Ipswich Town v Huddersfield Town preview and matchday thread

[marko69]

Pour a turd? You been on the laxatives, Rossi?

Not overly surprised at the result. Ipswich may be playing like sh*t, but Huddersfield are a decent side this season. Should be doing better at Portman Road though.

[ashfordblue]

This was so predictable, another defeat and p*ss poor defensive footie and at home, evidently there was a fan at the game who stated a Kid of say 10 years old was so bored with the game, he was playing chess on his mobile,zzzzzzzzzzz and Marcus Evans was at the game to see for himself what fooking boring tosh Mick is issuing out to the fans, If ME has got any sense of loyalty to the fans he will do one of two things, get rid of Mick and Tel, or sell up and let someone buy the club who is interested in seeing Ipswich play decent football, and getting a more constructive manager in, Steve Bruce is available, at least with a good bit of financial backing he would get us promoted, surely this just cant go on and on indefinitely can it, if so the fans will walk out in even greater numbers, and you will get attendances of around 10'000 if that, so Marcus FFS please change the one dimensional manager now, to give a possible new incumbent some time to assemble a decent squad together, Oh and you will have to part with a lot more of that cash you have stashed away, prove to the fans you want a better set up within the club, I await your reply with baited breath.

[lucy]

Does playing Scrabble on my phone beat playing Chess?

[derick_ipsw]

Caption: I said this guy is bonkers not he likes bongos

[Mr.Punch]

I was lost for words after that - see my comments after the Brighton game, this was essentially a repeat.
Nothing to get excited about, we weren't all bad but 1 goal every two games is relegation stuff.
Huddersfield were no great team, like Naridge, Villa and Brighton before them, they were there for the taking.
We got 3 points and should have got 12 - IF WE ATTACKED!
We have nothing up front, we didn't put them under any pressure and never looked like scoring.
We are locked into a vicious circle - no goals - no confidence - no goals -

Even MM seems depressed.

[hallamblue]

Mick needs to revert to 442 and play TWO strikers. Bext wins everything in the air but has absolutely no one around him to pick up that flick on. It's bloody ludicrous that Mccarthy continues to play the way he does.

I said LAST season that his tactics were killing us, and I stand by that view. I personally have had enough of him now. The fans are voting with their feet and based on today's further debacle, who the hell can blame them.

Evans needs to make a decision now. Because this ridiculous situation simply cannot continue.



And for the record Huddersfield were so big standard ORDINARY it begged belief that they are even in the top six, let alone Top. The stark truth is we are incapable under the tactics to beat poor sides and even ordinary teams like today's opponents. Bart had nothing to do for 99% of the game today. YET Town could have been the only team on the pitch today , and I seriously doubt we would have been able to score a goal.

Dark days indeed.

[Mr.Punch]

Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy:

"We weren't very good on the ball and we didn't create anything. We have got some injuries but I expect more from the players I had out on the pitch.

"It is difficult at the moment. I am not surprised by the fans' reaction. We did not play as well as we could and the crowd are getting frustrated and venting their feelings.

"I am doing the job to the best of my ability but if we are not as good as the crowd think we should be, then they pay their money and it is up to them if they want to boo. I am not happy with how we played myself."

[Mach_Polish_Blue]

'I expect more from the players I had out on the pitch'

Not from your beloved Skusey though, eh? No matter how bad we are he's always an automatic starter every game FFS

[arana peligrosa]

Believed before game time we would score three goals : those anti-depressants must be some good sh*t..

Whether you want to agree or disagree, TWTD has some worthwhile response after matches and today was no different. Never seen the urge so strong since McCarthy was appointed for his now departure and you could ponder it over, but seriously, there's little ambiguity in the issue : there needs to be a change of management and attitude, before it becomes an even greater concern.

Marcus Evans was allegedly in attendance today and you have to ask yourself to what end. For the good of the club ? For our best interests ? Seems some disingenuous bullshit from an owner who evidently doesn't have the best interests of the club at heart and whatever message it tried to portray, didn't seem above something belligerent.

