Terrier Spirit

Aug252025 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Why Town might win, Lee Grant’s principles, Gooch’s welcome & fringe players to watch – Talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s trip to Sunderland

Huddersfield Town head to The Stadium of Light on Tuesday night for a League Cup game with Premier League new boys, Sunderland. Many fans will find it impossible to get excited about this game or any cup game, but I really enjoyed our game in the first round against Leicester so I’m optimistic this game will be an entertaining watch too. While the league is obviously Town’s priority this season, these games in the cup give an opportunity to players that have had limited minutes on the pitch so far and knockout football is good fun to watch. This game also has the added incentive of testing ourselves against a Premier League team, even if it is mostly the fringe players they field. Here are a few of my thoughts before this game… Will Lee Grant stick to his principles?&n...

Aug252025 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

One for the purists, Lee Grant’s outbursts, promotion possibilities, an odd news story & keeping control – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s win over Stevenage

Matches, Notes

Huddersfield Town beat Stevenage 1-0 on Saturday afternoon, which most people who click on this article will already be fully aware of. However, it feels a bit weird just jumping straight into the article without a bit of preamble at the top, so that's why I like to start these posts by stating the bleedin’ obvious. Stevenage didn’t live up to the billing of being the league’s best team, and the suspicion that their four wins were more to do with a kind run of fixtures rather than them being anything special. In fact, I’d say Stevenage were the most average, most League-One-est opponent we’ve faced yet this season. They worked hard, were organised but lacked flair or attacking intent, possibly because Town worked equally hard as a unit to deny them openings. The fact that Town man...

Aug242025 by Terrier Spirit13 Comments

“It’s not a bald patch, it’s a solar panel for a passing machine!” Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win over Stevenage

Matches, Player ratings

Huddersfield Town were deserved winners against Stevenage in a game where they were consistently on top but struggled to carve out clear cut opportunities. An Alfie May goal, his first from open play for Town, was enough to clinch the three points after a late and limited fightback Stevenage put us under mild pressure. Despite Stevenage being top of the league before the start of the match, they were not the fierce opponents I was expecting and Town did a good job of limiting their attacking influence and keeping them on the back foot until their late pressure in the closing moments. Here's what I made of each individual performance… Owen Goodman - 7 out of 10 His passing was very good and I'm now trying to accept that passing out from the back is how we do things. ...

Aug232025 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Stevenage

Matches, Predicted lineups

Stevenage are the guests at the Accu Stadium today, as first in the league comes to take on fifth. I’ve talked in my pre-match talking points article about Stevenage's wins mostly coming against weak League One opposition, so today will be their biggest test of the season. Stevenage's direct and physical approach is likely to be a big test for Town too, so it’ll be an interesting encounter even if the football might be a bit industrial at times (and the tackles potentially agricultural). Lee Grant made me look a bit of an idiot in my previous predictions article, where I only picked out six out of the starting eleven correctly. I’ve been better in my previous predictions but Lee Grant is proving to be a tricky manager to second guess as he likes to shuffle the pack most games, mak...

Aug222025 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Feeding the strikers, mixing it up, Stevenage’s false position and Town doing half a job – Talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Stevenage

Matches, Talking points

Huddersfield Town will take on League One’s form team on Saturday afternoon when they play Stevenage at the Accu Stadium. While Town’s nine points from four games is a good start, Stevenage have gone one better and won four league games in a row before this match. Aside from their good run, Stevenage will also present a physical threat too, with our encounters with them last season being bruising affairs. We’re still in the honeymoon phase of Lee Grant’s time at Huddersfield Town, so we’re still learning exactly what sort of a team we have on our hands this season. The summer transfer business was encouraging, Grant comes across well and there was an attractive, hard-working style of football brought in over preseason. But now we’re into the season proper, there have been some tee...

Aug212025 by Terrier Spirit28 Comments

Whining McCann, why we struggled, how we won and rebranding subs – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s win over Doncaster Rovers

Matches, Notes

Huddersfield Town beat Doncaster Rovers 2-0 with two late goals sealing the win after Town weathered a storm in the first half, during which Doncaster played Town off the park. The game made clear that Doncaster Rovers are a very good team at this level but Town did (just) enough to keep them out and stayed in the game long enough for the quality on our bench to make the difference. This wasn’t a fluent display of attractive football but we did show some nice moments in the second half and the struggles in the first half were at least punctuated by some excellent last-ditch defending and decent stops from Goodman. It's good to be back to winning ways after the defeat to Blackpool but this was a performance that raised more questions than answers about this new-look Town team. H...

Aug202025 by Terrier Spirit21 Comments

“The bench made the difference” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers

Matches, Player ratings

Huddersfield Town beat Doncaster Rovers 2-0 on Tuesday night in a game where they had to cling on for dear life in the early stages before growing into the game in the second half and coming out on top. Our first half struggles were partly down to Doncaster being unexpectedly superb but we also had a lot of issues with getting out of our own half at times too. The strength of Town’s bench made the difference in the end, with Wiles making the breakthrough and Taylor sealing the win after both came on halfway through the second half. Here are my thoughts on each individual performance… Owen Goodman - 6 out of 10 Made a howler by passing directly to their man which was mercifully not punished. Resorted to long, hopeless punts downfield too often that Alfie May had no chance of ...

Aug192025 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Doncaster Rovers

Matches, Predicted lineups

Huddersfield Town take on Doncaster Rovers tonight in a game that now feels more important to Town after their defeat to Blackpool at the weekend. And success feels less likely after Doncaster have started their return to League One in style, picking up seven points from their first three games. Lee Grant will have to decide whether to stick with his players that started against Blackpool or bring in new players to freshen up the lineup. I talked about this dilemma, among other things, in my pre-match talking points article, so read that next if you want to hear more of my thoughts on this match. Otherwise, here's my predicted lineup for tonight…. Goalkeeper: Owen Goodman While Goodman wasn’t to blame for any of the three goals we conceded against Blackpool, I think he c...

Aug192025 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Pearson’s revenge, almost a derby, shuffling the pack and bouncing back – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Doncaster Rovers

Matches, Talking points

Huddersfield Town take on Doncaster Rovers tonight, where they'll be hoping to shake off Saturday's defeat against Blackpool. Doncaster Rovers come to the Accu Stadium in good form, unbeaten in their opening three games and a point ahead of Town in the embryonic league table (which no longer interests me now Town aren't top). After a positive start to the season, the loss at Blackpool and the struggle to break down ten men didn't feel like it was part of the Huddersfield Town script. Tonight's game should be a chance for Town to return to their pre-Blackpool way of doing things. Though Doncaster will not be an easy opponent. Can Town brush off the Blackpool performance? After seeing a less pleasant side to this new Huddersfield Town team on Saturday, it feels vitally important to ...

Aug182025 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Toothless – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Blackpool

Matches, Notes

Huddersfield Town lost their first game of the season against Blackpool on Saturday afternoon. It was a game of three distinct parts, with Town dominating the opening stages, then losing their heads for a spell where they conceded three goals, and after pulling a goal back and a Blackpool red card, the game settled into a dismal attack and defence training exercise where Town repeatedly failed to find a way through Blackpool's defence. While Town's toothless attacking play was a concern, the three quick goals they conceded is just as worrying. After talking so much about how things feel different at Town, this game was eerily similar to the type of football we saw last season. A blistering opening The first few minutes of this game were brilliant to watch from a Town p...