Huddersfield Town fell to another humiliating defeat yesterday, this time to Blackburn. While 5-2 might not look as bad as the 7-0 battering we received from Norwich, in many ways this game was worse. The bulk of Norwich’s goals came from excellent play but yesterday we were the architects of our downfall, as we made mistake after mistake and got the tactics completely wrong. Blackburn were good but we gave them a very easy afternoon’s work.
Weirdly, the other results mean Town are now almost certainly safe barring a very unlikely sequence of results. Few fans are in celebratory mood though as another dysfunctional performance means there are genuine questions to be asked about the competence of the Head Coach and the grand plan that we brought in last season as the justification for binning off the Cowleys.
A pathological devotion to a failing approach
I wrote before the game about how we’ve recently given up on playing out from the back and it had led to us giving away fewer sloppy goals. Ha! We could have been five down before half-time if all of Sarr and Keogh’s mistakes had been properly punished.
It’s easy to think of individual errors as one-off pieces of misfortune but in this case they really aren’t. These mistakes are the direct result of trying to play a style of football that the players on the pitch aren’t good enough to play. We invite teams to press us, try to pass around them and then cough up the ball in the most dangerous areas of the pitch.
The odd mistake is the price you pay for playing a system that can allow you to dominate games and carve open teams that over commit when they press (think back to those lovely team goals that started with Hamer playing out from the back earlier in the season). But when you’re playing a system that is leading to five or six errors that could cost goals in 45 minutes then the coaches should see its not working and make a change
Instead we repeatedly allowed them to intercept our defenders’ passes and we were suitably punished. While Sarr and Keogh (and Pipa and Toffolo to a lesser extent) deserve criticism for their mistakes, the coaching staff need to take the blame too because they got their tactics wrong and persevered with them despite it being very very obvious it wasn’t working.
Players that don’t seem bothered enough
This result was a failure of character as well as a tactical failure. The players on the pitch didn’t seem to care as much as their opponents despite Blackburn having nothing to play for. The body language of the players during the game was worrying with quiet acceptance being more common than the determined fury that should have been on display.
I don’t think Carlos has “lost the dressing room” but I do think there’s something wrong with the mentality of some of our players. I think losing so many games this last few seasons has created a culture in the team where losing is accepted and humiliating drubbings are just one of those things.
I may be reaching with this point but I know the youth team having a “losing is fine if you learned something from it” approach which I worry has spread to the first team. Often the interview after a U19 game ended in a heavy defeat will focus on how the team got great experience in the build phase, so the result doesn’t matter. Maybe that’s OK in youth football but when our league status is on the line it would be nice to see senior players that look like defeat hurts them.
Was today’s defeat acceptable because it helped the recovery of some returning players and sets us up for Coventry next weekend? Obviously not, but I worry that might be the mentality in some areas.
An almost full-strength team shouldn’t lose like this
With Pipa Toffolo and Eiting joining Koroma in their return from injury, this was the closest we’ve had to a full-strength side since the New Year, so the usual excuse of injuries costing us isn’t available.
In truth, the returning players probably aren’t fully fit and there were a few too many of them for the rest of the starting eleven to be able to carry. Even still, these returning players were almost all disappointing, with the exception of Koroma who created the own goal and scored our second.
With most of our better players available we shouldn’t get so comprehensively beaten by a team that are barely higher than us in the league. Anyone that thought we’ll be fine next season when Carlos has a full strength squad to work with will struggle to stand by that opinion after watching this shambles of a performance.
Is it time to sack Carlos?
I’m not a “sack the manager” kind of fan but looking at the dismal record we’ve had since Christmas makes it hard to justify keeping Carlos on for next season. We’ve been the worst side in the Championship in 2021 and I’m not convinced Carlos has the ability to turn this situation around.
It’s a bit more complicated than just getting rid of Carlos and his coaching staff though. Sacking him but sticking to the current approach will just doom the next head coach to fail as it wouldn’t fully address the problems at Town. If the axe is going to be swung it most likely needs to cover more than just Corberán. The whole set up would need to go in the bin and a completely new approach would be needed. I just can’t see that happening though, it would be too big a change only 12 months after sacking the Cowleys in favour of what we currently have.
