MATCHWATCH : Huddersfield Town (h)

[Sutekh]

Surprised Selles has stuck with the midfield, it was rather lacklustre.

Yes, Savage should be starting.

[Sutekh]

Very poor crowd, hardly surprising being on telly and potential disruption.

Any red card display is going to be highly invisible and comic with this attendance.

[windermereROYAL]

Poor first 10 minutes.

[bcubed]

Well that was underwhelming

[bcubed]

Followed by a goal to Huddersfield

[Sutekh]

Game over then.

[Hendo]

Good win without really playing well in long stretches.

Would've hooked Elliott at HT, but he grew into the game and capped it off with a goal.

Saw a few people on SM criticise Button for the goal, which is quite frankly - he made an amazing save, tipped it onto the bar and then his defenders rewarded him by playing statues and letting Huddersfield get to the ball first. That said, I thought the back 5 had pretty decent games overall, especially Button who should 100% play whilst JP is out.

Knibbs is so crucial to everything good that we do. Just drives the team forward and if he plays well, we play well.

Still think Wing is much less effective playing deep, but I guess it's more needs must right now.

[Elm Park Kid]

Game over then.

No need to turn off the entire site because of one goal!

[Snowflake Royal]

Well Huddersfield were majorly mediocre, and we did much better after we went behind, although Hudders didn’t exactly do a lot to make that hard.

I thought Button has played extremely well in his two games back, despite conceding 5 at Bolton, but that wasn't really his fault. My MotM on saturday.

Elliott took his goal really well, but he was giving the ball away far too much early on. I think he needs to develop more before starting regularly with other fit options.

Knibbs was also great, so good at stealing the ball and crucial to a high press.

Abrefa similarly struggled with closing his man, just like Dorsett, which makes me think its a Selles problem, and he's setting his fullbacks too narrow. He did play better though.

Midfield really needs Savage in it. Or Wing higher and Craig sitting maybe. But that would be less good for a high press.

Dim and Mick continue with their conspiracy theory that Selles hates Kelvin despite starting him every week.

Really good result in a scrappy game that keeps us midtable and pauses some of the despair for a while. Really need to find or pick a LB so Abrefa can get on the right side and we can stop making do with Craig out of position.

Campbell is looking decent.

[Snowflake Royal]

Good win without really playing well in long stretches.

Would've hooked Elliott at HT, but he grew into the game and capped it off with a goal.

Saw a few people on SM criticise Button for the goal, which is quite frankly - he made an amazing save, tipped it onto the bar and then his defenders rewarded him by playing statues and letting Huddersfield get to the ball first. That said, I thought the back 5 had pretty decent games overall, especially Button who should 100% play whilst JP is out.

Knibbs is so crucial to everything good that we do. Just drives the team forward and if he plays well, we play well.

Still think Wing is much less effective playing deep, but I guess it's more needs must right now.

That'll probably be Dim and Mick saying he should have done better and just palmed it into danger, because they've got terrible eyesight and will never ever correct anything they get wrong.

Completely agree with your view of the goal. He did brilliantly to tip it onto the bar. And he wouldn’t have needed to make a save if Elliott hadn't made a moronic challenge to give away the freekick. Nice of the defence to just stop and watch as four Udders players ran in to tuck it away.

[Orion1871]

Good win without really playing well in long stretches.

Would've hooked Elliott at HT, but he grew into the game and capped it off with a goal.

Saw a few people on SM criticise Button for the goal, which is quite frankly - he made an amazing save, tipped it onto the bar and then his defenders rewarded him by playing statues and letting Huddersfield get to the ball first. That said, I thought the back 5 had pretty decent games overall, especially Button who should 100% play whilst JP is out.

Knibbs is so crucial to everything good that we do. Just drives the team forward and if he plays well, we play well.

Still think Wing is much less effective playing deep, but I guess it's more needs must right now.

Sat right behind the goal and said to one of the people who sit next to me as it was being lined up that I thought Button had left too much space to aim at for the free kick. A step further to the left, even half a step, and I think he'd have tipped it over the bar instead of onto it.

