Opinion – Page 2 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Aug22023 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

23/24 Championship league position predictions ‐ Leicester up, Huddersfield Town comfortably safe and Leeds to struggle

Opinion

Long time readers of this blog will know that my prediction are iffy at best, so the sheer audacity of making a league table prediction before a ball has been kicked on the new Championship season is really something. However, everyone is making their predictions, so I thought I might as well join in. If nothing else, I quite like setting myself a reminder for May next year to have a look at just how wrong I got it. Though, in May 2024, it’s quite possible there may be a few Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and QPR fans that also pop up in my notifications to point out just how wrong I got it (unless I’m right of course). I should probably suggest that any stray fans of non-Huddersfield Town teams shouldn’t get too upset or excited by my uninformed opinions, but where’s the fun in that? Inst...

Jul252023 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments

8 young Huddersfield Town players that could make a big impact this season

Opinion, Tactics

One of my favourite things about Huddersfield Town’s 4-0 win against Stockport last Saturday was how the team that played from sixty minutes onwards was able to continue dominating the game, despite being mostly made up of academy graduates. Huddersfield Town’s transfer policy this summer suggests that they have confidence in this younger generation too, as it seems like we’ve been comfortable moving on experienced professionals who are mostly backup players when we’ve got youth players capable of providing the same role. For example, Duane Holmes most likely left because Brahima Diarra was deemed as good enough cover for attacking midfield just like Will Boyle could leave as Loick Ayina is not just potentially a better option but will also be on a lower wage too. This summer’...

Jul12023 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

Huddersfield Town are one of only four Championship teams to have not yet returned for preseason training

Opinion

It’s got to that really boring part of the time in between seasons, where last season seems like a distant memory but the new season seems far away too. One of the signs that it’s not too long until the new season returns is when the players come back for preseason training. I’ve noticed on social media that many other clubs seem to be back in training but so far Huddersfield Town’s squad are still on their holidays. I then thought that someone should find out which Championship teams have returned and which ones haven’t. And, because once an idea like that occurs to me, I find it hard to let go, I decided that person should be me. So I’ve gone through all of the 24 Championship teams' social media feeds and found out which ones are back in training and when they returned. Here’s what ...

Jun52023 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

12 reasons the 22/23 season went badly wrong for Huddersfield Town

Opinion

In an old job I used to work on big cross-departmental projects and at the end of them we’d have these “lessons learned” meetings, where (in theory) we’d all get together and discuss what we could do better next time. In reality, these meetings were massive finger pointing exercises, where everybody came along to blame the other department for making a massive mess of the project and it would usually descend into bitter name calling. So, in the spirit of those “lessons learned” meetings, I’m going to write an article about all the things that went wrong for Huddersfield Town last season. Or are we still calling it this season? I’m not sure when one ends and the other starts, but I’m talking about the 22/23 season we’ve just experienced, where Danny Schofield and Mark Fotheringham stee...

May302023 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

Kevin Nagle’s to-do list after his Huddersfield Town takeover is confirmed

Opinion

It seems like we may be fairly close to Kevin Nagle’s takeover of Huddersfield Town being completed. It feels a bit like waiting for the Vatican to appoint a new Pope, as we patiently wait outside the EFL gates for white smoke to come out of their chimney. Kevin Nagle tweeted on Sunday night about the takeover, replying to an impatient fan that “We have moved as fast as possible. Waiting for the final sign off. No issues.” So it sounds like things might be near the final hurdle. With that in mind, I thought I’d do a write up of all the things Kevin Nagle is going to have on his plate once the takeover goes through. He’s going to be a busy man! Or at least his team will be. Set out his vision for the club I think the most important thing we all want to k...

Nov72022 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Which loan players might Huddersfield Town recall in January?

Opinion, Transfers

Huddersfield Town are currently bottom of the league, riddled with injuries and looking League One in the face. As the club is currently up for sale it seems unlikely there will be a large war chest available for new blood in January, so another potential source of fresh faces could be to recall some of our youngsters who are currently out on loan. I thought it might be interesting to take a look to see which of the crop of loanees might be interesting to Mark Fotheringham, based on a combination of their stats for their loans so far and the gaps in the current Town squad. Here’s what I’ve found out… Ryan Schofield On loan at: Hibs Level: SPL Games played: 0 WhoScored.com average rating: N/A Stats: Number of times he’s warmed the bench: 9 He was sign...

Oct262022 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments

Why I’m worried about Dean Hoyle putting Huddersfield Town up for sale

News, Opinion

Dean Hoyle announced yesterday that he is going to step back from the day-to-day running of the football club and will look to find someone to buy the club. This news was coupled with the announcement of a new managing director, Dave Baldwin, that will take over the work Dean was doing as the club’s figurehead and who will be in charge of the search for a new buyer of the club. I’ve seen some fans celebrate this news and act as though this can only be a good thing for the club but I’m far less optimistic. While there’s a possibility that things could work out well down the line, I’m a bit concerned. In this article I’ll talk about a few of the things that worry me about this new development… The takeover between Phil and Dean has still not been officially concluded Unless I misse...

Sep302022 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments

Who was the last Huddersfield Town boss to win their first game? – The new manager bounce is a myth

News, Opinion

Mark Fotheringham takes charge of his first game as Huddersfield Town head coach tomorrow afternoon and I suspect many Reading fans will fear that we will be beneficiaries of the famous new manager bounce. However, my instinct was that Huddersfield Town never seem to get good results straight away under new managers and we usually have to wait at least a little while before getting their first win. To see if I was right I waded through the record books (not really, I just looked it up online) and found I was right - new managers, or head coaches, have lost their first game in charge going back for a very long time. Here’s a quick rundown of just how far back you have to go in Huddersfield Town history before you’ll find a Huddersfield Town boss who actually won their first game i...

Sep292022 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

What kind of head coach will Mark Fotheringham be?

Opinion, Tactics

Mark Fotheringham has been appointed Huddersfield Town’s new head coach. He is the fifth of Town’s last six managerial appointments to come with no significant experience of being the head coach of a men’s football team. In fairness, gambling on inexperience has paid off half of the time in the past, with Wagner and Corberan both overperforming with limited resources. But we’ve also seen Siewert and Schofield crash and burn too. So we know how much of a gamble it is to let someone take their first steps into management at Championship level, where the games come thick and fast with no margin for error or time to learn on the job. Because Mark Fotheringham hasn’t worked as a permanent head coach anywhere previously, we don’t have anything to go on in terms of his track record. So ...

Sep152022 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments

Should David Wagner return to Huddersfield Town?

News, Opinion

Danny Schofield has gone. I was going to write a blogpost about it but I don’t think there’s any point as everyone already knows the talking points: he’s a nice guy, he was out of his depth and he probably shouldn’t have been given it in the first place. There’s not much point dragging that out to 1,000 words of waffle. It’s a genuine shame it didn’t work for Schofield but after nine games and only one (fortunate) win it was pretty clear that things were only going one way.So now we must look to the future and consider who will replace Schofield. The bookmakers think they know, as David Wagner is the odds on favourite, though it might not be quite as straightforward as that. For starters, I can’t see how Wagner would agree to working under a Head of Football like Leigh Bromby. A central t...