Terrier Spirit

Apr152023 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Predicted lineup, passing to death, player to watch, how to win – Swansea v Huddersfield Town PREVIEW

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Swansea this afternoon, after making the long journey from West Yorkshire to south Wales. It’s likely to be another tricky afternoon for the Terriers, as Swansea are a decent team who like to play possession football. So expect another game where Town see very little of the ball and have to play on the counter. That might actually suit Neil Warnock’s Terriers though, as our recent turn around in fortunes has mostly been built around dogged performances where we let the other team keep the ball and hit them on the counter and with set pieces rather than trying to do anything too fancy ourselves. Town go into the game outside of the relegation zone with just five games to go and this game represents a chance to put some extra space between us and the drop ...

Apr122023 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Town break a record, riding our luck, Vaclik saves & Pearson marks drinks break – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Blackburn

Matches

Huddersfield Town drew 2-2 with Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday and it was either two points thrown away after holding a 2-0 lead at half time or a valuable point gained after being completely outplayed for the entirety of the 90 minutes, depending on your perspective. While the 90th-minute equaliser from Blackburn was a sickener at the time, I’ve since reflected that it’s a decent outcome for Town and the point could be very valuable in the fight for survival. I’ll cover some of my thoughts on the game in this blogpost. Record breaking Terriers! The nerds at Opta have confirmed that no Championship team have completed fewer passes since they started counting them on their fingers and toes back in 2013. We registered just 63 successful passes over the course of the 90 minut...

Apr92023 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Watford = talent without passion, Rudoni and Harrat goals, counterattacking masterclass, Warnock tribute – Notes on Watford away

Matches

During Mark Fotheringham’s time as Town manager he often talked about how “on another day” things would have gone differently. Unfortunately for him, those days never seemed to come. However, under Neil Warnock, we seem to be having quite a few of those days, where things go our way. It happened again for Town against Watford, where we went behind but then scored three goals and won the game. It isn’t good luck that’s led to Town recent upturn in results, it’s, as Neil Warnock pointed out to the club’s media team, having a good manager. We’ve now got a boss that knows how to use the players we have in such a way that gives us a chance of getting results like these. Rather than bemoaning our bad luck, we’re actually making our opponents curse their luck instead. It’s not always pretty, ...

Apr72023 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

Team prediction, Watford lowdown, Wilder v Warnock – Watford v Huddersfield Town PREVIEW

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Watford today in a match that could see them end the day outside the relegation zone for the first time since... well, actually, I think we’ve been in the relegation zone forever. I don’t remember a time before Town being in the relegation zone, there was the bit at the start of the season where the league table was arranged alphabetically but other than that we’ve been there or thereabouts. But, thanks to some gritty and characterful performances from Neil Warnock’s Terriers, we’ve dragged ourselves back into contention and have a real chance of staying up now. Watford will be hoping to get their playoff push back on track today though, and have a squad of Premier League-quality talent, so won’t be pushovers despite the form table suggesting they’re there for...

Feb62023 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

Fotheringham gets it wrong, QPR bad, the triple sub lift and old hands falter – notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with QPR

Matches

Huddersfield Town drew with QPR on Saturday in a game which saw Town look absolutely abysmal in the first half but actually finished the game on the front foot and were pushing for the victory. It will depend on your perspective on Town (and maybe life in general) whether there was enough to satisfy you in Town's good moments to offset how bad they were at their worst in this game. We really stank when we were bad but once Knockaert came on in the closing stages we suddenly looked like we could attack with purpose and creativity. Judging from the boos at the end of the game, many fans remain unconvinced but I think there was enough to encourage the optimistic Town fan. Team selection and tactics all wrong I think a lot of Town's difficulties in the first half of this ...

Feb12023 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

My thoughts on the 22 ins and outs at Huddersfield Town in the January transfer window

Transfers

Huddersfield Town’s January transfer window was certainly busier than most fans expected when Mark Fotheringham said there wouldn’t be any activity this month. Whether that was him playing mind games with the board, other teams or he was just talking rubbish is hard to say but, in fairness to the club's hierarchy, they have been very active in the January market. On a more critical note, the activity at this stage looks like a confused mess of bargain bucket purchases and weird decisions with the odd promising acquisition thrown in. With all the loan players being recalled and sent out again, I’ve genuinely lost track of all the movement in and out of the squad this month. So, to get some clarity in my own mind, I’m going to go through all the transfers the club have made this month. T...

Jan292023 by Terrier Spirit13 Comments

A tepid defence of Fotheringham, dour Huddersfield, inept tactics, Hungbo’s promise & bad passsing – Notes on Coventry away

Matches

Huddersfield Town lost to Coventry yesterday. Defeat is a familiar feeling to Town fans this season but this one was a particularly hard one to take, as it was a poor performance, with inept management from the sidelines and hinted towards worrying signs for the rest of the season. While Town are still within touching distance of safety in the league table, their inability to create decent chances against a Coventry team that were low on confidence and there for the taking is deeply concerning. The lack of ideas, both on and off the field meant there was little to feel positive about after the game. Here are some of my thoughts on the game: Hamer and Gyokeres the difference between the two teams I thought this game was fairly evenly matched for long periods. Town had the majo...

Jan282023 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Coventry City

Matches

After last weekend's game against Blackpool was postponed due to a frozen pitch, it feels like forever since we had some football to talk about. So I'm actually pleased this game was moved forward to this weekend, even though it was harsh on those fans that had already made travel plans for the previous midweek date it was planned for. Had this game not been rearranged to today, we'd have faced another Town-less Saturday, and as much as they are a near-constant source of disappointment and frustration, I actually really miss it when they don't play. I'm not going to pull at the thread of why I seem to enjoy something that also brings me such pain, this is a football blog, not therapy. Instead, I'm going to try and predict the team Mark Fotheringham will select against Coventry today. ...

Jan162023 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Rudoni targetted by bullies, ugly football, missing Lee, sitting deep and turning to the grown ups – notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Hull

Matches

Huddersfield Town drew with Hull on Saturday thanks to them conceding a 97th-minute equaliser. The game was far from a classic, as neither team found any fluency or played with any great flair but after Town led for so long, it was a bitter blow to not come away with all three points. Having said all that, there were plenty of positives to take from a battling away performance against a team that had been in relatively good form before this game. Town will now look to another crucial away trip next Saturday when they play Blackpool in a relegation six-pointer. Town pay the price for sitting deep There was an element of bad luck with the late goal that Town conceded but we invited the possibility of Hull finding a way through by dropping deep and not showing enough ambition in the...

Jan102023 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

Fotheringham’s interview confusion, defensive errors, Ayina subbed before red, misfiring strikers – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to PNE

Matches

Huddersfield Town lost 3-1 to Preston and saw themselves leave the FACup at the third round stage despite taking the lead early in the second half. It was a game that the Terriers probably could have won “on another day” , to borrow a phrase our head coach is fond of using. But rather than looking forward to a fourth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur, like PNE are now doing, we are instead having to rue our missed opportunities and convince ourselves that we wanted to concentrate on the league anyway. What tosh, I’d much rather have a bit of cup glory as a distraction from the drudgery of a relegation scrap. Here are a few of my thoughts from the game… Defensive errors cost Town dearly All three of Preston’s goals looked bad in real time and are even worse when y...