If you poured a full cup of boiling hot coffee into your lap one day and then the following day you merely dribbled coffee down your shirt, the second day was not great but an improvement on the mess you made of yourself the previous time. That’s the best analogy I can come up with about Town coming up against Crawley and only managing to take away a point after they came from behind twice. An improvement from the horrors of Tommy Tonks last week but hardly a result to get fans back on board after last week’s result had fans debating whether it was the worst in our history.
Against Crawley it wasn’t an awful Town performance but it was also not completely convincing either. Familiar fragilities raised their heads for both the goals we conceded and the periods when we were chasing the game. Though, on the positive side of things, we did show some resilience in getting back in the game twice and the momentum was in Town’s favour in the closing stages even if the winner didn’t come our way. I’m not sure a club with our aspirations should be taking too much consolation from these brighter parts of this game though as ultimately we took on one of the league’s worst teams and failed to win.
Poor goals
There was something very familiar about the opening goal of the game, as Town conceded from a simple ball in behind the wingback. Brodie Spencer compounded the problem with a poor attempt at a last-ditch tackle that missed both man and ball before a smart finish put Crawley ahead. When I saw the goal go in I thought it was a good goal but watching the replay afterwards I can’t help but feel Jacob Chapman should have done better given the relatively tight angle. While his distribution has been excellent since coming in, I feel like Nicholls may have kept out at least a couple of the goals we’ve let in during Chapman’s time in between the sticks.
The second goal was another one that had the whiff of self-sabotage about it too. This time Nigel Lonwijk stood gormlessly playing the goalscorer onside when being mentally switched on would have meant he was lined up with the rest of the defence and the goal would have been chalked off for offside. Kasumu and Miller both could have done better in the build up too, with Miller failing to put in a tackle and Kasumu letting the goalscorer run off him, so there’s plenty of blame to go around with this one as well as there being some decent Crawley play involved in the goal.
Duff talked after the game about how we defended well and Crawley only had three shots and scored from two of them but I don’t think you can say you’ve defended well if you’ve given away two poor goals. I suppose it’s good that we’re restricting opponents to just a few shots but if we’re conceding goals from them due to multiple mistakes happening at the back then there’s clearly some work still to be done.
Kane and Healey open their accounts for the season
On a more positive note, it was good to see Herbie Kane and Rhys Healey get their first goals of the season. The fact that we’ve had to wait until November for them is more due to both of them struggling with injury and getting fully fit rather than any lack of form.
Both goals were finishes that other players on the pitch probably wouldn’t have had the skill to apply. Healey’s stooping, angled header from the corner showed a poacher’s instinct to connect with the ball and get the angle right to find the target which we’ve not seen from our other strikers much this season. Kane’s calmly slotted finish looked like a tap in but he showed good composure and intelligence to go for placement over power when the ball came to him and guided the ball through a crowd of players and into the goal. The majority of other players in the team would have gone for power and most likely hit the keeper or blocking defenders.
The “best and worst” of Huddersfield Town?
In Michael Duff’s Radio Leeds interview after the game he said that we’d seen the best and worst of Huddersfield Town in this game. I’d guess the worst aspects he referred to were the things I’ve covered above like switching off defensively, making silly individual errors and leaving gaps behind the wingback for them to knock balls into. There were positives too though, but calling the good play “the best of Huddersfield Town” may be overstating it, as even the decent spells Town had in this game were hardly scintillating.
Prior to going behind, I actually thought Town were in fairly good control of the game and seemed likely to be the first team to score. We’d created several good chances and were enjoying the best of the play. Herbie Kane helps us to control games in this manner, as he’s great at progressing the ball forward and picking clever passes. His influence is often subtle, little one-twos or a threaded pass but he has significantly improved our play in possession since he’s come into the team.
The other element of “the worst of Huddersfield Town” that I’ve not covered was how Town showed some elements of their poor mentality again in this game. After being the stronger team until the first goal, they had a period of being on the ropes after going behind. In fairness, we recovered and eventually equalised but there was a notable dip in the level of our performance after conceding and I think it’s something to do with mentality rather than ability – any setback on the pitch seems to make the team collectively decide to freeze up and play it safe. The things we’d previously been doing well stopped for a good while and we looked laboured and stilted all of a sudden.
