Month: January 2025

It is always surprising how quickly a very good unbeaten run becomes an extremely worrying slump, and as Huddersfield Town’s form has dropped off a cliff, even the modest ambition of a play off place is no longer as secure as previously assumed.

Automatic promotion is, sadly, a mere pipe dream now, as two poor defeats in a row on home soil rather emphatically expose this squad, and arguably the manager, as simply not equipped to challenge at the very top of this distinctly average league.

Birmingham’s slender victory was entirely comfortable for the league leaders, even if it did take an excellent strike to break what we can laughably describe as a deadlock.

Town’s work rate, particularly in the first half, was commendable to a point (Jonathan Hogg revelled in the encounter but this should not be seen as a positive) as they strained every sinew to maintain very limited control and were far too often troubled by pace and the superior technical ability of their opponents.

There is no doubt that the visitors’ squad has been expensively assembled and their record suggests that there will be a gulf between them and second place by the end of the season, but the game starkly underlined the fact that Town will not be the ones staring upwards towards them.

Once again, Duff’s selections caused some head scratching, with Evans and Kane combined with the willing but limited Hogg. 

Hodge had done enough in a brief cameo on Saturday to suggest he could add some desperately needed forward momentum in the absence of the sorely missed Kasumu, but he was left on the bench for too long as Evans and Kane failed to ignite the wing backs so crucial to Duff’s rather one dimensional tactical plan.

At least Roosken and Sorensen are bona fide wing backs, and the former contributed some nice touches in his hour on the pitch, though the ex-Lincoln man failed to deliver  much, again, and his defensive frailties are of concern, as they were before his injury.

At the sharp end of the pitch, Town carried little to no threat throughout. With Taylor sidelined, unbelievably yet predictably, with a hamstring injury, the hard working Marshall came in to partner Charles and, if anything, the front two lost height as a result.

Only once did the pair see sight of the goal as a nice move down the left saw Roosken find Charles in the area, but the former Bolton man could only head tamely at the keeper. 

This represented the only slightly significant threat to the visitors’ goal all evening, unless Marshall entirely miscueing an attempted shot in a good position counts? In tight games, such errors are glaring and the lack of technique very costly. 

Charles’s chance came early in the game as Town started more brightly than in the depressing defeat on Saturday, but the first 7 or 8 minutes were as good as it got and Birmingham suppressed all of Town’s attempts to gain momentum from then on in.

As unsatisfying as the first half was, there was a resilience about the hosts in the face of clearly superior opponents though they had one or two scares down the right as some excellent distribution by Allsop twice caught Spencer out as he was left chasing  down Laird, bringing him down on one occasion and not getting near him on the other. Fortunately, nothing came of either the free kick or his inaccurate cross.

Following the Charles header and the two breaks by Laird, neither keeper was troubled and a drab spectacle was rarely lifted from its torpor. Birmingham failed to translate their superior technical ability into genuine threat and Town found little rhythm in and amongst some rushed, panicky defensive work.

Early in the second half, a high quality strike by Anderson which dipped viciously with Chapman flailing, settled the match. It was more than the game deserved, in truth, and the absence of quite basic closing down contributed to the winner, as did some lack of concentration at a throw which gifted easy possession in the lead up.

Nevertheless, it was a high quality strike.

Town looked a little more dynamic following the introduction of Hodge, replacing the ineffective Kane, but it was a low bar and marginal. Koroma, Healey and Radulovic offered little change from the bench and an equaliser never looked likely at any point.

The final stages of the game were marred by a bad looking tackle by Hogg on Iwata, which saw Town’s veteran captain, rather generously, booked and the Japanese carried off, followed by a nasty elbow by Dykes on Lees which also garnered a yellow, rather than red, card.

Lees’ concussion allowed Town an additional substitute and Balker came on to provide a little more thrust from the back, despite being caught in possession at one point, and his availability and fitness will be crucial in the challenging weeks ahead as he adds some quality to a team otherwise largely bereft.

Duff can, justifiably, point to the ridiculous, possibly unprecedented, injury record of his squad – Taylor became the 26th player sidelined – which undoubtedly impacts consistency, but his midfield trio simply didn’t work, yet again, and the total lack of penetration is seriously worrying, particularly at home where a thin crowd is became increasingly impatient at yet another home failure.

