Huddersfield Town returned from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Lincoln City on Saturday afternoon. As you might expect from the way the scores seesawed, we saw plenty of good and bad from Town on the afternoon but overall a draw seemed about right in the end. While Lincoln were impressive in the first half and Town couldn’t cope with them, the opposite was true of the second half. If only there was a popular expression in football to describe when the game is vastly different in one half to the other!
With the points being shared and the performance from Town featuring a bit of everything, fans can take away pretty much what they want from this game. Dwell on the horrors of our limp first half and it’ll feel like we’ve thrown away a potential victory against a team that came into the game in rotten form. But if you focus on the second-half come back, then it shows that Town are building a bit of grit and can bounce back from setbacks now in a way they couldn’t a few months ago.
Let’s start with the ref
There’s not much point digging into the other elements of this game without first covering one of the biggest moments in this game, which was the rugby tackle on Ben Wiles that both the referee and linesman had a good look at but declined to award a penalty. It wasn’t one of those incidents where you need a super-slow-mo replay to see it, their player used his arms to drag Wiles down without getting even close to the ball, as clear a penalty as you could wish to see.
It wasn’t a huge surprise though because the referee let all sorts of infringements go in this game, not in a sense of letting the game flow and more just deciding he couldn’t be bothered to enforce the rules of the game. I’m pretty sure I saw two elbows from Lincoln players overlooked, several nasty fouls from both teams ignored and Helik seemed to be sucker punched and spat on (though I didn’t see the incidents involving Helik, the replays look bad).
Beyond the big decisions the ref got wrong, I also found him oddly fussy about enforcing where throw ins should be taken from or (my pet hate) stopping the game at dead balls to have little chats with players about pushing each other despite the fact the exact same players will always resume the same shoving match as soon as they walk away from the ref. These petty things are annoying when you’re chasing a game and trying to get into a flow but are ideal for teams looking to hang on to a lead and make the game fragmented. Similarly, the ref did a poor job of reducing Lincoln’s timewasting, which again allowed the momentum Town had to be sapped due to every break in play taking an age to resume.
A first-half non-performance from Town
If you didn’t know which team was which, you would assume the team in black were the ones on a nine-game unbeaten streak and the blue and white team had not won in six. Lincoln played far better than Town in the first half and thoroughly deserved their lead. Perhaps understanding that Turton and Ruffels aren’t natural winbacks, Lincoln pushed their wide players right up to form a front four when they had possession which meant we were pinned in by them for long periods.
To make matters worse, Matty Pearson had one of his worst performances in a Town shirt and as the half wore on Lincoln targeted him relentlessly. Bailey Cadamatri had a particularly successful time against Pearson before the defender left the field, possibly due to the illness that has swept the camp or maybe due to a knock.
With the wide players completely tied up, we needed other players to step up but almost all of Town’s players put in lukewarm performances in this first half of the game. David Kasumu was the only one who gets partial credit for his industry and willingness to carry the ball up the field.
While there were tactical and performance-related reasons for Town’s poor showing, I think mentality has to be part of it too. I wonder if the players were expecting an easier time of it and were surprised that Lincoln were pretty good. There have been games this season where the opposition has sat in and allowed us to have plenty of the ball, maybe we were completely blindsided that they came with a plan to commit players forward and play a bit of football.
While I think the team selection was wrong for this game, Turton and Ruffels being obviously unsuited to play together as at least one of the wingbacks needs to get forward with regularity. I also wonder if the formation didn’t suit us, with midfield overran due to Wiles drifting forward and leaving Kasumu and Kane to deal with more than they could cope with. Kane also strayed too far upfield too, leaving Kasumu chasing shadows.
My biggest issue with the first half though, regardless of shape or selection, was that nearly every Lincoln player was better than the Town player they came up against. So whatever formation or tactical approach you use, if everyone is losing their battles you’re going to concede goals.
One thing that may be worth noting on the more positive side though, is that Lincoln scored from their only two shots on target in that half. So while they were dominant, we still restricted them to a couple of good chances which xG suggests we were a bit unlucky to concede from both.
Town turn it around
The night and day difference in Town’s performance on either side of the half-time break may be the result of Duff and his coaches chucking teacups around the dressing room and giving the players the hairdryer treatment. I expect the biggest change was that we had Sorensen and, particularly, Koroma on the flanks. As well as giving the Imps more to think about when we pushed forward, it also meant they were less willing to chuck everyone forward when they got the ball back and therefore lost the impetus.