I don't know what it is with us and sh*t managers since Burley was in. Jewell, Keane, Magilton even : and now this latest garbage. McCarthy is the longest serving manager here at Ipswich in the entire championship league if correct and looking at it now, it's a statistic of some curiosity. (Wait, wait, of course, the other teams would have owners who would act when their clubs weren't performing or results were clearly on a downward spiral, but Marcus Evans is content to sit on his as* and watch the team deteriorate and fall further behind other challengers and not do a f**king thing about it)

16,000 represents to me another poor attendance. Fans evidently not happy with the situation and asking supporters thirty-two pounds for entry into the ground to be witness to another example of crap play and lack of invention : you can't blame them for not wanting to bother.

When was the last time we scored a goal ? Reading away ? Seems an eternity even now and if indeed we're going to be embroiled in a relegation tussle as some reports have envisaged, where's the goals going to come from to get us out of that potential danger ? f**king hell, you try to find positives, but action has to be taken soon enough before things really can get out of hand. Seems there's another boring goddamn international break up next, so in the interim, get McCarthy to one side, sit him down, and make the individual realize his style of play and mindset is slowly draining away any hope the club may possess of joining football's elite. If there hasn't seen a marked improvement by end of year, then Evans : quit pissing around and hand McCarthy his termination while there's still enough time for the club to achieve something by end of season.

For those who were in attendance today, sincere sympathy you were parted with good money to be witness to another display of sub-standard fare and overall disappointment.

[Tangfastic]

Frustrating thing for me is same old rhetoric from Mick and nothing changes!

Glowing puff pieces lately in the press about Chambo and Douglas, trying to justify team selection and tactics. It hardly convinces and just sounds if he's stuck in a time-warp and his own little bubble.

He says he's been doing the same thing as he always done here .... but we're not ( yet) a relegation-threatened team now. Expectations have changed since we were bottom.

Can see injuries and the departure of Murphy don't help. However, I can't see a more creative player like Bish or Williams would be preferred to the Skuse / Douglas midfield combo. Even if Murphy was here, there's got to be some ammunition for any striker.

He's got to change something. Maybe a second striker, but the favoured Skuse /Douglas partnership isn't creating. It might be tighter and keep the oppositions score down, but if we concede, we're f*cked.

MM has put himself in a tight corner by sticking to certain players / tactics. It feels like there's a stubborn little game going on where he's more concerned with proving a point to the fans than actually trying to change things.

[patthegimp]

Went to see local team play yesterday.Crusaders FC Belfast. Totally outplayed in first half. Cliftonville ran through our cumbersome defensive midfield. 3 nil down at half time with our arch rivals singing 'easy,easy'. Midfield subbed in second half with much more attacking options.Really got at them3-3 glint in to injury time. 4th goal with one minute of injury time remaining.Ran out 4-3 winners
Mick could learn a lot from Stephen Baxter!!

[Bluemike]

Dreadful, simply dreadful. Yesterday may not have been as bad as what I witnessed at Leeds, the players did at least try after all but I actually feel even worse than after the debacle at Elland Road and the reason for that is that I truly believed the Leeds game was going to be a one off, alas it wasn't. Yes we saw a slight improvement against Brighton but taking yesterday's joke of a performance into account that is now a three game run where we just look bereft of any kind of idea of where the next win, or even next goal is coming from.

It would take a more knowledgable person than me to begin to start to sort out what is wrong, but the blatantly obvious one is this f*****g formation that we insist on sticking with, it doesn't work, the players don't seem comfortable with it and in turn their performances are suffering. The lone striker, whoever it may be is so totally isolated and ploughing a totally lone furrow that he has no chance whatosever, Leon Best actually did ok again yesterday, winning high ball and turning his defender several times but where the hell was the support ? To be fair to Tom Lawrence he did ok as an individual performance but for the team I don't think he was linking up play with Best at all, as for Grant Ward, he again offered nothing and I have to say it but for me he is hiding, I can barely remember him getting into the bloody box or running at a defender, just trying to be safe isn't any good, in fact when I think abaout it, take away his hat-trick against barnsley and he has in truth been pretty useless, maybe it was a false dawn, or maybe it comes back to playing him as a wide man in a 4-4-2 to get the best out of him.