That tension was never more evident than when Pearson, rather unwisely, felt it necessary to shush some Kilner Bank critics of a back pass to Chapman. To be fair to him, the run of the ball possibly forced him in to the defensive option, but he really should know better than to react to a crowd who, lest we forget, have had to endure a long recent history of failure and were understandably frustrated at his hopeless punts forward.

The defeat feels pivotal, especially when combined with Saturday’s debacle, and unless there is a quick and convincing upturn in form and results, we could be bemoaning a drift out of the play off places in the not too distant future, particularly with the form of Orient and the resurgence of Bolton.

There is, of course, plenty of time left, yet it is more than a nagging doubt that the club could miss out on the play offs – since Cambridge away, performances have palpably declined with even the one win being far from convincing.

It is hard not to feel for Kevin Nagle, who has had to witness back to back disappointments and is getting scant reward for his commitment. To have to hear that his big January signing has suffered an injury likely to keep him out for a month at best was especially cruel on the owner.

Regrettably, he will need to learn that this club doesn’t do anything the easy way, but play offs, if we get there, are fun, right?

Town’s unbeaten run, which has been tottering for a while despite a couple of important wins at Wycombe and against Stockport, was ended by a committed Bolton side who bullied their hosts and fully deserved the 3 points.

In theory, Town’s tilt at the automatic promotion places should have been enhanced, if not guaranteed, by the addition of 2 strikers to finish off all the chances we make. In practice, the two had to feed on scraps, mostly with their backs to goal and the arrival from yesterday’s opponent seemed to be trying a little too hard against his erstwhile employer.

Bolton looked the most likely team throughout. They played with aggression, pace and desire as if freed from the strictures of their previous manager just days ago, while Town seemed inhibited by the favoured formation and tactics of their current manager.

In the absence of effective wing backs, Town were repeatedly sucked into relying on Tom Lees bringing the ball forward ponderously before making entirely predictable passes to standing targets which stultified any semblance of momentum and this self imposed handicap persisted throughout.

His back 3 colleague, Balker, tried to do things differently and was the only bright spot of a very disappointing early afternoon while Pearson’s attempts at longer balls were invariably terrible.

Lees and Pearson’s fellow stalwart, Hogg, didn’t play badly but was another brake on progressive football and really should not be in the starting 11 while Hodge, who actually added some dynamism, was available.

It was encouraging to have Sorensen back for half an hour, but nearly every pass to him was inaccurate and hampered his ability to take on Bolton’s left back and the dangerous balls in we saw earlier in the season failed to materialise.

All the best chances in the game fell to the visitors and Town only avoided a greater margin of defeat late on by a good save in a one on one and a glancing header which went narrowly wide.

For Town, Pearson should perhaps have done better in the first half when a set piece finally found a home head but he met it too early and it skewed well wide.

Bolton set out their stall in the first 10 minutes and saw a penalty appeal turned away in favour of a free kick for a push on Balker and forced Chapman into a spectacular save from a header despite the striker being offside, which the Aussie wasn’t to know.

Chapman had a more routine save to make from a shot hit straight at him a little later while the visitors also looked to expose Town’s lack of defensive pace between Lees and Pearson with Adebouya shooting narrowly wide as Balker came across to help out.

Town had little in response and Duff was visibly frustrated on the touchline at his charges.

Rather than make half time changes to try to resolve Town’s lack of threat, none were made with the predictable result of nothing changing, other than the scoreline when Bolton capitalised on some ineffective defensive work with a scrappy goal they deserved.

Substitutions were finally made with Sorensen being greeted by a Bolton player crashing in to him at an aerial challenge with both players booked as the home player understandably reacted.

Hodge provided some forward momentum at times and Marshall was more effective than the very subdued Taylor who he replaced and actually had two shots, one which drifted narrowly if harmlessly wide and one which at last forced a good save.

It was too little, too late, however and the visitors comfortably saw out the home pressure which wasn’t either particularly intense or threatening – indeed, Bolton should have wrapped things up during this period.

Perhaps the epitome of the difference between the two sides on the day was highlighted when Bolton’s Johnson flew in to Pearson on the touchline, got booked and then celebrated his challenge with a fist pump to the travelling support who had loudly backed their team throughout.

It was probably a bad time to play Bolton, but then our previous encounter had been a very good time to play them, and there simply wasn’t enough energy or cohesion in the side to subdue them.

The bench Duff named was easily the strongest of the season, which offers some hope, it is a shame he didn’t use it effectively enough.