I don’t know if Carlos will keep his job or not. Prior to this most recent game I’d have taken Phil’s recent endorsement of him at face value but now I’m less sure. We’ve got a large-scale restructure of the playing squad due in the summer and I’m not sure we should recruit with this coach and his style in mind if he’s one bad run away from getting the chop. We kept faith with Jan Siewert after a similarly bad run in our relegation season and that ultimately cost us the next season. I’m not saying Carlos is as bad as Siewert but if there are doubts it’s better to move him on now and give the next head coach the summer to bed in.
Other result mean we’re looking fairly safe from the drop
Lucky for Town, this is a particularly poor year in the Championship and all the teams below us lost too, so we’re actually in a stronger position now than we were before we kicked off against Blackburn despite the defeat.
For Town to go down, Derby need to get four or more points from their next two games AND Rotherham need to win three of their next four games AND that’s assuming Town fail to get anything from their two remaining games. So safety is likely to be confirmed by the end of the Coventry game unless lots of games go against us.
Based on the football we’ve seen from Town this season, I couldn’t complain if we were relegated. There have been spells where we’ve looked pretty decent but most of this season we’ve been garbage. But thankfully Derby, Rotherham, Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe have all been just as bad as Town and we’ve most likely got away with it.
The difficulty is that we’ll most likely not be so lucky next season, so large scale changes are needed to avoid another dismal campaign. That doesn’t have to mean changing the Head Coach but if we stick with Carlos he needs the players that are capable of playing this system.
It was a lovely sunny day, in fact a great day to watch a game of football, spoilt on screen only by the shadow cast on the field by the Blackburn Rovers stand and the shadow cast on Huddersfield Town football fans by all that gain financially from their involvement with Huddersfield Town football club.
What a mess, what a dysfunctional club and what a shambolic performance.
TS your article is excellent looking at many aspects of the problem, I agree with you in particular about the fitness of returning player and the suitability of the deployed tactics. I’m not as confident as you of both Derby and Rotherham not performing miracles.
Perhaps the one omission you make is the current negative impact of all this on us, the fans, for that reason excitement and expectation has to be created prior to next season by a major overhaul of many aspects of the club right up to the top or at least very close to it.
It has to lie squarely at the Chairman’s feet.
He decided that he wanted a coach, he also knew that coach would bring in a certain style of play.
Now when you do that you have to give him the tools to play that style.
It’s no good imo blaming the coach who basically hasn’t been given anything to work with apart from freebies, injured players and has beens and moan at him for not adapting his style.
You don’t buy a gas cooker then moan it doesn’t work on electric when the gas goes off.
Hoyle wants his money back that’s the deal , Hodgkinson doesn’t appear to want to invest and we have no legacy from the Premier division.
It’s a shambles and it’s only going to get worse until we drop to a level where he’s happy to compete financially
He didn’t want a manager, as there’s too much input and requirements for playing staff
Whether the coach is good enough or not isn’t the point for me, you’d only know if he was backed correctly to do the job and he isn’t.
Yes John…I agree with all you say. PH doesnt appear to want to invest and he is reluctant to work with a manager who will stand up to him…preferring instead the glove puppet of a Coach and other associated Yes men. Hundreds of millions have passed through Towns coffers in recent years and find it incredible that we have ended up sinking to these depths…when we should have been at least in the Top 10 and pushing for a tilt at promotion like Norwich & Watford who handled relegation so much better. The fans are battered and bruised after the last 4 years of battling relegation and crave a decent season next year…but the chairman blindly backing this Coach & the system aint gonna put bums on seats next season. Think Stuart Webbers comments this week about why he left Town sum everything up..and we had built up a large fan base and now its gonna be half empty stadium again..ooh how weve screwed everything up. I would prefer a solid old style English manager to come in and get us back looking like a decent well coached outfit again…as much to stabilise the club and get the fans back…coupled with some investment in solid Championship players who woudnt break the bank. It would also be nice if Dean Hoyle wrote off his debt like other Chairman at other clubs have done.
