Terrier Spirit

Aug122022 by Terrier Spirit15 Comments

What’s going wrong with Huddersfield Town? 7 potential reasons

Matches, Opinion

There's something wrong at Huddersfield Town this season. We've lost our first three games, which wouldn’t be horrendous on its own but the manner of the defeats and the way the team have been playing during those games alongside events off the pitch all point towards some rising concerns among Town fans. So rather than a preview article for tomorrow’s game against Stoke I’m going to try and dig into the possible reasons why Huddersfield Town are so bad at the moment. To save you from disappointment before you get too far, I don’t have the answers, you won’t finish this article with a neat, 5-point plan about exactly how to fix Huddersfield Town’s problems. Instead, I’m going to go over all the things I can think of that might be contributing to the problems and consider how much...

Aug92022 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

All change! Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on PNE in the League Cup

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Preston North End tonight in the Carabao Cup tonight in a match that may previously have seemed fairly meaningless but now has increased importance after Danny Schofield lost his opening two games in the Championship. Away from the glare of the league campaign he's likely to rotate his squad and give the fringe players a run out but he will also be hoping to record his first win as Head Coach. Predicting the team for these games can be very tricky when wholesale changes are likely but it's also quite fun to try and guess which of the players on the first team will be given a chance. Here's how I think we'll line up. Goalkeeper: Chapman If you go off the official club website, Lee Nicholls and Ryan Schofield are the first team goalkeepers so it should b...

Aug72022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

A spineless performance, a failed formation, Mr Nice’s nasty side, not putting it in the mixer, succession planning? – Notes on Birmingham away

Matches

I try and write these articles a day or two after the match so I've had time to think on the match, calm down and it's not one long rant. But I'm still wound up about how abject Town were in that first half having slept twice after the game. There have been some really bad Town performances in the last four or five years to compare that 45 minutes to and I don't think it was the worst I've seen them but it wasn't far off Jan Siewert-era Town. Thankfully a hairdryer treatment team talk and a few teacups getting flung around the changing rooms seemed to shake some sense into the bunch of wasters that had turned out in the first half and I didn't feel embarrassed to support the team that played in the second half even if it was far from perfect. You can read my player ratin...

Aug62022 by Terrier Spirit15 Comments

“He’s really dragging the team down” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City

Matches

Huddersfield Town lost 2-1 to Birmingham City last night in a game where they struggled badly in the first half and weren’t able to turn an improved second-half into the goals we needed to get anything from the game. It’s a result that adds pressure onto Danny Schofield, as he’s now lost his opening two games in charge at Town and both performances have been unconvincing at best. Schofield showed a lot of faith in the team that failed to perform against Burnley last week, only making two changes when far more players could have been dropped. That faith was not repaid, after the same mistakes were repeated in another poor first half performance, with sloppy passing and poor positional play leading to Birmingham dominating the play. Schofield’s post-match comments hinted towards a bad ...

Aug52022 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Birmingham City tonight

Matches

Huddersfield Town head to Birmingham tonight for another Friday night game. After seemingly never playing on Saturdays at three in the latter half of last season, we've had our first two fixtures of this season moved to Friday nights too. As much as football under the floodlights has a certain kind of appeal, I'll be pleased once we get back to playing most of our games on Saturdays. Tonight's team selection has a bit more riding on it than usual as most people felt that Danny Schofield got it wrong last week. I'm less inclined to say that as I predicted the exact starting eleven but Schofield does need to make sure he doesn't repeat the same mistakes again tonight. With that in mind, I think we'll see a bit more attacking flair but I don't think there will be huge changes to the...

Aug42022 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Picking new signings, taking shots, finding a philosophy, Bacuna’s revenge and an intriguing barometer – 5 questions about Huddersfield Town’s trip to Birmingham City

Matches

Tomorrow night sees Town take their first away trip of the season and their second Friday night game when they take on Birmingham City at St Andrews. It’ll be an interesting test for Danny Schofield and his Terriers, after a poor showing against Burnley last week he will most likely fancy his chances against Birmingham but. While Birmingham might not have the talent or footballing ambition of last week’s opposition, they won’t roll over for us either and we’ll have to earn any points we get tomorrow night the hard way. In this article I’ll look at some of the key questions we’ll find out the answers to in tomorrow night’s game…. Will Schofield keep faith with the old guard or give his new boys a run? Against Burnley, Danny Schofield’s selection was panned for featuring none of ou...

Aug12022 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Credit to Burnley, Schofield’s short honeymoon, old problems, future hope, transfer moves and perspective – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Burnley

Matches

After all the weeks of anticipation, the shine of the new season was quickly worn away in a first half against Burnley which saw Huddersfield Town passed off the park by a team that were supposed to be in the middle of a huge change in philosophy that meant they would be a bit of a mess but in fact they looked calm, composed and full of confidence. Town, despite fielding a starting eleven without a single new signing, looked lost, disjointed and couldn't get out of their own half for long periods of a truly dismal first half. Thankfully the second half offered a little more hope as the coaching team showed a bit of tactical knowhow, the players a bit of fight and the new boys on the bench added the bit of flair we badly missed in the first half. Here are a few of my thou...

Jul302022 by Terrier Spirit13 Comments

“The footballing equivalent of Bez from the Happy Mondays” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley

Matches

Huddersfield Town were played off the park by Burnley in the first half last night but showed a bit of Terrier Spirit in the second half when they fought their way back into the game and at least showed a bit of fight. It wasn’t always pretty to watch from a Town perspective but by the end of the end of the game there were a few positives that could be taken away from the game, though that may not be reflected in some of the player ratings below. So strap yourself in for a pretty brutal first player ratings article of the season… Lee Nicholls - 6 out of 10 Made a decent save shortly after their goal and some other fairly regulation stops. He did, however, get away with a bit of a howler, when he got closed down with the ball at his feet which could have cost us a goal. This had b...

Jul292022 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Burnley tonight

Matches

The day has finally arrived! The start of the new season. Today is a fresh start for a number of other reasons too as both teams have new head coaches tonight and will most likely be fielding a few new players (though for Huddersfield Town they may be on the bench to start with). Both of tonight’s teams hoped to be starting this season in the Premier League but are having to settle for the Championship. Burnley after relegation, Huddersfield Town following a bitter playoff final defeat. Both teams now have to put those disappointments aside, brush themselves down and get ready for a 46-game Championship campaign. How good you were last season does not matter one bit any more and now it’s all about what you can do this season, it’s a fresh start and that’s the beauty of football. ...

Jul282022 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Schofield’s coaching style, new players, five subs, ghost fans, Kompany’s transition – 6 questions about Huddersfield Town v Burnley

Matches

Huddersfield Town and Burnley have got the honour of cutting the ribbon on the new football league season tomorrow night in front of the Sky cameras. In this article I’ll preview some of the potential talking points from the game. Opening day fixtures can be misleading, after a summer of anticipation, their significance can be blown out of proportion and rather than a single result they are often seen as a signifier of how the whole season will go. But in fact they are just one game and because Town are a team in transition it’ll be even harder than usual to draw any kind of conclusions from tomorrow night’s game as they’re most likely going to need a few games to find their feet. Anyway, here are a few of my thoughts about tomorrow night’s game… What kind of head coach wi...