but to boot hopeful balls up to Taylor because he lost confidence in the defence. Even still, his distribution is iffy at times. I think he’s a better shot stopper than Chapman and generally seems more assured but Chapman is by far better with the ball at his feet, which is increasingly important to most teams.
I completely agree that Worthington should have changed it up as soon as it was obvious things weren’t working. I’d guess some players had limitations on the minutes they could do after injuries and international duties, which might have hampered him a bit. Even still, it didn’t seem like Worthington was reacting to the events on the pitch quickly enough.
Wiles and Evans are frustrating as both have shown periods of being very effective players but they both drift in and out of games. Kane and Kasumu getting back to fitness will hopefully improve our midfield play as we look very lightweight at the moment.
A personal anecdote – 4 of my grandchildren went to get a first taste of watching Town live ‘because Grandad supports them’. They are probably now planning to cart me off to a secure institution as they think I must be completely barmy to watch a team perform like that.
It was horrific. After some of the performances this season, I didn’t think Town could sink any lower. It was.
And yes, I’ve had the same reaction as you, TS; I’m just not going to have any ambition for the rest of this season. The next 6 weeks can’t pass quick enough for me.
Oh no, that’s terrible luck. You couldn’t have picked a much worse game to bring potential new Town fans to. I’d run for the hills if that was my first impression of Town.
As well as the shambles on the field, which you have more than adequately covered here, there’s also the shambles off it regarding the digital 24/25 season tickets suddenly expiring in the Apple wallet and a message being sent to bring our physical cards to the next home game. I wonder how many fans actually got a physical card this season and, if they did, if they can remember where they put it. Also does this mean we should all pay the extra £10 Town are charging if you want a physical card next season just in case Ticketmaster mess up the digital ones again? Town seem to have washed their hands of the problem, just saying they’ve flagged it with Ticket master, instead of issuing the solution, which is to revisit the original email, if you still have it, (or resending this email) and reloading the digital ticket in the attachment to your Apple or Google wallet. Unless of course the electronic readers at the ground aren’t going to work on a reloaded ticket.
I’m on android, so I was only vaguely aware of this problem with Apple phones and digital season cards. The proposed solution of every single fan remembering to bring a physical card that many won’t have used for years seems like a recipe for disaster. Hopefully they’ll have a plan to deal with all the people that forget, otherwise the queue for the ticket office will be crazy. And charging £10 on top of the already increased prices for a new card seems far too harsh. Particularly when they’ve clearly messed up the digital cards system so much lately.
Based on your commentaries this season I have expected they would end up ‘going nowhere’ , although with your usual way of seeing the positives , or at least the potentials, I have kept living in hope against hope
This is the first time you have been so unambiguously downbeat. I did see the Tamworth debacle on laptop and your point about a ‘huge lack of character’ in the squad’ was very apparent even against the supposed minnows. Tamworth had one or two obviously big personalities – where Town had none.
Doubts about the owner’s judgement and the upper management , ever since the peremptory sacking of Warnock have not been allayed . Allowing Helik to go seems so dumb .
Its difficult to avoid the conclusion that the only way is down.
I feel bad spreading such a lot of negativity but it’s hard to hold out much hope for this season. Or to feel confident that the club will be able to correct all the current issues.
The one positive is that things can change quickly in football. If we win our next three games then suddenly things will feel a bit brighter. Big “if” though.
As a Charlton supporter that was our best performance of the season and I believe we could have beat anyone in the division on that performance.
There’s still time to dig in and get a playoff place.
Good luck
Thanks Les. It’s always interesting to hear the fans from the other team’s perspective. My write ups are always biased towards Town but I was impressed by Charlton, definitely one of the best teams we’ve come up against this season. I don’t find that easy to say, as I have a personal dislike for Nathan Jones which goes back to his Luton days. But regardless of his prickly personality, Jones has done a good job of getting you organised and playing some decent football, at least based on last Saturday’s performance.
I think your analogy about an abusive partner is in very poor taste. Likening the two sorts of hurt you refer to is very ill judged and would deeply offend anyone who has been the victim of domestic violence. If you want a domestic analogy how about a long term partner who you love dearly, but who from time to time annoys and exasperates you, yet you know you couldn’t live without. Sums it up pretty well for me!