I suppose another best and worst element of this game was that we created enough chances to win the game but didn’t finish them – so thumbs up for carving out the opportunities but thumbs down for not killing them off. Bojan had a brilliant chance which was ultimately saved but a better striker would have both stayed onside and finished the chance. Wiles had an even easier chance to score which was saved at point blank range. Koroma had two headers from which he should have scored at least one. Add to that the crosses that we didn’t make the most of and the times we pressed them into mistakes but failed to make the most of the opening and we can’t really be too upset about the creative aspects of the game. It’s more having the killer instinct to make the most of these openings.
Too many players put in “mixed bag” performances
Consistency has been a problem with Huddersfield Town all season, with us being good in some games and bad in others without any obvious explanation for either outcome. In this game I thought the wild swings in quality were apparent in the individual players’ performances too, with quite a few players showing both good and bad sides of their games, depending on which time you paid attention to them.
So you pick out Miller, he could be celebrated for the brilliant balls he put in for the chance Wiles hit at the keeper, Radulovic was offside for and the one Spencer chested down to Kane for the second goal. However, he also got into great positions at other times and put in truly terrible balls, not missing his man by a small amount but blasting the ball nowhere near anyone at all. Defending was a similar story, with him being generally dependable but then he missed tackle in the build up to Crawley’s second.
It’s not just Miller though, Spencer was the highest rated Town player on stats website WhoScored.com but that’s because they analyse the game based on raw data and don’t account for the fact he was mostly to blame for the opening goal and was out of position on other occasions too. There’s no raw data that can be fed into the algorithm for that, so on paper he looks like a star performer because the rest of his game was excellent and showed why he continues to get called up for the Northern Ireland international team.
Pearson also spent the first ten to fifteen minutes of the game treating the ball like it was his mortal enemy and his sole purpose in life was to boot it as far away from him as possible at every opportunity. He calmed down as the game went on but when we’re up against a team that likes to keep the ball, his tendency to hoof the ball aimlessly downfield costs us too much. Having said that, he’s otherwise a reliable and commanding presence at the back, so perhaps it’s worth accepting his limited ability on the ball to have a reliable defender in the back three.
You could do the same for nearly every player on the pitch, they did this well but did this badly. I don’t think it should be so easy to point out flaws in most of the players in a team that is supposedly aspiring for automatic promotion. It feels like the quality just isn’t there in the players we currently have available.
Crawley are an odd League One team
I knew a little bit about Crawley before this game but not a great deal. They’re apparently owned by crypto investors with a data-driven approach to things. They like to play possession football, sold most of their squad in the summer after getting promoted and replaced them with new players that are probably not as good as the ones that they got rid of.
At times it was possible to see what Crawley want to be, with them threading some nice passes together and playing decent football. It was also clear that they don’t have many decent players though and their lowly league position is at least in part due to being wedded to a philosophy that their players can’t deliver well.
Perhaps I’m being too dismissive but I find it so weird that poor teams think that trying to play out from the back and play the beautiful game will lead to victory when you’re up against a team that have better individual players than you. Teams like Manchester City and Barcelona play this way because they have some of the best players in the world at their disposal and still they make costly mistakes from time to time. Trying to play a tiki-taka game with below average players for the level you are playing at is a recipe for disaster in my view despite it being an admirable aspiration.
Crawley were there for the taking in this game, they made silly mistakes at the back that we didn’t exploit, were too open and invited us on to them with the way that they played. It’s only Town’s lack of killer instinct that allowed them to come away with a point.
In fairness to them, they scored two good goals and exploited our own defensive weaknesses well. Crucially, they took the chances that came their way well too. Michael Duff pointed out that the xG for their three chances was 0.35, so typically those opportunities wouldn’t have added up to even one goal nevermind two but that’s why xG is a slightly silly stat because they finished two of their three shots regardless of how low the percentage chances were of that happening.
