Huddersfield Town were incredibly lucky to come away from their game against Rotherham with a point. A couple of sitters were missed, Ryan Schofield made some lovely saves and the ref denied them a clear penalty. While Town haven’t always had their share of luck this season, it may be that we were saving it all up for this game.
Town conceded seven fewer goals in this game than on Tuesday night, so that’s some progress but the quality of the football suggests that we may have to be patient as Town slowly inch their way to safety.
Here’s what I made of the individual performances in this game.
Ryan Schofield – 8 out of 10
Made at least one excellent save and two or three others that were bordering on excellent too. He also just about did enough to deal with the aerial threat Rotherham carried, which is great given this area of his game has been widely criticised. It might be a bit soon to say, but it feels like he’s getting better for this run as first choice and it might prove to have been smart long-term thinking to give him a chance in this season so he’s a more complete player for next season.
In the interests of full disclosure, Ryan Schofield liked my tweet where I compared him to Ted Hastings from Line of Duty, so my rating may be influenced by the fact we’re now essentially best friends.
https://twitter.com/SpiritTerrier/status/1380925013801455619?s=19
Rarmani Edmonds-Green – 5 out of 10
Was badly caught out in the first half where his man got in behind him and squared for Crooks to squander a wonderful chance. He was otherwise pretty steady and brought the ball out of defence more than Naby Sarr, which shows he’s developing and growing in confidence.
Richard Keogh – 7 out of 10
I’d have dropped him after Tuesday night but he actually had a reasonably good game and made some excellent interventions. Rotherham, as expected, put a lot of balls into our box and Keogh won a lot of his battles to keep them out. He’s not a pretty player to watch but he was one of the few that looked to be playing with the necessary intensity for this match.
Naby Sarr – 5 out of 10
Also won a lot in the air but was lucky to not be punished for shoving someone over in the penalty area. While the mistake went unpunished, it was a poor decision to bundle over his man and nine times out of ten would have resulted in a spot kick. He was a bit more subdued in possession than usual too but that may have been an intentional choice from the coaches to reduce the chances of him making an error.
Duane Holmes – 5 out of 10
I’m pretty sure that one of his reasons for leaving Derby to come to Town was a desire to play in his preferred role of attacking midfield, so I’m sure he was as surprised as anyone to see himself deployed as a right wingback in this game. He had some nice little touches and linked up with Bacuna well on a few occasions. His final ball was a bit disappointing though and he missed some opportunities to feed Sanogo with decent service.
Pipa – 5 out of 10
It was a bit of a nothing game from Pipa, he wasn’t awful but he offered very little and didn’t look fully fit. Most likely he wasn’t and we played him because of an absence of alternatives. The fact he hobbled off in the second half suggests we could have exacerbated his existing injury by playing him this match. Picking players that aren’t fully fit has been a theme of this season and has often proved costly. Carel Eiting was known to need careful handling because of his long-standing knee issue but was pretty much ran into the ground during December when he clearly needed a rest, I hope we won’t be saying the same about Pipa in a few weeks.
Jonathan Hogg – 7 out of 10
No player on the pitch had more touches than Jonathan Hogg and he did his work diligently and often in tight spaces. Rotherham frequently tried to press him into making errors but he always managed to get the ball away regardless of the pressure he was under. He played a couple of very nice longer range passes too to switch play, which hasn’t always been his strength but he’s improved a lot in this area.
Juninho Bacuna – 5 out of 10
A mixed bag for the midfielder, some of his set piece deliveries in the first half were excellent and caused lots of problems. At other times he returned to being sloppy in possession and didn’t create enough in open play. There was a Radio Leeds interview with him before kickoff where they pressed him about his future plans and he was very coy about his future beyond this season. While he gave the appropriate “I want to focus on getting Huddersfield Town safe” response it was done in a way that suggested he doesn’t expect to be at Town next season. I hope these doubts about his future don’t affect his performances.
