Huddersfield Town V Ipswich Town
Monday 6th April 2015 – 15:00
John Smith's Stadium
Opening Thought – Jamma
So, another game down and we are still no closer to knowing where this rollercoaster of a season will end for Ipswich Town. In a surprisingly open start to what was an entertaining encounter against Bournemouth, we managed to grab the early initiative with a well-worked goal finished off by Freddie Sears. This further lifted the atmosphere inside an already buoyant Portman Road, and boosted the feel-good factor on the back of the win over Watford and the much-anticipated return of Jonny Williams and David McGoldrick. Sears also became the latest in a series of players to vindicate their manager's team selection with a telling impact on their return to the team. The same player had combined with Richard Chaplow to such great effect at Vicarage Road after both had been introduced from the bench, with Freddie also scoring a brace having been resintated against Birmingham and Daryl Murphy repeating the feat against Brentford. On Friday, the Blues showed their ability to mix things up, against the team generally regarded as the best footballing side in the division. The chants of '1-0 to the football team' may have been just a little tongue-in-cheek but the tempo with which we played undoubtedly rattled the Cherries, who made an uncharacteristic amount of errors and were forced to adapt their approach. When Kenwyne Jones' first touch brought about a late equaliser, there was an inevitable sense of frustration that we hadn't quite managed to hold on. In reality, though, a second successive 1-0 win would have had less to do with Ipswich's defensive solidity than Bournemouth's poor finishing. Mick McCarthy was quick to pick up on this, saying that the point gained in part due to a number of fine saves from Bartosz Bialkowski could yet prove to be decisive to our promotion ambitions.
McCarthy is always telling us how each and every point counts towards our end-of-season tally, and never was this better illustrated than after the final whistle on Friday. If Cole Skuse hadn't cleared the ball off the line in the dying stages, Town would have dropped as far down as 8th. Instead, we were clinging on to 6th ahead of Derby's game against Watford. The latest stat to come out about this most incredible of seasons is that the gap of 8 points between 1st and 8th before the latest round of matches was 13 points short of the average for this stage of the campaign over the last 10 years! Having waited so long for any kind of promotion challenge, we couldn't have asked to be involved in a much more gripping race! Looking at the table, the only one of our remaining fixtures against a fellow contender is the trip to Molineux later this month. This is a mouth-watering prospect, with all the added intrigue to come from Mick's history with Wolves. But before that is a sequence of three equally important games. As impressive a return of 4 points from Watford and Bournemouth is, it will count for nothing if we don't build on our recent good form, starting with a long journey up to Yorkshire...
The Opposition – Huddersfield Town
In 1910, just three years after being founded, Huddersfield entered the Football League for the first time. In November 1919, a fund-raising campaign was needed to avoid a move to Leeds. Citizens of Huddersfield were asked to buy shares in the club for £1 each, and the club staved off the proposed merger. The team went on to reach the 1920 FA Cup Final and win promotion to Division One.
In 1926, it became the first English team to win three successive league titles – a feat that only three other clubs have been able to match. Huddersfield Town also won the FA Cup in 1922 and have been runners-up on four other occasions. During the club's heyday, on 27 February 1932, the club achieved a record attendance of 67,037 during their FA Cup 6th round tie against Arsenal at Leeds Road. This attendance has been bettered by only 13 other clubs in the history of the Football League.
After the Second World War, the club began a gradual decline, losing its First Division status in 1952. It returned to the top flight for the last time (so far) in 1970 but was relegated two seasons later and has since meandered through the lower three divisions. Before the start of the 1969/70 season, Huddersfield Town adopted the nickname "The Terriers".
In 1998, the club attracted the attention of local businessman Barry Rubery and, after protracted takeover talks, he took over the running of the club, promising significant investment as the club sought Premiership status. However, the club did not make it back to the top flight and fell two divisions. The club was sold by Rubery to David Taylor and, under Taylor’s ownership, slipped into administration.
In the summer of 2003, the Terriers came out of administration under the new ownership of Ken Davy.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, the stadium was renamed the Galpharm Stadium, to reflect the sponsorship by this local healthcare company.
