Huddersfield Town V Ipswich Town
Saturday 27th February 2016 – 15:00
John Smith's Stadium
Opening Thought – Jamma
There are two ways you can look at Tuesday night’s setback against Hull. You can choose to highlight the strength of the opposition, as Mick McCarthy again did, as arguably the best team in the league, and one which has a good chance of securing one of the automatic promotion berths. We competed with the table-topping Tigers for large periods, and could even have claimed an unlikely point if Tommy Smith’s last-gasp header had landed the right side of the post. Alternatively, you can focus on the fact that Daryl Murphy’s shot which struck the inside of the post was the closest we came to an attempt on target. The scoreline may have suggested that Hull were only one goal better than us, but equally evident was that they barely had to break sweat to record the win. I think that this has been the main difference between the Ipswich Town of 2014/15 and this year’s vintage. Whereas we have rarely if ever been outclassed by the division’s top teams in 2015/16, neither have we possessed that extra bit of quality to turn 1 point into 3, or, as was the case on Tuesday, a defeat into a draw. Watford away last season is a prime example: having managed to stand firm against one of the Championship’s – and now the Premier League’s – leading strikeforces, not only were we able to hold on for the draw but we had the wherewithal to conjure up a winner. Yes, we have recorded creditable results against the likes of Burnley and Brighton this time around, but all too often we have been edged out by a Tom Ince or – dare I say it – a David Nugent. This of course takes us back over the all too familiar ground of investment in the squad. But, with trips to the Riverside, Hillsborough and Pride Park still to come, there is no doubt that we will have to start taking points off the big boys if we are to maintain our promotion challenge.
Nobody gave us much of a chance against Hull, and yet it was simultaneously being touted as a ‘must win’ by some if we were to stay in the top six mix. Such is the nature of this ‘bonkers’ league that we have come to know and (not all of us) love! After a third loss on the bounce, just where does that leave our season? The simple answer, looking at the table and the fixtures still to come, is ‘swimming against the tide’. From not ruling out the top two at the turn of the year, Town are now dangerously close to falling back under the bracket of ‘midtable mediocrity’ with which we were almost synonymous under Roy Keane and Paul Jewell. We are now as many points from Fulham in 18th as we are from 4th-place Brighton, a side we looked likely to catch a matter of weeks ago. Whichever way you look at the stats, they don’t make for pleasant reading, with the Blues towards the bottom of the form table while most of our rivals keep picking up points. But the comparison with Brighton is a timely reminder of just how quickly things can change in the Championship. While Ipswich have lost five of our last seven in the league, the Seagulls have won five from seven following four consecutive defeats over the New Year. The play-offs are now looking like a big ask (although win our game in hand and the table will take on a very different complexion…), but they are by no means out of the question. We find ourselves in a position which we have not been used to over the last 18 months: that of the hunter as opposed to the hunted. We seemed to thrive on being the underdogs last season, with our form only really dropping off once we had earnt the right to be considered genuine promotion contenders. Now that we have slipped back under the radar, we might just be able to spring a surprise. But first we have a tricky-looking assignment against another team on the up…
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 fundraising 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, Huddersfield 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. They returned to the top flight for the last time (so far) in 1970 but were relegated two seasons later and have 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, with the final score 8–7 to Huddersfield and 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.
In the 2013/14 season, Huddersfield finished in 17th place with 53 points, and basically repeated the same feat last season, although they gained one place on the table and finished up with 55 points.
One To Watch – Nahki Wells
Somewhat typically, the fixture list sees us come up against a team just as they are finding some form, with Huddersfield following up a five-match winless run with two successive victories, including one against a Nottingham Forest side which had previously gone 13 games unbeaten. One player who has been able to keep up his high standards even during that tricky spell is star striker Nahki Wells.
Wells made his Football League bow at Carlisle in the 2010/11 season, but it was with Bradford City that he made his name, particularly in a highly successful 2012/13, on both an individual and a team basis. The then 22-year-old scored 26 goals in 54 appearances across all competitions, most memorably against Aston Villa in the League Cup semi-final and his four strikes across the three play-off games. There was unsurprisingly plenty of speculation surrounding Wells’ future that summer, with a number of clubs linked to his name. Having risen to 2nd in the League 1 goalscoring charts by the midway point of the following season, he moved to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield in the January transfer window. Any doubts as to his ability to make the step up were dispelled almost instantly, as Wells came off the bench on his debut to score the winner against Millwall, and he finished the campaign with 7 goals for his new club. He doubled that tally in 2014/15 but has really found his stride this campaign, having already notched 14 strikes to rival the league’s top scorers. Rather like Andre Gray in his style of play, the Bermudian combines pace and skill with an unerring knack for being able to find the back of the net from any angle.
The Gaffer – David Wagner
Wagner grew up in Germany, playing football from a young age. He eventually found himself playing at Schalke 04 with Thomas Dooley, who, like Wagner, had an American father and a German mother and grew up in Germany.
