Terrier Spirit

Jun132024 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

Jonathan Hogg, his new contract and a jumper that should have gone to the charity shop years ago

Opinion, Transfers

I have a jumper in my wardrobe that has been my favourite for around 12 years now. It fits me nicely, I feel comfortable in it and it works in a variety of situations. To begin with the jumper was unquestionably my best jumper and was my first choice for a number of years. Then after a while it got a bit older, and having been worn a lot and put through the wash plenty of times it started to get a bit bobbly and didn't look as good as it used to. So obviously I got other jumpers. But those jumpers never quite fit the same, or the material would feel cheap, or after a few washes they would shrink and not feel right. So I'd got back to my old jumper, because even though it is past its best, it's still better than all the available alternatives I had in my wardrobe. I really should have sent...

Jun52024 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Which League One teams are within a two-hour drive of Huddersfield Town? (And what are the likely ticket allocations?)

Matches, Opinion

It's only a few weeks until the fixtures come out and we can start plotting potential away trips for Huddersfield Town's first season in League One since 2012, following their relegation from the Championship. And while going down is never nice, one of the consolations of dropping down a division is the prospect of some new away trips. Because let's face it, there are so many times you can get excited about the prospect of Stoke or Preston North End away before the sparkle starts to fade off these fixtures. And while League One might not be exactly packed with glamour, in the way the Premier League is, there is a lot of character and fun away days to look forward to. And it'll be nice to play some different clubs too, after so long in the top two tiers of English football. In thi...

May312024 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

Are Huddersfield Town already over the limit of League One’s squad size rules?

News

Following Huddersfield Town's relegation, they will now have to submit to League One's rules about squad sizes, meaning they will need to name a squad with a maximum of 22 players. This doesn't sound very many, and looking at the players still under contract on Town's retained list, we've well over this number - 28 in fact. Should we be panicking and having a fire sale of players? Obviously not, particularly as there will be plenty of comings and goings before the end of the season and not all of those 28 players are included in the 22-player limit. But I thought it would be interesting to take a look at League One's squad size rules in detail and see how they might affect Huddersfield Town. I suspect they may have an impact on decision-making for transfers, loans and contracts - part...

May182024 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

7 things I liked from Michael Duff’s first press conference (and a few things I didn’t like)

Opinion

Michael Duff had his first press conference as Huddersfield Town manager on Thursday and I think he made a very good first impression. He comes across as a straight forward, humble and decent sort of guy that wants to do well and has some ideas about how to do it. I was far less impressed by the man sitting next to him, Sporting Director, Mark Cartwright, who answered all his questions by talking himself up, making excuses and spewing out management speak. So in this article I'm going to cover the things that I found encouraging in the press conference and a few of the things that left me a bit unimpressed. On balance, I felt more positive about Town's situation by the end of it than I did before and I’m feeling pretty good about the upcoming season in League One. https...

May142024 by Terrier Spirit10 Comments

Some thoughts on Michael Duff’s appointment

Opinion

Michael Duff has been announced as Huddersfield Town's new head coach, arriving on a three-year contract as Andre Breitenreiter's replacement. Duff has been linked with the Town job in the past, so his arrival is not a huge shock and his experience at League One level makes him feel like a safe pair of hands for a club going through a turbulent time following relegation and a period chopping and changing managers every few months. In this article, I'll give my opinion on this appointment, which is quite tricky to do before a ball has been kicked in his tenure but, on paper, this seems like a sensible and potentially successful appointment for the club. Who is Michael Duff? Michael Duff's playing career only involved two clubs, starting at Cheltenham Town, where he made 300 ...

May132024 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

Who are the favourites to be the next Huddersfield Town manager?

News, Transfers

Andre Brietenreiter has deemed League One beneath a coach of his abilities, despite the fact he signed a two and a half year contract with a team hovering precariously about the relegation zone to League One, then could only manage two victories in 13 games in charge. I'm glad the German has left now and given us time to achieve a fresh start but it seems a bit rich that he's walking away because he thinks he's too good for the level the club is playing at, when he had a part in us ending up at that level (though obviously there are many, many other factors in Town's relegation). Breitenreiter walking away from Town after guiding them to League One feels a lot like someone soiling their own bed and then complaining about the smell. So you can probably sense that I'm not too disap...

May92024 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

The main points from Kevin Nagle’s end-of-season video diary & 3 things that weren’t covered

News

Kevin Nagle has released his bumper end-of-season video diary, where he has taken questions that his friend Carmichael Dave has collected from Town fans and various other sources in order to get some clarity from Huddersfield Town’s owner about key issues following the team’s disappointing 23/24 campaign. Kevin Nagle has made these video diary chats with his pal a regular feature of this last season and they have been useful insights into his current thinking and the latest news from behind the scenes. The latest video diary, naturally, focussed on the impact of Huddersfield Town’s relegation to League One and plans for the future. I’ll save you skimming all the details below and let you know he didn’t confirm either way whether Andrew Breitenreiter was staying on but he did his ...

May52024 by Terrier Spirit14 Comments

Going down with a whimper – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s final day defeat to Ipswich

Matches

Delusional Town fans will have had their hopes of a dramatic final-day 15-0 Town victory dashed yesterday, when Ipswich swept Town aside in a 2-0 victory that could easily have been more if they really set their minds to it. Town's relegation to League One next season is now officially confirmed and this unpleasant season can finally be put to bed. The last game of the season was like many of the other games where we played top teams in the division, Town had no answers against vastly superior opposition and despite trying their best, came up significantly short. Here are my thoughts on the last game of Town's season. Going down with a whimper Town's defeat in this game wasn't really a surprise but it was a bit galling to see how one sided it was. In August one team will be a...

May32024 by Terrier Spirit22 Comments

8 revelations from Andre Breitenreiter’s press conference & 2 hints he might be leaving

News

Prematch press conferences can be quite dull affairs, where the manager will go out of his way to evade questions and give the least interesting answer possible. Darren Moore was a master of giving the longest possible response to every question without revealing anything meaningful and I can imagine journalists would end his forty or fifty-minute sessions wondering how they could scratch together an article or two out of his wittering. Andre Breitenreiter did the absolute opposition in his pre-Ipswich press conference and used it as an opportunity to vent all his pent-up feelings about the no-good players he’s had to make excuses for these past few months. It had a similar feeling to Father Ted accepting the Golden Cleric award, if anyone remembers that scene from the 90s sitcom. ...

May12024 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

Should they stay or should they go? Trying to predict Town’s summer squad overhaul

Transfers

It’s likely to be another summer of change at Huddersfield Town, as we prepare for a new life in League One and hopefully a more positive season after a pretty dire run of results in 23/24. Before we get to next August there will have to be some work done to build a squad that is up to the challenge of League One, which will be a tricky job, particularly if the club needs to cut its cloth according to the reduced revenues that relegation brings. With that in mind, I’ve had a go at trying to predict what might happen to Huddersfield Town’s squad over the summer. There are likely to be some high-profile exits, hopefully some of our better players will stick around too and a few fringe players may step out of the shadows to take on more prominent roles at a lower level. The retained ...