On 26 May 2012, following a penalty shoot-out in the 2012 Football League One play-off Final victory over Sheffield United, Huddersfield were promoted to the Championship. The shoot-out was the longest contested in the current League One play-offs format. Eleven rounds took place and the final score was 8–7 to Huddersfield, with the winning goal being scored by goalkeeper Alex Smithies.
During the summer of 2012, the stadium changed its name to the John Smith's Stadium, after the sponsorship rights were bought by Heineken International.
Last season, Huddersfield finished in 17th place with 53 points.
One To Watch – Nahki Wells
Occupying a near-identical position to the one they found themselves in at the end of last season, the Terriers have not progressed as they would have liked in 2014/15. One player to have enjoyed success on a personal level, however, is hot prospect Nahki Wells.
The prolific striker came to prominence in his time at Bradford, who he helped to League 2 play-off glory and Capital One Cup fame in 2012/13. Wells scored 18 league goals in the promotion campaign, including the clincher against Northampton at Wembley, and added a further 3 in the Bantams’ memorable cup run. In all, he netted 53 times in 112 appearances for Bradford, attracting the attention of Premier League as well as Championship clubs. Having continued his rich vein of scoring form into 2013/14 with 15 strikes in just 21 games, the Bermudan opted for a move across Yorkshire to Huddersfield. The Terriers players and supporters were already well aware of his ability, having been on the end of the below instinctive long-range effort in the League Cup earlier that campaign. The 24-year-old has had to live up to the pressure of being Huddersfield’s record signing but hit the ground running with a goal on his debut. After notching 7 goals in the second half of last season, he continues to look comfortable in his Championship surroundings, with a further 12 strikes to his name in 32 appearances this term.
The Gaffer – Chris Powell
He began his professional career in December 1987 as a trainee at Crystal Palace with Ian Wright but failed to become a regular with the first team. He spent time on loan at Aldershot, where he made 11 appearances, before moving on a free transfer in August 1990 to Essex club Southend United. In six years at the club Powell made 288 first-team appearances. In November 2004 a BBC poll of Southend United supporters voted Powell their all-time cult hero.
In January 1996 Powell moved to Derby County for a fee of £750,000. He made 99 first-team appearances before being transferred to Charlton Athletic in June 1998 for a fee of £825,000. Powell was a favourite of the Derby fans, and won the Supporters' Player of the Year award for the 1996-97 season.
While at Charlton, he made 200 first-team appearances, and evidently caught the eye of Sven-Göran Eriksson, who picked him for the England team in 2001, at the unusually late age of 31. He was the oldest England debutant since Syd Owen in 1954.
Shortly after the start of the 2004–05 season, Powell was allowed to move to West Ham United, where he played a major part in their successful promotion campaign. However, during the summer of 2005 he and West Ham were unable to agree terms for a further contract and he returned to Charlton on a one-year contract, with a suggestion that he would develop his coaching skills.
Typically consistent performance belying his years throughout 2005–06 saw Powell regain his place as Charlton's first choice left back.
On 1 July 2006 he signed a one-year contract with Premiership newcomers Watford as Aidy Boothroyd looked to add some experience to his youthful squad. He was released by the club after one year. In July 2007, Powell returned to Charlton for a third spell.
Powell joined League Two side Bournemouth on a trial basis in July 2008, the club looking to see if he could bring much needed experience to their defence.
He joined Leicester City on a six-month contract on 23 August 2008.On 6 December 2008 Powell started his 750th career appearance against former club Southend.
In July 2009, Powell signed a contract to be a player-coach at Leicester City, becoming first team development coach, and also re-registering himself as a player. He retired from playing at the end of the 2009–10 season, his final appearance came on 27 March 2010 against his former club Derby County.
Having served as a player coach under Nigel Pearson, Powell was retained by incoming Leicester manager Paulo Sousa in the summer of 2010. In October, Powell was named caretaker manager with Mike Stowell of the Foxes after Sousa was sacked. He remained a coach at the club after Sousa's replacement, Sven-Göran Eriksson, was appointed.
On 14 January 2011 Powell was appointed manager of Charlton Athletic, who were by now languishing in League One. He signed a three and a half year contract following the sacking of Phil Parkinson and finished the season in 13th place.