What are we doing , a team 3 points ahead of us nothing to play for and we end up thrashed again. How does our team disintegate so quickly , after going in at half time with what would have been a confidence booster should have come out and taken the game to Blackburn. But there is a lack of working mentality somewhere within our club, and I think our supporters are getting fed up of constantly looking at other clubs results to make our Saturdays bearable. This has got to stop somehow, because this is getting very tedious, any ideas ?
Good article as always. But your ‘ what has to happen for us to get relegated’ bit is reminiscent of the last day relegation situation v Birmingham in 2001!
Let’s be realistic. PH is not going to sell the club and is highly unlikely to lay the blame at the feet of any of the board. So that leaves CC and the players. I do admire the courage PH showed in removing the Cowleys and having a vision for the club and I think that the first half of the season suggested that he had made a good decision. Injuries have not helped us but they have highlighted beyond doubt that this squad is not good enough and that even the best of our developing players are not yet ready to play regularly at this level. So the summer transfer window is vital.
The biggest issue that PH should be chewing over now is whether he really does trust CC to lift us out of this mire or not. Let’s be kind and say that the summer recruitment is good. Is CC good enough to motivate them and give them desire and passion. I think not. Unfortunately, the best motivators want to be managers, not coaches. I think that CC is likely to be an excellent coach but he does not strike me as a motivator. If PH continues to support him, then he must support him with investment.
If the investment is not there, then I would get rid of CC now because what we have is League 1 at best. Find a low cost manager from the lower leagues who can clearly motivate and get the best out of players whatever their standard. I am always reminded of Hefele. A defender of very limited quality but a club legend because the badge was stamped through him like a piece of rock! Oh for 11 Hefeles now! Or for a manager/coach who could instil that desire into the current squad.
The only positive for me is that PH is a loyal fan and therefore honourable in his intentions. I personally believe he will provide affordable investment and will develop us into a strong Championship side, but not sure it will be with CC.
He has a very big decision to make before we enter the summer.
A very good article and I agree entirely. Phil and Carlos are both self proclaimed risk takers.
Phil took a risk in sacking the Cowleys, who saved us from a worse situation than we are now in. They restored player confidence and, against all odds, kept us up. The football wasn’t free flowing but, there again we were in a relegation battle with players who were not good enough, and it worked in the Championship. I suspect that, as Managers, they were influential in the January signings. Unfortunately, I believe they wanted more power in team and coaching matters that Phil wanted them to have. I honestly believe that with them in charge we would now be a solid, mid table Championship club which the majority of proper supporters would accept.
Phil then took the risk of sacking them and appointing a coach with no management experience but good ideas of free flowing football suited to better players. For various reasons this has not worked.
Carlos claimed after yesterday’s debacle that he took a risk at half time to win the game which failed miserably and, once again, left us totally exposed. In my opinion he should have gone into the last three games with the mindset of not losing and played a more solid back 3 with wingbacks not taking risks. That style has worked for us before. There have been too many occasions this season where we have lost possession and been hit on the break. He obviously has not learned from this.
I am not one for changing managers / coaches every five minutes. In my opinion we should not have sacked the Cowleys. Phil made that decision. He now has to decide whether to support the decision he made last year or lose face, admit he got it wrong.
Hodgkinson and Bromby are the architects of the disastrous situation at Town. They basically want to make all the decisions in the club including on players for the squad which is why they got rid of the Cowleys. They have brought in a coach, not a manager, who will do as he is told and not rebel. They thought that Corberan would be able to create a Bielsa style team out of cheap players. Unfortunately he has one style of play for which the players at his disposal do not have the skills or the quality. He has tried a more direct style which gave limited results but given the opportunity with a few returning players on Saturday he reverted to type and chaos returned. It is inevitable that Corberan will be sacked, its just when. He will never be given a squad who can play his style at Huddersfield. It should be at the end of this season to give a new man time to have a preseason preparation with the host of new players that will be brought in to replace the high earners. It is wishful thinking to expect much money to be spent so the new coach will need to be someone used to working on a shoestring budget. He will also need to be a Championship experienced coach who knows how to get the best out of the limited resources. Going back to the beginning, in an ideal world, the best outcome would be for Hodgkinson to sell the club to a financially sound owner, prepared to invest and have ambition for the club going forward and rescue the club from being a laughing stock.