Having a two-goal lead to cling to may have been Lincoln’s undoing as they resorted to a more negative, time-wasting approach in the second half. Proving that 2-0 can be a dangerous lead in football, as the cliche goes. Lincoln would have been better not scoring their second goal and 1-0 would have been a much safer lead. (This paragraph is dedicated to my dad, who grumbles whenever he hears talk of 2-0 being a risky lead.)
Koroma was at the heart of most of Town’s positive play during this period and he really showed why he’s played most of his career as a winger rather than a striker. While he will have a go at winning headers now, he’s much more at home running at a fullback down the flanks and either taking them to the byline or cutting inside to shoot.
The goal Spencer headed in for our first was a result of one of Koroma’s penetrating runs and dinked crosses. He did the exact same thing a few minutes later too without a Town player positioned to take advantage of his positive play. Duff talked about how he needs two Josh Koromas, so he can play one out wide and one as a striker. But until we get the technology to clone Koroma, I think he needs to be played out wide where he’s most effective.
Callum Marshall scored the equaliser but had been pretty anonymous up to that point. Perhaps that’s fine though, as he took his goal well, getting a good enough connection that the keeper’s touch wasn’t enough to stop the ball finding the back of the net. Given the number of strikers we have that aren’t scoring, Marshall deserves to start up top now based purely on the fact he’s got a goal (to add to his slowly growing tally).
I’ve spoken about the penalty incident above, so I’ll not dwell on it again here, but if we’d have converted the penalty we should have had then I suspect we’d have had enough time to go on and win it. As it played out though, we were denied the penalty but kept plugging away and got our reward in the 89th minute.
Unfortunately, stoppage time was only notable for an unsavoury incident off the ball involving Helik getting clouted. There was then a large fracas when a Lincoln player did something to him while he was on the ground that made him spring up and look to remonstrate with the player in question. Thankfully there were enough Town players around to give Helik the “Leave it, he’s not worth it” chat and Jacob Chapman cuddled him as the red mist cleared.
While it wasn’t perfect, the second half has some much better passing and movement on the ball from Town and it looked far closer to how we talk about wanting to play. There were numerous tactical shuffles to achieve this dominant performance but like with the second half, the major deciding factor was players winning their battles. Had we started the game in the same fashion, I’m pretty sure I’d now be writing about a Town win.
Injury worries mount
A few weeks ago it seemed like our injury crisis was starting to clear, with several key players returning from various injuries. Since that period we’ve seen Miller and Healey succumb to long-term injuries as well as niggling problems with Hogg and Evans have seen them out of the picture too. A bug going through the camp seems to have decimated our options further for this game, with Duff saying his 18-man squad included every fit and available first-team player.
While we have a reassuring depth to our squad this season, the loss of Lasse Sorensen to a fresh injury in his first league outing since getting back to fitness leaves us missing another important player. It’s possible the hamstring issue was a tweak rather than a twang but given our present luck with injuries, expect the next update on him to be more in the 6-8 week range rather than a few days.
In case you were wondering, here’s the current injury list as it stands:
- Lee Nicholls (elbow)
- Radinio Balker (ankle)
- Joe Hodge (groin)
- Antony Evans (toe)
- Rhys Healey (calf)
- Mickel Miller (knee)
- Jonathan Hogg (calf)
- Tom Lees (ill)
- Lasse Sorensen (hamstring)
- Matty Pearson (ill or possibly concussion)
There are ten players on the list above, so not quite enough to field a full team but getting close. To make matters worse, at least seven of the above list would make it into our strongest eleven if they were fully fit and firing. Also, if you’re bored, you could play a weird version of “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” using just the body parts Town players have injured lately.
Hopefully, our luck will turn with injuries soon but heading into the hectic Christmas period with so many players missing is far from ideal.
Next up, Cambridge United
Hopefully, the Lincoln game will have been a lesson in not taking any team for granted in this league. While Cambridge have only won one of their last six games, they’ve managed to draw four of them. After having an awful start to the season, their form since mid-October would easily put them in the top half.
It’s a tricky balance though, as every rival coach describes us as a big team in this division and we have to live up to that with our performances. So while we should be mindful of the opposition’s abilities we also need to show our own off too.
