Terrier Spirit

May262022 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

6 reasons to feel confident about Huddersfield Town’s chances in the playoff final

Matches

It’s not long now until Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest take to the field at the national stadium to fight it out for a place in the Premier League. Despite not being too bothered about going up, I do desperately want Town to win the game anyway. I can’t explain these contradictory feelings but have accepted them now. The bookies fancy Nottingham Forest and the national media have focussed mainly on them for their build up. I don’t particularly care about either of these things but I thought I might redress the balance by writing about why I think Town may have a good chance on Sunday. To be clear though, I’m writing this from the perspective of trying to convince myself that we’ll win, not from a position of arrogant expectation. Town are good at making games tight an...

May252022 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Town fans beware: Sneaky Forest fans are trying to get tickets in our side of Wembley

News, Opinion

Notthingham Forest have sold out their allocation for the playoff final on Sunday and many of their fans have been left without a ticket. Some of these frustrated fans are living up to their nickname of the Tricky Trees, as they have taken to social media to try and con Huddersfield Town fans into buying them tickets. We have not yet sold out our allocation and tickets are on general sale for anyone who wants one, with one significant caveat. You can only buy a ticket in the Town end if you have previous booking history on the Huddersfield Town system. This measure is there to weed out cheeky Forest fans, though many are trying to circumvent this by getting Town fans to buy them tickets. Why are Forest fans trying to get tickets in the Huddersfield Town end of Wembley? There have...

May222022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

A Wembley myth – Town and Forest’s players have nothing to fear with the pitch

News, Opinion

I can’t count the number of times that I’ve heard people talk about the intimidating size of the Wembley pitch. The energy-sapping nature of covering all that extra ground compared to the piddly size of a regular pitch. How defensive teams struggle to cover the extra space in behind them on the mammoth pitch at Wembley. But it’s just not true. The dimensions of the pitch at Wembley are actually very similar to just about every other pitch at major English football grounds. I find it a bit strange that there’s any latitude at all in pitch dimensions, though it does allow clubs to have even more of a home advantage by customising the size of their pitch to their style of play. While pitch sizes do vary from one ground to the next, Wembley stadium is completely average when compared t...

May202022 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

What is the best way for Town fans to get to Wembley?

News

A week on Sunday, a significant chunk of the population of Huddersfield and the surrounding area will be making their way to London to watch the playoff final at the national stadium. There are plenty of different options for how you can get yourself down there but which is best for you? I’ve gone over the various different possibilities available and given my opinions on which are worth considering and which are either too expensive or impractical to work. Feel free to make your own suggestions in the comments below. Coaches Official club coaches The easiest way to arrange transport is to book a coach ticket through the club, which can be ordered through the main ticketing website. It costs £49 per person and will set off from the stadium at 8.45am. I suspect there will be a ...

May192022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

How much did Huddersfield Town’s squad really cost?

Transfers

Huddersfield Town finished third in the Championship this season and have made it to the playoff final a week on Sunday with a squad that cost buttons. Despite the Championship being littered with clubs that have spent large amounts of money to try and buy success, Carlos Corberán has been able to take his team to the brink of the Premier League despite spending very little on transfer fees during his tenure. Town overhauled their squad in the summer with a host of new arrivals but no money was spent on transfer fees, with all the new additions being free transfers or loans. Which was why nobody expected a huge improvement on Town’s 20th placed finish last season and everyone has been stunned how well we have done this season. While there’s no trophy handed out for the team th...

May182022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

A pitch invasion, a funny ref, unlucky Luton, sensational Sorba, nice Nicholls, going to Wembley – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s playoff semi-final triumph

Matches

It would be easy to make the argument that Huddersfield Town didn’t deserve to win their playoff game against Luton Town on Monday night. You could reel off a stream of statistics that prove Luton were the dominant team on the night but one statistic tells you everything you need to know, and that’s goals scored: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Luton Town. So despite needing a string of excellent saves and wasteful finishes to stay in the game, Town came out on top and triggered jubilant scenes as fans and players partied on the pitch after the full time whistle. Here are a few of my thoughts on the game. Luton deserved it The truth is that Luton should have been out of sight before half time. Town had a strangely underwhelming first-half performance and repeatedly allowed Luton t...

May162022 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Predicted lineup, tactics, creating a cauldron, penalty takers and pride – A preview of Huddersfield Town v Luton Town

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Luton tonight in their most important game for a very long time. At least since the West Brom home game we won at the end of the Danny Cowley era to secure our Championship survival in 2020. Or maybe the draw at Stamford Bridge that secured our Premier League survival in 2018. Or maybe even the playoff final in 2017. Whichever way you look at it, tonight’s game is a big deal. Our 1-1 draw last Friday means that both teams head into the game on equal footing. Away goals don’t count for anything extra, so we start from scratch tonight and the winner on the night goes to Wembley. It may take extra time or penalties but one of these two teams will have to come out on top. Here are a few of the questions I have ahead of the game. Will Sorba Thomas start?&nbs...

May152022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Nathan Jones is a fantasist, Huddersfield Town overcome intial struggles, Sinani shines, prawn sandwich fans and liking Luton – Notes on the first leg of the playoffs

Matches

Huddersfield Town came away from Kenilworth Road with a 1-1 draw that sets up a winner-takes-all game at the John Smith's Stadium on Monday night. It was an evenly balanced game where each team had spells of dominance but a draw was an overall fair reflection of the game. Both sides can feel aggrieved that obvious penalty decisions weren't given but at least the referee's two mistakes canceled each other out. Some other less vital decisions weren't quite right either but thankfully the poor officiating didn't spoil a tense but enjoyable encounter. Here are a few of my thoughts on the game… Town did well to cling on when they were struggling The first half was not always pretty from a Town perspective. We did counter-attack well at times but long stretch...

May132022 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Luton

Matches

It's nearly here! Town secured their place in the playoffs weeks ago, so it’s been a long wait but it's almost time for the playoffs. Town take on Luton at Kenilworth Road tonight in the first leg of their semi-final tie. Town are in good form at the moment and have players coming back from injury but Luton are a tough opponent so it won’t be easy. Here’s who I think Carlos wiil pick for this vital game… Goalkeeper: Nicholls Jamal Blackman did fine last weekend against Bristol City but he wasn’t Nicholls. There wasn’t a lot for the keeper to do in fairness but I missed having that sense of calm and organisation that Nicholls brings to the pitch. I’m not sure Lee Nicholls is the best keeper that I’ve seen in my time supporting Town but he may be the one that I’ve got the most conf...

May92022 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

My 9 favourite tweets from Town’s win against Bristol City

Social media

There were plenty of interesting tweets shared online after Town's victory against Bristol City on Saturday. Here are a few of my favourite ones. Steven Chicken has a go at a dizzy penalty https://twitter.com/JalehLShoghi/status/1522917017241718786 Fair play to Examiner writer, Steven Chicken, for having a go at a dizzy penalty at half time. While his execution wasn't the best, I doubt Mel Booth would have done the same in his heyday. You can read Steven's write up of the experience on the Examiner website, including a veiled threat to puke up on a fan. Nigel Pearson is generous with his praise for Town https://twitter.com/Cathalg56/status/1522951302896132102 He's usually a bit of a grump but Nigel Pearson was very generous in his praise for Town in his post-match c...