Just a point on the players. These are people who do a job. It doesn’t matter how much you’re paid if your heart isn’t in it and you don’t believe what you are being asked to do is the right way, human nature takes over and you soon give up. The team is full of very experienced professionals who must think “what is the silly little beggar up to now, that won’t work” but they try to carry it out. The result is 68 goals against!
Unfortunately no one seems to want to make the decisions that matter, it’s plain to see Schofield isn’t up to it, good saves occasionally but bread and butter knowledge of a bog standard goalie is not there. He makes the whole back line jittery. Then there’s the coach, you could accept his antics on the touch line if he was coaching kids, but he obviously hasn’t got his message across during the week. We thought in coming back down to the championship we would start winning again, what a laugh !
If the players don’t have the technical ability or skills to carry out the game plan, no matter how much training is involved, then who is to blame ?
Is it the coach who has obviously told the Chairman how he wants to play before he was employed ?
No, it’s the Chairman for not giving him the tools he needs to carry it out, and the group who have decided these players fit the remit.
Can you imagine getting the flack for having inferior equipment to what’s needed.
I’m not saying he’s upto the job or he’s not upto it.
You just can’t say one way or the other if he’s not backed.
He has every right to want to stand by his philosophy and style.
He’s been let down
The squad is that weak he knows the players he has in reserve aren’t upto the job and would prefer square pegs in round holes.
Says it all really.
It’s depressing to watch on TV, can’t imagine what it’ll be like when the ground reopens.
Think the atmosphere is going to be toxic towards the club from the stands if things don’t change.
They’ve been fortunate we’ve been locked out.
If we want a team of has beens
,crocked and freebies then he should have found a coach who can work with limited means.
Phil maybe a supporter, he may have the club at heart, but he’s constantly over promised and under achieved.
Remember the statement last season, whoever we sell, we will replace ? Not only that but the we will replace with like for like ability.
It was a joke at the time, it’s been a joke ever since.
We operate like its scrap heap challenge, take broken parts and try and rebuild them.
If they never played before because they were always injured and now they’re getting older, it’s not rocket science.
Probably why they were on a free Phil.
Have You Ever Considered That If The Spaniard Had Good Players To Coach We Would Still Be in The Same Position The Spaniard and His Coaching Staff Have To Go And Phil Has To Get in A Proven Championship Manager To Take Us Forward Phil Also Has To Get Rid Of Bromby And let A New Manager Tell Him The Players He Wants and Release Some Money Which is There The Fans Will Show Phil There Not Going To Put Up With This By Not Renuing Season Cards And All The Players That Are Out Of Contract Let Them Go Along With Sarr
Yes ive considered if he had good players we could still be in the same position.
I put that above.
You however state we would be in the same position, you have no basis for that assessment, as the case is he hasnt been backed and therefore we will never know.
Unless he is given the backing and players we dont know if we have a coach worth his position or not, so to call for him to go isnt the right option unless he isnt going to be backed by the Chairman and money isnt going to be spent on improving the squad heavily.
If hes backed then he should stay and let him do the job he was brought in to do with the players who can do it.
If Phil isnt going to put the money in, then hes not required and a coach who operates on a shoestring should come in and try and keep us afloat till the inevitable relegation happens in the next few years.
Phil is the one who has to look himself in the mirror and do the right thing by the club.
My opinion is hes no interest in backing The Spaniard with the right quality, and we will get some has been coach whos been around the block who will try and keep us up with players who cant cut it elsewhere due to age, ability or fitness and injuries.
Anyone who thinks hes goign to sack the coach bring in a proven coach and back him is mistaken and fooling themselves, if he planned to do something like that the Cowleys would still be here, and he would have backed them instead
I don’t usually comment on the excellent articles on this site but yesterday’s debacle really made me feel I needed to say something.
I was quite prepared to give Carlos the benefit of the doubt until recently but the performances at Norwich and Blackburn, plus the awful showings against Rotherham, Barnsley and Bournemouth have convinced me he is not the man for next year. There is no spirit or fight and his substitutions often seem to confuse things more.
