Terrier Spirit

Oct292022 by Terrier Spirit19 Comments

Predicted lineup, lost faith in subs, Town old boys, winning ugly, score prediction – Preview of Huddersfield Town v Millwall

Matches

Huddersfield Town start a hectic period of games with a tricky home fixture against Millwall later today. It’s the first of a sequence of five games in 15 days and with Town currently sitting bottom of the league, it’s hard not to see these next few weeks as being absolutely pivotal to Town’s season. If we can pick up a few wins then we can claw ourselves back into contention but if we continue to flounder then we could head into the World Cup break adrift at the bottom of the table. Millwall are having a good season so far, after being tipped to struggle after losing their star player, Jed Wallace, in the summer. They’ve been particularly good recently, having won their last four and are undefeated in five. Whereas Town’s recent form has been faltering at best. Last weekend’s battling...

Oct262022 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

Why I’m worried about Dean Hoyle putting Huddersfield Town up for sale

News, Opinion

Dean Hoyle announced yesterday that he is going to step back from the day-to-day running of the football club and will look to find someone to buy the club. This news was coupled with the announcement of a new managing director, Dave Baldwin, that will take over the work Dean was doing as the club’s figurehead and who will be in charge of the search for a new buyer of the club. I’ve seen some fans celebrate this news and act as though this can only be a good thing for the club but I’m far less optimistic. While there’s a possibility that things could work out well down the line, I’m a bit concerned. In this article I’ll talk about a few of the things that worry me about this new development… The takeover between Phil and Dean has still not been officially concluded Unless I misse...

Oct232022 by Terrier Spirit10 Comments

Bore draw talking points, Boro as bad as Town, a good point, pressure on Fotheringham – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Middlesbrough

Matches

Basketball is a game that is spoiled because there are too many points scored. One team attacks and scores, the other team attacks and scores, then one might miss, then the other scores, over and over. It’s too easy to get the ball in the hoop and scoring isn’t important enough to be meaningful. That’s why football, in my opinion, is more enjoyable to watch, there are far fewer scoring opportunities so goals are far more important and enjoyable when they do get scored. But the downside is that you get occasional games where no goals are scored - like when Town played Middlesbrough yesterday. In fact, if you were going to use this game as an advert for the sport of football you would do little to tempt any neutral into ever watching the sport ever again. It was a dire game which will no...

Oct122022 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Bad starts, lazy trainers, poor Hull, Fotheringham’s boom or bust and Young Guns Part 2 – Notes on Town’s win over Hull

Matches

Huddersfield Town beat Hull on Sunday and now the dust has settled it's easier to see this result for what it was: a good three points against a poor opponent. While Town started the game poorly and had a few shaky moments throughout the game, they unquestionably deserved the win and showed signs of improvement under Mark Fotheringham after a dismal start to the season prior to his arrival. I don't think winning this game means all our problems are over, as many issues that have blighted this season were still evident in this game but there are green shoots of recovery on display now and that gives fans all they ever want… hope. We've seen enough false dawns in the past to not get too carried away but there are early signs that things are improving at Town. Here are a few of my tho...

Oct112022 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“He looked happier on the pitch” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Hull

Matches

Huddersfield Town managed to shake off a dodgy start and end up comfortable winners of their Yorkshire derby against Hull, giving Mark Fotheringham his first win. It wasn't a completely convincing Huddersfield Town performance but there were plenty of positives anyway, most of them came in the second half when Town established themselves as the dominant team. While it was clear that Hull are not a good team, it was pleasing to see Town manage to finish the job against a weaker opponent and hold on to a lead. It felt like a third goal was close for Town on several occasions but in the end we had to settle for a 2-0 win. Here's what I thought of each individual performance… Lee Nicholls - 6 out of 10 There was a slightly hairy moment in the second half where he became a sweeper kee...

Oct62022 by Terrier Spirit15 Comments

Nathan Jones: angry toddler, Mbete’s hattrick, B-Team talent, Sorba’s redemption, Fotheringham’s enthusiasm – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Luton

Matches

Huddersfield Town earned their first away point of the season on Tuesday night when they drew 3-3 with Luton. Having led the game twice, you could argue this was a lost opportunity for an away win but the stats from the game and the trickiness of the opponent make it hard to see this as anything but a well-earned point on the road. Mark Fotheringham is in the very early days of his time at the club but there are already glimmers of the ideas he wants to instill in his players and it looks encouraging. It was far from a perfect performance but Town did at least look to battle and the majority of the players that were given a chance made the step up, with one notable exception. Here are some of my thoughts on the game. Mbete’s unfortunate hattrick Mbete is only 19 years old and ...

Oct42022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Luton tonight

Matches

The hectic fixture schedule of the Championship is even more exaggerated this season with the addition of the World Cup break in November so Town have a very tight turnaround between two away games. In fact, it must have hardly been worth heading back up north on Saturday night to only travel back down again, presumably on Monday afternoon. The good thing about the quick turnaround is that Huddersfield Town's players have an opportunity to redeem themselves after one of their worst showings in a season that is already full of poor performances despite us only being at the start of October. Luton Town away has been a notoriously tough hunting ground for us in recent seasons, possibly divine justice for the hubris of THAT chant but Mark Fotheringham will want to see an improved per...

Oct32022 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Soft goals, Sorba’s cupped ear, Russell’s aimless wandering, a collective failure and nursing fragile confidence – notes on a bruising defeat to Reading

Matches

Mark Fotheringham became the eighth consecutive permanent new Town boss to lose their first game in charge when he lost 3-1 to Reading on Saturday. It was an abject performance from the Terriers which highlighted many of the issues that have plagued the team since the start of the season. Despite some strangely upbeat post match comments, Mark Fotheringham must be deeply concerned about some of the things he saw on Saturday as Reading barely had to get out of second gear to brush aside a Town team that looked completely inept at times. Here are some of my thoughts on the game in more detail… Three soft goal give Reading an easy afternoon's work The first goal Town conceded was the most forgivable, with Rudoni being out jumped on a corner but then again, it wasn't a clever p...

Oct12022 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Predicted lineup, style of play, touchline behaviour, ex-players returning – Huddersfield Town v Reading preview

Matches

Mark Fotheringham takes charge of his first Huddersfield Town game this afternoon, away at Reading. The Royals were widely tipped for relegation at the start of this season by many (including this blog) but a fine start to the season sees them sat third in the table and they represent a tough first challenge for Fotheringham (I keep wanting to shorten his name to Fozzy bear but I suspect he's too serious for nicknames). In advance of this afternoon's action, I'm going to take a look at some of the main talking points to watch out for in the game… Predicted lineup Fotheringham said he had a clean bill of health heading into this game but the club's training video they released a few days ago didn't show Jonathan Hogg training, so I suspect he's still either injured or at best only...

Sep302022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Who was the last Huddersfield Town boss to win their first game? – The new manager bounce is a myth

News, Opinion

Mark Fotheringham takes charge of his first game as Huddersfield Town head coach tomorrow afternoon and I suspect many Reading fans will fear that we will be beneficiaries of the famous new manager bounce. However, my instinct was that Huddersfield Town never seem to get good results straight away under new managers and we usually have to wait at least a little while before getting their first win. To see if I was right I waded through the record books (not really, I just looked it up online) and found I was right - new managers, or head coaches, have lost their first game in charge going back for a very long time. Here’s a quick rundown of just how far back you have to go in Huddersfield Town history before you’ll find a Huddersfield Town boss who actually won their first game i...