Grayson Left Disappointed Again

Grayson unhappy with his teams performance

Huddersfield Town could only manage a 0-0 stalemate in their friendly against Oldham Athletic and that means they are still without a win in pre-season football. Simon Grayson stressed how important today's game was after losing midweek against Crewe and he was equally frustrated & disappointed after this draw;

"In the first half we seemed a little bit lifeless – there was no zest about us – and that didn’t change at all, so I’m disappointed with how the team performed. As a group you have to work hard to close people down and when you have the ball you have to enjoy it, but we were too slow and ponderous with the ball and we didn’t close down with a purpose either."

“As I’ve said before pre-season is a means to an end, but the players have got to start picking themselves up because we have a lot of improving to do before the season starts. It was quite lifeless; as a spectator I thought it was quite boring. There weren’t too many tackles or many people making forward runs and they are the things we want to be doing as a team; we want to be a team that’s full of energy and zest and today that wasn’t about us."

“I wouldn’t have been bothered if we’d lost 3-0 today if I had seen things that I liked about the team, but there weren’t too many units of the team to get excited about. There is still work to be done. Hopefully today is another kick up the backside for the players, because as I’ve just said in the dressing room there are no places in the team guaranteed for the start of the season – everyone has that opportunity and to work towards.  However, we have a good bunch that works hard and that’s what we’ll be doing next week. The players have to look at themselves and think what they need to do in the training ground and on match days to give themselves the opportunity to be in the team all season. We can advise them and work with them on the training pitch, but it also has to come from within."

“It was frustrating again today, but we know we’ll be right in two weeks’ time. I‘ve seen things like this many times before and we need to be using games like today like any competitive game to get the mind-set ready for the tough games coming up in the Championship. Pre-season games are there to remind you what you need to improve upon, both as a player and as a manager.”

Grayson Unhappy With Performance Against Crewe

Simon Grayson's team suffered yet another pre-season loss against Crewe last night and the manager was not happy with how his team performed. The terriers fell behind from a Dugdale goal early in the first half and never got themselves back into the game. Keith Southern made his debut and it was his glancing header which was the best chance of the entire game for the visitors.

Grayson expressed his disappointment when he spoke to the official site after the game last night;

"I'm disappointed tonight, but it's important not to get carried away with a good performance like we had on Saturday or an average performance like tonight. There were aspects of the game that we knew we could have done better tonight; we started the game poorly, our ball retention was poor and our movement wasn't as good as on Saturday but these are the sort of things you expect in pre-season and it's up to us to iron them out as we go along."

"We hardly worked their goalkeeper all night and that's unlike us given the players we have in our team. However, some players have played 60, 70 and 90 minutes and everything is still building up with an eye on a few weeks' time. We are a work in progress and that's why we shouldn't get too carried away with results. However, the players know we have to do better – there is no question about that. We do have an honest bunch of players who will work hard on the training ground for however long it takes to get things right." 

"It's nothing we can't rectify. We know that our players can normally handle the ball better and move better too. Crewe are a good footballing team and it was another good test for us. We've worked hard on Monday and Tuesday and sometimes you don't quite have that sharpness in games when you do that"

On a more positive note Grayson stated that he was impressed with the debut of new signing Keith Southern who was substituted in the second half for Huddersfield;

"I'm not going to be all 'doom and gloom' – there were some good things to come out of the game. I thought Keith Southern affected things well – he showed his tackling, energy and nearly scored a goal after getting into the box, so I was delighted with that."

Match Report: Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town travelled to Gresty Road to play Crewe Alexandra in their fourth pre-season friendly. Early team news confirmed the speculation that Keith Southern had joined up with the squad and would indeed make his debut as he was named in the starting XI. Alongside him was Oliver Norwood as Simon Grayson named a very strong side that lined up in a standard 4-4-2 formation.

The match started with the home side controlling possession as Huddersfield were penned back into their own half with Peter Clarke blocking the first shot of the game from Crewe's Pogba. Crewe were out to impressive the home crowd and just as Huddersfield started to come back into the game, through a lively Sean Scannell, the home side took the lead. The terriers were giving away dangerous free kicks in their own half and were punished as Westwood swung one into the box where Clarke was surprisingly shrugged off by Adam Dugdale who volleyed the ball into the net.

Huddersfield immediately went for the equaliser from the restart but Scannell's effort was blocked over the bar after a Danny Ward corner. Minutes later the visitors broke from a Crew corner through the ever impressive Scannell but his flat cross couldn't find Jordan Rhodes in the box and the breakaway goal was off the agenda. The game slowed down as Huddersfield started to obtain more of the possession and as half time approached a Jack Hunt cross was met by Rhodes but his shot was cleared off the line by goalscorer Dugdale and Crewe kept hold of their one goal advantage.

Three minutes before half time Danny Ward got the better of full back Davis and pressed forward only to see his low cross unmet by Rhodes who was agonisingly close to latching onto it in front of goal. The referee soon after blew for half time and Huddersfield went into the dressing room one goal down.

Huddersfield emerged for the second half unchanged but the first chance fell to Crewe Alexandra. Brendon Daniels slotted a great through ball past Jack Hunt who was beaten by Pogba but he failed to punish the terriers by shooting wide with a very tame effort. Fifteen minutes into the second half Simon Grayson made his first substitutions of the game by bringing on Clayton, Woods, Bennett & Oscar Gobern for Norwood, Dixon, Smithies & Ward.

A change of formation soon followed as Huddersfield formed a 4-3-3 to attempt to put more players upfront to grab an equaliser and Southern nearly provided one. Clayton had just been on the field 8 minutes but it was his excellent cross which was found by Southern's glancing header. The Town faithful thought they had got the equaliser but unfortunately it just went past the wrong side of the post. More subs followed by Grayson and Kay nearly made an immediate impact after he managed to get his head on a Clayton free kick but the attempt went well wide of the target.

Time was now ticking down and Huddersfield started to commit more men forward, searching for a late equaliser. Alan Lee was close to threading through winger Kallum Higginbotham but it was intercepted by a solid Crew defence and moments later the referee blew for full time at Gresty Road to finish a strongly competed friendly; Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Huddersfield Town.