This was yet another game where we never looked like opening them up all afternoon and I knew very early on that we were not going to score, their goal was yet another individual error, something we had eradicated for a while but WTF Chambers and Bart were doing god only knows ! A simple call and a cushioned header back and that goal should never have happened, either way they f*cked it up. Our Two fullbacks had got forward well against Brighton but yesterday it was not so productive although again I felt the kid Emmanuel did ok and was one of the few to escape too much blame, Knudsen on the other hand was sh*te, invariably caught out of position and going forward had little impact, as for this p*ss poor long throws, just bloody forget them, they are a joke and I suggest I could defend the f**king things such are their predictability. Berra & Chambers stood up to a lot of what Huddersfield offered but I am not sure who lost the man to gift them a free header with which to score from.

Yesterday displayed exactly why I am not keen on Kevin Bru, for me he is one of if not the most inconsistent player ever to wear a Town shirt, decent on Tuesday, rubbish yesterday and this is what we get from him all the time, he is playing the role in the Midfield that needs things to be created but there was nothing, nor does he get himself into the box, that was left to Douglas to do again but he also struggled to offer too much support in that area. Skuse was way below his usual solid self too so all in all we had a Midfield that was just not functioning, they created nothing going forward, in fact it wasn't until Bishop came on that we saw anyone really try to make a run with the ball or a telling pass, yes he got it wrong sometimes but at least there was some energy and effort there. To sum it up Huddersfield didn't have to do anything to win the game and to be honest they are ordinary and will not be top Six, no way, but in Aaron Mooy they had a quality player who ran the show from start to finish and is a cut above anything we have at our club.

Obviously the calls for MM to go are gathering momentum and it becomes harder by the week to argue against it, I still feel up until the Villa game we had, by and large, done ok with some rough luck, however the last Three games have been very much a cause for concern and although we do have injuries it is no excuse for the players that do turn out to struggle so badly, they have no confidence or self belief anymore, even MM seems to be struggling for ideas. The boo's and chants of "what a load of rubbish" at the fional whistle are understandable but when the players are turned on when they come over to applaud the fans then you know you have big trouble and this was the case yesterday and it was not comfortable at all. I have seen it several times before and when it gets to this stage I have never seen a manager turn it around, MM may not be one for walking away but I suggest should we fail to win any of the next two against p*ss poor Blackburn & mighty Burton something will have to give and I believe it will. My defence of MM is wearing thin by the week and in truth a lot of the time he only has himself to blame, get a few players back, go with two strikers and play a formation that suits what we have, that is a damn good starting point which may just ease some of the pressure, failure to do so and our precarious position could well get worse.

Bart (5) Emmanuel (6) Chambers (5) Berra (6) Knudsen (4) Douglas (6) Skuse (5) Ward (5) Bru (4) Lawrence (6) Best (6)

SUBS :- Bishop (7) Varney (5) Sears (5)

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Dreadful, simply dreadful. Yesterday may not have been as bad as what I witnessed at Leeds, the players did at least try after all but I actually feel even worse than after the debacle at Elland Road and the reason for that is that I truly believed the Leeds game was going to be a one off, alas it wasn't. Yes we saw a slight improvement against Brighton but taking yesterday's joke of a performance into account that is now a three game run where we just look bereft of any kind of idea of where the next win, or even next goal is coming from.

It would take a more knowledgable person than me to begin to start to sort out what is wrong, but the blatantly obvious one is this f*****g formation that we insist on sticking with, it doesn't work, the players don't seem comfortable with it and in turn their performances are suffering. The lone striker, whoever it may be is so totally isolated and ploughing a totally lone furrow that he has no chance whatosever, Leon Best actually did ok again yesterday, winning high ball and turning his defender several times but where the hell was the support ? To be fair to Tom Lawrence he did ok as an individual performance but for the team I don't think he was linking up play with Best at all, as for Grant Ward, he again offered nothing and I have to say it but for me he is hiding, I can barely remember him getting into the bloody box or running at a defender, just trying to be safe isn't any good, in fact when I think abaout it, take away his hat-trick against barnsley and he has in truth been pretty useless, maybe it was a false dawn, or maybe it comes back to playing him as a wide man in a 4-4-2 to get the best out of him.

