Terrier Spirit

Aug262023 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI, Warnock: defeatism or dark arts?, one to watch & score prediction against Norwich

Matches

It’s never nice to see your ex with a new partner. And while the feelings aren’t exactly the same, I’ve more affection towards David Wagner than I have many ex partners, so it’ll be weird to see him in the dugout wearing another team’s tracksuit this afternoon. Of course, he’s done it already last season with Norwich and it was pretty strange then too, but we were so bogged down in our own relegation troubles it wasn’t so much of a focus. It’s not like Town can even claim we’ve moved on to better things since leaving David Wagner either. There were a string of bad relationships after him before we had a brief fling with someone that we thought was going to go somewhere (the Premier League), but that ended in tears when he left us for a better offer in Greece. Now we’ve sought comfort ...

Aug222023 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

A meandering ramble about Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough

Matches

Huddersfield Town came away from their trip to Teesside last weekend with a point, which is two fewer than they might have had if they'd have taken all their chances and defended a bit better but is a point more than they should have had, given the golden chance Boro spurned in the dying minutes of the game. If you're sensitive to footballing clichés, you may want to reach for the sick bag now as this game was "a good advert for the Championship" as both sides “went at it hammer and tongs” and pushed for the win. The players “left it all out on the pitch”, “gave 110%”, and in a “game of two halves”, “football was the winner”. While it was a broadly positive away trip for Town, there were some obvious issues that still persist and a few new ones that popped up too. On the other hand,...

Aug162023 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Diarra’s influence, happy in defeat?, front foot Terriers, Leicester not at their best, signings please! – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Leicester

Matches

Huddersfield Town lost to Leicester at the weekend but despite not picking up any points, it was a decent performance from the Terriers and most fans came away happy (some are never happy!). The slight concern is that we had a few chances that we failed to take and the goal we conceded was slightly soft, as it’s one Nicholls probably shouldn’t have let through his legs. But after being written off before the game, Town got up in Leicester’s face and didn’t allow them to settle. Here are my thoughts on the game… A good defeat? How good can a defeat really be? Neil Warnock said after the game that any fans that weren’t happy after that game needed their heads checking. I can see his point too. It was a really entertaining match, with lots of action at both ends of the p...

Aug122023 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Leicester

Matches

Huddersfield Town head into their opening home game of the season as distant outsiders, with the bookies fancying recently-relegated Leicester to brush aside the Terriers. While Neil Warnock grumbles about how the bookmakers always write him and his teams off, that’s just the way he likes it really and he’ll no doubt be using the odds for this game as an opportunity to take the pressure off his players and to encourage them to go out and enjoy themselves against one of the Championship’s most fancied teams. Leicester won their opening game of the season against Coventry last weekend, overcoming an early scare when they went 1-0 down to a set piece goal, before a second-half Dewsbury-Hall brace secured the three points for them. They’re managed by Pep Guardiola disciple Enzo Maresca, an...

Aug102023 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

A daft red, late rally, exciting prospects, good spells & a failed early kickoff experiment – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s league cup exit to Boro

Matches

Huddersfield Town crashed out of the League Cup on Tuesday night after losing 3-2 to Middlesbrough. The scoreline flattered the Terriers a bit, as the early sending off of Jaheim Headley made it very hard for a weakened Town team to compete with Boro despite Tow taking an early 1-0 lead. Even though there was a difference in quality between the two teams, there was quite a lot to like about Town's performance and it hopefully left Neil Warnock feeling more confident about the ability levels of his backup players. Harratt opens his account for the season Kian Harratt's first Town goal of the year was a bit of a team effort as it came as a result of some excellent pressing work. Their defender coughed up the ball to Josh Austerfield, who quickly played Harratt in. B...

Aug82023 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup

Matches

On Saturday, I achieved the rare feat of predicting the full starting eleven for Town correctly. While I'd love to say this was down to my powers of prediction improving, after years of wayward forecasts, it speaks more to the limited options available to Neil Warnock. Tonight's game against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup, however, gives him an opportunity to see if any of his backup options might be worth giving a go in the league. I'm not going to debate the rights and wrongs of fielding a weaker team in the cups, as we've already had confirmation that this is the plan, instead I'm going to try my best to pick the likely team Neil Warnock will go with tonight. Maxwell Keepers don't need resting, as they don't run for miles during games but I think it's useful to give the back...

Aug72023 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Avoidable goals, missed opportunities, concerns: old & new, and a few positives if you looked hard enough – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Plymouth

Matches

It was a disappointing start to the season for Huddersfield Town, with them making the long trip down to Plymouth and coming away with no points after conceding three sloppy goals. There were a mixture of positives and negatives to take away from the game and it’s difficult at this early stage of the season to know how concerned fans should be by this result. Because there are no other recent competitive games to give context to the result, the first game of the season always has an outsized importance to fans. So a defeat like this was always going to be hard to swallow but rather than running around like the sky is falling in, I’ll try and take a more measured reaction. I’ll wait at least two more games before I start acting like the sky is falling in. All three ...

Aug72023 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

“Cumbersome and off the pace” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s opening day defeat to Plymouth Argyle

Matches

Huddersfield Town came away from the south coast empty handed, after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Plymouth Argyle on the opening day of the season. It was a mildly infuriating result, as while the defeat was deserved, Town were the architects of their own downfall with poor finishing and sloppy mistakes the biggest factors in why they lost. Plymouth deserve credit too, because they exploited our weaknesses and finished their chances but this still felt like an avoidable defeat. Having said that, there were some positives to be taken from the game. It’s easy to think the sky is falling in after this sort of result but there were glimmers of hope for optimists to cling on to in this performance. And I’d be genuinely stunned if we concede three goals as bad as that in a game again this seas...

Aug52023 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup, tactics, score and player to watch for their trip to Plymouth

Matches

Huddersfield Town open their Championship campaign this afternoon against Plymouth Argyle on the south coast. It’s our host’s first game back in the Championship after getting promotion from League One as champions last season. It’s worth bearing in mind that Town could easily have taken Plymouth’s place in League One this campaign, had it not been for some unlikely results in our run in. Neil Warnock described last season relegstion escape this week as the greatest achievement of his managerial career. So while there may be concerns about the season ahead, it’s worth also relishing the prospect of getting to compete in the Championship for another season when relegation seemed certain in early spring of this year. Anyway, after the long summer break, it’s nice to have a game ...

Aug42023 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

We’re doomed! A pessimistic preview of Huddersfiled Town upcoming season

Opinion

Huddersfield Town’s season starts this Saturday when they travel down to Plymouth, so it feels about right to put together a season preview article. As has now become an annual tradition on this blog, I’m going to divide my thoughts into positive and negative feelings and put them out as two separate articles. I published the positive one earlier today, so you can read that one instead if you'd prefer some positivity in your life. For the curmudgeons and, perhaps, the realists, I’ve put together a preview with all my darkest fears about Huddersfield Town included. And worrying about what lies ahead is fairly familiar territory for most Town fans, particularly those that have been following the club for a while. I know some people will feel like an article that solely looks...