That said the defenders definitely didn't react well and have to take most of the blame.

[Hendo]

Campbell is looking decent.

Think he was one of the weakest of the team on Sat.

[Snowflake Royal]

Campbell is looking decent.

Think he was one of the weakest of the team on Sat.

I'm mindful of giving him time. He's not really delivered any end product yet, but he does often seem to put a shift in and be involved.

Now you mention it I'm not sure how much he helped Craig out.

He feels a more mature footballer than Akande, but maybe less impactful. I at least feel he's not unjustifiably blocking anyone's progress, which is a positive compared to many of our loanees previously.

[leon]

Campbell is looking decent.

Think he was one of the weakest of the team on Sat.

not been massively impressed so far I'm afraid. He was too far away from Craig in possession and no where when out of. There's an enormous hole in midfield between the defence and the front 3 that means we just give possession away with long clearances. That's where Wing should be but he's playing (not effectively) as a sweeper. We need to move Craig into shielding the defence and Wing into a more creative role in MF. But who plays RB? Dean?

[Hendo]

Campbell is looking decent.

Think he was one of the weakest of the team on Sat.

not been massively impressed so far I'm afraid. He was too far away from Craig in possession and no where when out of. There's an enormous hole in midfield between the defence and the front 3 that means we just give possession away with long clearances. That's where Wing should be but he's playing (not effectively) as a sweeper. We need to move Craig into shielding the defence and Wing into a more creative role in MF. But who plays RB? Dean?

Would agree with this, but I think with the injuries we have right now it's a needs must.

I'd rather keep it as it is for now, than play Dean at RB - thought he looked on the weighty side when he came on at the weekend.

[Snowflake Royal]

Campbell is looking decent.

Think he was one of the weakest of the team on Sat.

not been massively impressed so far I'm afraid. He was too far away from Craig in possession and no where when out of. There's an enormous hole in midfield between the defence and the front 3 that means we just give possession away with long clearances. That's where Wing should be but he's playing (not effectively) as a sweeper. We need to move Craig into shielding the defence and Wing into a more creative role in MF. But who plays RB? Dean?

Also noticed the front 3/4 all push high leaving a gaping midfield void as we try to pass out from the back.

We need some to push high and some to drop deep and then switch to try to create space and break the defensive line.

Agree Wing isn't in the right position, but I'm not sure he fits our style higher up. What would your midfield be?

Craig
Wing, Knibbs
?

Not sure Wing has the legs for the high press.

Few options to cover RB.

Abrefa - Garcia or Osho LB
Bindon - Dean CB
Mbengue - Dean CB
Rushesha

None great options. I'd choose the first one.

[Hound]

Belated comments:

I didn’t think we played very well tbh, but a superb result in the circumstances

Crowd felt quite subdued, still seem to be quite affected by the takeover disaster which is understandable

I thought Huddersfield looked a good side but lacking a bit of urgency in the final third. I imagine they’d be extremely frustrated to lose the game

Selles continues to do very well with what he has available. Agree Elliott had a poor game bar the goal, whilst I thought Savage was excellent when he came on. I’d swap those two for the time being. Craig is doing well at RB. LB is an issue, but I’d give Abrefa a few more games there.

Mbengue was very good, Bindon also. Knibbs arguably our most impt player. Kelvin E was quality, looked our biggest threat by a mile. Smith and Campbell worked hard but didn’t offer too much

Didn’t come away feeling particularly enthused. It’s great to see the lads work so hard and earn the result but I’m very concerned about losing players due to injuries/Pang. We’re really stretched thin

[WestYorksRoyal]

Elliott and Ehibhatiomhan are stepping up this season, but at the same time it feels like Wing and Smith are not hitting levels they're capable of. Hopefully there's more to come from both. Tbf, teams are often man marking Wing out of the game, which creates space for others like Elliott.