I’m getting to know Michael Duff’s mindset now and I’m almost certain he won’t rest players in this game to preserve them for the trickier prospect of Stockport on Boxing day. While injuries may force his hand into making changes, I’m sure we’ll see the strongest possible lineup as anything less risks defeat.
Strikers – cut and paste the standard lines
I nearly made it to the end without bemoaning our striker situation. But obviously, the usual statements about needing new strikers still stands and there’s not a lot of new things to say. I suppose Marshall scored and Ladapo had twenty minutes or so without being openly laughed at by the home fans, so there are some glimmers of hope there. Still, two new strikers in January and some deadwood shifted out remains a priority.
I know that Duff has his hands tied with all the injuries but his team selection was abysmal. Just a set of square pegs in round holes. 2 wingers as strikers. 2 full backs as wing backs, 1 B team midfielder, 1 poorly centre back and in my opinion a rather indifferent/average goalkeeper. How could he possibly expect any cohesion with such a motley bunch. There was a vast improvement after the 5 substitutes were introduced. Why didn’t they start? The only saving grace was Radulovic was nowhere to be seen, and I hope it stays that way. I will never be a fan of Duffs system where wingbacks have to attack and are expected to be defend as fullbacks as well. I also think a team without proper wingers is passing up a major attacking advantage in any team. I may be old fashioned but there should be 4 positions fixed in the selection. i.e. 2 wingers and 2 fullbacks. In other words a 4-3-3 system. Nothing to stop attackers defending as well but that shouldn’t be their primary aim. I envisage a team with Koroma on the left, Thomas on the right with a quality striker in the middle. Maybe I should write a letter to Santa!!
I agree with you about the selection. While you could praise him for fixing it with the subs, it would have been better to start with the best blend of available players. Not sure I’d class any of the midfielders as B Team (apart from Iorpenda on the bench). I’ve also been quite impressed with Chapman, particularly his distribution but I think Nicholls should come straight back in once he’s fully right.
Duff is pretty set on wingbacks as his first choice set up for most games, so I doubt we’ll see wingers playing in their natural position often while he’s in charge. I don’t have much of an opinion about which is most effective but I do miss seeing a winger taking on a defender and getting to the byline – which was why it was nice to see Koroma getting into those areas. The theory, I suppose, is that Miller and Sorensen should play like wingers who get back and so a bit of defending. But without those two available I don’t think we have the right players in those areas.
Sorba Thomas should be good enough to tear up League One but I doubt he’d last very long before he fell out with Duff. I’ve heard he’s been a bit hit and miss on France, so maybe he’ll get shipped back if there’s a break clause in the loan.
All the talk of getting a striker in January hides the fact that this club desperately needs at least one centre half, but preferably two. Pearson should have owned up to being too ill to play. He’s bad enough when he’s fit and well, but on Saturday he was an abomination. Lincoln’s centre halves were way better than ours, being able to play one touch football and find a team mate when passing. This gave Lincolns midfield players confidence to move forward, something that our midfielders don’t have because of what’s behind them. And what a difference in the second half when we had wingbacks who not only had pace, but the ability to run at, and beat the full backs. If Duff is so determined to keep the three at the back formation, surely he must realise that he doesn’t have the players to make a success of it. The return of Balka will hopefully fill one spot, but for how long with his history.
I think Lees and Pearson are good defenders for League One but not if we’re hoping to play out from the back. Heliknis also limited in terms of ball-playing ability but his all-round ability makes up for that. Lonwijk, Helik and a new, preferably left-footed, central defense should be on the shopping list. Just as a left wingback to deputise for / compete with Miller is needed.
Hopefully January will see us make a handful of quality signings rather than just desperately getting as many warm bodies as we can through the door to bulk up the squad.
Never been known to moan in my life. Looks like being a very barren Chritmas for TS!
Lump of coal it is! Cheers Dad.
We played 4-3-3 for the last 15 minutes and we dominated the game. Why don’t we start with this formation with the players we have available, rather than sticking with round pegs in square holes in a 3-5-2.?
I typed a longer reply but the website seems to have eaten it. Duff played very similar formations for the bulk of his time at Cheltenham, Barnsley and Swansea, so I think he’s pretty wedded to that shape and would rather make the players fit his system rather than playing the shape that most fits our players. I think the biggest issue was we weren’t at the races in the first half then worked harder and played better on the second. However, Koroma looked miles better out wide than he did as a striker, so the shape has an impact on the performances.
