An unconvincing win – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 victory over Mansfield Town

Huddersfield Town beat Mansfield on Saturday by two goals to one. After back-to-back away defeats against Charlton and Lincoln, it was good to get back to winning ways even if the performance was far from perfect. Mansfield could easily have taken something from this game if they had taken some fairly easy chances, but thankfully Town scored from their only two shots on goal all game and that was enough to get them over the line.

The old adage goes that winning games where you’ve not played well is a hallmark of a successful team. It’s hard to see it that way for Town this season, as so many of our victories have come with disclaimers about some element of the performance. Playing well and winning is something we’ve not seen nearly enough and as a result we’ve had too many games like this, where we’ve come up against a limited opposition team and huffed and puffed over the line. Obviously it’s better than losing but occasionally it would be nice to feel like we’d efficiently dispatched a relatively poor opponent (Crawley at home and Cambridge United away are the only examples I can immediately recall). 

On the positive side, this victory will give some confidence back to the players and there were some good moments in this game where Town looked decent. That’s something to build on and also means we’re still in the race for the sixth place position. 

A sloppy first half

The first half of the game felt like a continuation of the poor performances we saw last week. There was a lethargy about Town that made it look like we were the team with nothing to play for. Our passing was tremendously wasteful and it was rare we could string three or four passes together. As a result we rarely put together sustained possession in Mansfield’s half. Instead, we kept giving it away and inviting them on to us.

The way that Town pressed in this first half was quite revealing too. Jon Worthington wants his teams to be on the front foot and pressure opposition teams high up the pitch but that didn’t happen in this first half. Typically, we pressed in ones and twos rather than collectively as a team. Which means it was simple to pass past those few that were hustling and bustling because the rest of the team weren’t pushing up to increase the pressure. 

My impression was that it was the players not doing what they were told, rather than an intentional tactic to sit deeper. So that gives Worthington a bit of a problem, in terms of getting the players to do what he wants to, rather than them falling back into “a team of individuals”, as Michael Duff would refer to them when the players all start doing their own thing.

While trying to dissect exactly what is wrong with a misfiring Huddersfield Town team has some element of entertainment value, there wasn’t much else to get excited about in this first half. Mansfield were pretty unimpressive as opponents but were well drilled and were depressingly difficult for Town to break down. 

The best moment of the first half came from the away team, when a decent strike from outside the box by Bowery bounced off the post and fell to Will Evans feet but he skewed wide in front of an open goal. The ball came to Evans fast but any striker would have expected to finish such a gift of an opportunity. 

A better second half

I don’t know if Worthington threw some teacups around or put his arm around some shoulders at halftime but whatever went on in the dressing room seemed to result in Town coming out in a better frame of mind. We connected our passes better, showed a bit more organisation off the ball and generally looked like a team that wanted to win this game.

It’s also possible that Mansfield tired and allowed us a bit more time on the ball than they did in the first half. The game was generally more open and it felt like we were better off for having more space to play into. But the first half had been such a snoozefest that I was eager to jump on any coherent attacking play by Town to celebrate, even if our first shot on target didn’t come until 63 minutes into the game. 

After looking hesitant with his subs in previous games, Worthington got the changes just right in this game. Dion Charles, Mickel Miller and Callum Marshall were all brought on around the hour mark and gave us some fresh impetus for the last half hour of the game. Miller in particular caught the eye with some very encouraging interplay between him and Roosken. Charles also seemed fired up and worked hard despite the boos he received upon entering the pitch (because of his ill-advised trip to Blackpool to watch Bolton from the away end last weekend).

The games’ opening goal came from the best passing move of the game up to that point. Sorensen put in an excellent, targeted cross to Wiles’ feet, who then quickly shifted it wide again to Ruben Roosken to smartly finish. Wiles showed excellent selflessness, quick feet and positional awareness to find Roosken unmarked in the box and the Dutchman was clinical with his strike. 

Town narrowly avoided conceding an equaliser when Will Evans again had the ball coming to him in an excellent position. This time it was a deep cross into the box that he should have headed home from close range but failed to connect with. The game was fairly well-balanced at this point, so few would have complained if Town had been pegged back.

But thankfully it was Town who struck next. Our second goal was another well-worked one that took advantage of the game opening up. This time it was Roosken showing good awareness when he picked out Wiles brilliant run when all of Mansfield’s defence were drawn to the ball rather than picking up runners. The finish was easy thanks to the clever build up but Wiles showed good composure to guide the ball past the stranded keeper.  

