Missed chances, the goal that wasn’t, a second-half crumble and telling Kevin Nagle to pipe down – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with MK Dons

Huddersfield Town came away from Milton Keynes with a point on Saturday after their 1-1 draw with MK Dons. Before the game, a point away from home against a fancied opponent would have seemed OK but there’s a bitter taste to this draw after Joe Taylor had a beautiful long-range goal incorrectly not given. This injustice wouldn’t have mattered so much if Town had finished their plethora of other goal-worthy chances in the first half. 

Sadly we only had the single-goal lead and MK Dons came out for the second half with a much better approach to the game and Town struggled to maintain the momentum that saw them dominate the chances in the first half. The equaliser felt inevitable but at least Town hung on for the draw even if they couldn’t regain the ascendancy. 

Here are a few of my thoughts on this game…

Missed chances only downside of an excellent first half

Town looked really good in the first half, with MK Dons unable to cope with our movement and attacking threat. Taylor, Fletcher and Fernandes all played a part in stretching MK Dons and getting their defenders into positions they didn’t want to be in. Taylor was the pick of the attacking trident, looking quick, aggressive and lethal with the ball. 

Taylor opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a brilliant bit of direct running, using his speed to get past their last man and stabbing the ball under their keeper. Ledson deserves credit for a well-weighted through ball but this was a tactic we repeatedly used in the first half. Through balls from deep areas were a great outlet and bypassed MK Dons’ midfield and set up our attackers for one-on-ones with a suspect-looking defence.

Despite feeling like Town completely dominated this half, they only had 45% possession but managed ten shots, with six being on target. Joe Taylor had two efforts well-saved, Fletcher hit the post, Sway did brilliantly to get in position to shoot but didn’t do enough to test the keeper, and Taylor scored his long-range effort that the officials didn’t award. 

Town should really have been at least 3-0 up by half-time and their lack of killer instinct cost them in the end. Depending on whether you’re a glass half-full or half-empty person will dictate whether you’re pleased to see Town creating loads of chances or dismayed by their inability to finish them. Having seen far too many Town games where we’ve failed to lay a glove on the opponent, I’m pleased to see we’ve been creating so many quality chances in these opening two league games.

The goal that wasn’t

The Joe Taylor non-goal has sparked a debate about goal-line technology in League One and Two, as it’s currently in place in the Premier League and Championship but I’d argue Taylor’s goal wasn’t one of those fringe cases where the technology is useful. This wasn’t a situation where there’s a hair’s breadth between the ball crossing the line or not; the ball was at least a foot over the line and the trajectory of the ball made it obvious that it had bounced over the line and out of the goal without the need for technology. 

I don’t like criticising officials because they’re usually trying their best and everyone makes mistakes but this one is a tough one to take. Had we gone 2-0 up at that stage in the game, it’s very likely we’d have gone on to win. With just a goal in it, MK Dons knew they had a path back into the game. 

Cost is the most likely reason that the top two divisions of professional football have goalline technology and the bottom two don’t. But if spending the money on this technology avoids these kinds of mistakes, then I think it’s worth paying for.

Losing control in the second half

Things changed in the second half. Town lost some of their energy in attack and MK Dons seemed more comfortable with our forward play. At the same time, they suddenly looked a lot more dangerous with their attacks going forward. While there was a noticeable drop-off from Town, MK Dons also improved a lot too and that seemed to be the larger factor in the momentum swinging away from us.

Their equaliser summed up the second half in microcosm, with Town’s promising attack breaking down thanks to a really poor cross from Bronkhorst that initiated a break for MK Dons. They moved the ball well to get Collins into position to curl a lovely shot past Matty Young. Bronkhorst and Balker both gave him too much room to get his shot away but it was a superb strike.

Despite not conceding directly from a cross, Town showed a vulnerability to aerial balls into the box in this match. It’s been a bit of a trend through preseason and these first few competitive games. Crosses into the box cause our defence to go to pieces and we lose far too many headers and struggle to mop up second balls. I worry that Bowat and Balker are players picked more for their comfort on the ball rather than their ability to battle it out in the air. If this issue continues, I’d be inclined to bring Joe Low into the team to provide some extra height and muscle to the back line even if he isn’t a particularly cultured player with the ball at his feet.