He has been badly let down by the recruitment team who must surely walk this summer. We have signed three strikers this season – Ward, Sanogo and Niasse – yet not one of them has scored a single goal, with Niasse not even making the pitch. When you think we lost the goals of Mounie and Grant in the summer, there is a huge void which has not been filled.
The Cowleys had far better players to use. For example, they could field a team of Lossl; Chalobah, Schindler, Stankovic, Toffolo; Hogg, O’Brien, Smith-Rowe; Willock, Mounie, Grant. And all that with King, Kachunga, Quanner, Coleman and Stearman on the bench.
Phil Hodgkinson’s credibility rested on Corberan being successful. Unfortunately he hasn’t. Yes, we have had injuries but so has everybody else. The fact is our squad is poor and wafer-thin, the current coach is out of his depth and if it weren’t for one team having six points docked, another being Covid-hit and the bottom team getting promoted because League One was not completed properly, then we would be in even deeper trouble. We could still go down, even though the odds are stacked against that.
I will, as always, renew my season card, but I hope by the time we reach August a lot has changed.
I’m looking forward to reading Terrier Spirit’s review of the season. Particularly an honest assessment of where Terrier Spirit espoused causes, styles of football, particular players, club recruits, team selection and (in particular) support for the temporary owner’s good faith.
It will be fascinating to hear Terrier Spirit’s review of how his changing opinions on all these issues have led to his current view that a wholesale ditching of the set-up may now be required. And it’s unclear to me whether Terrier Spirit now sees the departure of our temporary owner as an essential element of keeping the club in the Championship.
The buck stops with Hodgkinson and no one else. I’ve been saying that since he signed on the dotted line and did the deal with Hoyle. No sane business person would have agreed to the deal put forward by Hoyle yet Hodgkinson continued with it through to completion.
So the club loses its ‘financial supporter’ in Hoyle, who then he recovers all his money from the premiership parachute money, which should be used to soften the financial blow from getting relegated from the premier league.
Hodgkinson may be in the ‘sports rich list’ but that is purely numbers based on perceived values of the businesses he has equity stakes in. The real test is the ‘financial liquidity’ of the man and I suspect that is relatively minimal. So the chances of the club getting sizeable investment into the squad via Hodgkinson putting in the cash that Hoyle did will be zero.
The first hurdle was the club offloading players who were worth something and getting cash in for them and their salaries off the books. The second hurdle was then getting rid of players who were not worth much but were high earners off the clubs payroll. The third hurdle was to then stay in the championship.
It would seem that those 3 hurdles have been cleared (fingers crossed on the hurdle 3). So we now look towards some re investment back into the squad as being hurdle 4. Can we do that with both Hodgkinson / his ‘crew’ and Corberan and his ‘coaches’. I’m not that confident with either to be honest, and really changing both would probably be the best outcome for the club in the long term. However will Hodgkinson find anybody as stupid as he to buy the club on a deal similar to the one he agreed with Hoyle – no chance. Will we see someone stand by Corberan or replace him with someone like the Cowleys – I live in hope.
Next season does not bode well if you’re a town fan I fear, whichever division we find ourselves in.
It seems that Hodgkinson has, as you say, cleared the first 3 hurdles – so please don’t pre-judge him on the 4th one just yet.
Great, balanced article as ever, and some great comments from other fans.
We giftwrapped three of the five goals.Probably Schofield’s worst performance, which set the tone for his entire defence. Need Vallejo back as soon as possible.
I’m not a sack ’em fan either (I mean look at the Mowbray Out lot at Blackburn before yesterday’s game), but I think Carlos needs to beat Coventry and Reading to prove he’s the right man for next season.
As you point out, we’ve scored some amazing goals this season and every fan would love to see that ‘live’ in the JSS in 2021/22.
He also needs to be able to control who he brings in. Word is that he has a Spanish CF and CB he wants.
Whatever happens next, can’t wait to get back to singing on a Saturday.
So grateful to TS and all others who have actually put themselves through the hell of watching these games, and through the self – torture of trying to analyse the multiple organ failure in the body-Town.
It spares the rest of us. We have only the mercifully short painful click on BBC final scores.
Enormous research grants have been awarded for systems analysis projects which are far less daunting and complex than this one.
