Blog – Page 39 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Oct252020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Phil Hodgkinson lays out Carlos Corberán’s targets for the season

News

Following on from his extensive interview in The Examiner recently, Phil Hodgkinson answered questions from the Radio Leeds team before yesterday's match. There were a few good points made, you can listen to the full interview by clicking this link, but the most interesting part was Oggy's final question about targets for Carlos Corberán's first season at Town. Phil gave a surprisingly open answer to the question and detailed what he would class as a successful season for Corberán. What are Carlos' targets for this season? Here is exactly what Phil said in the interview: "After the first 10 games, at no point during the rest of the season are we looking over our shoulder nervously. And instil your philosophy." You can listen to the full interview for more details but Phil's expectation fo...

Oct252020 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

“Someone needs to have a word with him” – Player ratings from Huddersfield Town’s defeat to PNE

Matches

Huddersfield Town's unbeaten run came to an end against Preston North End yesterday. A couple of second half goals for Preston overturned Town's lead and put them in charge of the game. After going behind, Town pushed for an equaliser that never came, a task made harder by Naby Sarr's red card in the 78th minute. It was a defeat that felt easier to take than most as Town played well at times and worked hard to try and get back into the game. Preston played well and probably deserved their victory on the balance of play. Here's what I thought of each individual Town player yesterday: Ben Hamer - 6 out of 10 He had a very good game on the whole and made some great saves in the second half to keep Town in the game. He will be disappointed with the second goal though, where a collision with...

Oct242020 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Preston North End

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Preston North End later today in a game they hope will extend their unbeaten run to five games. PNE are a hard-working, well-disciplined and physical side that will provide a difficult test for Carlos Corberán's men. Town's recent upturn in form means that confidence will be high going into the game but it is also the third game in a week, so there could be some tired legs. Here's how I think Town will line up. Goalkeeper: Hamer The difficulty for goalkeepers is that they can do everything perfectly right for 89 minutes but the only thing people will talk about is the other minute where you got it wrong. That's why I'm impressed with how Hamer has managed to go through these first six games without a major mistake after previously not being able to finish half ...

Oct232020 by Terrier SpiritNo Comments

Where are the gaps in Huddersfield Town’s squad?

Player profiles

It’s been said that Huddersfield Town’s ambition for their squad is to have a first choice, second choice and a youth player for each position on the pitch. This makes sense, as it means there’s proper competition for places and always a young player ready to step up if needed due to injuries or lack of form. Now the transfer window is shut, I thought it would be a good time to go through each position on the field and see if Town really have three players ready to go for each area of the pitch. The reality doesn’t quite match the plan but it’s not too far away. Goalkeeper - 1st: Hamer / 2nd: Pereira / B: Schofield & Chapman This position was a huge worry before the start of the season but now Hamer is playing himself back into form it's less of a concern. Pereira came to Town with ...

Oct212020 by Terrier Spirit7 Comments

Misfiring Town, anti-Carlosball, stropping subs, xG, dark arts and lifting pessimism – Notes on the Derby win

Matches

Huddersfield Town managed to grind out a one-nil victory against a poor Derby side that have now lost five of their opening six games of the season. While it’s obvious that Derby are having a rough time, it’s still impressive that Town managed to get a win against a team packed full of players that are, on paper, better than ours. This win means that Town have earned 10 points out of the last 12 available and are sat comfortably in the top half of the table. It's too early to be getting carried away about Town's prospects but there is unquestionably a good feeling around the team now and Carlos' new approach is already bearing fruit. Winning despite misfiring This wasn't a great performance from Town in my opinion. We struggled to play through Derby's high press for long periods and our...

Oct212020 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

“A mixed bag” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win against Derby

Matches

Last night, Huddersfield Town beat Derby one-nil in a game that didn’t see Town reach their fluent best but was enough to overcome an opponent that looked badly out of form. In a way, I was quite pleased to see us get a scrappy win over the line as we’re not going to play beautiful football every game this season. It’s quite hard to give scores for this kind of a game because we didn’t look great for long periods but did do enough to win the game. Some players had excellent games and others were nearly anonymous, so it was a mixed bag in terms of performances. Here’s what I made of each player last night. Ben Hamer - 7 out of 10 I felt sorry for Hamer when I saw the way Derby had chosen to target him at set pieces and when he was in possession. It was clear his former teammates from las...

Oct202020 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Derby

Matches

Huddersfield Town take on Derby tonight in a game that looked intimidating at the start of the season but seems less threatening given Derby have lost four of their opening five games and are without their potato shaped talisman, Wayne Rooney. They’re still a good team and will give Town a stern test but our unbeaten run of three games will give our players confidence and Derby won’t be relishing the prospect of playing us after our victory over Swansea at the weekend. Carlos Corberán will have to decide whether he wants to stick with the players that won the game on Saturday or freshen up the lineup after only two recovery days since Saturday’s game. I think he will mostly stick with a similar team but will tweak things in midfield a bit to suit playing with three central defenders. Go...

Oct192020 by Terrier Spirit11 Comments

Carlos’ lucky chinos, imaginative strategies, yapping dogs, a niggly ref & maximum effort – notes on the Swansea win

Matches, Tactics

Huddersfield Town beat Swansea 2-1 in a hard fought encounter in South Wales yesterday. It wasn't the purest form of Carlosball we’ve seen so far but it was the most impressive win under Corberán in my view. Swansea are a good team that have started the season well but we came with a gameplan which, with a bit of luck, paid off. Here are a few of my unassociated ramblings about the game... Getting the tactics right We didn’t start this game particularly well and seemed to invite a lot of pressure onto ourselves which led to several good chances for Swansea in the opening exchanges. Thankfully Jamal Lowe spurned the best of these and injured himself in the process, which diminished his influence for the rest of the game. Town didn’t sparkle in the first half but there was a steady impro...

Oct182020 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment

Huddersfield Town players post social media updates following Swansea victory

Social media

The spirit within the team was obvious for all to see in the game against Swansea yesterday, with Huddersfield Town's players showing a togetherness that suggests the squad are starting to bond into a team. There was further evidence of this online, as the players took to social media to savour the victory. Frazier Campbell sees the funny side of things https://twitter.com/FraizerCampbell/status/1317498994935955456 One of the team's jokers, Campbell shared a picture someone had made to make fun out of the way he jumped out of the way of Koroma's goal-bound shot (the picture and Hoggy's response can be seen below). The mini-Messi comment, I'm guessing, refers to Toffolo's continual popping up in the penalty area and coming very close to scoring two yesterday. Man of th...

Oct182020 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

“A joy to watch” Players ratings for Town’s 2-1 victory over Swansea

Matches

Expectations were low going into this game against an inform Swansea team that had not yet lost a match. Town defied the odds and emerged from south Wales with all three points following a great team effort in the pitch. It was a disciplined performance that also required a fair share of luck to see us over the line. On balance, the win felt deserved and there were some excellent individual displays from Town's players. Here are my ratings. Ben Hamer - 7 out of 10 A busy game for Hamer, with him making all the saves you'd expect him to make and notching up another game without a goal-conceding error. I thought he was regularly given the ball in tight areas and pressured by the Swansea attack but kept his cool and got the ball out of danger. Some of his passing was a bit wayward at times...