Lewis O’Brien – 6 out of 10
This wasn’t a vintage O’Brien performance but he did put in a lot of work and tried to make things happen in the final third. He wasn’t able to find the gaps in Rotherham’s defence though and was loose with his passing on occasion.
Fraizer Campbell – 5 out of 10
Did a lot of buzzing around but was guilty of conceding silly fouls when he tracked back. This has been a bad habit of his for the last two seasons but it could have cost us in a tight game like this one where Rotherham were looking to exploit every set piece we conceded. He played a lovely through ball to Sanogo at one stage but otherwise didn’t create enough or get into positions where he could score.
Yaya Sanogo – 6 out of 10
Was it a good game for him because he went close to scoring on several occasions or a bad game because he didn’t finish those chances? Probably somewhere in between. None of the chances he had were clean cut but I think he’ll be disappointed with himself for not making more of them. He had some nice touches in the build up too and provided a physical presence at the top end of the pitch. If I’m honest, I was hoping to see more from him and hope that he can do more in future games.
Substitutes
Sorba Thomas – 5 out of 10
Had a great run in the first minute of coming on, then took on a ridiculously optimistic long-range shot-cross that went very far wide. After that he faded out of the game and struggled to make an impact. I’ve still got high hopes for him even if he didn’t produce the goods on this occasion.
Danny Ward – 5 out of 10
Ineffective once again. I think I’m biased against him given how much of a disappointment he’s been this season but even so there wasn’t much in this showing that will win over his critics.
Scott High – N/A
Had a wonderful opportunity to break clean through but didn’t have the speed to take full advantage.
Issac Mbenza – N/A
Tracked back well and cut out a threatening Rotherham attack. While he’s not the best defender, I wonder if he could be deployed as a wingback while we’re playing a system that doesn’t use traditional wingers.
- Birmingham show Town how it’s done – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City
- Huddersfield Town sabotage themselves again – Notes on 2-1 defeat to Reading
- A limp response – Notes on Town’s defeat to Blackpool
- Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Blackpool tonight
- Was it a blip or part of a trend? Notes on Huddersfield Town’s dismal defeat to Northampton
Well they say every dog has its day and yesterday I agree was ‘your new mate’ Schofield’s. Best game he’s had for Town by a country mile. He still flaps pathetically at high balls and he still has the tendency to rewrite the goalkeeping manual by staying planted to his line rather than narrowing the shooting angle but give credit where credit is due and yesterday he was the only player to come out of it with any credit.
If the scoreline had been 0-3, Town couldn’t have grumbled. Town were outplayed by a team in the relegation zone. It was dire to watch. There really wasn’t a player on view that I’d be sorry to see leave in the summer. I grant you that Pipa probably wasn’t fully fit so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt plus poor guy is constantly played out of position at left back. This is the madness of Corberan. And yes I think he is a bit mad. His maths and my maths aren’t the same. Imagine you have a good right back and good left back. 1 + 1 = 2. Now take out the left back through injury and you bring in someone (say Brown) who is only half as good. 1 + 0.5 = 1.5. Now switch your good right back to left back where he’s half as good and bring in someone half as good at right back (I’m going to say Duhaney only because he’s supposedly a right back) and you get 0.5 + 0.5 = 1.
If it was like Championship Manager, I’d definitely be pressing the ‘Start New Game’ option and that includes changing the manager too. I’m not one to change the manager at the drop of a hat but I’m afraid what I’m seeing is worse than useless and I just don’t see how it can get any better under Carlos.
Simon, I like your arithmetic – very creative. Your comments are spot on as are Ts’s but his arithmetic is not quite as good – subtract at least one from each rating please!
Following Town’s bad luck in witnessing Norwich’s good fortune with their incessant passing and shooting accuracy, this was a huge slice of good fortune when reflecting on Rotherham’s bad luck or inadequacy in missing two absolute sitters, a valid penalty shout being turned down and hitting the woodwork twice . The visitors were undoubtedly the superior side, in spite of them being in the more disadvantageous position prior to kick-off.
