Terrier Spirit

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 ...

Apr302024 by Terrier Spirit19 Comments

Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham – A relegation special

Matches

Unless Huddersfield Town beat Ipswich next weekend by more than a dozen goals AND other results go in our favour, Saturday's draw with Birmingham has confirmed our relegation to League One (though I suppose a more modest victory would be OK if Plymouth lose their game by seven or eight goals). My dad made the point that a 1-1 draw was a fitting result to virtually seal our fate, as it's the result Town have all too often ended games on this season, often in games where they should have won. This game was their fourteenth 1-1 draw of the season and like the thirteen before, Town had the chances to win the game but not the quality in front of goal to finish them off. So can we really complain about going down? I'm not sure we can, despite all the bad luck and injustices, we've also been...

Apr132024 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Bristol City

Matches

Andre Breitenreiter said the team needed fresh legs and a fresh mentality following the bruising 4-1 defeat to Preston in midweek, so expect a few changes ahead of today's game with Bristol City. He's not wrong either, as Town ran out of both steam and ideas as Preston ran riot in the closing stages on Tuesday night. Hopefully, a few new faces today might help to produce a more convincing performance from the Terriers, as they dangle precariously above the relegation zone with just four games left in the season. It's still early in Breitenreiter's time at Town but his approach to selection is starting to become apparent and he seems to like tinkering with his lineup. Most of the time there's common sense to the changes he makes so I suspect he'll look to solve the most obvious problems...

Apr82024 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

A dirty win, an odd take on 4-4-2, a sneaky elbow, blustery conditions – Notes on Huddersfield Town v Millwall

Matches

Huddersfield Town scrapped away in blustery conditions to knick a last-gasp winner against Millwall that they just about deserved on Saturday. It was an ugly, ugly game where neither team covered themselves in glory but Town applied the most pressure and in the 94th minute they achieved their reward when Matty Pearson's excellent header was saved and Rhys Healey nodded in the loose ball. While Town's Championship status is far from secure, if they do stay up, this will be the game we'll look back on as the turning point where we went from likely relegation to having a chance of survival. Not only did Healey's goal give us all three points, it also gave Town belief, momentum and some good feelings at just the right time in the season. A dirty win - as promised Andre Br...