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Tactical injury breaks, a breathtaking start, in-form strikers and Bojan’s straight fringe – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 win over Mansfield

Tactical injury breaks, a breathtaking start, in-form strikers and Bojan’s straight fringe – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 win over Mansfield

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town continued their good run of form with a 3-1 win against Mansfield on Saturday. We’ve now won our last three consecutive games after a run of one win in eight games. While it’s probably too soon to be getting carried away, the style of play and the goals we’ve been scoring hint towards the kind of football we all hoped we’d be seeing this season under Lee Grant.  You could argue that beating Mansfield twice and a woeful Plymouth team shouldn’t be cause to start planning a promotion party for next May, but there is at least a glimmer of what this squad is capable of. What’s even more interesting is that the players most instrumental in this turnaround have been fringe players that have been called upon because of injuries mounting up, alongside some of the expected ...
“A completely different player” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s brilliant 3-1 win at Mansfield

“A completely different player” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s brilliant 3-1 win at Mansfield

Matches, Player ratings
Before Huddersfield Town's game with Mansfield, I was doubtful whether our two wins before the international break were a flash in the pan or a sign of genuine improvement in the team. These doubts were put to bed against Mansfield Town on Saturday, when the game was effectively over when Lasse Sorensen lashed in our third goal after only 16 minutes. Town played some lovely football in this game and weathered a minor fightback from Mansfield when they pulled one back and had a bit of a go. But Town looked pretty comfortable right through to the end and I'd consider this the best performance of the Lee Grant era, certainly in the league. Here's how I rate each individual player's contribution to this impressive display… Owen Goodman - 6 out of 10 Couldn't be blamed for their onl...
Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Mansfield

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Mansfield

Matches, Predicted lineups
After a very long period away from club football because of the international break, we're now at the start of a hectic period with a glut of games over the next few weeks. Town's visit to Mansfield this afternoon will be a chance for Lee Grant's men to continue their momentum from their two consecutive wins before the break. Though there's also the looming doubt about whether Town have really turned a corner, following a pretty dismal collapse in form prior to those two wins. To get the right result today, Lee Grant will need to make the right selection. With a few players returning to fitness over the last few weeks, there are more options available. But with Town putting in one of their better performances against Plymouth in their last game, it would be understandable to want to sti...
“We shouldn’t be losing to teams like Mansfield”, pressure on Grant, striker choices and 4-4-2 vs 4-2-3-1 – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s trip to Mansfield

“We shouldn’t be losing to teams like Mansfield”, pressure on Grant, striker choices and 4-4-2 vs 4-2-3-1 – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s trip to Mansfield

Matches, Talking points
Huddersfield Town return from the international break on Saturday with an away game against Mansfield. This should give us a chance to see if the two wins we saw just before the break were the start of a turning point for the team, or if it was just a blip and we'll return to the downward spiral we'd seen before that. It feels like international breaks don't always suit Town, and we often struggle in the first game back. However, with the team ravaged by injuries prior to the break, these couple of weeks to recover a few players should mean we travel to Mansfield with more options and a stronger lineup. There's also been a few weeks of time on the training pitch without matches to prepare for, so Lee Grant has had more time to get his ideas over. While there are still fans who doubt Lee...
“A very intelligent change” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle

“A very intelligent change” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle

Matches, Player ratings
Huddersfield Town desperately needed a win against Plymouth on Saturdays and thanks to a decent performance and a tweaked approach from Lee Grant, they beat Plymouth 3-1. After a poor run of form that saw many fans calling for Grant's head, this victory should be enough to keep him in a job a bit longer.  There were encouraging elements in Town's performance beyond just the result and some players that have previously struggled, showed their value to the team. It's worth noting that Plymouth were pretty bad, so much so that they looked like Town at their worst. But regardless of the opposition's failings, this was the positive result and performance Town needed and could potentially be a turning point in the season.  Here's what I made of each player's performance…  ...
Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Bolton Wanderers