Powell signed 19 new players in summer 2011, and Charlton finished strongly in the second half of the 2011-12 season and sealed promotion back to the Championship as champions of League One.
The following season now in the in the Championship, Charlton finished the season in 9th place, three points off a play-off position.
On 11 March 2014, Powell was sacked as manager of Charlton Athletic by owner Roland Duchâtelet; this decision came after a poor run of form with the Addicks sitting at the bottom of the Championship table, although media reports have suggested that it was a reluctance to play players Roland Duchâtelet had brought to the club and differences in transfer policy.
On 3 September, 2014 Powell was named the new manager of Huddersfield Town.
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Trev's Trivia
Players to play for both teams
Marcus Stewart ITFC 2000–2002 HTFC 1996–2000
Jon Stead ITFC 2008–2010 HTFC 2013–Present although out on loan
Jordan Rhodes ITFC 2007–2009 HTFC 2009–2012
Media Watch - K L Blue
An excellent article which I have edited from the Sudbury Mercury
Read the full article (here) :
Ipswich Town academy director Bryan Klug on ‘special’ talent, Category One latest, competing with Norwich and being sacked by Roy Keane
Ipswich Town academy director Bryan Klug believes the club has a number of ‘special players’ emerging from the youth set-up – none more so than Andre Dozzell.
The Blues’ academy regularly trained up local talent for the first team during the 90s – the likes of Kieron Dyer, Richard Wright and Titus Bramble to name just three – but the production line has slowed down rapidly over the last decade or so.
Klug, sacked by former Blues boss Roy Keane in 2010 but lured back to the club from Tottenham in 2012, has got things going again at Playford Road though and is very much excited about the future.
“I think, almost three years on from me returning, I can say to you that we’re starting to get close to regularly producing academy players ready for the first team again,” said Klug, a former Town apprentice himself.
“We’ve had Teddy Bishop and Matt Clarke involved this season, Kundai (Benyu) is threatening to break in now (an unused sub of late) and I’m confident that we have got a whole host of players behind them that could also make it. The staff have worked incredibly hard and we’re right back on it at all age groups. I really do feel as though we’ve got a few special players coming through.”
Talented midfielder Dozzell, the 15-year-old son of former Town player Jason, is certainly creating a great deal of hype. He’s already captained England at Under-16 level and represented Town at U18 level.
“When you look at the England squads there aren’t too many from outside of the big clubs, but Andre has gone in there and broken that mould."
Achieving Category One academy status is only going to get harder for Ipswich Town, but talented young local footballers are still choosing the Blues ahead of East Anglian rivals Norwich City.
Town fell an agonising – and frankly ridiculous – 0.3% short of the 75% mark that was required to attain top level Category One academy status last July. Of the 5,000 marks that they were judged on, they missed out by just 17.
With Norwich being a Category One club, has Klug noticed a talent drain up the A140?
“They get all their players out of London,” he said. “If people are from this area and they have to choose then they choose to come here. Norwich spend a lot of money, and they’re doing it very well, but when their Under-16s play us at Portman Road in the Hospital Cup next month you’ll see that they have a lot of London boys and we have more local lads.”
So young players in East Anglia are choosing Ipswich over Norwich?
“I think so,” said Klug. “It’s about reputation and opportunity. Most weeks we now have four or five homegrown players in the first team squad. I think young players and parents realise that there’s a clear pathway here, more so than the majority of other clubs.
“That’s our strong point. It always has been. We get people like Teddy (Bishop) in at eight or nine and see them all the way through. That’s how I want to do it.”
The Ipswich Town academy director – who brought through the likes of Kieron Dyer, Richard Wright and Titus Brambles in the 90s – was controversially told he was surplus to requirements by Blues boss Roy Keane in 2010.
He spent almost three years working at Tottenham Hotspur and was then persuaded to return to Playford Road by Mick McCarthy and former chief executive Simon Clegg. Almost three years later and he has got the Town youth team production line working once more.
“I left because Roy suggested it might be a good idea!” laughed Klug. “It turned out to be okay though, I had some great experiences at Tottenham and was able to come back here eventually.