Duff admits he doesn’t know his best strike pairing
After the game (and before, now I think about it) Michael Duff bemoaned the lack of an obvious starting strike partnership and it’s starting to become a problem. There are currently six strikers in the first team squad that are technically competing for starting spots if they’re all fit: Ward, Healey, Radulovic, Marshall, Koroma and Ladapo.
If I’d not watched Town play this season and someone told me the manager didn’t know who his best strikers were at this stage of the season then I would think that manager was incompetent. But actually, I don’t think it’s Duff’s fault as none of the six strikers mentioned have done enough to justify a starting slot. Either through a lack of form or fitness, they’ve all struggled. Here’s a quick run down of how each has got on so far:
Ward: Occasionally lively, usually sluggish but rarely potent. His struggles to stay fit might be holding him back but the number of fans questioning his commitment seem to be growing with each niggling injury or illness.
Healey: A promising preseason was scuppered by an recurring injury which seems to be a complication of his bigger injury which kept him out last season. He’s apparently better and getting closer to full fitness now but it’s hard to feel confident he’ll stay that way as it seems like they never really got to the bottom of the cause of these recent problems. If he does manage to stay fit, he could be a real asset as he always looks like scoring when he’s on the pitch (though he’s not been on the pitch nearly enough, obviously).
Radulovic: I was very disappointed with him in the Crawley game, his pressing was sluggish and he looked laboured in everything he did before being subbed off. Too many of his performances have been like that and despite clearly being a nice guy that wants to do well, he doesn’t seem to be the answer.
Marshall: Will chase every blade of grass and floating crisp packet on the pitch but sometimes lacks quality on the ball. Given the number of minutes he’s had so far, I’d have hoped for more goals from him.
Koroma: Not a striker really but seems to be doing his best to learn the role this season after just playing like a winger out of position in previous attempts up front in the past. His goal return and general performance levels have been good even if he’s tended to be a bit too greedy and still reverts to his right-footed curler too often, which is great when it works but defenders tend to be ready for it.
Ladapo: He seemed like a wise signing given his experience but his lack of minutes and the players getting in ahead of him suggest this signing was a mistake. Perhaps he was brought in to appease grumpy fans more than to actually improve the quality of the squad, as he’s barely played and looked a bit rusty whenever he has come on. Maybe we’ll see more of him once he’s fully match fit but he currently seems a long way down the pecking order.
There’s also the possibility of Keiran Philips coming back from his loan at Sacramento Republic and making a contribution. Michael Duff’s lack of knowledge about Philips’ situation when he was recently asked about him suggests he’s not part of the immediate plans but Duff did say he tried to sign him at a former club so there could be a chance for him.
Going over all our striker options is pretty depressing as every single one represents hope that has not currently been matched with real-world performances. It’s still possible that one or more of these strikers might come good but as it stands I have sympathy with Michael Duff not knowing which combination of this bunch to throw on up front.
Healey and Koroma would be my best guess at the likely most potent strike pairing but the chances of them both staying fit for the bulk of the season seem slim at best. Whether they can actually forge an understanding and work well together is not yet known either but at least they both had a bit of time together on the pitch in this game.
The Wycombe game getting called off is annoying but makes tactical sense
Josh Koroma’s call up for the Sierra Leone international team on Friday meant that Town hit the three call ups required to allow them to postpone their match during the upcoming international break (Brodie Spencer and Callum Marshall’s Northern Ireland callups are the other two internationals). While I feel sorry for all the Town fans that bought tickets and made travel plans only to see the game cancelled at eight days’ notice, I understand why the club made this call.
We probably could have fielded a decent enough team without our internationals (I’ve written above about our relative glut of strikers and Spencer hasn’t been an automatic starter lately), Wycombe’s recent form has seen them storm to the top of the table. While it’s possible they may continue to improve, it’s likely that pushing this game back a bit will mean we’ll catch them at a slightly less dominant moment.
