Huddersfield Town: August 2010

Hello everyone and welcome back to my next update.

The new season was finally underway and our first game was at home to Watford. The visitors came right at us from the opening whistle and we found it vey difficult indeed to break into their half and eventually succumbed to their pressure off a free kick which bounced awkwardly in front of Krystian Pearce and Jutkiewicz pounced on it to give Watford the lead. The second half was much better for us and we started to show some promise and got the equalizer through Michael Collins who hit a screamer from just outside the box from a cleared corner. Both Robinson and Pilkington had decent chances and recently signed New Zealand forward Mike McGlinchey missed a golden opportunity to grab the winner two minutes from time.

Following the game I discovered that Alex Smithies, my starting goalkeeper had been sold to Bochum for £1.2 million. I have to quickly find a new quality keeper as Elliot Parrish is really only a back up and not regular first team quality.

Our next game was an away tie in the first round of the League Cup, a competition I’ve done poorly in and usually get knocked out immediately. I started some of the fringe players and was rewarded inside two minutes when Andy Nowlan’s corner created havoc in the box and resulted in an own goal. Nowlans pace down the left flank set up the second eight minutes later when his low driving cross found the foot of Moguena who placed the ball in the corner of the net. Nowlan would get on the score sheet himself being first to react to a blocked shot from Moguena which he fired spectacularly into the roof of the net. The fourth came just before the half hour through Sekour who met a cleared ball on the half volley and scored in similar style to that of Nowlan. The second half we controlled easily although it was less entertaining and Chesterfield did mange a consolation goal late in the game. However, I was absolutely delighted with this result.

It was back to the league then and an away game to Hartlepool. It turned out to be a frustrating afternoon with the lads dominating the play, creating lots of chances but only managing to score one goal that being through Robbie Williams who buried a free kick from 25 yards out ten minutes from time. Theo Robinson was clearly off his game and should have scored at least a hat-trick and his partner Neilsen was sending more of shots wide of the goal than on target. I hope this situation improves quickly.

Next up was the visit of Stockport and again the game played out the same as the previous one so there’s nothing new to report about other than we didn’t score. The picture tells the story quite well in this case. I’m not sure whether to ‘panic buy” or just ride out the storm and see if the strikers regain their form

Our next game was a road trip to Bury who were in 23^rd place at the start of the day. I made some changes up front bringing in youngster Anthony Moguena and Robbie Simpson to spearhead the attack. It wasn’t long before the Moguena scored his first senior goal, creating space for himself in the box and latching on to a probing ball by midfielder Michael Collins. After the interval Moguena found himself in the right place again as Pilkington’s cross from the right was poorly dealt with for an easy tap in. His hat-trick was completed just after the hour as Simpson caught Bury on the counter attack and his low driven cross from the left was smashed into the net to make it 3-0. Before being substituted Mogeuna hit the bar but nonetheless had a stunning game and received a 9.5 rating.

The following game was our biggest for some time as we were facing Everton at home in the second round of the League Cup. In front of a good crowd at The Gaplharm Stadium Everton totally dominated proceedings restricting us to only two shots the entire game and pretty much breaking anything down in midfield. We did however give a good account of ourselves winning 84% of the tackles but on the other hand allowed the visitors plenty of attempts on goal but managed to keep the score line very respectable indeed.

We stayed at home for our next game which was against Charlton who were firm favorites to take all three points. We didn’t however hold back putting Charlton under pressure early on and after a series of corners defender Kyle Bartley tucked away the opening goal after a hectic goalmouth scramble. Youngster Anthony Moguena again made a massive contribution and was rewarded for his hard work with a goal just before half time when new signing Charlie Austin from Swindon neatly placed the ball into his path and he showed no hesitation in hitting the ball into the back of the net. Charlton were much stronger in the second half and for the most part my central pairing of Pearce and Bartley coped admirably but eventually our offside trap was beaten and the visitors managed to pull one back but it was not enough and we gained all three points.

The last game of what seemed to be a never ending month was at home to Lincoln in the first round of the JPT which we got to the final of last season. From the opening kick off we set up camp in the Lincoln half creating chance after chance but the ball was determined not to go into the net for us and we hit the woodwork no fewer than three times and both Robinson and Simpson had attempts that hit the side netting. By half time we should have been five-nil up. Lincoln though gained confidence after the interval through our misfortune and they took the lead after we played around with the ball too much in midfield. With ten minutes remaining we plied on the pressure once more and we finally got the equalizer from a well driven ball by Michael Collins from 20 yards out. The game however went to penalty kicks but we kept our nerve and won the shoot out.

Results at a glance

Current League Table

Transfer activity as of the end of August 2010

By the end of August I had managed to finally clear out all the trouble makers from last season though I was sorry to lose Sandrinho but couldn’t take a chance again at disharmony creeping back into the dressing room.

So as not to bore you I’ll just highlight a couple of players for your review and consideration which is firstly John Dunleavey who will actually go straight into the reserves and Charlie Austin whom I’ve already mentioned briefly.

By then end of the first month of the new season I’m quite happy with what has been accomplished as we are in fourth place in the table, my highest position so far and removed all the players that I needed to as well as not spending too much money on replacements.

Here’s next months fixtures which features a difficult away game to Southampton.

Thanks for reading.