It is interesting to note the defence has looked rocky without Lees against Bolton and Lincoln, so I would welcome him back ASAP. As for the post about Pearson, whilst I agree he shouldn’t have played it he wasn’t well, to suggest that he hasn’t performed this season is well short of the mark. Many have derided Spencer in various forums of late, but I wish (but hold out little hope) they would have the good grace to acknowledge his contribution in this game.
I’d not made that connection but it’s a good point. Lees often doesn’t grab the headlines but is a steadying influence. I’d prefer a player that was a bit better on the ball in that position but Lees is rarely a problem at the back. I just wish he had the same killer instinct as Pearson and Helik at set pieces as he’s fluffed about five very good chances this season.
Pearson wasn’t fancied but Duff after an indifferent preseason but he’s forced his way into the reckoning with good performances when he’s had a chance. If he’s out for any length of time we’ll miss him.
Scoring one goal and assisting the other is about as much as Spencer could have done to win over any doubters. He’s been dropped for those occasions he’s jumped into tackles but now Sorensen is injured again and Turton has looked a bit limited going forward, I think Spencer may be our best bet at right wingback.
Hopefully, Balker is nearing fitness again. Could he be an obvious choice.
If he gets fit and stays fit, he’ll be as good as a new signings because he’s pretty much forgotten about. From the glimpses I’ve seen of him when he’s been fit, he looks like the kind of ball playing defender that we’ve been crying out for. He played for the B Team recently, so must be edging closer to match fitness.
Stating the obvious, Duff signed Sorensen & Miller to fit his preferred 3-5-2 presumably believing he didn’t have good enough players in the squad to play wing back. Neither are fit. So Duff needs to adapt.
Stating another obvious, Koroma at least has the potential to be dangerous when running at a defence; with his back to goal, he’s impotent.
And a final obvious, 3-5-2 requires two strikers rather than one; Town don’t even have one who can torment a defence. I didn’t see the Lincoln match but I couldn’t help but notice that in your article, TS, there was no mention of any contribution from Danny Ward; no surprise there. This is League One for goodness sake.
My plan at the moment is to go to the Cambridge match on Friday. Your article and the comments aren’t inspiring me to make the effort.
Final point about signings in January. If I was the owner and piling in my cash, I’d be wanting answers to certain questions first:-
1. Tell me about the 6 strikers you’ve currently got; how come there’s not a decent striker amongst them? How do I know you won’t go out and get another equally inept striker at vast expense? In fact, I’m so uncertain of your recruitment judgement, I’m not sticking in any more cash unless you’ve first offloaded at least 2 of the current 6.
2. With what objective are you identifying players to sign? Are we looking short-term i.e. just good enough to play in Division One and help gain promotion? Or are we looking longer term, assuming we’ll get promoted so these new players need to be good enough to do a job in the Championship? If the former, maybe there might be the odd player about. If the latter, forget it. The capital outlay plus the wages bill will be too rich for us.
So let’s not get too excited about what the January transfer window might bring.
I think you’re right Simon, without specialist wingbacks we’re likely to struggle with this system and changing the formation to suit the players available should make the team stronger.
Koroma has been showing signs of trying to play like a striker this season (I’m thinking headed goals and positioning himself in the right place for tap ins) but he looks far more at home out on the wings.
Ward had a fairly typical game for him. Some signs of effort but he was rarely near the ball in dangerous parts of the pitch.
I’d bet that Kevin Nagle has asked some questions but I suspect there’ll be plausible sounding explanations for why all these seemingly good League One strikers on our books have either been poor or injured all season. I get the feeling he’ll be willing to invest in a striker with the potential to grow with the club if we get promoted back to the Championship but I’ve no faith in our ability to recruit given the current crop (and Hudlin, Harratt and Philips) have all been disappointments for one reason or another.
I hope you enjoy the game against Cambridge, if you choose to go. If you look at their league position, it should be a game we’re strong favourites. But things are never that straight forward with Town.
Thanks again for another insightful report.
Given the largely unconvincing below-par performances you have described over the last nine games – how on earth are they unbeaten?
It seems a miracle they are in the top six – but with the present set up there is no way they will challenge for automatic promotion. Simon’s comments seem apt – previous transfer windows have been poor and the owner still has to convince that he knows what he’s doing – and that he is prepared to invest in players rather than only real estate.