Sorry, that was an insensitive and ill-thought out remark. No offence was intended but I can easily see how it could offend. I’ve updated the article to remove the domestic violence reference but still keep the meaning of the analogy. Thanks for pointing this out, I appreciate the feedback.
I’d argue this abuse has been unnecessarily inflicted upon us by a complacent, heartless ‘owner’ and his cabal of cronies. He’s not personally annoying and exasperating. His policy and intentions are worse than that. His policy is to prioritise other matters over sound, progressive recruitment. And to inflict financial hardship on many who can’t afford it and don’t deserve it.
I’m not sure I’d take quite such a negative view of Kevin Nagle’s ownership but it’s fair to say it’s be a bumpy start (at best). We’ll find out his intentions as time goes on but so far he does seem to have been willing to invest in the club and the broader things (stadium ownership, smartening up the ground and branding) should be possible alongside improving the playing side of things. The bigger issue has been our disasterous business we’ve done in terms of player trading (including not being able to get rid of underperformers as well as bringing in new underperformers).
I get that you’re not a fan of our senior management team, but ‘complacent & heartless’? Where’s the evidence for that? You’re assigning motives to their actions to align with your personal views. There’s no policy to prioritise other things over recruitment. Kevin’s made it clear that he will invest in both. Obviously the recruitment bit has not been a great success, but it’s not something we’ve been strangers to previously, remember ‘Bromby out’? I agree that the season card price rises are too severe and would have been better done more gradually, but the reason for doing it is to allow more investment in the team without breaking the rules. It’s not as though Kevin is pocketing the money, he’s spent £40m out of his own pocket already!
The price rises should have gone up a few seasons ago, had it too good for a while. This doesn’t excuse the rise , as a lot of supporters will unfortunately struggle to pay out. Our prices are similar to Barnsley, same crappy football but not as big a price hike. As for Nagle right or wrong we would be struggling to get someone to pump in £40 million.
Welcome back TS, Not too sure where we go from here it’s one calamity after another. We can’t say it’s the same team as last season, had plenty of coaches since then too. One person that escapes criticism is Kevin Russell, been there through a lot of this period. Suppose you can’t say it’s been a terrible season being in the top 6 most of the time, but the entertainment value is shocking and has been for ages. And there we go nobody can put there finger on the problems, would say it was our DOF but we have been bad for a few seasons now.
I find it really confusing that the same problems repeat themselves with different players and coaches. We keep getting told “they’re an honest group” and they’re trying their best but the evidence on the pitch suggests otherwise.
Kevin Russell apparently played in the same Wrexham team as Jake Edwards and Mark Cartwright. His ability to avoid the chop every time there’s a clear out is probably because his loyalties lie with the executives rather than the manager he’s working under. This could just be wild guesswork but feels like a sensible explanation for how he keeps his job and the rest of the coaches get fired with the manager. I don’t know how much influence he has in the training set up, but Duff had Paterson as his number two, so he may have mostly just put the cones out.
Blaming Mark Cartwright for our problems this season may be somewhat valid but I think there’s a lot more to it than that. My feeling is that the biggest issue is that we’ve got too many players fragile players with weak mentalities. And the players that have come in seem to have absorbed this culture rather than changing it. A big clear out in the summer may help to reset the culture but that’s been said before.
TS you and others have highlighted the endless list of issues and grumbles and moans about HT. apathy almost prevented me from commenting.
A few days ago sacking MD and his helpers was the easiest and probably only solution to the problem. Other options: KN b*ggers off and stops wasting his money; getting rid of most of the players or getting rid of of Cartwright and Edwards who have spent far too much time in Huddersfield as it is, there must be another alternative, but it escapes me at the moment.
I think you are being very generous signing up for another year, I for one will not. I signed up nine seasons ago regularly travelling up from South London – it’s becoming increasingly wearying and I have a cracking seat. What’s the point if the view of the pitch is ruined by what’s on it and those in the exclusive seats!!!
Sacking the manager has been the proposed solution many times but never seems to get to the root of the problem. I worry that Kevin Nagle may get fed up of the negativity and roadblocks in England and focus his attention somewhere else.
I can completely understand why you don’t fancy such a lot of travelling when the quality of what we’re watching is rarely entertaining. I think there are a lot of people that mostly go because of the ritual and meeting up with friends and family to share the experience. I often find that the actual footbal is the least entertaining bit and the social aspect around the game is the most enjoyable. Though there are dozens of other (cheaper) activities that could be done instead.