This was yet another game where we never looked like opening them up all afternoon and I knew very early on that we were not going to score, their goal was yet another individual error, something we had eradicated for a while but WTF Chambers and Bart were doing god only knows ! A simple call and a cushioned header back and that goal should never have happened, either way they f*cked it up. Our Two fullbacks had got forward well against Brighton but yesterday it was not so productive although again I felt the kid Emmanuel did ok and was one of the few to escape too much blame, Knudsen on the other hand was sh*te, invariably caught out of position and going forward had little impact, as for this p*ss poor long throws, just bloody forget them, they are a joke and I suggest I could defend the f**king things such are their predictability. Berra & Chambers stood up to a lot of what Huddersfield offered but I am not sure who lost the man to gift them a free header with which to score from.

Yesterday displayed exactly why I am not keen on Kevin Bru, for me he is one of if not the most inconsistent player ever to wear a Town shirt, decent on Tuesday, rubbish yesterday and this is what we get from him all the time, he is playing the role in the Midfield that needs things to be created but there was nothing, nor does he get himself into the box, that was left to Douglas to do again but he also struggled to offer too much support in that area. Skuse was way below his usual solid self too so all in all we had a Midfield that was just not functioning, they created nothing going forward, in fact it wasn't until Bishop came on that we saw anyone really try to make a run with the ball or a telling pass, yes he got it wrong sometimes but at least there was some energy and effort there. To sum it up Huddersfield didn't have to do anything to win the game and to be honest they are ordinary and will not be top Six, no way, but in Aaron Mooy they had a quality player who ran the show from start to finish and is a cut above anything we have at our club.

Obviously the calls for MM to go are gathering momentum and it becomes harder by the week to argue against it, I still feel up until the Villa game we had, by and large, done ok with some rough luck, however the last Three games have been very much a cause for concern and although we do have injuries it is no excuse for the players that do turn out to struggle so badly, they have no confidence or self belief anymore, even MM seems to be struggling for ideas. The boo's and chants of "what a load of rubbish" at the fional whistle are understandable but when the players are turned on when they come over to applaud the fans then you know you have big trouble and this was the case yesterday and it was not comfortable at all. I have seen it several times before and when it gets to this stage I have never seen a manager turn it around, MM may not be one for walking away but I suggest should we fail to win any of the next two against p*ss poor Blackburn & mighty Burton something will have to give and I believe it will. My defence of MM is wearing thin by the week and in truth a lot of the time he only has himself to blame, get a few players back, go with two strikers and play a formation that suits what we have, that is a damn good starting point which may just ease some of the pressure, failure to do so and our precarious position could well get worse.

Bart (5) Emmanuel (6) Chambers (5) Berra (6) Knudsen (4) Douglas (6) Skuse (5) Ward (5) Bru (4) Lawrence (6) Best (6)

SUBS :- Bishop (7) Varney (5) Sears (5)

WE don't insist on playing it Mike, MM does. The same way he insists on playing players out of position.
You and I have had many conversations about MM, and you know that I have always had the same opinion of him since day 1 - he's out of touch with the modern game, one-dimensional, and naturally negative. Yes he did wonders getting us out of trouble when he came here but we should have moved forwards from then - we did to a certain extent but over the last 18 months or so have been slowly moving backwards again.

I was also slated on this board last season for suggesting that ME's only interest in the club was as a tax-saving exercise and I still stand by that - he is NOT interested in moving the club forward and he's happy to have MM as manager because he doesn't ask for funds.

I take no pleasure at all in the fact that more and more people are now sharing my opinion of MM, because the club is going through bad times and for me there is no sign at all of any change in the short term. I'm one of those that have voted with my feet - I wonder what the gates at Portman Road are likely to be in November.

[hallamblue]

Tbh I think if Evans is not willing to invest to the required level, nor sell, our only hope us that he us convicted of the ticket scam in Brazil and imprisoned and forced to sell. As it stands we appear well and truly fooled. In fact as a Club we have been since we went into Administration. We have never recovered .

