Draws can be like those Rorschach tests used by psychologists in films. Rather than an ink blot that looks like a reproductive organ, a draw allows a football fan to project their deep rooted feelings about their team onto it.
So if you’ve got reservations about Huddersfield Town then Saturday’s result was proof we can’t hold leads, lack presence in midfield and blew an opportunity to win. If you’re on the Carlos promotion party bus then this game was a valuable point against a team that were better than us on the day but weren’t able to press home their advantage because we’re such tricky Terriers. I’m not sure how I feel about this game but I’ll probably work it out by the end of this article.
What was the game plan?
Our game plan worked in the first half but failed in the second – it’s much easier to work out a plan when it’s working than when it isn’t. We started the game very aggressive, pressing Swansea high up the pitch and putting pressure on their keeper. This high press wasn’t sustained though and we tended to drop back once they got the ball out of defence and then concentrated on keeping our shape against them and looking to counter.
This strategy made sense because Swansea wanted to play the kind of possession football that Corberán tried to embed last season but has since turned his back on (for now at least). Carlos will know better than most how to get the better of possession football teams that lack penetration because he’s been on the receiving end of plenty of poor results when he’s tried to get his team to dominate the ball for most of a game. Press the defence and keeper, keep it tight, let them pass themselves to death – it was the plan that many teams used to deadly effect against us last season.
In the first half this plan worked very well and Town dominated the best chances even though they had very little of the possession. They were a real threat on the break and looked very solid at the back, with Swansea mostly just passing the ball around in front of a well-organised defence.
The momentum swung the other way in the second half and Town struggled to find ways to hurt Swansea after Sinani’s withdrawal for High. The injury sub required a tactical shift that saw Town unable to do anything but sit deep and cling on for long periods. While Swansea still indulged in tippy tappy football, it started to bear fruit for them and chances started to appear.
I don’t think Town meant to sit deep and allow Swansea to take advantage of the time and space they were allowed. The problem was that our attacking players weren’t able to find space to exploit any more and the few occasions we got on the ball saw us quickly squander possession with sloppy passes.
Hogg’s return brought solidity but removed dynamism
Jonathan Hogg’s return to the starting lineup was mostly a good thing, particularly for a game that required a lot of organisation at the back to keep things tight. It was nice to see him roasting players for their mistakes and making sure everyone knew their job on the pitch.
Having Hogg as part of the midfield does take something away though. With the best will in the world, he’s never going to be a player that’s overly concerned with moving the ball forward. When he receives the ball his principle concern is to make sure we keep hold of it rather than thinking about anything more ambitious, which means we often miss opportunities to get forward because he takes too long with the ball. Whatever the tactics in any given game, he’s just not the kind of player that will take risks or to try anything too fancy and that’s both a good and a bad thing for the team. Good because we need someone to anchor things in the middle of the park but bad because it means we lack creativity and drive when he’s part of a midfield two.
For now it’s unthinkable to drop Hogg if he’s fit and available to play because he’s so much better than the alternative options even after accounting for his limitations. However, he’s reaching an age now where it’s likely his levels will start to drop away and he won’t be able to stay fit enough to be available for every game anyway. There needs to be some thought about a long term successor to his defensive midfield role – whether that’s from the academy or the transfer market. Which brings us nicely on to Scott High…
Scott High struggles
It’s hard to talk about this game without spending some time on the difficulties Scott High faced. His introduction in place of Sinani at half time was a key turning point in the game, mostly because it changed the tactics and shape of the team but also because he had a poor game.
Young players will always have the odd tricky patch, it’s part of their development, so it’s no surprise that he’s struggled in this game. Thankfully he was pretty much fine during Hogg’s injury and didn’t let the team down, so a drop in form as Hogg completes his return isn’t the worst timing.
I’ve seen some fans write High off after Saturday’s game but I’m far from ready to do that. While his passing was worryingly wayward at times, he’s done enough in the last few weeks for me to believe he will become a decent Championship player in time. He’s not there yet though and I think the number of opportunities he’s had this season has more to do with our failings in the transfer market to recruit the ball carrying midfielder we’ve needed since Mooy left.