There was an aimlessness and a high level of incompetence in this listless display for the most part often looking like a team worryingly shorn of confidence and devoid of any footballing capabilities. The first thirty seconds of the match gave a clue to the subsequent events; a short period of inter-passing under increasing pressure on the left hand side following our kick-off, resulting in a back pass to Sarr who promptly hoofed the ball out of play.
Schofield characteristically made an exceptional save and made strides in an effort to dominate his area, but he does look awfully lightweight at times. Pipa was yet another ineffective left back, probably not fully fit. Hogg and Bacuna gifted the opposition possession. Ward and Holmes were better than their previous performances. Campbell produced his usual quota of ludicrous fouls. The rest were present and well below average at best.
I hope that 44 points is enough but the present and the future beyond this season is a worry. Now approaching three and a half seasons of largely miserable performances, the difference this season is that I have watched every second of every game. I left the area well over fifty years ago but have remained a supporter ever since but I’m not sure that I have the stomach for much more of this!
Simon has made some excellent comments about square pegs in square holes, and I agree that Schofield was our MoM (despite making it easier for Lewis Wing to hit the target than the crossbar with a free kick). Additionally Keogh was excellent and that is not comment I make lightly as I love to hate him for his lowlife antics at Derby and being awful when he was on loan with Huddersfield earlier in his career. The rest of the team were a shambles although Sanogo showed promise despite never looking like scoring.
But there were parallels to losing 7-0 on Tuesday to when we lost to Bournemouth earlier in the season. We followed up the Bournemouth game with a 0-0 against a struggling team, and then a victory against a promotion hopeful. Could lightening strike twice???
Dream…believe…UTT
We don’t look capable of creating a clear cut chance. And most of our players have had the following lack of abilities most of the season. 1 Our forwards don’t know how to or just can’t be a rsed to lose their markers to be passed forward to 2 We take far too long to get hall forward even when someone is the obvious very obvious person open who should be passed on to our player on ball stupidly holds on to it too long till it’s taken off them 3. Our passing is 💩 most of the time 4. We can’t deliver a ball accurately on a cross corner or free kick oh 1 extra that must be said we shouldn’t keep starting Bacuna & he’s much better bringing on as a sub if at all.
Our stats of 2 wins in the last 19 matches suggest that we can look forward to 5 wins (thats rounded up) next season. How the devil are the club going to market and generate interest in season ticket sales given the dire football being served up and the low quality squad. Having physically gone for 53 seasons and seen all the ups and downs Im not gonna stop going (although might knock season card purchase on the head) due to the apparent malaise and disconnect emanating from PH who is currently steering the ship. For gods sake man recruit some Championship ready players (4 or 5 at approx 500K each wont break the bank given the amount of £££s that are passing thru our coffers from Prem & player sales). Phil needs to make it clear to the fans if he is going to make any REAL investment in the playing squad or just waffle about trying to make the club self sustainable.
If you kept going during the Ruberry years then there is no reason to stop now.
I do say in my piece…that Im not gonna stop going…
The Rubery years were a doddle compared with this cobblers. We actually signed a Prem striker (instead of expecting Carlos to cope without one at all). Macari had a far better squad to work with than this one. And Jacko is unlikely to come to our rescue this time around. And if you still needed a reason to quit, there’s the fact we lived through the Rubery years and have no desire to do it again – only worse.
Having said that, unlike Phil I’ll probably renew my season ticket. Whether I can actually pluck up the courage to go and watch is a different matter.