[hallamblue]

Went to see local team play yesterday.Crusaders FC Belfast. Totally outplayed in first half. Cliftonville ran through our cumbersome defensive midfield. 3 nil down at half time with our arch rivals singing 'easy,easy'. Midfield subbed in second half with much more attacking options.Really got at them3-3 glint in to injury time. 4th goal with one minute of injury time remaining.Ran out 4-3 winners
Mick could learn a lot from Stephen Baxter!!

Think many Town fans would love to see a game like that again lol

[marko69]

It's an area of discussion where by it'll always attract a level of tension. For me, I cannot be arsed with Hibernian fans who vote with their feet. They don't realise that an "emptying" Easter Road has a massive effect on the players on the field. And it's not a case of ..... "Well if they want the fans back, they better player better football" ....., it just does not work like that. And then Neil Lennon is appointed and everyone is tripping over themselves to get their season tickets back, and sometimes pissed off because their usual area is sold out.

Not saying don't be discontented....... Stay behind AFTER the game and voice opinion towards the board, the manager etc etc....... But don't just walk away and expect things to change. It's f**king annoying.

[Bluemike]

Gary, to your credit you have always been anti Mm and stuck by what you believe where as I have always been prepared to give any new managar a chance. I still maintain MM is easily good enough to take us where we want to go, however he seems stuck in some kind of bloody time warp right now looking at the last Three games, every man and his dog can see we are struggling with the current formation etc and it has to change. People seem to knock MM for being loyal to his players, well some of them anyway, but I see it as a positive, you have to have some form of connection between manager and players, chopping and changing at will gets you no where, of course the flip side is you have to ride through the tough times when players are out of form, Sears being a classic example, MM chose to stick by him even in a unfamiliar role rather than drop him and I feel MM is now taking the flack for that type of decision, people will also go on and on about Two defensive Midfielders and whuile I can understand it I still maintain that is not our problem, with Two defensive Midfielders helping to ensure we are keepeing clean sheets there should still be Four other players on the pitch capable of creating chances which we are not doing, add to that Two attacking Full backs and you can afford the defensive midfielders.

As for Evans and the tax thing, I am not so sure there is anything in that at all, I would like a qualified accountant to put some light on the subject, I.E. what if any gains can he be making from such a set up, it is easy for any of us to say that he is using it as a tax loophole but in reality I still doubt that is the case, after all he sure as hell will not like his name getting all the negative press that it is around PR and beyond at the moment.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Gary, to your credit you have always been anti Mm and stuck by what you believe where as I have always been prepared to give any new managar a chance. I still maintain MM is easily good enough to take us where we want to go, however he seems stuck in some kind of bloody time warp right now looking at the last Three games, every man and his dog can see we are struggling with the current formation etc and it has to change. People seem to knock MM for being loyal to his players, well some of them anyway, but I see it as a positive, you have to have some form of connection between manager and players, chopping and changing at will gets you no where, of course the flip side is you have to ride through the tough times when players are out of form, Sears being a classic example, MM chose to stick by him even in a unfamiliar role rather than drop him and I feel MM is now taking the flack for that type of decision, people will also go on and on about Two defensive Midfielders and whuile I can understand it I still maintain that is not our problem, with Two defensive Midfielders helping to ensure we are keepeing clean sheets there should still be Four other players on the pitch capable of creating chances which we are not doing, add to that Two attacking Full backs and you can afford the defensive midfielders.

As for Evans and the tax thing, I am not so sure there is anything in that at all, I would like a qualified accountant to put some light on the subject, I.E. what if any gains can he be making from such a set up, it is easy for any of us to say that he is using it as a tax loophole but in reality I still doubt that is the case, after all he sure as hell will not like his name getting all the negative press that it is around PR and beyond at the moment.

Everybody sees things differently, of course, Mike. I would always argue that it was MM constantly playing Sears out of position that caused his form to drop in the first place. He (Sears) is now totally shot of all confidence, and I think that probably the best thing for him would be a move to another club under a manager that will play him as one half of a strike duo. We should not need 2 holding midfielders to be able to keep things tight - most teams we play either have 2 or 3 strikers so the back four plus one defensive midfielder ought to be ample. As far as the Skuse/Douglas thing is concerned, I think only one of them should be in the team and I would marginally go for Douglas - at least he tries to pass the ball forwards sometimes even if his passing is generally woeful: Skuse seems incapable of any attacking thought or action, sideways or backwards is the only way he can go and he reminds me of the awful England days of the 80's with Wilkins and Robson.