So what you are saying is that you only look for 2 minutes on match day to see how Town get on??? Thank you for your valuable input and insight lol.
I confess to be puzzled why the Chairman is the focus of attack by so many. Particularly so as he’s the hardest one to replace!
I don’t believe PH brought in CC with promises of money available for signings. It was impossible given the highly paid relics from Premier League days combined with the Covid situation. It was up to CC to work with what he had. He had a sow’s ear; could he make a silk purse out of it?
The answer is a resounding no he couldn’t. But it’s worse than that. He’s decimated the squad with an inappropriate training regime, he’s turned average players into poor players, sapped the confidence of others, shown to be tactically naive, communication skills not great (I don’t understand half of what he attempts to explain), and on the touchline he’s so agitated when a cool calm head is required.
Anyone with some self respect would have resigned on Saturday night. I can only hope that during the day today there may have been ‘conversations’ and CC goes now. There is absolutely no point in sticking with this plan for another season. Get a new man in now, have a massive clearout during the summer and let the new man get in some new blood.
Town were very fortunate not to get relegated last season, it’s likely Town will be even more fortunate this season, we can’t hope to be so fortunate again next season.
so much negativity….but its not hard to see why,given results.
as has been mentioned earlier….cc has never been given the backing,his remitt has been keep us in the division untill we can offload remaining high earners from premiership.
even Dean couldnt persuade Wagner to stay till seasons end.
agree Cowleys were treated harshly,having performed another miracle in keeping us in the championship.
but big Phil foresaw more mid table champs seasons.so he took the risk,brought in CC who needs time to gather his group of players capable of playing his philosophy.
its a risk,CC is a risk but both big Phil & CC are striving to b better than lower half championship,
we are still 8pts clear of drop….no need to panic….yet…this close season is massive for our club…..to fulfill those risks & i for one admire the commitment from PH & CC to get it better nxt season.
Dean & Wagner had a rough first half season from nov to end.but glory days followed.
we need to support more than ever,or another coach leaving will cause further upset like the cowleys.
in carlos we have to trust & in phil we need to do incredibly hard job of moving on high earning players ,who yes are less motivated,or heads drop early.
bring in hungry,younger fitter enthusiastic contributing players.
i like thomas,rowe,schofield….needs better coaching on crosses,commanding box,whento come out..etc
phil cant change coach again…until he backs his preffered choice coach…i hope this summer can start moving in right direction.
I admire your optimism. Allan, but I’m afraid you are probably in a small minority that believes Carlos has managerial ability. You’re hanging onto a dream which CC is incapable of delivering.
As others have said, it could be that he’s one of those who is better as a No 2. Stick them up top and the pressure produces strange things in some people. Carlos just seems to have got more & more agitated as the wheels came off one by one. It has I’m sure adversely affected the players. To see him on the touchline shouting incomprehensibly, manically waving his arms about like a demented traffic controlling policeman, well it doesn’t do it for me. What tactical masterstroke has he pulled off this season? His training regime certainly hasn’t produced a fitter, faster team. He’s now so desperate he’s even having to bring back the very few players with any quality even when it’s evident they’re not match fit.
I’ve been watching Town since the 63/64 season and even in the relegation years, and there’s been quite a few in the last 60yrs, we might have been poor and getting beat 0-1 or 0-2 far too often, but I don’t recall ever seeing a Town side so hopelessly disorganised that I fear every time they take the field that they could be in for a 5-0 battering or worse.
They say you need a strong spine to make a half decent team. Well if Schofield, Keogh, Bacuna and Campbell (when fit) constitutes a strong spine, then we really are sunk.
I don’t blame the Chairman for taking the risk; risks by their very nature mean they don’t always come off; but PH needs to be man enough to acknowledge that this experiment has been a disaster and to dispense with CC immediately.
The very worst scenario would be to persevere with CC through another transfer window and then realise in September/October when Town are bottom of the Championship (yes I think we’ll survive) that the same mistakes are being made, and then change the manager. By Christmas, Town would be in a hopeless position.
I love my home town even though I’ve not lived there for 46yrs. It hurts to hear people smirking about its football team but that’s what we’ve become over the last 3 seasons – a joke.
