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Tag: talking points

Pearson’s revenge, almost a derby, shuffling the pack and bouncing back – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Doncaster Rovers

Pearson’s revenge, almost a derby, shuffling the pack and bouncing back – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Doncaster Rovers

Matches, Talking points
Huddersfield Town take on Doncaster Rovers tonight, where they'll be hoping to shake off Saturday's defeat against Blackpool. Doncaster Rovers come to the Accu Stadium in good form, unbeaten in their opening three games and a point ahead of Town in the embryonic league table (which no longer interests me now Town aren't top). After a positive start to the season, the loss at Blackpool and the struggle to break down ten men didn't feel like it was part of the Huddersfield Town script. Tonight's game should be a chance for Town to return to their pre-Blackpool way of doing things. Though Doncaster will not be an easy opponent. Can Town brush off the Blackpool performance? After seeing a less pleasant side to this new Huddersfield Town team on Saturday, it feels vitally important to ...
Wounded animals, winning runs, stinky fans, and extra rest – 6 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s trip to Blackpool

Wounded animals, winning runs, stinky fans, and extra rest – 6 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s trip to Blackpool

Matches, Talking points
The games are coming thick and fast now the new season is properly underway and Town have a trip to the seaside to take on Blackpool on Saturday afternoon. The game follows quickly in the wake of Town’s impressive penalties victory over Leicester in the League Cup on Wednesday night but Lee Grant will want to make sure there’s no hangover for this game.  Huddersfield Town fans are less likely to be avoiding hangovers, as a boozy do on the coast is almost certain for many in the sold out away end. With Town winning their opening three games of the season and Blackpool losing all three of theirs, the omens look good on paper but the reality is likely to be different.  Here are a few of the main talking points ahead of this fixture… Can Town keep their winning start going? ...
Does Grant care? Poor atmosphere? Sticking or twisting? Fringe players stepping up? 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s cup game against Leicester

Does Grant care? Poor atmosphere? Sticking or twisting? Fringe players stepping up? 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s cup game against Leicester

Matches, Talking points
After back-to-back wins in the league, Huddersfield Town's attention now turns to the League Cup, where they'll host Leicester on Wednesday evening. While I'm sure many fans will hope to see a strong first team fielded by Town, I can't remember the last Town manager that played a full strength lineup in the early rounds of any cup competition. The good thing is that Town have a relatively deep squad and the players not currently starting league games are capable of stepping in and doing a good job for Town.  Leicester were relegated from the Premier League last season but will be aiming to yo-yo themselves back up there this year, starting that project with a win against beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend. Having said that, they've shipped out a host of players and only...
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...
New rules, 2 strikers 1 slot, Koroma’s return & Northern Football – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Leyton Orient

New rules, 2 strikers 1 slot, Koroma’s return & Northern Football – 4 talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town v Leyton Orient

Matches, Previews
After a long wait over the summer, football is finally back when Huddersfield Town open their League One campaign against Leyton Orient at the Accu Stadium tomorrow (Saturday). The summer break has felt longer than usual this year because Town’s season effectively ended in March when Michael Duff was sacked. While Jonathan Worthington took charge for the final ten games, we tailed off so badly it was clear our season was over long before the games actually stopped.  Our opening day fixture is the same as last season’s final fixture, which feels appropriate, as that 4-1 defeat was as bad as any of the other humbling defeats Town suffered last season and repeating it gives us a chance to signal a fresh start. Town’s players were so mentally checked out of that game that it wouldn’t h...
5 big talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s game against Bristol City

5 big talking points ahead of Huddersfield Town’s game against Bristol City

Matches
I’m back! Apologies for my unannounced break. After a hiatus in November to work on a novel, I’m now writing about Town again. I’m now back to regular and potentially even more frequent service. So it’s going to be the action on the football pitch creating the drama, Huddersfield Town as the protagonists, the plot twists coming from the goals and the referees most likely being the villains.  Over the next few weeks I’m going to be experimenting with a few new article formats using a similar principle to throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks. So in advance of tomorrow’s game against Bristol City, I thought it might be interesting to look at what big talking points there are ahead of this game, from a Town perspective. Feel free to chip in with your comments below. Anoth...
Crushed Cherries – Talking points from Town’s victory over Bournemouth

Crushed Cherries – Talking points from Town’s victory over Bournemouth

Matches
Just when it seemed like Huddersfield Town’s Premier League losing streak was going to run on forever, we pulled off a fabulous performance with a resounding victory against Bournemouth. Here are some of the things that stood out from the game. Wagner unleashed the dogs Obviously, we desperately needed points to get us out of the relegation zone, but the manner of the victory was more important than the result. This wasn’t a “low block”, backs to the wall performance. We played the attacking football that got us promoted to the Premier League in the first place and it worked a treat. The change in approach was obvious on Sunday, compared to the defensive systems we’ve used against Liverpool and Manchester United recently. We also showed more desire, creativity, and commitment than in th...
5 Talking points from Huddersfield Town’s draw with Burnley

5 Talking points from Huddersfield Town’s draw with Burnley

Matches, Opinion
Huddersfield Town played out a scoreless draw with Burnley, with neither side doing enough to take all three points. Here are some of the major talking points from the game. Includes THAT dive, gushing praise for Schindler, talk about our lack of goals, Dyche love for Hogg, and a quick look at our run of upcoming fixtures. van La Parra's dive Having seen a replay it looks pretty bad. In real time it looked like he was playing to win a penalty and didn't get the contact he was aiming for. Is it cheating to try and draw a foul in the box? Probably not. Is it cheating to hurl yourself at the ground under minimal contact? Yes. If VLP had been more cunning and drawn significant contact from Lowton he'd have received plaudits for "winning" a penalty. As it stands he deserves a bit of stick fo...
6 talking points from the Leicester home game

6 talking points from the Leicester home game

Matches, Opinion
Huddersfield Town drew one all with Leicester in their latest Premier League game. It was a relief to see Huddersfield recapture their “terrier spirit” after a lacklustre performance in their defeat against West Ham. Here are some of the major talking points from the game... Kachunga’s “offside" goal and the case for video refereeing Elias Kachunga nodded in from Zanka’s strike and had the goal disallowed. In the stadium, I thought the linesman had made a good call because he was on his own when he headed home. However, the replay shows it was incredibly tight and was most probably onside. Two points could be the difference between survival and relegation for Town (or Champions League or Europa League qualification). It seems cruel that such fine margins could have such a huge influe...
5 talking points from the Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town game

5 talking points from the Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town game

Matches
Before the Palace game kicked off, nobody really knew what to expect in Huddersfield Town's first game back in the top-flight for over 40 years. Few expected a 3-0 victory for the Terriers. Here are a few thoughts about this incredible game. 1. Maybe the Premier League isn't ready for us I got a bit sick of hearing ill-informed pundits talk about how we aren't prepared for the Premier League. They grumble that we've not signed experienced Premier League players and write us off because of our negative goal difference last season. The expectation was that we were unprepared and would be the league's whipping boys I think Palace weren't prepared for us. We didn't give them chance settle and made the most of the chances we created. On the strength of this performance, I think a few Premi...