Town are also weakened currently by injuries and in a month or so we could have a lot more competition for places in the team. With Nicholls, Helik, Sorensen, Hogg, Evans and Balker all currently out, we are missing some of our better players.
Depending on when the rearranged fixture is slotted into the schedule, it’s possible Town will have a handful of their injured players back in the fold and will be more competitive.
Though, as I read back what I’ve written it makes me realise how far Town have fallen. It wasn’t so long ago that we were two dodgy VAR decisions away from a place in the Premier League and now postponing games to avoid facing Wycombe Wanderers away because they’re in good form. Oh dear!
Agree with most of what you say including the pair of strikers. The worry I have is the January transfer window. Kevin Nagle seems to be fixated on a new striker, and I think we all know who that is going to be. If it is going to happen he seems to be just another player that did ok in the third tier, and can’t near a starting place in his current team. The recruitment has been dreadful since Nagle took over, not his fault directly, but I would have got rid of those responsible well before now. Their is a man out there, currently available, who could completely turn this club around. Nobody seems to be talking about the obvious weakness in the team. Playing the 3-5-2 formation, your centre backs need to be able to play football. That rules out Lees and Pearson, and to a certain extent Helik. Lonwijk is ok at this level and if Balka can get fit and stay fit he’s the best of the bunch. That leaves us at least one short of a centre back who can actually pass the ball, and not dilly dally with the ball at their feet before hoofing it God knows where.
Thanks Paul. I had more things I wanted to write about the striker situation but realised I’d already banged on a long time and probably should have spun that section out into a separate article.
In terms of the January window, you’re probably right that Joe Taylor is likely our number one target. I’ve just looked and he’s played 87 minutes of football so far across seven sub appearances and no starts. So it seems like Luton didn’t need him that much and will be willing to let him go if they bring in a striker themselves. Will he be fully match-sharp and can we get him early in the window though? Both of those things matter for a short-term loan.
Before we bring in new players, we may have to thin the squad out a bit too, as we have plenty of depth at the moment but lack quality. Players suchas Turton, Ruffels and Ward will be on decent contracts but aren’t currently close to the starting eleven. I also agree with you about Lees and Pearson being good enough on the ball to fit the current style of play even if they’ve tried their best up to now.
I’d also add another midfielder onto the shopping list too, as I still think a long-term replacement for Jonathan Hogg is needed. Kasumu has done well lately but I think his lack of technical ability holds him (and the team) back.
Thinning out the squad might be a tough call. Who will want those players, or will they accept a pay off
If guess in January we’ll be able to do short term loans for fringe players who aren’t likely to play. I’d be surprised if any transfer offers came in for anyone but I suppose clubs get desperate in January and often are willing to pay over the odds or take a punt.
Joe Taylor concerns me because if he is not good enough for Luton in the Championship & they are looking for a new striker then he is simply not a good prospect for anything other than a 1 year contract at best. We have taken too many punts recently and need a proven striker not another one to add to the rubbish pile.
Who is the man who is available who you think can turn this club round?
I’ve said it a few times on X, Stuart Webber
That would be an interesting appointment if he would come back.
We have striker who is doing very well. Kyle Hudlin. He scored again on Saturday for Newport and they would really like to hang on to him as he is often their best player. A lot of fans at Town have written him off as a big “nowt” to use a Yorkshire expression but he is good with his feet and holds the ball up well. His physical presence alone makes him a handful. He has only been seen sporadically for Town when they were a very poor team with an even worse set of managers. It would be good to give him a chance with the much better midfield and someone like Healey to work off him. He can’t be worse than Radulovic who is the most totally ineffective non striker we have ever had.
Excellent piece as usual, the only one worth reading.
Got to agree that the quality is just not there but I for one will not question their commitment and effort but when that is not enough against the likes of Tamworth and Crawley we are obviously in a dark place .
Thank you Stozy. I think you’re right about effort being there and the fitness levels generally seem pretty good too. It’s pretty common for opposition managers to comment on how hard we are to play against and well-drilled. I’ve also noticed how often the opposition looks like they’ve finished a marathon when the final whistle goes too, which points towards us putting in a shift.