As for ME - well, my sister is a qualified accountant, and a bloody good one too, she actually works for Delloite Touche in the City. She has explained to me exactly why a successful business such as MarcusEvans will take an ailing business under it's control and there are very definite tax advantages for doing so. It is far too complex to go into here, but the next time I come to a game and the pub first I will explain it to you

[Bluemike]

Gary, to your credit you have always been anti Mm and stuck by what you believe where as I have always been prepared to give any new managar a chance. I still maintain MM is easily good enough to take us where we want to go, however he seems stuck in some kind of bloody time warp right now looking at the last Three games, every man and his dog can see we are struggling with the current formation etc and it has to change. People seem to knock MM for being loyal to his players, well some of them anyway, but I see it as a positive, you have to have some form of connection between manager and players, chopping and changing at will gets you no where, of course the flip side is you have to ride through the tough times when players are out of form, Sears being a classic example, MM chose to stick by him even in a unfamiliar role rather than drop him and I feel MM is now taking the flack for that type of decision, people will also go on and on about Two defensive Midfielders and whuile I can understand it I still maintain that is not our problem, with Two defensive Midfielders helping to ensure we are keepeing clean sheets there should still be Four other players on the pitch capable of creating chances which we are not doing, add to that Two attacking Full backs and you can afford the defensive midfielders.

As for Evans and the tax thing, I am not so sure there is anything in that at all, I would like a qualified accountant to put some light on the subject, I.E. what if any gains can he be making from such a set up, it is easy for any of us to say that he is using it as a tax loophole but in reality I still doubt that is the case, after all he sure as hell will not like his name getting all the negative press that it is around PR and beyond at the moment.

Everybody sees things differently, of course, Mike. I would always argue that it was MM constantly playing Sears out of position that caused his form to drop in the first place. He (Sears) is now totally shot of all confidence, and I think that probably the best thing for him would be a move to another club under a manager that will play him as one half of a strike duo. We should not need 2 holding midfielders to be able to keep things tight - most teams we play either have 2 or 3 strikers so the back four plus one defensive midfielder ought to be ample. As far as the Skuse/Douglas thing is concerned, I think only one of them should be in the team and I would marginally go for Douglas - at least he tries to pass the ball forwards sometimes even if his passing is generally woeful: Skuse seems incapable of any attacking thought or action, sideways or backwards is the only way he can go and he reminds me of the awful England days of the 80's with Wilkins and Robson.

As for ME - well, my sister is a qualified accountant, and a bloody good one too, she actually works for Delloite Touche in the City. She has explained to me exactly why a successful business such as MarcusEvans will take an ailing business under it's control and there are very definite tax advantages for doing so. It is far too complex to go into here, but the next time I come to a game and the pub first I will explain it to you

Haha, now that is interesting, see you at the Burton game then LOL.

[hallamblue]

Rossi you and me think the same. I've said for years that Evans is using our accounting losses to offset his profits made by his other companies.

And dont get me started on Sears! MM has ruined him frankly. I don't care what people say and we are crying out for Best : Sears combination right now. But McCarthy knows best doesn't he!!

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Haha, now that is interesting, see you at the Burton game then LOL.

well in spite of the evident crap being played, I am actually really missing going to games, so Burton - hey, you never know!!

[Bluemike]

Haha, now that is interesting, see you at the Burton game then LOL.

well in spite of the evident crap being played, I am actually really missing going to games, so Burton - hey, you never know!!

YES !!!! The drinks on me, get your arse down here.

[The Odious Mr Rossi]

Rossi you and me think the same. I've said for years that Evans is using our accounting losses to offset his profits made by his other companies.

And dont get me started on Sears! MM has ruined him frankly. I don't care what people say and we are crying out for Best : Sears combination right now. But McCarthy knows best doesn't he!!

short answer to this, Liz, is no he does not

[arana peligrosa]

On a rival page (no prizes) one of our fans is writing a letter to the club addressing the direct issues at the moment that are holding us back and restricting progress, but the general consensus amongst others is that's simply a futile effort that will never be read or summarized by anyone at the club be it McCarthy, Marcus Evans, or even team mascot.

