Terrier Spirit

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...

Sep292022 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

What kind of head coach will Mark Fotheringham be?

Opinion, Tactics

Mark Fotheringham has been appointed Huddersfield Town’s new head coach. He is the fifth of Town’s last six managerial appointments to come with no significant experience of being the head coach of a men’s football team. In fairness, gambling on inexperience has paid off half of the time in the past, with Wagner and Corberan both overperforming with limited resources. But we’ve also seen Siewert and Schofield crash and burn too. So we know how much of a gamble it is to let someone take their first steps into management at Championship level, where the games come thick and fast with no margin for error or time to learn on the job. Because Mark Fotheringham hasn’t worked as a permanent head coach anywhere previously, we don’t have anything to go on in terms of his track record. So ...

Sep182022 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Rhodes’ goal, Camara’s graft, Nicholls’ save, Thomas’ miss, Pelach’s passion – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s win over Cardiff

Matches

Huddersfield Town won their second game of the season yesterday in a narrow, scrappy game against Cardiff. It was a hard-fought game where neither team played amazing football but Town showed a bit of grit and determination that has been sorely lacking in recent weeks and managed to hang on to their narrow lead, mostly thanks to a Lee Nicholls penalty save in the first half and, admittedly, a fairly poor Cardiff team. Here are a few of my thoughts on the game which seem to centre around a few key figures from Town’s squad yesterday… Jordan Rhodes and the goal It’s not been easy for Jordan Rhodes in his second spell at Town. He signed while carrying a back injury and by the time he was fully fit Danny Ward was in excellent form and Rhodes was limited to cameo’s from the bench. To ...

Sep172022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup to take on Cardiff

Matches

Huddersfield Town play Cardiff later today with Narcis Pelach taking the reins as caretaker boss. The Spaniard (somewhat unexpectedly) was spared the chop when Danny Schofield was shown the door earlier this week and will lead the team today. He sounded pretty impressive in his prematch press conference and it may well be that he does a decent job today in what is likely to be his only game in charge, given the international break should be ample time for the board to find a long-term replacement for Schofield to be appointed. Trying to predict the team for today’s game is going to be trickier due to the change in management but I can’t imagine there will be a huge change in thinking, given that Pelach has been a central figure in both the Corberan and Schofield coaching teams. Because...