[Clyde1998]

It wasn't the greatest performance from us, but we managed to get the win. This is especially important as we only won two games after conceding first last season (out of twenty-six) - Bolton and Blackpool at home - and none of the four this season. Hopefully will give the players confidence we can get back into games once we've gone 1-0 down.

Sat right behim the goal and said to one of the people who sit next to me as it was being lined up that I thought Button had left too much space to aim at for the free kick. A step further to the left, even half a step, and I think he'd have tipped it over the bar instead of onto it.

That said the defenders definitely didn't react well and have to take most of the blame.

I also said to the people next to me before the free-kick was taken that Button looked too far to his right - leaving too much space for them to aim at. I understand the wall is supposed to cover that side of the goal, but Button seems to be leaving himself a bit too much in the event the ball gets past the wall (as it did here). Perhaps he used to be able to cover that distance, but can't anymore due to his age?

Completely agree with the point about following in, they had three of four players anticipating a rebound compared to our zero. That was a much bigger issue when it comes to that goal.

not been massively impressed so far I'm afraid. He was too far away from Craig in possession and no where when out of. There's an enormous hole in midfield between the defence and the front 3 that means we just give possession away with long clearances. That's where Wing should be but he's playing (not effectively) as a sweeper. We need to move Craig into shielding the defence and Wing into a more creative role in MF. But who plays RB? Dean?

Agree with this. Ideally, I'd have a similar shape in midfield to how we finished last season:

RB - CB - CB - LB
Craig - Wing
Campbell - Knibbs - Ehib

I think that would allow Wing the licence to get further up the pitch, into areas where he'll be more effective; would get Knibbs closer to Smith and allow Craig to cover defensively in midfield.

The problem at the moment is obviously the full-back positions, where Craig is needed at right-back and Abrefa is currently needed at left-back. The only potential alternative I can think of, which I wouldn't want to see unless absolutely required, would be moving Mbengue to full-back and having Dean at centre-back.

[leon]

It wasn't the greatest performance from us, but we managed to get the win. This is especially important as we only won two games after conceding first last season (out of twenty-six) - Bolton and Blackpool at home - and none of the four this season. Hopefully will give the players confidence we can get back into games once we've gone 1-0 down.

Sat right behim the goal and said to one of the people who sit next to me as it was being lined up that I thought Button had left too much space to aim at for the free kick. A step further to the left, even half a step, and I think he'd have tipped it over the bar instead of onto it.

That said the defenders definitely didn't react well and have to take most of the blame.

I also said to the people next to me before the free-kick was taken that Button looked too far to his right - leaving too much space for them to aim at. I understand the wall is supposed to cover that side of the goal, but Button seems to be leaving himself a bit too much in the event the ball gets past the wall (as it did here). Perhaps he used to be able to cover that distance, but can't anymore due to his age?

Completely agree with the point about following in, they had three of four players anticipating a rebound compared to our zero. That was a much bigger issue when it comes to that goal.

not been massively impressed so far I'm afraid. He was too far away from Craig in possession and no where when out of. There's an enormous hole in midfield between the defence and the front 3 that means we just give possession away with long clearances. That's where Wing should be but he's playing (not effectively) as a sweeper. We need to move Craig into shielding the defence and Wing into a more creative role in MF. But who plays RB? Dean?

Agree with this. Ideally, I'd have a similar shape in midfield to how we finished last season:

RB - CB - CB - LB
Craig - Wing
Campbell - Knibbs - Ehib

I think that would allow Wing the licence to get further up the pitch, into areas where he'll be more effective; would get Knibbs closer to Smith and allow Craig to cover defensively in midfield.

The problem at the moment is obviously the full-back positions, where Craig is needed at right-back and Abrefa is currently needed at left-back. The only potential alternative I can think of, which I wouldn't want to see unless absolutely required, would be moving Mbengue to full-back and having Dean at centre-back.

this crossed my mind but that implications of Dean at CB was too much to consider. Especially as Bindon/Mbengue I think is a very strong pairing.