At least someone's showing enough initiative to have a go and put their views across. As another user believe put it "whatever actions you undertake, be it protest, plane banner, or in writing, it won't make a blind bit of difference - only McCarthy and Evans together can realize the (harmful) effect of their own respective actions"

That was not verbatim, but a good enough duplication of what was said. Personally, if you don't try, you won't achieve anything. In all probability his letter won't be acknowledged but at least the attempt was there, whether others see ridicule in it or otherwise.

[marko69]

Fairly sure "Bluey" would read it, Saint. Don't tar him with all the millionaires.

[Andym]

It would take a more knowledgable person than me to begin to start to sort out what is wrong, but the blatantly obvious one is this f*****g formation that we insist on sticking with, it doesn't work, the players don't seem comfortable with it and in turn their performances are suffering. The lone striker, whoever it may be is so totally isolated and ploughing a totally lone furrow that he has no chance whatosever, Leon Best actually did ok again yesterday, winning high ball and turning his defender several times but where the hell was the support ? To be fair to Tom Lawrence he did ok as an individual performance but for the team I don't think he was linking up play with Best at all, as for Grant Ward, he again offered nothing and I have to say it but for me he is hiding, I can barely remember him getting into the bloody box or running at a defender, just trying to be safe isn't any good, in fact when I think abaout it, take away his hat-trick against barnsley and he has in truth been pretty useless, maybe it was a false dawn, or maybe it comes back to playing him as a wide man in a 4-4-2 to get the best out of him.

This was yet another game where we never looked like opening them up all afternoon and I knew very early on that we were not going to score, their goal was yet another individual error, something we had eradicated for a while but WTF Chambers and Bart were doing god only knows ! A simple call and a cushioned header back and that goal should never have happened, either way they f*cked it up. Our Two fullbacks had got forward well against Brighton but yesterday it was not so productive although again I felt the kid Emmanuel did ok and was one of the few to escape too much blame, Knudsen on the other hand was sh*te, invariably caught out of position and going forward had little impact, as for this p*ss poor long throws, just bloody forget them, they are a joke and I suggest I could defend the f**king things such are their predictability. Berra & Chambers stood up to a lot of what Huddersfield offered but I am not sure who lost the man to gift them a free header with which to score from.

Yesterday displayed exactly why I am not keen on Kevin Bru, for me he is one of if not the most inconsistent player ever to wear a Town shirt, decent on Tuesday, rubbish yesterday and this is what we get from him all the time, he is playing the role in the Midfield that needs things to be created but there was nothing, nor does he get himself into the box, that was left to Douglas to do again but he also struggled to offer too much support in that area. Skuse was way below his usual solid self too so all in all we had a Midfield that was just not functioning, they created nothing going forward, in fact it wasn't until Bishop came on that we saw anyone really try to make a run with the ball or a telling pass, yes he got it wrong sometimes but at least there was some energy and effort there. To sum it up Huddersfield didn't have to do anything to win the game and to be honest they are ordinary and will not be top Six, no way, but in Aaron Mooy they had a quality player who ran the show from start to finish and is a cut above anything we have at our club.

Obviously the calls for MM to go are gathering momentum and it becomes harder by the week to argue against it, I still feel up until the Villa game we had, by and large, done ok with some rough luck, however the last Three games have been very much a cause for concern and although we do have injuries it is no excuse for the players that do turn out to struggle so badly, they have no confidence or self belief anymore, even MM seems to be struggling for ideas. The boo's and chants of "what a load of rubbish" at the fional whistle are understandable but when the players are turned on when they come over to applaud the fans then you know you have big trouble and this was the case yesterday and it was not comfortable at all. I have seen it several times before and when it gets to this stage I have never seen a manager turn it around, MM may not be one for walking away but I suggest should we fail to win any of the next two against p*ss poor Blackburn & mighty Burton something will have to give and I believe it will. My defence of MM is wearing thin by the week and in truth a lot of the time he only has himself to blame, get a few players back, go with two strikers and play a formation that suits what we have, that is a damn good starting point which may just ease some of the pressure, failure to do so and our precarious position could well get worse.

