Huddersfield Town host Port Vale on Boxing Day with Town hoping that they can build on their emphatic win against Rotherham last weekend. But “the group” will be equally aware of how quickly the crowd will turn if they revert back to the football that saw them draw 3-3 against a poor Wigan team in their last home outing. Port Vale come to the game in poor form with Darren Moore under pressure for his job. While his time at Town ended in failure, he always came across as a decent guy and it’s a shame he’s struggled to establish Port Vale in League One after securing promotion for them last season.
I always love going to a Town home game on Boxing Day, so this game will feel like a festive treat regardless of the outcome but there is a fair amount riding on this fixture. Town will want to put together a good run so they can climb the table, Lee Grant will want to save his job, the fans want to see something they can cheer rather than boo and the visitors will be desperate to get something to take away after a string of poor results.
How will the crowd react to Lee Grant?
One of the most interesting things to watch out for in this game will be how the fans react to events on the pitch. Lee Grant, despite pretending to be fine with it when asked by the media, looked visibly shaken by the chants berating his team’s style of football in the Wigan game. I didn’t go to the Rotherham away game but even a good Town performance on the pitch wasn’t enough to silence the boo boys, according to reports I’ve heard.
Even when he’s not engaging with fans online, it always feels like Kevin Nagle is acutely aware of fan sentiment and he no doubt will have been concerned by the way the fans have turned on Lee Grant from the stands. Though the biggest concern isn’t the anger but the apathy that has led to so many empty seats. How the fans feel about Lee Grant could have a large bearing on how long he is given in the job.
So it will be intriguing to see how the Accu Stadium responds to events in this game. A repeat of the animosity we saw in the Wigan game seems certain if Town don’t put in a decent performance. The more interesting thing will be how the fans react if things are mostly OK. Will there be any tolerance for playing the ball around the back, if that patient approach occasionally finds gaps to exploit in Port Vale’s back line? Will the crowd still back the team if good play isn’t capped off with goals initially?
I think the majority of Town fans want to see the team do well and are desperate to have positive things to cheer. It’s only when there’s a complete absence of quality to shout about that the mood sours and negativity seeps in. So if the performance from the players is good, my hope is that the previous frustrations will be put aside and most fans will back the team enthusiastically. And those few that want Town to lose so Grant gets sacked will be easily drowned out by the majority that want the team to do well.
Will Darren Moore do better as an away manager?
Because of how it ended, it’s easy to forget the reputation Darren Moore had when he arrived at Town. He’d taken Sheffield Wednesday out of League One via the playoffs, including a remarkable turnaround in the semi-final after losing the first leg heavily. He was a highly regarded coach. Sadly, Huddersfield Town were too far into the mire for him to be able to do anything but preside over a further slide despite his best efforts.
Few will remember Darren Moore’s time at Town as a happy period in the club’s history but I don’t think he was a bad man and the bulk of our issues at the time ran far deeper than simply being the manager’s fault. So I’ll not bear any ill will towards Darren Moore when he returns to the Accu Stadium for this match. Some fans may give him a bit of stick but I’m sure he’ll understand that it’s “part and partial” of being a manager, as he was fond of saying.
Despite Lee Grant warning about the dangers that Port Vale can present in his pre-match comments, Darren Moore’s team haven’t won in the league since September and are currently sat rock bottom of the table. While it’s true that any team can be dangerous if you let your guard down in this division, this is a game that Town should be able to win by simply being professional. That may seem like a low bar, but it’s also a quality that we’ve lacked in some of our most humbling defeats this season.
Will there be any fallout from Herbie Kane’s attempted street fight?
In the last few days, a video has been circulating on social media of Herbie Kane and Marcus Harness appearing to get involved in an unseemly confrontation in the middle of Leeds. Lee Grant all but confirmed the validity of the video when evading a question about this incident in his press conference, saying he wouldn’t talk about it publicly but it had been dealt with behind closed doors.
For those that haven’t yet seen the footage, some toerag started berating the Town players in a takeaway and mocked Herbie Kane’s lack of hair and his struggles with his weight. The kind of personal insult intended to get a reaction which Kane responded to by trying (and failing) to hit the unpleasant individual that started the interaction. While there are many concerning elements to this story, Kane’s inability to close down space and his wayward strikes at least matched what we’re used to seeing him do on the pitch.
Lee Grant was tight-lipped about the steps the club have taken to address this but we’ll find out on Boxing Day if Marcus Harness’ involvement has led to him being dropped from the team. Kane continues to be injured, so won’t be seen playing for a good while, so a ban wouldn’t mean a great deal.
I think this can probably be filed away under “something and nothing” given that nobody seemed to be hurt and the individual that Kane went for is clearly an absolute tool. Had Kane’s violent intent been matched by the young lad he was chasing after then it could have been a different outcome. So I think it would be proportionate to give him some sort of internal sanction for showing such poor judgement to try to initiate a street fight in the middle of a busy city centre with camera phones everywhere. If I were in charge, I’d make him give a substantial donation to the Jordan Sinnott Foundation and have him do some community work with disaffected youths. Though there was also the issue of Kane being pictured smoking a cigarette on the street too, which doesn’t scream professional sportsman who takes care of themselves.