A reasonably entertaining Yorkshire derby produced no goals but several problems for Town as double Dutch trouble further weakened an injury ravaged squad.

The welcome returns of Hodge, Evans and Hogg provides Duff with better midfield options, but the loss of his most influential player of the season in Kasumu coupled with Lonwijk suffering a hamstring injury in the opening minutes and new signing Roosken, brought in to fill the long term Miller absence, seeing red and accruing a likely 3 match suspension, adds unwelcome disruption, yet again.

It all added up to a disappointing afternoon for the Terriers, who failed to convert a sustained period of dominance in the second half of the first half into a lead. 

Overall, the performance was no better nor worse than the one which brought 3 points against Stockport, and despite their lowly position, the South Yorkshire opponents were a little superior.

With Hodge deputising for Kasumu and Radulovic in the starting line up, Town were already having to adjust to new personnel when Lonwijk pulled up after just 2 minutes and was replaced by Turton, necessitating a change in shape.

An opening 25 minutes with little incident quickly confirmed that the game was going to be far from easy for the hosts, but once they settled and gained ascendancy, they failed to take advantage of some excellent opportunities.

To his credit, Radulovic played a big part in the creation of opportunities with some deft link up play and significantly more physicality than previously evident. It seems unlikely that the Serbian will recover from his early form in the eyes of the supporters, and his potency in front of goal remains tepid at best, but he played a full part in this game and couldn’t be faulted for effort.

A couple of routine saves by Phillips from Koroma and Marshall after decent build up play by the Terriers signalled the start of what could have been a pivotal period, but they failed to turn the pressure in to a lead.

Wiles wasted a good free kick position, awarded after Marshall was clattered following a good link up with Radulovic, firing over. A volleyed Kane effort shortly beforehand had been closer and well executed, but the best chance came soon after.

A quick clearance from Chapman was laid off by Radulovic, despite being fouled, into the path of Wiles, who played Marshall in for a good effort on goal which Phillips pushed out for a corner.

From that corner, Helik saw his header cleared off the line and a scoreless first half ended with some regret for the home side who deserved to be in front.

Sadly, the second half descended in to a rather dour battle, with the visitors looking the more likely to prevail for long periods but, in similar fashion to their hosts in the first half, they failed to capitalise on their best spell of the game with a Chapman stop from close range to thwart Wilks followed by a slightly overhit cross just failing to find Powell at the back post.

Town’s big chance came midway through the half when Wiles out jumped an opponent to set Radulovic free. The Serb made exactly the right decision to pick out the unmarked Koroma in the box but instead of hitting the ball first time, which would have neutralised the keeper rushing out towards him, he took a touch and was unable to force the ball past recovering defenders on the line.

It was another moment that could have turned a disappointing draw in to more pressure on the 3 above them, but with 10 minutes to go, a poor but not malicious challenge by debutant  Roosken, who had been on the pitch for 7 minutes, was punished by a red card which seemed harsh at the time but not upon reflection.

To Town’s credit it was they rather than their numerically advantaged opponents who nearly won the game at the death.

With probably the stand out moment of the game, the incredibly hard working Marshall simultaneously prevented a Rotherham break and created an excellent opportunity with a beautifully executed challenge which cleverly anticipated his opponent’s touch.

Breaking forward, the West Ham loanee curled a superb ball in to the box but neither Radulovic at the front post nor Helik further back could convert and a just reward for Marshall’s endeavour was spurned.

A less than convincing performance, which nevertheless contained very presentable chances, followed a similar pattern to other home displays in the current unbeaten run. 

The lack of natural goalscoring instinct is always going to blight Duff’s charges and until that is addressed, which doesn’t seem very likely in the notoriously difficult January market, Town will not be able to mount a viable challenge for a top 2 place. Indeed, it is to Duff’s considerable credit that the possibility even remains given the lack of fire power and a revolving door of injuries to key players.

There were some positives to the game. The players have shown they can adapt to adversity recently and they were tested again with both an early and late change to well laid plans and they dealt with the double Dutch problems quite seamlessly.

Long term absentee Evans made a good impression on his return as a second half substitute and while Hodge looked a little rusty, he had good enough moments to suggest he can grow into form.

A very different, sterner test faces the team at Wycombe, with the unbeaten record at considerable risk, but it is a challenge a team with automatic promotion ambitions should relish.