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Tag: notes

Apr82024 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments
A dirty win, an odd take on 4-4-2, a sneaky elbow, blustery conditions – Notes on Huddersfield Town v Millwall

A dirty win, an odd take on 4-4-2, a sneaky elbow, blustery conditions – Notes on Huddersfield Town v Millwall

Matches
Huddersfield Town scrapped away in blustery conditions to knick a last-gasp winner against Millwall that they just about deserved on Saturday. It was an ugly, ugly game where neither team covered themselves in glory but Town applied the most pressure and in the 94th minute they achieved their reward when Matty Pearson's excellent header was saved and Rhys Healey nodded in the loose ball.  While Town's Championship status is far from secure, if they do stay up, this will be the game we'll look back on as the turning point where we went from likely relegation to having a chance of survival. Not only did Healey's goal give us all three points, it also gave Town belief, momentum and some good feelings at just the right time in the season. A dirty win - as promised  Andre Br...
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Apr32024 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments
Huddersfield Town falter in the Potteries – Notes on Town’s draw against Stoke

Huddersfield Town falter in the Potteries – Notes on Town’s draw against Stoke

Matches
Town experienced their 12th 1-1 draw of the season against Stoke on Monday. It seems incredibly unlikely that one scoreline would turn up with such regularity in a season (the next most common scoreline is a 4-1 defeat, which has happened four times). Whether drawing so frequently is a good or a bad thing will depend if Town can scrape themselves over the line by the end of the season. Just like yesterday’s game against Stoke will either be a valuable point away from home or two dropped against poor opposition depending on which side of the dotted line we finish.  After domestic complications forced a hiatus from blogging for the last few months (practical rather than anything more worrying) I'm now back and hopefully will be able to post more often during Town's attempts to stave...
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Jan32024 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments
Sloppy goals, upward curves, dull but talented Foxes, and transfer needs – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Leicester

Sloppy goals, upward curves, dull but talented Foxes, and transfer needs – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Leicester

Matches
Huddersfield Town were soundly beaten by Leicester City yesterday, and I'm not sure there's a lot we can draw from a 4-1 scoreline against a team that are in the wrong league and are certain to be promoted as champions unless they implode between now and May. While Town were far from perfect, particularly in the individual moments that led to the goals, this game was such a mis-match that it's not much of a concern compared to other defeats we have suffered. A bit too easy for Leicester Having tried to keep some perspective in the introduction, it was a bit galling to watch Leicester toy with Town in much the same way that my cat plays with the half-dead mice it brings through the cat flap. My cat will disinterestedly bat around his prey for a while, bored and hoping to see a bit of...
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Dec292023 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments
Huddersfield Town made Blackburn look bad, the positives of negative football, Rudoni’s influence, Chapman’s debut – Notes on a great win against Blackburn

Huddersfield Town made Blackburn look bad, the positives of negative football, Rudoni’s influence, Chapman’s debut – Notes on a great win against Blackburn

Matches
Huddersfield Town gave their fans an expected Christmas present of not just three points but a resounding 3-0 victory and a convincing performance that few fans saw coming. It was a welcome relief from the gathering gloom that had settled around the club to see the team effectively dismantle an (admittedly poor) opponent and execute a gameplay with ruthless efficiency. One win might not be enough to undo all the memories of recent failings at Town but it was certainly a welcome break from the dreary and depressing fare that has recently been served up. This win also gives optimists and dreamers the chance to wonder what this win could lead to. Maybe not much but there's always a chance it could be the start of things finally picking up for Town. Blackburn were rubbish but only becau...
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Oct302023 by Terrier Spirit16 Comments
“Absolutely eviscerated” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 defeat to Leeds

“Absolutely eviscerated” – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 defeat to Leeds

Matches
Huddersfield Town were completely blown off the park by their noisy neighbours at Elland Road on Saturday lunchtime. While it would be nice to reach for some sort of excuse to try to disguise the pain of being beaten by our near-by rivals, we were comprehensively outplayed by the better team. I'd even go as far as to say Leeds weren't even the better team on the day but quite obviously a higher quality team and would beat the team Town put out on almost any day.  You could potentially reach for the consolation that Town won the second half, as Helik scored and Leeds failed to add to the four goals they put past Nicholls in the first half but you'd be kidding yourself if you thought that meant anything. While Town showed slightly better organisation and weren't quite so wide open i...
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Oct232023 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments
Can you have a bad win?, Rudoni & Helik keep improving, QPR self-sabotage, nerdy keeper stats, square pegs-round holes – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 victory over QPR