Pipe down Kevin

Kevin Nagle, Huddersfield Town’s owner, was asked on X (formerly Twitter) about his thoughts and he replied with one word: “Underperformed”. The tweet was posted in a thread about a fundraiser, so it may have been about something else, but every response and my own interpretation was that Nagle was describing Town’s performance in this game. 

I’m probably more in favour of Kevin Nagle than the average Town fan and do believe that his heart is in the right place when it comes to Town but the way he communicates on social media makes me cringe. Even small bits of public venting like this are a bad idea for someone in his position. Of the 14 replies or quote tweets he received, none supported his view and nearly all of them condemned him for speaking out publicly about the team after only two league games. Say all you like about our toxic fans, but not a single one chose to join in with Kevin’s critical remark.

When Nagle’s been called out in the past for venting his half-baked opinions, he’s said that he feels like he’s got as much right as any fan to speak his mind. This is true but just because he can doesn’t mean he should. As the person at the top of the food chain in the club’s hierarchy, he has to understand that his words send out a message to those he employs at the club. Does he really want to question the performance of his team at this stage of Drury’s tenure? 

There’s a theory that our tendency to go with inexperienced managers recently has been because any decent, experienced manager wouldn’t touch our club with a barge pole because of how trigger-happy and outspoken our chairman is. While it’s hard to know if this is true, it’s certainly believable. If I was a well-respected manager looking for a new job, I’d be worried about working for someone who will publicly criticise the team with very little reason.

One of the most baffling things about this tweet is that it comes following a decent, if flawed at times, performance and after we’ve picked up a respectable point on the road. It makes me wonder how much Kevin Nagle knows about football, despite the fact he’s owned our team for years now and has owned Sacramento Republic for even longer (though the level looks to be closer to Sunday league than League One from the clips I’ve seen).

There’s a famous saying that goes: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Kevin Nagle could benefit from taking this advice. Or, better yet, someone should change his Twitter password and not give him the new one. 

AOB

A very quiet stadium – I think the “Is this a library?” chant is one of the worst chants in football, as nearly every away end sings it to the team they’re visiting in every game. But MK Dons’ stadium really did have a library feel to it on Saturday. The quoted attendance looked like a huge overestimate of the bums on seats in the stadium, and the atmosphere created by the home fans was poor even when their team were playing well. Milton Keynes is a pretty big place, so it’s hard to work out why their inhabitants aren’t coming to support their local team. It’s not like there’s anything better to do in Milton Keynes, they can’t all be on the indoor ski slope.

Tired? – It was quite noteworthy that Martin Drury said after the game, “We started to tire, couldn’t get to the ball quickly enough and started dropping.” when explaining the reasons for us struggling in the second half. This feels like a pretty weak excuse when it’s so early in the season and we’ve just completed a preseason that everyone in the club seems pleased with. Maybe the intensity demanded in the first half was too much for some, or the training during the week was too draining, or our players just don’t have the right levels of fitness. Any of those explanations would ultimately be Drury’s fault, so it feels like a weak excuse. Having five substitutes means that it’s possible to change half of the outfield players at some stage in the game, so I feel like blaming fitness is a bit weak. 

Ashia on his way? Despite the transfer window coming to a close soon, there’s been very little news on the transfer side of things. The most persistent rumour is that Cameron Ashia is being tracked by a number of clubs. There’s a heavy whiff of “agent talk” about these rumours but I suppose Ashia’s agent trying to drum up interest in his services is news in itself. Before the Wimbledon game, Martin Drury talked about how Ashia needs to be right both physically and mentally before he can be in contention to play. I found it interesting that Drury specifically mentioned him needing to be mentally right, as it hints that the player may have thrown his toys out of the pram. With Iorpenda being another player entering the final year of their contract and seemingly wanting away, it suggests we’re not doing enough behind the scenes to keep hold of our most talented young players.