Town’s two-goal cushion didn’t last long, as Mansfield pulled one back a few minutes later. Their goal was a good cross to the back post but there was some sloppy marking that allowed Dwyer to head home without much pressure. Set pieces have been our strong suit this season, both attacking and defending but lately we’ve slipped. We conceded an almost identical goal last week and generally there seems to be slackness in our marking. Thankfully the goal didn’t cost us and Town rode out the pressure in the final stages of the game but it’s a shame we couldn’t keep a clean sheet and enjoy a comfortable finish to the game. 

Roosken and Wiles deserve the plaudits

While this wasn’t a stellar performance from Town it was good to see us get a win despite not really firing on all cylinders. The difference on the day really came down to Town being able to create two moments of quality in a game low on that commodity. Even better, we actually finished the only two decent chances we created all game. 

Ben Wiles can be frustrating to watch at times, with some games passing him by and other times he spends more times running the wrong way to draw defenders out of position. While Wiles did plenty of his usual off-the-ball work to make space for others, he also got himself into good attacking positions in this game too. 

Ruben Roosken also deserved his goal and assist. Not everything worked for him in this game but when he got on the ball in advanced positions he did look like he could make things happen. He seemed to spark into life when Miller came on, possibly because Ruffels didn’t venture forward from the left back area nearly as much as Miller and that left Roosken isolated. Miller’s attacking play pushed Roosken further up the field and gave Mansfield another threat to consider. Hopefully we’ll see more of the Roosken-Miller partnership in the future. In the past I’ve wondered whether Roosken or Miller should start on the left if they are both fit. The answer on this evidence is both.

Is Worthington still in with a chance of getting the permanent job?

Despite winning this game, I’m not convinced that Jon Worthington is seriously being considered for the full-time role. It’s hard to know if there’s truth in the rumours of Town putting out feelers for a new manager to come in before the season ends. Regardless, the bruising defeat against Charlton followed by a limp effort against Lincoln has taken the shine of Worthington’s credentials as a potential full-time head coach. 

I think the only realistic way for Jon Worthington to keep hold of the job would be for him to guide us to promotion. Anything less and he’s likely to be asked to return to his academy role. 

There’s perhaps a scenario where we have a good run-in, make the playoffs but miss out on promotion due to bad luck in a crucial moment. A heroic defeat could be enough to justify keeping him on but even that would need to involve him showing a bit of skill as a coach beyond what we’ve seen so far. 

Given the experienced coaches that have struggled to get this squad playing to their full potential, it was always a lot to ask Worthington to get a tune out of them. When I hear him talk about how he wants the team to play, it makes complete sense and prioritises attacking play over being too cautious. However, the evidence on the pitch so far has been patchy at best. 

Empty seats?

The official attendance was 19,986 for this game but that figure represents all the tickets sold for this game, not the actual number of humans inside the stadium. It’s not easy to eyeball an accurate number of fans watching but I wouldn’t have been surprised if the genuine attendance was half the official figure. 

Saturday afternoon provided beautiful conditions to go out and watch a game of football. Sadly for Town, it was also beautiful conditions to do something else too. While the anger from fans about season card prices increases will be acutely felt by the club, these thousands of season card holders that didn’t come to this game will be equally worrying. Was it a one-off due to an unusually sunny April Saturday or are some season card holders already disengaging with Town and are unlikely to renew?

The protest against the owner from the stands and the booing of our own player when he came off the bench gave the impression of a fan base that’s turning sour but the dwindling numbers will be of equal concern to the executives at the club. Despite us technically still being in with a chance of promotion, it seems that a significant chunk of our fans have decided this season is effectively over and are already looking for better ways to spend a Saturday.

Wycombe tonight

While it didn’t feel like it at the time, beating Wycombe away was probably the high-water mark for this season. That win seemed to put automatic promotion back on the table for Town. Sadly, rather than kick on from there, we’ve struggled over the last three months and stumbled down the table. Wycombe have also faltered in the back end of the season and have gone from potential league winners to losing their automatic promotion place to Wrexham. 

While Wycombe’s season is far from over, tonight feels like a rare occasion where we’re playing a good team at a bad moment for them in terms of form. While Town aren’t exactly at their fluent best either, hopefully this game will be a chance to get a bit of momentum as we head into the final stages of the season.