Klug has forged a great working relationship with Town boss McCarthy, the latter having introduced academy graduates Teddy Bishop, Matt Clarke and Kundai Benyu to the first team set-up this season.
“He’s a proper manager that is interested in everything that goes on at the football club,” said Klug. “He talks regularly with me and all my staff and keeps close tabs on what we’re doing. He’s top notch.
“I think he’s just glad that we’re now close to producing players that he can use. He doesn’t need to ask me whether players are ready, he’s got his own eyes. He watches the Under-21s all the time and makes his own mind up.”
He added: “The worst job in football is telling young players they are not going to be kept on. Those decision are being made as we speak.
“The manager deals with that himself, which you don’t get at every football club. He sits down with them all and talks to them about why the decision has been made and what their options are.”
Ipswich Town may be recruiting a handful of academy players from abroad, but their focus remains very much local.
There are four Irishmen, a New Zealander and a Dane in the current Under-18 set-up, while another is due to arrive from Australia in the coming weeks.
The vast majority are from East Anglia though – many from Ipswich itself – something that academy director Klug and head of recruitment Steve McGavin are very much proud of.
“I’m picking out three or four there, but I think the eight or nine lads I’ve got coming in are really good. The standard is much higher than it was two or three years ago and that’s testament to the work that’s done here by Liam Manning and the rest of the coaches.
“It’s got to help that we’re all Ipswich Town people. They’ve all been through it; they’ve experienced the highs and lows, they understand the emotion, they understand the technical and the physical side of it.”
Stat Time
Head to Head
Huddersfield Wins.................11 (28.21%)
Ipswich Town Wins................20 (51.28%)
Draws.................................8 (20.51%)
Huddersfield Goals................49 (ave. 1.26 per match)
Ipswich Town Goals...............70 (ave. 1.79 per match)
Head to Head At Huddersfield
Huddersfield Wins..................9 (47.37%)
Ipswich Town Wins.................6 (31.58%)
Draws.................................4 (21.05%)
Huddersfield Goals.................28 (ave. 1.47 per match)
Ipswich Town Goals................23 (ave. 1.21 per match)
The Predicted Teams
Huddersfield
01 Smithies
27 Smith
04 Hudson
33 Lynch
07 Scannell
10 Coady
02 Edgar
08 Butterfield
03 James
09 Vaughan
21 Wells
Ipswich Town
33 Bialkowski
04 Chambers
05 Smith
06 Berra
13 Fryers
27 Bishop
08 Skuse
18 Tabb
15 Varney
09 Murphy
20 Sears
Match Referee - Tony Harrington
Final Thought - Frosty
When one reflects back on Fridays game, particularly looking at the total stats, the point gained was probably as best we could have hoped for and a lot of credit must go to 'Bart’ that we came away with one point from the fixture. Still the fact that the Cherries could only draw the match makes one realise just how far the team has come this season as a collective unit.
It’s off to Yorkshire for our second match in three days, however, spare a thought for our opposition, Huddersfield as this will be their second match in two days which should give us a bit of an edge over a full 90 minutes one would think.
Huddersfield aren’t that bad a team on paper but they are having a very average season, currently sitting in 18th place, 9 points away from the relegation zone after drawing the match against the Owls 1-1 on Friday. Prior to this outing, the ‘Terriers’ have managed two 2-0 losses against Fulham and Rotherham, whilst drawing two fixtures against the Budgies and the Brum.
With only 6 rounds to go until the playoffs, the matches our promotion chasing rivals play each fixture are just about as important as our own. Easter Monday see’s Watford hosting Boro, the Cherries hosting the Brum, Forest off to London to face Brentford, the Budgies at Carrot Rd to Wednesday, relegation destined Wigan at home to Derby and finally our nearest points rivals Wolves welcoming Leeds to the Molyneux.
I don’t know how everyone feels on here, but I keep telling myself not to get ones hopes up too much, but we are so tantalisingly close this season that every match to the end of the season seems so much more important than the previous outing, and that is why we must target 3 points each from our visit to West Yorkshire as well as next Saturdays fixture against Blackpool if we are going to stretch our season beyond 46 matches.
Safe travels for those making the journey north, and once again, Happy Easter to everyone and try not to give yourself diabetes over the next few days.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2