Can you have a bad win?, Rudoni & Helik keep improving, QPR self-sabotage, nerdy keeper stats, square pegs-round holes – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 victory over QPR

Matches
Darren Moore notched his first win of his Huddersfield Town tenure on Saturday by overcoming a spirited but misfiring QPR team. It was mostly thanks to a very good opening spell, some desperate defending and QPR's own problems that Town came away with a win when their performance was probably a long way short of other games this season where we've either lost or drawn. For example, the previous game against Ipswich was a far better performance despite Town only getting a point. But points are the thing that keep you in the division, not pretty football, so maybe this was the kind of game Town needed to get Darren Moore's time at Town properly started. Or perhaps this win was a false dawn and there are warning signs we should be taking heed of before things get any worse. We won't know ...
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Oct22023 by Terrier Spirit1 Comment
“The next Thierry Henry” (but not really) – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Ipswich

“The next Thierry Henry” (but not really) – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Ipswich

Matches
After coming from behind to snatch a point against Coventry on Monday night, Huddersfield Town had a taste of their own medicine when Ipswich came to town as the Tractor Boys leveled the scores late on and took away a point. It was probably a fair result but it's hard not to feel aggrieved when Town had opportunities to put the game to bed before the equaliser. On the bright side, Ipswich finished Saturday at the top of the Championship table and we came away feeling like we did enough to beat them, so there's something to be said about that. For all the fears I've had about the quality of the Town squad, we've come up against one of the form teams in the division and been more than a match for them. Maybe this Town team are pretty good after all and Neil Warnock's parting remarks abou...
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Sep222023 by Terrier Spirit3 Comments
Shuffling the pack, was it fair?, testing the depth, Warnock Way suggestion, and more – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Stoke

Shuffling the pack, was it fair?, testing the depth, Warnock Way suggestion, and more – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Stoke

Matches
Huddersfield Town were forced to share the spoils with Stoke on Wednesday night in Neil Warnock's final game as Huddersfield Town manager. (it was actually his third "final" game but this time he really means it!) In this article I'll talk about how I think a draw was probably just about fair, pay some backhanded compliments to Stoke, consider how the fringe players fared when given a chance in this game, reflect for a moment on Warnock and Jepson's time at Town through misty eyes and then look ahead to what's coming next now we know Darren Moore is taking over… Draw a fair result At half time I would have snatched your hand off if you offered me a draw, as Stoke had bossed the game and could easily have been ahead by a couple of goals by that stage. But a decent set piece goal h...
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Aug312023 by Terrier Spirit8 Comments
Boo-boys, bad goals, Wagner tactics, man marking exploited, depth of a puddle and effort concerns – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Norwich

Boo-boys, bad goals, Wagner tactics, man marking exploited, depth of a puddle and effort concerns – notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Norwich

Matches
Huddersfield Town were beaten 4-0 by Norwich on Saturday in a game which saw Town repeatedly scupper their chances of success by conceding soft goals to a team that didn't need any extra help in getting the better of the Terriers. As the scoreline suggests, Norwich were the better team on the day by a distance. The scoreline is perhaps more emphatic than the balance of play might have suggested but then again, if you fail to take your chances and your opponent is clinical with theirs, these are the kind of scorelines you end up with. Here are some of my thoughts on the game. (Apologies it's taken a while to get them out to you.) Bad goals I won’t go into forensic detail of each goal, but they each had elements of self-sabotage to them. The opener was particularly painful to watch...
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Aug222023 by Terrier Spirit4 Comments
A meandering ramble about Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough

A meandering ramble about Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough

Matches
Huddersfield Town came away from their trip to Teesside last weekend with a point, which is two fewer than they might have had if they'd have taken all their chances and defended a bit better but is a point more than they should have had, given the golden chance Boro spurned in the dying minutes of the game. If you're sensitive to footballing clichés, you may want to reach for the sick bag now as this game was "a good advert for the Championship" as both sides “went at it hammer and tongs” and pushed for the win. The players “left it all out on the pitch”, “gave 110%”, and in a “game of two halves”, “football was the winner”. While it was a broadly positive away trip for Town, there were some obvious issues that still persist and a few new ones that popped up too. On the other hand,...
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