Looking at the great reports coming from Rotherham about Rarmani Edmonds-Green makes me think High might benefit from a confidence-boosting loan in League One. If he’s serious about competing in the Championship then he should be able to drop a division and boss matches week in week out. It will help his physical development to play in a rough and tumble league and will make it easier for him to break into the Town starting lineup when he returns. The gap between the academy and Championship is talked about regularly but High’s only had a fairly unsuccessful League Two loan under his belt so far, so I wouldn’t see another loan as a step backwards for him but more a chance for him to properly develop rather than being thrown in when he’s a bit too raw.
Nicholls, Lees and Pearson stand out again
Moving on to more positive things, our last line of defence was superb against Swansea. Nicholls pulled off some great saves and was materful once more at taking an eternity to take a goal kick. If there was a Ballon D’Or for timewasting (the Ballon B’ore?) then he truly would deserve to win it. After seeing Schofield looking like a bag of nerves again last weekend it helped me to appreciate how much Nicholls adds to Town just by looking confident and in command. It breeds confidence and means the defence knows what to expect.
Lees played on the left side of defence in this game, which was a different role to his usual one but he did a fine job once more. Carlos prefers to have a left footer in this role but Lees’ experience and excellent reading of the game meant he didn’t get trapped on the wrong foot or make any silly mistakes. Both him and Pearson showed an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, regularly frustrating Swasea’s attempts to get possession in our box.
None of these three signings set pulses racing this season, all three signed for free and were widely met with indifference. Sorba Thomas and Lewis O’Brien have been the standout performers for Town this season but Nicholls, Lees and Pearson have been the main reasons we’ve gone from the worst defence in the league to one of the tightest. What they do isn’t always pretty but they deserve some appreciation for what they’ve brought to the team.
Is it a good point or two points dropped?
Going back to the start of this article, I wasn’t sure if it was a good point or an opportunity for three points missed. While it was a bit of both, now I’ve had time to digest the game, I think it’s a decent result. It takes two to tango and we have to acknowledge that Swansea were very good in the second half, they passed us to death and denied us a foothold in the game by stopping us having any of the ball.
Last season we often needed to pummel teams to get a result but this season we’ve consistently come away from games with points after not being the best team. This was another game where the opposition deserved a win more than us, so getting a point (and almost clinging on for three) doesn’t feel too bad. Clearly it would have been better to have entertained the packed crowd more than we did but this is a tough league and you don’t always have the luxury of playing beautiful football.
Poisoned pen programme notes
Dean Hoyle’s programme notes provided one of the most dramatic moments of the afternoon, where he confirmed that the club were days away from administration in the autumn around the time of Phil Hodgkinson’s business empire collapsing. While it was widely reported that Dean had put money into the club to pay wages, it was dismissed in some quarters as being a standard cash flow issue that wasn’t too much to be worried about. But Hoyle’s comments in the programme suggest that his stepping in to plug the gap in the finances was far from routine and the club were days away from administration.
Dean Hoyle is a canny communicator and only shares information for a reason. I suspect this latest update is an attempt to position Phil as the villain of the piece and to highlight that the club would be in real trouble if he hadn’t stepped in.
There’s a lot more that could be said about all of this off-the-field shenanigans but all I’ll say is that I’m pleased that we’ve traded Phil for Hoyle in the short term and I’m glad to see him taking a more active role again.
Excellent article, TS. Very thoughtful and fair as always.
I shouldn’t really comment as I’m reliant on Oggy’s Radio Leeds commentary but many will tell you that the skimpiest of knowledge of a topic has never stopped me expressing a view!
There was an interesting conversation on Radio Leeds before the match with Oggy saying similar to you about the programme notes and that programmes were free but he’d have gladly paid a tenner just to read Hoyle’s comments.
Your aside about Schofield from the previous week – totally agree. I’m no Schofield fan and his brief appearance did nothing to change my view.
Nor am I Scott High fan. I’ve asked many times for someone to articulate what they see in him that I don’t. Maybe, as you suggest, a sustained spell (a few years would be ok with me!) in a lower division might be the answer.
This match was supposed to showboat Town to a packed crowd thanks to the £5 admission initiative. It seems Carlos paid no heed to that. You don’t expect to go to a home game and see your side only have the ball 30% of the time, clever tactic or not. You might forgive it if it resulted in a narrow victory against a top side; but Town were much higher in the league, not remotely in relegation trouble, on a 6 match unbeaten run, beaten Premier League opposition the previous week, now at home with a lot of support cheering you on, and yet Town failed to give it a go. Point gained? Not in my book; it’s very disappointing; an opportunity lost.
