“They’ll be having nightmares about him” – Player ratings for Huddersfield Town’s 5-0 demolition of Port Vale

Huddersfield Town smashed Port Vale 5-0 on Boxing Day, taking full advantage of an abysmal away team in a way that was decidedly not very Christmassy. And as much as Port Vale were terrible, Huddersfield Town did an excellent job of exposing their soft underbelly.

After a poor run of results put Lee Grant’s job under threat and saw the fans turn on him, emphatic wins against Rotherham and Port Vale have eased the pressure on him (for now at least).

Here’s what I made of each individual performance in this game…

Lee Nicholls – 6 out of 10

Firstly I’d like to congratulate our keeper on the arrival of his new baby. And while he might not be getting much rest at night with a newborn at home, he had a very peaceful afternoon between the sticks, without a single save to make. Terry the Terrier could have been in nets and it wouldn’t have affected the outcome of this game. I’m giving Nicholls a six because he didn’t do anything wrong but had so little to do that any higher score would seem silly.

Radinio Balker – 6 out of 10

Looked good when he had the ball at his feet and made a couple of penetrating runs with decent final balls. He seemed a lot less convincing on the few occasions he had proper defensive work to do. He jumped under a header at one point and made a mess of it and another time seemed to refuse to go near Devante Cole when he should have been trying to dispossess him. A bump to the noggin led to him receiving treatment and being subbed a short while later, hopefully nothing serious.

Joe Low – 6 out of 10

In a game where we dominated so thoroughly, it feels harsh to not give generous scores to the defenders but I thought Low had a mixed game, with a few iffy moments mostly offset by his better bits of play. He looked a lot worse when he shifted to the right side of the three after Balker’s departure, struggling with the extra mobility required to play on the right of a back three.

Murray Wallace – 7 out of 10

My pick of the defenders, winning more headers (6) than the other two combined (Low 3 and Balker 2). He’s not flashy or extravagant but he does the basics very well and keeps things simple. Switching to a back three has made us more solid at the back but I also think Wallace’s return to the starting lineup is a factor in our improvement defensively too.

Lynden Gooch – 7 out of 10

I really enjoyed watching the battle between Gooch and Town old boy Jaheim Headley. The two tangled frequently down our right side and Gooch typically got the better of his man, with Headley resorting to cynical late fouls on three occasions when he was beaten. Gooch gave us good width down the right and pushed up high to help keep them pinned back during our better spells.

Marcus Harness – 8 out of 10

Did an excellent job of carrying the ball forward and linking up play. Deserved his two assists, as he consistently picked out teammates with forward passes throughout the game. OK, the first assist was a simple pass to let Castledine do the rest, but Harness only had the ball because of good tackling in midfield to win possession back. I no longer see Harness as a make-shift central midfielder, as he’s playing better in this role than he ever did in his preferred position of being on the wing.

Ryan Ledson – 8 out of 10

Not as eye-catching a performance as some of our other better players in this game but he did fly into some crunching tackles and burst forward to support our attacking play at times too. Generally seemed a lot busier than he was in games just a few weeks ago. In the stadium, I thought he’d just desperately wafted his leg at the ball and got a lucky deflection for his goal but the replay tells a different story. I could be wrong, but it looked like Harness deliberately picked out Ledson at the near post and he deliberately applied a deft touch to guide the ball past the keeper. Very impressive, if he meant it.

Sean Roughan – 7 out of 10

There’s something about Sean Roughan’s face that makes him look absolutely exhausted within seconds of setting foot on a football pitch. But regardless of looking goosed from the off, he kept up his energy levels throughout and provided some helpful balls forward as well as making overlapping runs when we had possession. After a shaky start to his time at Town, this recent run of games seems to have helped him find his best level.

Leo Castledine – 9 out of 10

Port Vale’s defenders will be having nightmares about Castledine’s marauding run for weeks to come. They’ll be making their mothers check under the bed for Castledine before they go to sleep, such was the relentlessness of the Chelsea loanee’s attacking play. His first goal saw him carry the ball from the edge of the centre circle all the way to inside the box before stroking it into the bottom corner. His second was a lovely curler into the top corner after an exquisite one-two with Radulovic. The performance deserved a hat-trick but some good goalkeeping and getting subbed prevented that.

Alfie May – 7 out of 10

Even though he played a big part in our success in this game, I’m still not too keen on the role he’s currently providing to the team. Alongside being a striker, he also had duties that saw him drop deep into midfield and far too often was filling in at the right-back area to cover Gooch’s runs forward. Call me a madman, but I’d prefer to see this league’s most prolific striker of the last few seasons playing closer to goal than this. On one of the few occasions he was higher up the pitch AND given good service, he showed that he’ll finish the majority of opportunities he’s provided. May made that curled finish to the far post from a tight angle look easy but it was a high-quality finish and much-deserved. Hopefully now he’s back among the goals we’ll see him kick on with more goals to come.

Bojan Radulovic – 8 out of 10 9 out of 10

(EDIT – David M pointed out in the comments that Radulovic deserved a 9 and I couldn’t disagree with him, so I’ve bumped him after oridinally scoring him an 8.)

I didn’t see Radulovic’s renaissance coming (The Bojanaissance?) coming but I’m delighted it’s happened. After moaning that all our strikers play in more or less the same way, he’s come in and offered something genuinely different up front. I think the big improvement has been his willingness to get stuck in, compared to some more powder puff performances in his earlier outings. Now he’s showing an ability to mix it, his more delicate touches and link-up play are happening in more dangerous areas and he’s really impacting games. His goal was a bit of a gift, after the keeper’s save of Castledine’s shot dropped kindly to him but strikers earn those goals by consistently getting into those positions. The assist for Castledine’s second was a cheeky and brilliantly executed back heel that perfectly picked out the in-form loanee’s run. 

Substitutes

Dion Charles – 6 out of 10 – Didn’t do a great deal of note. His best opportunity to get in behind their backline was cynically cut out with a professional foul but otherwise nothing much to report.

Cameron Ashia – 6 out of 10 – Another sub that didn’t have a great deal of impact, though I always admire his industry and aggression. At full-time he seemed absolutely furious about something but I couldn’t work out what it was. Let me know in the comments if you have a better memory/insight than me.

Lasse Sorensen – 7 out of 10 – The most effective of our subs, taking over where Gooch left off, with some penetrating runs down the right and decent balls into the box.

Ruben Roosken – 5 out of 10 – The ref seemed to hate him and made some unusual decisions including a harsh booking. Maybe the ref’s opinion of him was influenced by Roosken’s pretty pathetic attempt at diving. If you’re going to play those sorts of games you at least need to be able to sell it to the referee.

David Kasumu – N/A – Took over from Ledson and was fine but not memorable.