The quality problem is probably partly down to the fact that players that were bot good enough for the bottom end of the Championship are also not good enough for the top end of League One.
Beyond quality and effort, I think a missing ingredient from this squad is character. We seem to lack personality and grit when even small things go against us. When everything goes to plan we look like we’ve the makings of a good team but always have potential to fall to pieces any minute.
I really wish Ward had been let go in the summer, he doesn’t seem to put in much of an effort these days. Ladapo is a bit of a cart horse, why did we sign him ? So for their wages we may have been able to sign one decent striker. I think the midfield is okish, they are scoring the goals that Rudoni missed last year. I fully agree with the comment on the terrible balls booted from the back, good at heading but …? I think we have reached our level and unless we get some better players it would be a mistake to get promoted. Stay where we are, consolidate, and go for a push next season when hopefully we may be more consistent !
I don’t know what Ward is paid but he has regularly been referred to as our best paid player, so I suspect his wages will have put other clubs coming in for him in the summer. Well, that and the fact he’s injury prone and doesn’t score that often, doesn’t win much in the air and is the wrong side of thirty. Not an easy one to offload. His contract is up this summer, I think, so I suspect he’ll move on at the end of it.
I think our league position is an accurate picture of where we are, top half but not in the playoffs yet. With our best players back from injury and a bit more time for Duff’s system to bed in, I can see us making the playoffs. We’d need a fairly chunky investment in the playing squad to chase for the top two though, based on what we’ve seen so far.
I get the feeling the club are hell bent on getting back up this season because the finances don’t add up at this level. In the Championship it’s not exactly easy to break even but at League One the reduced TV money and lower away attendances mean we can’t be sustainable at the current level of spending we have. While we have a wealthy owner who can cover losses, it was revealed this week that his cash injections come in the form of loans which affects how the League One financial rules are calcuated (adversely) compared to him gifting the money to the club. So I think we may actually be less likely to go up next season rather than this one, as we may be operating on a smaller budget.
Unless we bring in several championship type players , in January . I feel that promotion
This season would be a mistake. . We have some good potentially young talent coming through. Which is Good. Although look at Spencer , I believe will be a top Championship player in a couple of seasons. Kevin will have to dig deep , 10s I of millions of pounds are required . At least 2 ball playing Defenders are required. Plus a general big upgrade else way . .. we have 1 decent keeper Nichols . The rest can be let go . The truth is often brutal .
U T T ⚽️
After Breitenreiter’s comments at the end of last season I though there would be a mass clear out but I think it might be summer 25 instead that we see a lot of turnover, as more contracts expire. I’d agree with you, most of the current crop could go without me losing a lot of sleep.
I have to agree that neither Chapman or Maxwell have done enough this season to give me confidence. I’m sure Chapman will be benefitting from his time in the first team, but I do think his positioning makes it easy for strikers – Birmingham and first goal for Crawley spring to mind. Goalkeeper would be an area I would look to strengthen because Nicholls hasn’t hit the heights this season either that he as previously achieved.
I agree that Nicholls isn’t anywhere near the peak he was at the year we made the playoff final but he’s still better than any keeper that would be likely to come to us. I think Maxwell’s Huddersfield Town career will forever be remembered for Tamworth regardless of whatever else he does for us, so he’s probably better moving on. Chapman is great with the ball at his feet but I’d agree about him not inspiring confidence. I suspect the defence probably don’t have full confidence in him either and that has an impact on their mentality. I’ve noticed a few times that Pearson could have passed back to the keeper with no pressure but instead pumped it down field to nobody instead.
You’re blaming Chapman for Pearson’s long ball preference? Isn’t at least as likely that Pearson doesn’t trust himself to pass short, accurately and under pressure?
Another good and accurate article, as usual.
We have not had a decent, proven goal scorer for the last 5 years. None of the ones you list are good enough, particularly Koroma. Warnock re-signed Ward. Healey, Redulovic and Ladapo were panic signings when we were let down by Luton regarding Joe Taylor, who was an excellent goal scorer for Lincoln during the second half of last season. We are also missing midfielder Joe Hodge who looked good before his injury.
