notes – Page 5 – Terrier Spirit – Huddersfield Town FC blog

Nov32022 by Terrier Spirit10 Comments

A whole season in 90 minutes, Mackem’s quality, injury woes, Town’s youth shines, slow transitions, bleak future – Notes on defeat to Sunderland

Matches

Huddersfield Town stay stuck at the bottom of the table after defeat to Sunderland last night. Injuries and suspension forced them to field a weakened team and despite battling valiantly in horrendous conditions, they were second best against a Sunderland side that weren’t a great deal better than Town but possessed just enough quality to finish us off. More worrying still, after losing Ollie Turton to long-term injury and Tom Lees to injury before this game, we also saw Yuta Nakayama and Ben Jackson both stretchered off, both looking distraught. Hopefully the prognosis will be positive once they get properly checked over but neither injury looks good, which is particularly heartbreaking for Nakayama with the World Cup just around the corner. Here are a few more of my thoughts...

Nov12022 by Terrier Spirit2 Comments

The Fotheringham Way, shooting boots, towel drama, making Millwall bad & table climbing – notes on Town’s win over Millwall

Matches

Huddersfield Town beat Millwall on Saturday and given it was such a good result for the Terriers, I’m going to write another article to dig into what went on. While there will be better performances for Town this season, there most likely won't be one that comes as more of a surprise as we turned a spell of indifferent form into a decent performance that warranted a win against a team that had won their last four games. The next challenge is for Town to build on their hard-fought draw at Middlesbrough and impressive win against Millwall and turn it into a proper run of good form. If they can do that then they may well pull themselves clear of the relegation zone before the World Cup break comes in a few weeks' time. That would be a lovely pre-Christmas present for fans. But before we get ...

Oct232022 by Terrier Spirit10 Comments

Bore draw talking points, Boro as bad as Town, a good point, pressure on Fotheringham – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Middlesbrough

Matches

Basketball is a game that is spoiled because there are too many points scored. One team attacks and scores, the other team attacks and scores, then one might miss, then the other scores, over and over. It’s too easy to get the ball in the hoop and scoring isn’t important enough to be meaningful. That’s why football, in my opinion, is more enjoyable to watch, there are far fewer scoring opportunities so goals are far more important and enjoyable when they do get scored. But the downside is that you get occasional games where no goals are scored - like when Town played Middlesbrough yesterday. In fact, if you were going to use this game as an advert for the sport of football you would do little to tempt any neutral into ever watching the sport ever again. It was a dire game which will no...

Oct62022 by Terrier Spirit15 Comments

Nathan Jones: angry toddler, Mbete’s hattrick, B-Team talent, Sorba’s redemption, Fotheringham’s enthusiasm – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with Luton

Matches

Huddersfield Town earned their first away point of the season on Tuesday night when they drew 3-3 with Luton. Having led the game twice, you could argue this was a lost opportunity for an away win but the stats from the game and the trickiness of the opponent make it hard to see this as anything but a well-earned point on the road. Mark Fotheringham is in the very early days of his time at the club but there are already glimmers of the ideas he wants to instill in his players and it looks encouraging. It was far from a perfect performance but Town did at least look to battle and the majority of the players that were given a chance made the step up, with one notable exception. Here are some of my thoughts on the game. Mbete’s unfortunate hattrick Mbete is only 19 years old and ...

Oct32022 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Soft goals, Sorba’s cupped ear, Russell’s aimless wandering, a collective failure and nursing fragile confidence – notes on a bruising defeat to Reading

Matches

Mark Fotheringham became the eighth consecutive permanent new Town boss to lose their first game in charge when he lost 3-1 to Reading on Saturday. It was an abject performance from the Terriers which highlighted many of the issues that have plagued the team since the start of the season. Despite some strangely upbeat post match comments, Mark Fotheringham must be deeply concerned about some of the things he saw on Saturday as Reading barely had to get out of second gear to brush aside a Town team that looked completely inept at times. Here are some of my thoughts on the game in more detail… Three soft goal give Reading an easy afternoon's work The first goal Town conceded was the most forgivable, with Rudoni being out jumped on a corner but then again, it wasn't a clever p...