Bart (5) Emmanuel (6) Chambers (5) Berra (6) Knudsen (4) Douglas (6) Skuse (5) Ward (5) Bru (4) Lawrence (6) Best (6)

SUBS :- Bishop (7) Varney (5) Sears (5)

I'd agree pretty much with bluemike's report. As I've said too many times before, performances mean more to me than results. I thought the Villa and Brighton games were reasonable performances if unexciting. but yesterday wasn't. It wasn't that we lost - we played very badly.

After about 15 minutes it was obvious we weren't going to perform at all, so I tried to watch the game objectively and pick up on what is wrong. What I saw actually surprised me a bit.

Let's start with the goal. Bluemike saw it the same as a report I read (not sure where) that the corner came form a mix up between Bart & Chambers. From where I was sitting, I couldn't see how Bart could have got there. I'll have to watch the highlights (that won't take long...) to se. But the goal came form poor defending at the corner. Like Bluemike, I don't know who didn't do his job, but let's not just blame it on conceding the corner. It should have been defended better.

I actually thought both fullbacks were poor. Emmanuel gave the ball away time after time....but see below.

The big difference between yesterday and the 2 previous home games was that, unlike Villa & Brighton, Huddersfield do not try to be a decent footballing side. instead they closed us down. And as always, when we are closed down we have no answers. Why? because we aren't skilful enough with our first touch. Because our vision isn't good enough. because our passing isn't accurate enough. but mostly because we don't move into space when in possession...but see below...

The first surprise to me was the midfield. I said that against Brighton they looked creative and out problem is playing 2 defensive midfielders. I've changed my mind. The problem is (as Bluemike said) that the front 3 midfielders just don't get in the box. They are lethargic and stand back. But also, we don't actually play 2 defensive midfielders. Much as it hurts to agree with Bluemike, Douglas got in the box more than any of the others. At 35 he probably covered more ground than any other Town player. Whether he is effective or not is another matter; if he can get back and get up, then the other buggers in midfield should be capable of putting themselves about a lot more. Lawrence was the best of the front 3 (Bru & Ward were very poor) but still doesn't get into dangerous positions. Varney came on much too late to make a difference.

This is the "See below" bit. I know I'm always critical of Skuse. My son says that if he was brilliant I'd still not notice it, and I agree we all have our favourites and those we don't like. But, having been critical of Bishop in the past, when he came on he showed exactly what I mean about Skuse. Bishop ran constantly, finding space. He demanded the ball. He passed backwards and sideways (unusually for him), rather than running into trouble. If Lawrence and Berra were possibly the only 2 who started who had decent games, Bishop showed what you can do by thinking about where to put yourself on a pitch and recognising that the running you do without the ball is more important than running with the ball.

[Frosty]

Bloody hell ................. hoofball ............. giving the ball away .......... boring ......... no concept of attacking football ........ lack of passing ........ directionless ..............

That's just the way my National side has played the game for 50 years!

[marko69]

Bloody hell ................. hoofball ............. giving the ball away .......... boring ......... no concept of attacking football ........ lack of passing ........ directionless ..............

That's just the way my National side has played the game for 50 years!

Ditto for my national side, but not quite the 50......., 30 for us......., we were fkn AWESOME before that!

[hallamblue]

Bloody hell ................. hoofball ............. giving the ball away .......... boring ......... no concept of attacking football ........ lack of passing ........ directionless ..............

That's just the way my National side has played the game for 50 years!

Ditto for my national side, but not quite the 50......., 30 for us......., we were fkn AWESOME before that!

You been on the Scottish Fire water again marko !!

[marko69]

Bloody hell ................. hoofball ............. giving the ball away .......... boring ......... no concept of attacking football ........ lack of passing ........ directionless ..............

That's just the way my National side has played the game for 50 years!

Ditto for my national side, but not quite the 50......., 30 for us......., we were fkn AWESOME before that!

You been on the Scottish Fire water again marko !!

NEVER, Hallam......., I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about!!