Thanks Terry. I hoped at least one of the strikers would hit a rhythm and scored a load of goals but none have really. Funnily enough Koroma is the top scorer of the strikers and the closest to a 20-goal man on current goals per game but he’s frustrating to watch a lot of the time, as he’ll drift out of a game or continually run into traffic rather than play simple passes. Hodge will be a useful player to get back but based on current form and what we saw of Hodge, I’m not sure he’s take either Kane or Kasumu’s place in the team. Joe Taylor would be a good option but I think we’ll have to ship out one or two strikers if we are going to bring more in.
Was wondeirng what you would say after Tamworth.
I think your most telling take – is ‘character’ or ‘personalities’. Tamworth seemed to have that – Town just a uniform greyness about them – no big personality no obvious system to give a cutting edge.
Flaws in defeince, flaws in attack – points to a mid talbe finish at best.
But glad you are still looking for the positives.
I wanted to do a writeup on the Tamworth debacle but didn’t get time to in the end. Though I’m not sure I’d have said much that hasn’t been said already, there’s no positive spin to be found from that game.
I think you’ve got a point about Town being a bit drab this season. Greyness sums it up. Probably a factor in why many fans with tickets aren’t turning up for home games and those that do are often underwhelmed even when we win.
A good article and some very salient points. I think Taylor comes in and Marshall goes back in January. If we can then offload Radulovic who I suspect would’ve gone in the summer were he not injured. If it were not for mental fragility then this squad should be good enough for second place. The likes of Wrexham and Wycombe are not better than us. Let’s remember Wrexham did sign Will Boyle from us. I think the January transfer window will see little movement as it’s never the best time to sign and we have no idea what division we will be in next season. Ward, Hogg, Kasumu, Koroma, Ruffles, Pearson, Helik, Lees, Turton, Maxwell, Headley, High and Ariana are all out of contract in 2025 and I would honestly let them all go. We need players who are technically proficient and have pace and they have repeatedly proved they are not good enough at championship level, never mind being able to compete. The other point I would raise about our strikers is again the lack of pace. We must have one of the slowest squads in the league which maybe reinforces our laboured style of play that frankly is dull to watch.
Thanks for your post. Taylor in with Marshall and Radulovic out would be an upgrade.
Of the list of players you’ve put with contracts running out, I think only Helik, Kasumu and possibly Koroma justify offers of new contracts. The others could all play well enough to earn new deals but, like you, I think we’ll see a lot leave.
Excellent point about the lack of speed. There are a handful of players that are fast but there are a lot of slow players and if we pick too many together in the same area of the pitch it can leave us exposed.
Unfortunately Duff has no ‘plan B’ and following his comment that if you are an out and out winger you will leave the club shows he can’t/won’t change his tactics and this is now getting countered by other teams. When we played Tamworth they had one non league striker who was neither strong or fast but he still played 3 central defenders, surely we could have played an extra attacking midfielder and played with 2? He just won’t budge away from his back 3. You said we should put up with Pearsons lack of skill on the ball because he is a good defender,… come on he isn’t even that. He has the turning circle of one of Pauls ships and the pace of one also. Lees is even worse. This desperate search for a striker is not needed. I know Birmingham are doing much better than us but that is down to having a team of footballers. They spent almost 20 million on 2 strikers and Wiles has scored as many goals as either of them. Roll on January and hopefully Mr Webber will be installed by then!
We should be beating teams like Crawley, this was an end of season performance with nothing to play for. A lack of energy and determination was obvious and half the team played like they didn’t want to over exert as they would potentially be leaving in January. I don’t know if it’s the manager, the players, a general lack of enthusiasm to win a game or all three combined but the rot needs to stop. If certain players are indeed looking for a new contract or club they are going the wrong way about it.
If as expected, Luton sack their manager, that could be the end of us signing Joe Taylor. I hope our recruitment staff have alternatives in place