I think getting results when we’re not playing brilliantly is credit that can be assigned to Michael Duff’s influence. Regardless of how well we’re playing on the ball, off the ball the players tend to put a bit shift in to close down opposition and we are generally fairly organised (though not all the time). We also play in a shape that’s quite hard to break down too, so when things aren’t going well we can at least limit the oppositions chances.
I’m more optimistic than you about our prospects of getting into the top two, though that’s partly based on the expectations that we’ll bring in a decent striker. But it defies all logic that I would think that when we’ve needed a striker in every transfer window I can remember and so rarely do we get a good one.
I’d be surprised if Kevin Nagle has bought Town for our real estate. You can never tell an owner’s intentions but my impression is that he sincerely wants to be a positive influence at Town and will invest where needed. My biggest concern is about whether his enthusiasm will be sustained over the long term. Time will tell.
As ever hard to disagree with your critique, TS.
I’m going to add one more about the ref. As well as the above there must have been at least 5 times his positioning was so poor that he was in a passing lane for our team and eventually got completely in the way of something, it was driving me to distraction during the game.
I think some of the BTL comments are a bit harsh on the team and players tbh not withstanding we keep signing injury problem players and the forward situation isn’t great as well documented. I’ve said it a number of times on this website that the vast majority of players Town can sign and attract at either CH or L1 level will have a ‘but’ next to their name be it pace, consistency, flair, injury history or whatever. A lot of fans seem to think we are able to sign better players than is realistic.
I think there are positives from not losing the game though the first half was very poor although Linbcoln were busting a gut and unlikely to keep that pace up, also if we had got the first goal I think they would have faltered.
I think in most games this league Koroma works on the wing/wingback and as someone not his biggest fan I’ve been impressed the last 2 games, at least he drives it forward and gets us moving.
I still think automatic is on the cards although Wycombe and Birmingham might not falter now.
I wonder if Wycombe have the strength in depth that is required for a long campaign. For me Birmingham and, realistically, Wrexham remain the ones to catch. I can see us catching Wrexham if we can be more potent up top.
I feel like we’re in a good position in the league considering it still feels like there are a lot of possible improvements with this team. I’d hope we’ll get better both in terms of style of play and players we’re able to field in the second half. Obviously January signings could bolster the squad but also getting injured players back too. While everyone gets injuries, our luck has been awful on that front so far and will hopefully turn eventually. I’ve not been particularly impressed with Wrexham when I’ve seen them and I think you’re right Wycombe’s bubble should burst at some point.
Rather than being particularly biased one way or the other, I think the ref was just bad. So many things he either didn’t see or inexplicably choose not to punish. You’re right about his positioning too, which relies on a basic ability to read the game and get out of the way.
It’s hard to know what our expectations should be in terms of signings. I think at League One level we are a relatively big team and probably have the budget to bring in established performers at this level. When you start buying players with potential to help us in the Championship it gets a bit trickier for us to afford the fees and wages (as Simon suggested in his comment).
This season is probably the most consistent form we’ve seen from Koroma. Even when he was loaned out to Portsmouth in League One he drifted in and out of their team. With Miller and Sorensen out, I think Koroma’s tendency to drive the ball up the pitch will be useful.
I hope you’re right about automatic promotion being possible still. Our form so far this season puts on track to get a total of about 88 points if I remember rightly. Most seasons that would be enough to be in the chase for top two but this season may require an even higher tally.
With the right signings in January and a bit of luck with injuries I think we could catch Wrexham. I live in Prestatyn and went to the game. I am 74 years old and need a new knee, I have suported Town for 68 years. So I make a genuine effort to get to the game. It is strange but I am enjoying this season, we are winning many more games all be it at a lower level. Seeing my team get beaten most games at a higher level for the last few years is not a good feeling. So lets get up and make a fist of it. Make our suporters proud again.
Alan
That is commitment, following Town all that time, now from Wales and now with a dodgy knee. I think I’m the same as you, it’s been nice to see us win a few more games this season and be a big fish in a smaller pond. My only reservation is that we’re not quite as good as I think we should be despite having a decent points total for this stage of the season. I’m hopeful something will click and we’ll see some decent performances alongside the good results. Though I sometimes wonder if one of the benefits of following Town is always having something to moan about. If we were brilliant I’d have nothing to write about.