Sep182022 by Terrier Spirit9 Comments

Rhodes’ goal, Camara’s graft, Nicholls’ save, Thomas’ miss, Pelach’s passion – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s win over Cardiff

Matches

Huddersfield Town won their second game of the season yesterday in a narrow, scrappy game against Cardiff. It was a hard-fought game where neither team played amazing football but Town showed a bit of grit and determination that has been sorely lacking in recent weeks and managed to hang on to their narrow lead, mostly thanks to a Lee Nicholls penalty save in the first half and, admittedly, a fairly poor Cardiff team. Here are a few of my thoughts on the game which seem to centre around a few key figures from Town’s squad yesterday… Jordan Rhodes and the goal It’s not been easy for Jordan Rhodes in his second spell at Town. He signed while carrying a back injury and by the time he was fully fit Danny Ward was in excellent form and Rhodes was limited to cameo’s from the bench. To ...

Sep52022 by Terrier Spirit18 Comments

It’s not time to sack Schofield…yet, Huddersfield Town are not too good to go down, empty seats, some positives – Notes on defeat to Blackpool

Matches

Huddersfield Town were once more the victims of refereeing technology failing spectacularly. While the failure of VAR to pick up two blatant penalties in the playoff final may have cost us hundreds of millions of pounds and a place in the Premier League (yes, I'm still not over it), yesterday's goal line technology malfunction merely cost us a goal which could have earned us a Championship point. The stakes were lower but the error was far more blatant and ultimately it could end up being a factor in how long Danny Schofield stays in his job. The goal that wasn't allowed has to be the first thing that is discussed but in fairness, Huddersfield Town were once again poor and struggled with all the same issues that have led to them having such a poor start to the season. So while we can c...

Aug302022 by Terrier Spirit12 Comments

Angry Bruce, Sparkling Tino, Jon Russell: Submarine Commander, Schofield opinions and transfer shopping list – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s draw with West Brom

Matches

Huddersfield Town escaped a late penalty appeal to come away from their match against West Brom with a point. Which is more than they deserved from the balance of play but is less than any team should expect when they have a 2-0 lead early in the first half and are at home. At least Town weren’t as bad as they were in their opening defeats, but there are still consistent issues in Danny Schofield’s team that point towards problems that need to be solved. Having said that, we also saw a moment of pure magic from Tino Anjorin, when he curled an absolute beauty into the top corner. So it wasn’t all grumbles! A lucky draw It’s unusual to throw away a 2-0 lead and to come away thankful to have hung on for the point but that was my overwhelming feeling after this game. West Brom were ...

Aug72022 by Terrier Spirit6 Comments

A spineless performance, a failed formation, Mr Nice’s nasty side, not putting it in the mixer, succession planning? – Notes on Birmingham away

Matches

I try and write these articles a day or two after the match so I've had time to think on the match, calm down and it's not one long rant. But I'm still wound up about how abject Town were in that first half having slept twice after the game. There have been some really bad Town performances in the last four or five years to compare that 45 minutes to and I don't think it was the worst I've seen them but it wasn't far off Jan Siewert-era Town. Thankfully a hairdryer treatment team talk and a few teacups getting flung around the changing rooms seemed to shake some sense into the bunch of wasters that had turned out in the first half and I didn't feel embarrassed to support the team that played in the second half even if it was far from perfect. You can read my player ratin...

Aug12022 by Terrier Spirit5 Comments

Credit to Burnley, Schofield’s short honeymoon, old problems, future hope, transfer moves and perspective – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s defeat to Burnley

Matches

After all the weeks of anticipation, the shine of the new season was quickly worn away in a first half against Burnley which saw Huddersfield Town passed off the park by a team that were supposed to be in the middle of a huge change in philosophy that meant they would be a bit of a mess but in fact they looked calm, composed and full of confidence. Town, despite fielding a starting eleven without a single new signing, looked lost, disjointed and couldn't get out of their own half for long periods of a truly dismal first half. Thankfully the second half offered a little more hope as the coaching team showed a bit of tactical knowhow, the players a bit of fight and the new boys on the bench added the bit of flair we badly missed in the first half. Here are a few of my thou...