Shadow

Notes

Generous defending, catflap hands, Mumba’s best game and Bojan’s bowl cut – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 win over Burton Albion

Generous defending, catflap hands, Mumba’s best game and Bojan’s bowl cut – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 win over Burton Albion

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town beat Burton Albion 3-1 on Saturday in a game where they dominated the chances and exploited some bizarre mistakes at the back from Burton. Martin Drury picked an attacking lineup and committed players forward to press Burton and we regularly exploited their tendency to (over)play out from the back. I think this game was the clearest example of Martin Drury getting the better of his opposite number tactically, which is encouraging after some results where his decisions have been questioned and even more so when it’s come against a Gary Bowyer, who I think is an excellent manager at this level.  There were some really eye-catching performances in this game, with Mumba, Fernandes and Humphreys being my standouts but plenty of others did their job well too. The three ...
The stats don’t tell the full story – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Bromley

The stats don’t tell the full story – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Bromley

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town lost their first match of the season on Saturday when they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Bromley, a defeat made worse by the winning goal coming, inevitably, from ex-player Mickel Miller. The result leaves Town still in a respectable league position (fourth and only three points off the top) but our form is a concern with only two points coming from the last nine available against a trio of average-to-poor opponents. It's common to say that international breaks are unwelcome after a defeat as teams want a chance to get back to winning ways but I think the international break has come at the right time for Town. As we looks like a team that needs time to regroup, recharge and spend more time on the training pitch, working on the vulnerabilities this last few weeks have expose...
“Really frustrating” Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 0-0 draw against 10-man Mansfield Town

“Really frustrating” Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 0-0 draw against 10-man Mansfield Town

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town came away from Mansfield with a point after drawing Saturday’s match 0-0 despite playing most of the second half against ten men. Getting a point away from home is often seen as a good outcome but this draw feels harder to put a positive spin on than the 1-1 draw against Notts County the weekend before. I wouldn’t say that Town were terrible in this game but they definitely underperformed and struggled firstly against a physical and direct opponent and then after the red card they couldn’t break down a stubborn and well-drilled Mansfield Town team. The stalemate at least kept Town’s unbeaten start to the season intact and we are currently sat in second place in the embryonic league table. So while there are a few grumbles and obvious wrinkles that need ironing out of t...
A good point or two dropped? Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Notts County

A good point or two dropped? Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Notts County

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town were held to a 1-1 draw with Notts County on Saturday afternoon. Town started the game strongly and went ahead after a period of sustained attacks. Notts County equalised from a corner, against the run of play, and from there grew into the game. Town dominated possession and created chances but Notts County made it difficult for Town and defended well.  The draw was frustrating but wasn't entirely unfair, given how well Notts County held us out and stopped us finding any fluency. If this game come during a poor run of form then I'd be more inclined to criticise Town's performance but as this result sees us continue our unbeaten run and keeps us in the automatic promotion places in the embryonic league table, it's not such a bad point even if we should have taken t...
“This feels a bit different” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 victory over Oxford United

“This feels a bit different” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 victory over Oxford United

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town continued their unbeaten start to the League One season with a 3-1 victory over Oxford on Tuesday night. This was probably our trickiest opponent of this unbeaten run, so it was pleasing to see us get the better of one of the league's more fancied teams. Town took the lead in the second half before being pegged back to 1-1 but went on to score another two in a rampant period of the game where Oxford couldn't cope with our attacking play.  They say that it's the hope that kills you, but this game has made me feel a lot more hopeful about Town's prospects this season. There's still work to do, there will be bumps along the way but I'm really liking what I've seen of Town this season and this season feels a bit different to the last two League One campaigns. Both Lee...
A Taylor-made victory, a turgid game, mugged off dot com, and the football gods intervention – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 win over Cambridge United

A Taylor-made victory, a turgid game, mugged off dot com, and the football gods intervention – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 win over Cambridge United

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town were unconvincing in their 2-1 win over Cambridge on Saturday but they found a way to win, as the saying goes. Joe Taylor popped up with two late goals after Town went behind to Cambridge towards the end of the second half. In fact, nearly all of the game's highlights occurred in the final fifteen minutes and everything before the 82nd minute was pretty dreary stuff to watch. Cambridge United were a tricky opponent and I think their tenacity and awkwardness led to a number of Town's players underperforming. The accepted wisdom is that it's bad to play freshly promoted teams early in a new season because they carry through their momentum from the previous successful campaign.   Why did Huddersfield Town struggle for most of this game? Until Cambridge...
Wow! – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 win over Wimbledon

Wow! – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 3-0 win over Wimbledon

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town won their opening League One game of the season 3-0 despite playing over an hour with ten men. Wimbledon were dreadful but Town deserve credit for exploiting their opponent's weaknesses so relentlessly and giving them a torrid afternoon.  Prior to the game there were as many reasons to be skeptical as there were to be positive about Huddersfield Town but we were excellent throughout the whole game and set aside many of the doubts in fans’ minds. It's perhaps a bit early to be getting too carried away after just one game but this match has laid a marker down for the season and given the players a standard that they now have to keep striving for.  Here are some of my thoughts on the game… Three great goals Every 3-0 win is going to feel good but th...
“Mentality issues” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s Carabao Cup exit to Preston North End

“Mentality issues” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s Carabao Cup exit to Preston North End

Matches, Notes
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so as a Huddersfield Town fan I had just about put aside the disappointments of last season over the summer and was ready for a fresh start. So it felt like a sucker punch to see Town start their season doing the thing they did so much towards the end of last season: throwing away winning positions in injury time.  A penalty defeat to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup is not the end of the world but the manner of the defeat has brought all of last season's frustrations back to the boil. There were positives to draw from the game but mostly from the first half after Preston went down to ten men. The period of the first half when Preston had eleven men and the whole of the second half were poor from a Town perspective and the late equaliser fel...
“Lots of work to do” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 victory over AFC Fylde

“Lots of work to do” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 victory over AFC Fylde

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town beat Fylde 2-1 in their second preseason friendly on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, it's an established fact that friendlies don't really mean much beyond being a good workout for the players while they get back up to full speed in time for a new season. This is a relief, as Town were pretty dreadful in the first half before looking a bit more like it in the second half. The game did give us a good look at the squad, with 22 players getting 45 minutes under their belts. There were some good bits and some bad bits but my overwhelming takeaway was that there's a lot of work to do with this squad before it's ready for competitive football in a few weeks time. Both the style of play and the squad composition need some fairly major tweaking to get it into the right place, ...
Long throws, new players, old problems and injury worries – Thoughts on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 friendly defeat to Birmingham

Long throws, new players, old problems and injury worries – Thoughts on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 friendly defeat to Birmingham

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town were beaten 3-1 against Birmingham in their first friendly of the preseason. The scoreline flatters Birmingham as all three of their goals were due to Huddersfield Town errors. While friendlies are not worth getting too excited about, conceding late goals and making silly mistakes were serious issues last season, so it's a shame to see more of the same in our first game back from the break.  There were plenty of positives to draw from this game and the early signs are looking good about Martin Drury's approach. Though this game also highlighted some areas that need to be improved. Here are my thoughts on each of the two halves and what, if anything, we've learned from this game.  The first half Town's team: Young, Balker, Wallace Roughan, Sorensen, L...