Over his career as a striker with 6 different clubs, he made 234 appearances and scored 49 goals.
On the recommendation of Dooley, Steve Sampson brought Wagner into the U.S. national team in 1996 despite never having seen him play. Wagner had a U.S. passport, but had played for Germany’s U18 and U21 teams. This gave him additional credibility with Sampson but posed a problem as he could be considered ineligible to play for the United States.
In April 1997, after Canada lost to the U.S. in a World Cup qualifying match in which Wagner played, the Canadian Soccer Federation complained to FIFA that Wagner should be ineligible to play for the U.S. based on his appearances for Germany's youth teams. On May 2 1997, FIFA announced that Wagner was eligible to play for the U.S. because his games with the German teams were exhibitions, not official matches.
Wagner was appointed as Borussia Dortmund II manager with effect from July 1 2011. He left the role on November 1 2015 after 60 matches in charge, amidst rumours that he was going to join Jürgen Klopp's backroom staff at Liverpool. However, on November 5 2015, he was appointed head coach of Huddersfield Town following the departure of Chris Powell.
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
Berra's reaction to Hull defeat:
http://www.itfc.co.uk/news/article/chri ... 70488.aspx
...And Mick's:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/r ... _1_4430709
2 for contract extensions:
https://www.clubcall.com/championship/i ... 01005.html
2 triallists included in the U21s:
http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/29109/
Stat Time
Head to Head
Huddersfield Wins.................12 (29.27%)
Ipswich Town Wins................20 (48.78%)
Draws.................................9 (21.95%)
Huddersfield Goals................51 (ave. 1.24 per match)
Ipswich Town Goals...............71 (ave. 1.73 per match)
Head to Head At Huddersfield
Huddersfield Wins..................10 (50.00%)
Ipswich Town Wins.................6 (30.00%)
Draws.................................4 (20.00%)
Huddersfield Goals.................30 (ave. 1.50 per match)
Ipswich Town Goals................24 (ave. 1.20 per match)
The Predicted Teams
Huddersfield Town
Phillip Billing was sent off against MK Dons in the week but the Terriers managed to salvage a point from a surprisingly lacklustre performance. There could be calls for David Wagner to change things around for his side’s third game in eight days.
1 Jed Steer
2 Tommy Smith
5 Mark Hudson
33 Joel Lynch
15 James Husband
8 Jamie Paterson
4 Dean Whitehead
18 Joe Lolley
10 Karim Matmour
17 Harry Bunn
21 Nahki Wells
Ipswich Town
It says something about the direction in which our season is heading when the biggest positive to come out of the Hull game was my ability to correctly pick the starting line-up! Luke Hyam came off with a tight hamstring on Tuesday night, and I’m going with his replacement Kevin Bru to come in for the only change...
33 Bartosz Bialkowski
4 Luke Chambers
5 Tommy Smith
6 Christophe Berra
3 Jonas Knudsen
20 Freddie Sears
17 Kevin Bru
22 Jonathan Douglas
15 Ben Pringle
9 Daryl Murphy
11 Brett Pitman
Marko’s Caption Contest
Only 9 entries, few decent ones in amongst them. And I actually sang yours with my best Subo voice, Blueblood. Great stuff. Ando didn't fancy it this week and, as a result, Derick takes over top spot. It's close up there.
Scores
Blueblood 5pts
Derick 4pts
Herforder 3pts
Barmy Billy 2pts
LEAGUE TABLE
DerickIpsw 64
Ando 62
Frosty 57
Blueblood 57
Nicscreamer 46
Barmy Billy 44
James Scharmann 42
Number 9 39
Herforder 35
Shed on Tour 25
IpswichtownNO1 24
Quasar 23
Bluemike 19
Ashfordblue 17
Watership Down 16
Floors 16
Tangfastic 10
Hallamblue 10
Charnwood 10
Kerry Blue 9
Longjohn 9
Foxy Lady 8
Loudnproud 6
Ohiotractorboy 3
Karlywoo 1
Last one of a hat-trick of Alex Neil photos:
Match Referee – Darren Bond
Final Thought - Frosty
I don’t know what it is post Christmas this season and last, but either our squad depth and/or quality or our predictable tactics seem to fail us at this time of year.
Although I don’t feel huge confidence we are going to make the play-offs this season, Mick has shown in the past he can get things back on track out of nowhere and put a string of results together. I would suggest Huddersfield would be a damn good place to start this weekend.
The Terriers are 9 points off us on the table and currently occupy 16th place. Recent form would suggest we will need to be on our game come Saturday as they have had wins over Wolves and Forest lately as well as a 1-1 draw with MK Dons on Tuesday night – not a bad result when they played most of the second half with 10 men.
One fixture that could do us a favour on Saturday is Preston (to me the surprise package so far this season) making a visit to Cardiff. We could leapfrog both sides if we come away from Yorkshire with a positive result. QPR hosting the Brum is the other match-up of interest.
Have a safe and enjoyable trip if you are heading up for the match.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