TYur spine of Schofield, Keogh, Bacuna and Campbell (when fit) is a strange one. You just seem to have picked the weakest links to make a point. The spine of Schofield, Sarr, Hogg and Campbell (when fit) is more like reality, but it is the players around them that let them down.
Your comments around Wagner interest me – he left the ship he started to sink, but the summer should see most of the big earners on their way – Town won’t struggle to offload them as they will just let their contracts lapse. And when they are gone it will be the end of the legacy Wagner left behind when he quit. And before people say “Wagner didn’t sign the players” – he thought playing one striker was a good tactic and it was the quality of the wingers at fault. Ummmm, we had Mounie or Depoitre up front so even with quality deliveries they had little chance with much better quality defenders up against them. Even a blind man could see we needed better strikers and different tactics. And just for the record, I am grateful for Wagner for getting us to the Premier League and surviving our first season, just that he totally lost the plot in the end. Oh, and he hasn’t exactly been a success since he quit either.
I would agree with practically all thats been said on here. The main thing I struggle to understand is the way we persist with a style of football even when its at best not working but at worst playing into the oppositions hands ? This was highlighted by the manner of defeat this weekend with our defence being caught out time after time too high up the pitch trying to chase back when we all know our cb arent the quickest ! We as supporters can see this so surely the manager can. Its not a case of injuries or lack of squad depth just tell back four to drop off and dont let Pipa go too far up without any cover . People critisised Barnsley and their direct approach in mid week but I for one applaud their character identity and team spirit things we sadly lack and cant see this management team instilling any time soon. Its a big decision to make but something needs to change or sadly it could be same again next season.
I have to agree with everything Simon said. Saturday was an absolute shambles. In 50 years of watching football I have rarely seen a worse “performance” from a “professional” team. CC said after the game he was utterly disappointed, he should be embarrassed and ashamed. He is not a number one and this season we have seen no evidence of any coaching ability.
Glad we’re on the same page, Graham.
Although I’m sticking firmly to my guns that CC must go immediately, there are a few points made by others that have set me thinking:-
1. I was no fan of the Cowleys. ‘Essex Boys’ and Yorkshire folk don’t mix. John Wilson made a very good point that the squad the Cowleys had to work with was massively superior to the one CC has had at his disposal. John Wilson listed the players but let me repeat his list having omitted players still at CC’s disposal – Lossl, Chalobah, Schindler, Stankovic, Smith-Rowe, Willock, Mounie, Grant. That’s 8 players who would have made last week’s starting XI. So CC has had, I accept, a real sow’s ear of a squad of players.
2. What are we to make of that so-called purple patch during the autumn leading up to Christmas? Did CC get it right and then was thwarted by injuries to key players? Well in truth it’s a myth. I’ve watched every Town match this season and I think it’s because Town have been SO bad since Christmas, that we assume they must have been pretty good before Christmas given we had some points on the board. But looking back at the autumn, there were a few glimmers of hope, a 2-1 away victory at Swansea in mid-October and a 3-0 away win at Millwall to highlight two, but this was mingled with an awful 2-1 defeat at Birmingham and a 2-1 home defeat to Preston. And then I must mention the false dawn on 20 February with that 4-1 home win against Swansea. That result, set against what had gone before in the 2 previous months and then what was to come in the 2 months following, we just have to say was a freak performance and a freak result. So what I’m saying is that there never was a sustained good period under CC. Over a season, you’ll run up against teams who have an off day, and that’s what will probably see Town safe this season.
It is miraculous assuming Town do survive. I’m not sure about Sheffield Wednesday but both Wycombe Wanderers and Rotherham have shown themselves to be superior teams to Town. We are, in my view, the worst team in the Championship and if there was any justice, then we’d be relegated.
We are where we are in the table on (lack of) merit. To say Wycombe and Rotherham are better than us is to suggest you have seen all their games too – which I suspect you haven’t. So I would say there are four worse teams than Huddersfield at present – Derby, Rotherham, Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe. Whether there are four worse Managers is a different debate entirely.
In Football League World, the writer is playing the idiotic game of predicting Town’s starting XI at the beginning of next season. When I saw his first pick – Ryan Schofield in goal – I stopped reading; that’s far too depressing to contemplate.