I have supported this club for 66 years and have seen many such situations as we now have. Normally a change of manager is made and we bumble along to the next crisis. In all my years of support we have had some remarkable runs of success with teams performing better than the sum of their parts. It is interesting to look at the managers responsible for these success periods. Bill Shankly, Ian Greaves, Mick Buxton, Neil Warnock, Peter Jackson, David Wagner. Apologies to those I may have missed. There is a common theme with these managers – they are great motivators. Now I may be wrong but Corberan does not motivate me and I have doubts that he motivates any of the players he has other than maybe the youngsters. The interesting point here is that over the longer term, he may well develop the younger players into a successful team but do we have the time. We are currently fielding slow older players, players who know they won’t be here next year, so why bother, and players with either poor quality or not enough experience at this level. I do have some sympathy with the hierarchy, mainly because of COVID and the huge problems that has brought. Personally, I think we will survive by the skin of our teeth and I think that the Summer recruitment should concentrate on getting 2 experienced or Championship ready players for each position through the spine of the team. Then we can build around that and I do think that CC has developed a good crop of younger breakthrough players. My biggest concern is getting through the season. Where is the motivation?? Has CC lost some of the dressing room?? Squeaky bum time!! UTT
Mike, my 57yrs of support added to your 66yrs I think qualifies us to a view. And I agree with you about Corberan. Apart from trying to follow the speed he speaks, he’s a fidget, seemingly a bag of nerves. I’ve no objection to a bit of Wagner-like passion on the touchline, but between times, as a fan or a player, I want to see someone in calm control, someone with a clear plan who can articulate the details so it’s carried through on the field. I reckon some of the players have just stopped listening.
Town have been through some dark times – 3 relegations in 4 seasons back in the 70s wasn’t a lot of fun – but these last 3 seasons have been just about as miserable as I can remember. The thing that keeps coming into my mind is who scouted some of the players we still have on our books sapping away the money? And what process was gone through to ensure they were up to the mark? Was David Wagner such a terrible judge of players or did he have no say? And many of these players were signed to compete in the Premier League and yet they aren’t even Championship standard. I don’t need to run through the names of these players – we all know who they are. If their contracts aren’t up this summer, then we should be negotiating an early release. To have players earning thousands of pounds per week who don’t perform week after week cannot be a healthy situation. In business, if you have passengers, you remove them. The demotivational effect on those who are really giving it 100% is already becoming apparent.
Will Town stay up? Probably just. But part of me thinks we are so so bad at the moment, our true standard is not in this division. Like water, it finds its own level.
I think terrier your a tad over generous with the marks I agree with individual comments but apart from Keogh & Schofield (MOTM) I don’t think anybody was over a 4 sorry that was a woefully disappointing performance & no way a reaction to Tuesday, again I think it’s all down to CC his inexperience’s are showing through again, his team selection, tactics & substitutions are questionable every game, I appreciate he hasn’t got the best hand to play with but I’m starting to think he doesn’t know how to get us out of this rut & like most fans praying we have already got enough points or picking up lucky points is good enough, I don’t like having a go as I’m a supporter not a critic but I think he is a No2 not a No1
Well I watched this hoping for a better performance than against Norwich, it didn’t really happen, we were lucky to get a point. The old boy had the best performance, young uns don’t seem to think before they pass. I thought Keogh was a stop gap but I think we need to keep him. Millers were better than us, but there were a couple of times when if our lads hadn’t rushed the pass someone might have got a shot on goal. Sorba looks like a reasonable player to replace Mbenza, but play your mates in rather than taking an unlikely shot please. I don’t think anyone will be rushing to buy any of these lads so I suppose a few will not have renewed contracts, to be filled with academy players. Please let’s have a mid table finish next year and stop this faffing about!
I agree with many of the comments. I’ll add my 55 plus years as a supporter and say I have never felt as dismayed about the club as I do at the moment. I’ve said on here before that Town always look to do stuff on the ‘cheap’ and clearly there is no money going to be spent on players in the summer. Stuart Webber was brilliant at spotting players and it all changed after he left. His recruitment in the early Wagner days brought a promotion and he should never have been allowed to leave. Look at what he has done at Norwich since. Even Dean Hoyle’s son is on the scouting payroll at Norwich. Don’t get me started on the physio’s etc. How supposedly fit players can take so long to recover from injuries (hamstrings mainly) is beyond me. Dark days ahead.