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Tag: Reading

A kamikaze keeper, winning moments, Ashia bursts onto the scene and passing problems – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win at Reading

A kamikaze keeper, winning moments, Ashia bursts onto the scene and passing problems – Notes on Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win at Reading

Matches, Notes
Huddersfield Town kept their 100% win record on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Reading. The performance was not always fluent but the dedication and effort were consistent across the players involved. The scoreline hints at an easier victory than this game actually was but I think Town did enough to deserve all three points.  Town now sit top of the embryonic league table and are showing signs of being a strong team this season. It’s very early days but all the current indicators point towards huge potential. There will be tougher tests ahead for Town this season but I’m really pleased with how well they’ve navigated their two tricky opening games.  Here are some of my thoughts on this Reading win… A tight game, decided by 3 moments There are millions of variables that ...
“Showed the desire needed” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Reading

“Showed the desire needed” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 win over Reading

Matches, Player ratings
Huddersfield Town made it two wins in two with their 2-0 victory against Reading on Saturday lunchtime. The game was finely poised, with both teams being too wasteful in the final third despite the two teams trying to play good football. Thankfully, two set piece goals won the game for Town but it could have been a different story if Reading had taken their chances at the other end. I’m not sure I’d call it lucky though, as a game between two well-matched opponents will usually be decided by fine margins and Town made the most of their chances and Reading didn't. Collectively, Town weren’t quite as good as they were in their opening game but we were away from home against a good League One team, so perhaps that was to be expected. I thought Town would need quite a few games to get up to...
May and Taylor both starting? Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to face Reading

May and Taylor both starting? Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to face Reading

Matches, Predicted lineups
Huddersfield Town head to Reading for a Saturday lunchtime game, where they’ll be hoping to keep their momentum going after beating Leyton Orient 3-0 last weekend. There are fitness doubts over Marcus Harness and Sean Roughan but better news in terms of Josh Feeney being available now after suspension and Murray Wallace getting closer to full fitness.  Despite Reading losing their opening game to Lincoln, they will provide stiff opposition for Town and I have a feeling we’ll see a good game. While I thought League One would be full of cloggers when Town were relegated, there are actually quite a few teams that want to play football on the ground and build up possession from the back, Reading are one of those teams. So I'm expecting two teams having a good go at each other and some ...
Birmingham comparisons, Grant’s honesty, tactical conundrums and new pressure – 4 talking points ahead of Reading v Huddersfield Town

Birmingham comparisons, Grant’s honesty, tactical conundrums and new pressure – 4 talking points ahead of Reading v Huddersfield Town

Matches, Talking points
Huddersfield Town head to Reading tomorrow (Saturday) for their first away game of the season against Reading, in an early kickoff in front of the Sky cameras. After last weekend’s 3-0 win over Leyton Orient, Town find themselves top of the table on goal difference. While some naysayers may question the validity of the league table after one game, I think those people should shut up.  Reading were an oddity last season, as they had a remarkably good end to the season on the field while having all sorts of turmoil off it. Usually when a club is in financial strife or being emperilled by a dodgy owner we see results tail off but Reading defied that narrative and narrowly missed out on the playoffs with a seventh placed finish. They’re under new, seemingly stable, ownership now and wi...
Huddersfield Town sabotage themselves again – Notes on 2-1 defeat to Reading

Huddersfield Town sabotage themselves again – Notes on 2-1 defeat to Reading

Matches
Can you imagine having a haircut and saying it was mostly fine but the hairdresser got distracted with the clippers and shaved a chunk out of your ear? Or being really pleased with how an actor has performed in a play apart from the bit where they left that stage to take a personal phone call? Or enjoyed a meal out that was excellent but for the scabby plaster floating in the soup? Can you see where this is going? Huddersfield Town at Reading were much improved compared to recent outings but it counted for nothing because they still, at key moments, couldn't shake the habit of sabotaging themselves. So I'm not in the mood for handing out participation trophies for players that put in a decent shift but let themselves down at crucial moments.  As we've seen so much in recent games, ...
Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup, Reading relegation hangover, goodbyes & a big hello – PREVIEW

Predicted Huddersfield Town lineup, Reading relegation hangover, goodbyes & a big hello – PREVIEW

Matches
What a treat today’s game is going to be. After an absolutely miserable season, we’ve managed to drag ourselves over the line to safety with a game to spare thanks to a remarkable and completely implausible turnaround due, mostly, to Neil Warnock’s excellent management. So instead of a nervy, do-or-die final day nail-biter, we can sit back and relax for today’s game and see it instead as a survival party where we can give Neil Warnock and Dean Hoyle a proper send off, say hello to our new owner and, hopefully, pick up a final win against Reading too. The 90 minutes of football may not be the main focus of the events at the stadium this afternoon, with the prospect of so many goodbyes and a significant taking place, it’s likely that the game won’t produce the same drama as we’ll see afte...
Soft goals, Sorba’s cupped ear, Russell’s aimless wandering, a collective failure and nursing fragile confidence – notes on a bruising defeat to Reading

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 pi...
Predicted lineup, style of play, touchline behaviour, ex-players returning – Huddersfield Town v Reading preview

Predicted lineup, style of play, touchline behaviour, ex-players returning – Huddersfield Town v Reading preview

Matches
Mark Fotheringham takes charge of his first Huddersfield Town game this afternoon, away at Reading. The Royals were widely tipped for relegation at the start of this season by many (including this blog) but a fine start to the season sees them sat third in the table and they represent a tough first challenge for Fotheringham (I keep wanting to shorten his name to Fozzy bear but I suspect he's too serious for nicknames). In advance of this afternoon's action, I'm going to take a look at some of the main talking points to watch out for in the game… Predicted lineup Fotheringham said he had a clean bill of health heading into this game but the club's training video they released a few days ago didn't show Jonathan Hogg training, so I suspect he's still either injured or at best only ...
Wembley hotel booking, our hat-trick hero, unleashing the attack, Reading relegation fodder and a leaky defence – Notes on Reading away

Wembley hotel booking, our hat-trick hero, unleashing the attack, Reading relegation fodder and a leaky defence – Notes on Reading away

Matches
Huddersfield Town came away victorious from a seven-goal thriller against Reading at the weekend. The game was a hodge podge of great attacking football, woeful defending and a wide range of tactics and formations for each unique part of the game.  There are some games where it’s a struggle to think of talking points to fill a blogpost but the opposite is true of this game. There are almost too many things to talk about. So rather than waste time on these introductory paragraphs that most people skip over, I’ll get straight into it. Hat-trick hero  The only possible candidate for Man of the Match is Danny Ward, his three goals and incredible graft made this the high point of his return to Town after some fairly dark days in the not-too-distant past.  Almost no To...
“Could be the missing piece of the puzzle” Player ratings from Town’s 4-3 win over Reading

“Could be the missing piece of the puzzle” Player ratings from Town’s 4-3 win over Reading

Matches
Huddersfield Town came away victorious from a thrilling 4-3 encounter with Reading yesterday afternoon. The quality of football was mixed but the amount of action more than made up for occasional defensive lapses. Town gave away some truly horrendous goals but equally they attacked with verve and deserved to win despite frequent sloppiness at the back. I think this game was a bit of a one off, with the circumstances of the game lending themselves for Town taking an unusually bold, swashbuckling approach to the game. This season has been typified by a more cautious and defensive mindset but our recent inability to hold on to a lead and Reading’s obvious vulnerability meant it was sensible to have a really good go at them even though gifting them a way back into the game so frequently cle...