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Bolton Wanderers

Matches, Predicted lineups
Drawing teams from your own division in the cup is always a drag. It's even worse when it's against a team that's decent enough to beat us but not a big enough scalp for a Town victory to mean a great deal. Add to that the fact we recently allowed today's opponents to steal three points from us in the league a few weeks ago and this game doesn't bode well. Lee Grant's under fire and injury ravaged Terriers will cross the Pennines to take on Bolton in the first round of the FA Cup today, but it's likely few fans will join them in their journey given the gloom hanging over the club currently. One of the things I enjoy about writing these team prediction articles is that they often get me into the mood for a game. It'll take something pretty special to get me excited about this game though...
Lee Grant hanging by a thread, Kevin Nagle feeds the trolls, how not to play with ten men and red card thoughts – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 defeat to Wycombe

Lee Grant hanging by a thread, Kevin Nagle feeds the trolls, how not to play with ten men and red card thoughts – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 defeat to Wycombe

Matches, Notes
It's been a few days now since Huddersfield Town lost 3-0 to Wycombe and the passing of time hasn't made this result more palatable. In fact, if I was to describe this game as a meal in a restaurant, it would be a bucket of hot sick with something unmentionable floating in it as a crouton. It is tempting to say this is the worst performance since a long while back but the sad truth is that it's only the worst defeat since the last defeat, when we threw away a 1-0 lead by allowing two stoppage time goals. But, for a team with Town's aspirations, we really shouldn't be turning in so many horrible performances. You can only get away with calling a poor performance "a bad day at the office" so many times. If you're continually having bad days at the office, maybe they're not isolated incide...
“He let everyone down” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 defeat to Wycombe

“He let everyone down” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 defeat to Wycombe

Matches, Player ratings
After a bright start, Huddersfield Town left Wycombe with their tail between their legs on Saturday, following a 3-0 defeat. It was caused by a combination of Alfie May's daft red card and the remaining players' inept response to going a man down.  In a game where Lee Grant really needed to see a response from his players, they continued to look second best and too many players lost individual battles, which is bad news with a full complement on the pitch but a disaster when we're a man down.  Here's what I made of each individual player who contributed to this disappointing outcome.  Lee Nicholls - 8 out of 10 We saw both sides of Nicholls' distribution, with some creative and risky short stuff before the red card followed by some pretty desperate and fruitless clearances...
Duff’s revenge, learning not winning, May headache & predicted Huddersfield Town lineup to take on Wycombe

Duff’s revenge, learning not winning, May headache & predicted Huddersfield Town lineup to take on Wycombe

Matches, Predicted lineups, Talking points
Huddersfield Town head to Wycombe this afternoon in a game that will see Town reunited with their former manager, Michael Duff. While Wycombe had a dodgy start to the season, they've picked up since Duff's arrival and he's been able to make them competitive in most games.  Town come into the game in poor form, and Lee Grant is under pressure after a run of lacklustre and tactically naive displays. A win might quiet some of those doubting voices, and a defeat would increase the speculation about his ability to lead “The Group”. Will this be Duff's revenge? Michael Duff spoke about his exit from Huddersfield Town in his press conference for this game. He was discreet enough not to start getting into specifics but he did make it clear he felt badly done to by Town and his exit w...
5 reasons why Lee Grant is on thin ice at Huddersfield Town

5 reasons why Lee Grant is on thin ice at Huddersfield Town

Opinion
Huddersfield Town’s capitulation against Bolton marked a new low point in this season which has already had far too many setbacks. Town have now lost five games in the league, an alarming number when the overwhelming majority of teams that have historically achieved automatic promotion from League One lose ten or fewer games on their way to going up. So Town will have to put together an extraordinary turnaround to get their top-two hopes back on track.  The question most Town fans have been asking themselves lately is whether Lee Grant is capable of being the manager to oversee a turnaround in fortunes. I personally think it’s too soon to give him the boot but there are some fairly solid arguments available to question our manager’s performance so far.  Here’s why I think L...