Huddersfield Town: October 2010

Hello my friends and greetings from Canada.

Well the beginning of the new month started of kind off strangely as I was offered two jobs in quick succession from QPR and Ipswich. Of course declined but as I’m not that great a manager I thought it was a bit weird.

The first game of the month was away to Bristol Rovers and for the most part was a dull affair except for the only goal of the game which was a cracking effort on the volley by Charlie Austin from just outside the box. Rovers were unlucky not to get a point having hit the woodwork twice and we had to keep everyone back for the last few minutes of the game when Bartley was sent off for a professional foul. For some reason we are not dominating as much as we did last season and I’m not sure why?

Next up was a JPT match away to Stockport that was played out in the pouring rain making conditions difficult for both sides. After a dour first half I decided to switch the style of my passing game to a more direct approach and that paid off when we were awarded with a penalty that Andy Nowlan duly converted. Anthony Moguena who had returned from injury was struggling a little up front and his replacement Robinson found that extra space that Moguena couldn’t and fired home the second of the game and take us through to the next round.

We were back at The Galpharm Stadium for our next encounter which was against Swindon who found themselves lying in the lower half of the table. Ironically it was former Swindon striker Charlie Austin who got of us off the mark with a thunderous strike from outside the box after 15 minutes. Rhodes then added a second heading in off a Gasmi cross 5 minutes later and had been instrumental in supplying Austin’s goal as well. We didn’t have to wait long for a third with Pilkington making a delightful run into the box which he finished off himself without much resistance from the Swindon defence. Swindon managed to pull one back beating the offside trap but they were never able to build on it. After the break we found ourselves down to 10 men when Jim Goodwin was sent off but a switch to a more conservative strategy still produced a 4^th goal when Collins headed in from a Gasmi cross as well. We controlled the game to the very end and secured all three points.

Next up was a trip to Southend. I hate going to Southend as luck is always on their side and today would be no different. It was a very even contest and we took the lead just on the half hour through Jordan Rhodes only for the home side to equalize almost immediately. We then had two goals disallowed with at least one which was clearly onside and so from being possibly 3-1 up we conceded a goal from the inevitable Southend long shot to end the game losing by 2-1. Am I annoyed…YES!!

The following game was at home against fellow promotion candidates Walsall who were behind us in 4^th place. Charlie Austin gave us the lead picking up a lovely through ball by Gasmi into the box which he neatly placed into the corner of the net. Rhodes and Austin would have more chances in front of goal but were unable to find that killer touch. On one of their few attacks Walsall picked up the equalizer from a long range effort three minutes before the interval. The second half played out much the same as the first with us dominating the play but Randolph in the Walsall goal was having an absolute blinder and so we had to settle for a draw but really should have scored at least four or five.

The last game of the month was away to Wycombe who are currently a mid-table team so I felt we could get three points from this match. Wycombe however proved to be a lot stronger opponent than anticipated and kept our chances on goal few and far between. It was Rhodes again though who gave us the lead after half time after Gasmi and Sekour and linked up well with Sekour placing the ball right to Rhodes’s feet who unleashed a first time strike into the net. We kept on searching for that elusive second goal but then Wycombe caught us in the break right at the end to get the equalizer. The last three games have been disappointing and we’ve dropped some valuable points.

Results at a glance

Current League Table

November Fixtures

So there you have it. A bit of a mixed bag month really which started so well and ended poorly. We had been in third spot at one point but now have slipped down the table again. Hopefully we can stay in contention and not continue this current poor form

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!