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We’re doomed! A miserable preview of Huddersfield Town’s chances this season

We’re doomed! A miserable preview of Huddersfield Town’s chances this season

Matches
As the season opener approaches for Town I found it hard to write a preview for the year ahead because I can’t make my mind up about the kind of season we should expect as Town fans. Obviously last season was a terrible time for the club but lots has changed since our relegation from the Premier League. In the end, I decided to make two separate and contradictory season previews. One for the optimists and one for the pessimists. This article is going to take a doom and gloom look at the season ahead, for all the negative Nancys out there. If you’d prefer the rose-tinted specs version then click this link. Here are my reasons to feel worried about Town's prospects this year: Jan Siewert is inexperienced and clearly struggled in his first half a season Town were poor towards the end ...
A ridiculously optimistic assessment of Huddersfield Town’s chances this season

A ridiculously optimistic assessment of Huddersfield Town’s chances this season

Matches
As the season opener approaches for Town, I found it hard to preview this season because I can’t make my mind up about the kind of year we should expect as Town fans. Obviously last season was a terrible time for the club but lots has changed since our relegation from the Premier League. In the end, I decided to make two separate and contradictory season previews. One for the optimists and one for the pessimists. I like to look on the bright side, so I’m starting with the positive views first. The negative one will be up on the blog shortly. Here are my reasons I think Town can expect a good year: Jan Siewert has a clear vision about how he wants to play and it suits our squad Siewert has been quite clear about the way he wants Town to play. We’ll mostly lineup 4-3-3 and will play wit...
Squad report – Do Huddersfield Town have two players for every position?

Squad report – Do Huddersfield Town have two players for every position?

Matches
In the Q&A with new Chairman, Phil Hodgkinson, it was made clear that Town now have a full squad and will only bring new players in as a result of other players leaving. He also said that our star players would only leave if we received “very big bids”, so it’s possible that the core of the current squad will be in tact when the transfer window closes in a few weeks time. So here’s a look at the squad as it stands, looking specifically at whether we have two players for every position in Siewert’s preferred 4-3-3 system. Goalkeepers - Grabara, Schofield and Coleman It’s widely reported that the big Premier League teams only loan their youth players out with assurances that they will play a decent percentage of games, so it’s very likely Grabara will be our first choice keeper. I k...
4 standout performances in the Town v Hamburger SV friendly

4 standout performances in the Town v Hamburger SV friendly

Matches
I don’t particularly like friendlies, but I still found myself tuning in to watch Town play Hamberger SV on the club’s official live stream. Town ran out 1-0 winners in a solid but unexciting performance against a decent second-tier German team. Here are a few of the players that caught my eye during the game. It’s worth remembering that preseason doesn’t count for a great deal, but until the season starts it’s all we have to go off. Lewis O’Brien I was very impressed by O’Brien’s work rate and composure in his first-half performance (the entire XI was switched at half-time). He aggressively pressed the opposition, made some smart tackles and looked comfortable in possession. The year on loan at Bradford must have done him a lot of good, as he looks like a professional footballer o...
Which Huddersfield Town players want to leave, who might stay and which ones have something to prove?

Which Huddersfield Town players want to leave, who might stay and which ones have something to prove?

Matches, Transfers
There's not been a Town game for months now and it still feels like there's a long time to go until the season kicks off, so there's not a lot going on apart from endless transfer speculation. To help my organise broadly where Town's squad stands at the moment I've put all our players into six categories. Doing this helps to show that there is likely to be significant comings and goings before the end of the transfer window. Every summer transfer window is vital to the success of the forthcoming season, but this year it's bigger than ever. We need to try to keep our best players, get rid of the players that no longer want to be here and bring in enough fresh faces to make us genuinely competitive. There also needs to be more focus on getting the right characters into the team and changi...
Huddersfield Town 1-4 Leicester City: Town can’t shake the losing habit

Huddersfield Town 1-4 Leicester City: Town can’t shake the losing habit

Matches, Opinion
Huddersfield Town were convincingly beaten once again in the Premier League. This time it was Leicester that willingly took advantage of Town’s generous nature. Despite Town’s hard work, there was a lack of creativity and trickery that made Leicester’s afternoon far easier than it should have been. Löwe and Mooy start on the wings I think Siewert’s team selections so far have been good. He’s been willing to drop established players in favour of those he thinks can do a better job and has shown he’s got different ideas to David Wagner about how to get the best out of this squad. Having said that, I think he made an error in putting Mooy and Löwe on the wings at the start of yesterday’s game. I wouldn’t say either of them had a bad game, in fact Löwe was picked for Man of the Match, but...
Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Newcastle United

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Newcastle United

Matches
I’m laughably bad at predicting Huddersfield Town lineups, but that doesn’t stop me giving it a go anyway. With so little Huddersfield Town news for the last couple of weeks due to our early exit from the FA Cup, it’s nice to be able to have a game to look forward to this weekend. In case Town fans have forgotten, we’re still on a disastrous win-less run that goes all the way back to the victory over Wolves last November. I remember coming away from the game in Wolverhampton feeling confident that performance was a turning point for our season. Sadly it would be David Wagner’s last victory as Huddersfield Town manager. New boss Jan Siewert has a few selection decisions to make ahead of the Newcastle game in pursuit of his first victory. Here’s how I think we’ll lineup. Lössl to retu...

Town swept aside by Chelsea in a 5-0 drubbing

Matches
Huddersfield Town continued their miserable run of form with a 5-0 thumping at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The key features of a Huddersfield Town game in the 18/19 season: While the scoreline was heavier than usual, everything about this game felt familiar: an early opportunity spurned by Town (Mooy’s header) a relatively soft opening goal (a good finish, but Lössl left his near post unguarded) Spells of positive play by Town let down by a lack of attacking intent in the final third A controversial refereeing decision goes against Town at the worst possible moment (Kachunga’s clumsy challenge is given as a penalty when it should have been a free kick) A Huddersfield Town penalty appeal is dismissed (Kachunga involved again, this time going down ...
Bristol City dump Huddersfield Town out of the cup and expose how badly things are going wrong for Town

Bristol City dump Huddersfield Town out of the cup and expose how badly things are going wrong for Town

Matches
The FA Cup could have provided Huddersfield Town with a welcome diversion from their troubles in the Premier League. Playing a team in a lower division should have allowed an opportunity to express our footballing philosophy and maybe even score a few goals. The sad truth is that the game at Bristol just highlighted the problems Town have at the moment. Confidence is through the floor, our attacks are predictable and our defence shaky. Despite Jason Puncheon and Jon Stankovic receiving praise from Wagner after the match, I don’t think a single Huddersfield Town player came out of this game with any credit. The fringe players were universally poor David Wagner likes to shake his team up for cup competitions, so it’s a chance for players on the edge of the squad to stake a claim for a p...
Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to face Bristol City – Wagner set to rotate his team

Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to face Bristol City – Wagner set to rotate his team

Matches
Huddersfield Town head into the third round of the FA Cup against Bristol City, hoping that a decent cup run might offer some relief from their torrid league form. David Wagner made it clear in this pre-match comments that he'll field a team he believes is strong enough to win, but he'll also be likely to give some of the fringe players a chance. Here's what I think Wagner will do with the team tomorrow... Goalkeeper - Ben Hamer This isn't in any doubt, as David Wagner confirmed that Hamer will be given a chance in this match. Despite starting the season as first choice, Hamer's opportunities have been limited after a couple of shaky games. Left back - Chris Löwe The German is the most obvious choice in the left flank, as Kongolo is likely to be pushed in field to cover Schi...