Just a point about the Hodgkinson/Hoyle situation. I find it strange that Hoyle gets rid of Devlin, then Dean talks about taking on CEO temporarily, so that he can “have a fresh start” then talks about “ putting his own person in. If a takeover by a 3rd party is well advanced as is being reported, then surely that would have been left to the new owner.
Fair and balanced as ever TS.
Scott High is a work in progress. He has an eye for a pass and his first thought always seems to be to get the ball forward. But he doesn’t always execute that pass and doesn’t read the game like Mooy and doesn’t have the physical presence of Hogg. High will learn so much from this season and (hopefully) bulk up a bit (he’s only 20).
I fear for Ryan. I remember Rob Green commenting on him being great between the sticks, but lacking between the ears. A loan could be just what he needs to rebuild his confidence and teach him some more football intellingence.
My simple view on Saturday is that CC should have brought Pipa on instead of High.
It was also interesting to see how much we missed Holmes – he really has become key. Proper little Terrier.
Hopefully we can learn and return from Berkshire with 3 points.
Once if Hogg was out we always were likely to lose. Now times have moved on and Hogg isn’t getting any younger. We managed quite well recently with him out injured and now his automatic selection locks out any other more attacking player who could perform well in that position. O’Brien also locks out another midfield position and whilst he cannot be faulted for effort he isn’t the most effective attacker. He hardly ever scores or provides an assist. His shots are either saved or ballooned over the top. These reasons must be why he is still at Town after much speculation. High is too lightweight and too inexperienced at this level and, as you say, would benefit from a loan spell in League 1. Holmes is the best attacker we have at the moment, whatever position he plays and he was sorely missed on Saturday. So the net result of all that is that we have a very poor midfield. Our success has revolved around the wings, either from Toffolo or Thomas. Now with Sinani probably out for a period we need reinforcements in the midfield quickly or, whilst we are very safe from relegation, we will slide down the league.
The other big worry is if the brilliant Nicholls gets injured who will take over. I don’t know much about Bilokavic but he is very young. Schofield is a bag of nerves and proved against Burnley that he hasn’t improved at all when not stood on his line. If you add to that, he is injured anyway at the moment, our goalkeeping cover is very thin and should be addressed this transfer window together with the lack of midfielders, especially if O’Brien leaves.
However the big picture for the season is very positive. Over 20 points outside the relegation zone and on the borderline of the playoffs so if it all ends in midtable then it’ll still be a success after the last depressing few years.
And the answer to part of that is to recall Daley from Hartlepool…..! We’ve got great ambition!!
Great article TS your analysis of Hogg and High balanced and thoughtful, as you may remember these days I don’t see the point of Hogg but High has plenty of time to develop and I believe he will. as for the game it was very much a point gained because we were abject and very much a lost opportunity, as I mentioned on Saturday to enlarge the customer base.
These were my thoughts pretty much straight after the game:
Town revert to type, yet again the opportunity to attract then keep new customers is unfulfilled. A performance of utter incompetence; the majority of the side retreating, deep in defence gifting space and time to the opposition yet incapable of watching, following, marking a man; shocking passing – at times reaching new lows. Swansea passed and ran rings round us, that’s embarrassing and the embarrassment lasted for long periods.
Most of the above paragraph refers to the second half, but Swansea dominated possession in the first half as well in spite of Town having opportunities to score a second or even a third in that period, maybe the crowd would then have enjoyed the second half despite the unwelcome fare on offer.
How we managed to salvage a point from the mess I don’t know, actually I do know – another outstanding performance from Nicholls who performed wonders in goal, yet again a man of the match. O’Brien was the only other player to embellish his reputation although there were many heroic blocks and tackles resulting from the collective malaise; these interventions necessary following mindless defensive and midfield ball-watching instead of tracking then marking an opponent. One cannot fault the effort put in by all the team, but this was not matched by footballing ability on and off the ball and more tellingly in the head.
The gods are favouring us at the moment in obvious contrast to the latter stages of last season.