Huddersfield Town: August 2011

Hello my friends and welcome back to my Huddersfield report after taking a few days off to re-charge my FM batteries!

The first game of the new season was upon us with Blackpool visiting The Galpharm Stadium. In front of a capacity crowd we got off to an exciting start as Garrido’s cross found the head of Sigborsson whose effort hit the bar and seemingly trickled along the line before being cleared. Blackpool came close themselves but Elliot Parrish pulled off a couple of good saves and by halftime the match was scoreless. That soon changed after the interval with Goodwin playing a through ball to Borja and his delicate lay off found Sigborsson and it was 1-0. We kept the pressure on Blackpool and added a second when they failed to clear their lines from a corner and Goodwins chip back in the box found Emmanuel-Thomas who scrambled the ball into the net. Seven minutes later Borja picked up a loose ball in midfield and out ran everyone before burying home our third of the game. Blackpool did pull one back with a stunning 30 yard free kick but we remained strong and took all three points.

The next game was a home tie against Lincoln in the first round of The League Cup. I fielded a slightly weaker team than what played Blackpool due to the opposition. I should have known better as my League Cup jinx struck yet again and we crashed out in the first round to a Lincoln side who showed a lot more guts and determination than us.

The following game was a trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley. After a promising opening twenty minutes we took the lead as the Spanish due of Estrada and Borja teamed up well down the right and it was Borja’s intelligent pass that found Sigborsson in space for the opening goal. Burnley though kept us on the back foot for the remainder of the game and we hardly got a look at their end of the field. The home side found their equalizer eight minutes from time due to poor marking from a corner kick. Still we picked up a point and I’m happy with that.

We stayed at home for our next game against Colchester and got off to a flying start as from the kick off a string of passes ended up finding Sigborsson who placed the ball into the back of the net. We were ahead inside a minute. Colchester though quickly equalized from a corner with their first attack of the game. As the match progressed it was becoming evident that there was a problem with my back line except for Garrido and Colchester exploited this and took the lead just before half time. Semedo (DC) was substituted at half time for Krystian Pearce and things looked a little more solid. However, we couldn’t find a way back into the game and so suffered our first league defeat of the season.

Next up was a trip to Wigan our former parent club. Within the first minute Borja was hauled down in the box but Sigborsson missed horribly from the spot which would affect his perfromance and so he was substituted later in the match. Moments after Sigborsson miss Estrada also missed an open goal from six yards and therefore would set tone for the rest of the game. Wigan had some great opportunities themselves and only the woodwork prevented them from getting on the score sheet. New Icelandic signing Aron Gunnarsson (MC) came on in the second half and looked very lively and Semedo who I pushed up into the DMC spot also looked comfortable. So although we only got a point there were some other positives to take from the game.

Our final game of the month was at home to Plymouth and it was the visitors who took the lead inside six minutes when a goalmouth scramble fell nicely for Plymouth striker Noone to tap home for the lead. We were back on level terms three minutes later when Estrada and Borja linked up well and Borja’s telling pass found Sigborsson who unleashed a rocket of a shot into the top right hand corner of the net. Sigborsson was instrumental in our second just before half time when he pulled up on his breakaway run and squared the ball to his fellow Icelander Gunnarsson who placed the ball neatly passed the Plymouth keeper. We should have added two more goals in the second half but Gohouri had two headers cleared off the line which was disappointing. However, it was a good victory and nice to end the month on a winning note.

Here then are the complete transfer activities as of the end of the summer transfer window. I didn’t really intend to bring in so many new faces so I hope squad harmony is not affected again.

Here’s one though I couldn’t resist when browsing the Iceland national team page and he was free too!

These other two were recommended by my Assistant Manager Terry McDermott.

Here’s the current league table

Next month fixtures

That’s a little bit more difficult as we face league leaders Birmingham and Southampton who we beat in the JPT Final last season.

By the way there’s a few international vacancies on the horizon so I’ve applied for the France post but most likely will be rejected. The other possibilites are Holland and Colombia

Take care and thanks for reading.