(p.s. feel free to add your own puns in the comments along the lines of Herbie Kane fighting to get fit, scrapping for promotion or coming out swinging when he returns from injury.)
Can Town find a bit of form?
After writing mostly about off the field hoopla, it’s worth remembering there’s a game of football to be played and it could be an important one. Town’s victory against Rotherham was encouraging but needs to be a foundation to build a run from, not just a flash in the pan. Port Vale are not a good team, so there’s a chance to further build confidence in the squad. It’s also vitally important that these players give the fans something to cheer after a pretty disappointing season so far.
Boxing Day is also a special game because many fans that live away are often back home for Christmas and get a chance to see a game. Putting on a good show for these more occasional fans could help to tempt them along to further games. Another showing like the one against Wigan and the fans that have already paid for tickets could start finding other ways to spend their Saturdays.
One reassuring aspect of Town’s recent struggles is that the team should have been performing much better than it has. Even accounting for injuries, we’ve a good enough squad to be doing significantly better than we have. So it wouldn’t be crazy for a few slight improvements here and there to suddenly see this team fulfil its potential.
An apology
I’d like to add a quick apology for the lack of recent posts. I’ve still been watching the games but haven’t had the time to do the usual write ups. Nothing dramatic has happened to stop me writing these blogposts but an accumulation of practical and dull reasons have meant I’ve not had the time to keep up with the games. Normal service should now be resumed.
Merry Christmas Town fans and I hope you all have a good day on Christmas Day before Town attempt to ruin the goodwill to all men with their Boxing Day performance.
Hi,missed your usually very insightful articles. Glad you’re back.
I’ve said the same thing for as many years as I can remember. The home crowd are toxic and often act as the 12th man for the away team.
Even under Buxton, Warnock and Wagner it didn’t take much for the crowd to turn.
The unfortunate thing is that the toxics seem very entitled. Town are in League 1 but I wonder how many of the toxics only remember the promotion to the Premier League and the subsequent seasons.
Thanks for another year of interesting articles, and aMerry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, and all my fellow readers.
Thanks Glenn. Merry Christmas to you too.
Thanks Gray! Much appreciated.
Fans who turn up wanting Town to lose so they can boo the team should stay at home. Who does it help?
Lee Grant is a rookie. An L-plate manager and he’s going to make mistakes. Of course we should be much higher up the table, but I really hope he gets until January so Chris Markham can upgrade the group – he’s a Town fan and gets what we want — think he had a lot to do with the Rotherham performance.
Anyway, blahing on – merry Christmas.
It’ll be interesting to see how Chris Markham’s arrival affects things. Grant seemed very keen to have control of everything when he arrived. A few months in and he’s now sounding pretty pleased to have someone else to deal with the executive level stuff.
As for the boo boys, they go dormant when things go well. Hopefully we can pick things up and get a rest from their negativity. Plenty of fans have fair criticisms of the club but I think there are some fringe cases that have lost the plot and are desperate to complain about anything and everything.
So true TS. I honestly don’t care about who’s managing Town as long as we go us, but I do think that if LG can get us attacking like Ipswich and we can sort the defence, we’ll have enough.
I’ve said the same thing for as many years as I can remember. The home crowd are toxic and often act as the 12th man for the away team.
Even under Buxton, Warnock and Wagner it didn’t take much for the crowd to turn.
When things are bad, Town fans will make their feelings known but they’re just as vocal in the good times. Though the problem has been the lack of good times to celebrate in recent seasons.
Should be taking 6 points out of the next 2, minimum of 4. If we can’t do it against these sides at home, then we’re in trouble.
I think Moore would say “part and partial ”
which made it so amusing. Remember Mooy calling for 20 B&H at Lepton , he didn’t do too bad did he ?.
Part and partial was what I meant to write but my brain defaulted to parcel. Given the points we’ve dropped do far, these sort of games are must-win if we’re going to have a serious go at promotion in the second half of the season. And we’ll also have to do better against the more fancied teams too.
good read as always thanks… i think you need to emphasis the Port Vale are bottom bit a bit more!! the current worst team in the league… For a team gunning for promotion this should be a mere speed bump. All the best !
Thanks Paul, you’re right that Port Vale look like a shabby team from their league position and recent results. Though it’s pretty typical for teams with terrible form to suddenly turn into works beaters when they turn up at Huddersfield.
Don’t worry your still more prolific than the Huddersfield Examiner
The Examiner/ Yorkshire Live stuff after they got rid of Steven Chicken has been pretty poor. Rather than send someone to the games they just chop up the press conferences into dozens of articles and stretch them over the next week. It’s hard to see why they bother.
You seem to be confusing the Wimbledon game with the Wigan game when you refer to the crowd reactions against LG.
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve no idea how I’d managed to forget who we played only the other weekend. Fixed now.
Lots of typos/spelling errors too – have ypu been on the eggnog. Lol. Have a great Christmas.
No, I just type like I’ve got sausages for fingers. 😂 Merry Christmas!
Nothing to add other than to wish you, TS, and your followers a very happy & healthy Christmas.
My best Christmas present would be a great display and 3 points for Town tomorrow.
Thanks Simon. Merry Christmas!