Grayson Can't Hide Terriers Flaws

Grayson look on as Calum Woods re-emerges from the snow

Simon Grayson has given his assessment on his sides 4-0 defeat away at Watford which has taken the terriers to twelve games without a win in the Championship. Grayson could only watch as his side went one nil down just before half time through a dubious penalty decision but were totally outclassed in the second half as they fell to pieces. A lack of desire, heart and determination was evident throughout the team as they suffered another heavy defeat without netting once. 

Grayson's Reaction To First Leg Victory

Huddersfield Town manager Simon Grayson was thrilled with the away victory against MK Dons yesterday but warned everyone that they had achieved nothing yet;

We are delighted that we have won and with the level of performance that we showed today. We have worked extremely hard over the last ten days on the game plan and our individuals stuck to it. As a team we broke quickly, passed the ball around very well and did the players did what we asked them to do, which is great as a manager.

There was pressure on the players today, but they have carried out every instruction that we asked of them.

We are still very wary of the opposition, which we have to be because MK Dons are a good team. We need to be focused physically and mentally in our preparation because we haven't achieved anything yet. Given the circumstances I would say that this is the best performance of my short rein at the Club; it follows on from a good performance against Yeovil. We had some good opportunities today and at the other end Ian Bennett pulled off a brilliant save at the death to keep a clean sheet.

The players are totally aware of what we need to do. The two lads in midfield dictated the game for much of it, got in and amongst them when we had to and passed the ball very well. Jordan showed good movement and finished the cross well and Jack normally swings those left foot efforts high and wide, but today it went in the back of the net.

We wont allow the players to be complacent on Tuesday and we will try and replicate what we have done today. I said to the players before the game to do what they have done throughout the season, as it has put them in the position they are currently in. I thought on occasion, when we got into the final third, we sometimes over-hit our pass which could have maybe got us one or two more goals.

Grayson emphasis its still all to play for in the second leg

Grayson talked about the injuries that a few players picked up in the match including Scott Arfield, Callum Woods & Peter Clarke;

Scott Arfield got a knock on his ankle; Calum Woods got a bang on his toe and then Lee Novak started to struggled as did Danny Ward. Peter Clarke was like Lazarus to recover from his knock. The lads who got injured will have an opportunity to get ready for Tuesday nights game. Full credit has to be given to the players who came on and affected the game for us. Peter's injury did look serious and we were considering options to play Tom Clarke at centre back and Danny at left back, but thankfully he came through it and I thought him and Sean Morrison were outstanding today.

Close to 4000 faithful Town fans descended upon Stadium:Mk for the game yesterday and Grayson acknowledged their support;

"The fans were fantastic today; I think there were about 4,000 in the away end and they never stopped signing from the first whistle to the last. It is a two-way thing because we want the supporters to back us, but we have to give them something to cheer about. They have shown today what the Club is all about and I imagine the atmosphere on Tuesday night will step up to another level and hopefully we will finish the job off.

Grayson Delighted With The Win

Simon Grayson expressed how happy he was with the performance against Yeovil Town when he spoke to the official website. This is what he had to say;

"I said before the game that I wasn't too concerned about where we finished, all I was interested in was winning today and finishing on a good note,"

"I am delighted that we have won the game, not too bothered by what happened at MK Dons, but obviously now we have got the second leg at home.I thought we were good today, passed the ball around well with tempo and created some good opportunities. The players knew that the same group of players could be playing at Wembley in three week's time and that they had an opportunity to stay in the team."

Grayson was delighted with how Town played against Yeovil Town

 When speaking about individual performances in today's game against Yeovil, Grayson hinted who he may well be starting in the play-offs;

"The players should be playing for their shirts and looking over their shoulders at the people sat on the bench. Today probably suited us because they played a narrow four man midfield, which allowed Jack Hunt to get forward and exploit that area of the pitch well. Danny Ward was very good and took his goal well. I feel the more Scott Arfield plays, the more comfortable he is becoming in midfield. I have always rated Danny very highly and you can keep telling players how good they are, but they have to believe themselves. He has got undoubted talent and you could see after he got his goal that his confidence grew and he almost got another. There is a lot more to come from Danny."

When questioned about Jordan Rhodes once again sitting on the bench for the majority of the game, Grayson backed up his decision as well as praising both Novak & Higginbotham who have been partnering each other in the last couple of matches;

"We wanted to give Jordan another rest and play for him the final twenty minutes. I thought Lee Novak and Kallum Higginbotham were excellent again today, but I think Jordan will benefit from the rest. Hopefully he will be back firing on all cylinders next Saturday, if selected. It is a possibility that I could pick all three and accommodate them into a system. Whatever team I pick will be for the sake of the football club and not the individual."

Finally, Grayson gave us a quick heads up on the fitness of the squad heading into the play-offs;

"We won't be too far away; Gary Naysmith is probably the only player who will miss out. Alan Lee has been in and out training over the past week so he should be back fit for next Saturday. There will be some disappointed players because I can only pick 16 for my team next week."

Match Report: Huddersfield Town 2-0 Yeovil Town

Huddersfield ended the season on a massive high with a confident win against Yeovil Town. Town controlled the game from the off which was surprising to see especially with the current form they are on, yet today things seemed to click into place finally under Simon Grayson. Huddersfield Town enjoyed excellent possession of the ball whilst also creating dangerous chances and even the midfield put a decent shift in today.

Simon Grayson bravely named an unchanged starting eleven for the final regular league one campaign game and top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes remained on the bench yet again.

The first chance of the match fell to Kallum Higginbotham who expertly made his way past two Yeovil players only to shoot tamely into Sam Walkers (Yeovil's goalkeeper) hands from the edge of the box. Yeovil had also been attempting to grab the first goal but it was immediately obvious that they were trying to catch the terriers on the break.

Peter Clarke was having a solid game at the back for Huddersfield and just 16minutes into the game he managed to get the ball to Jack Hunt, who was also having a great game going forward, who in turn played the ball inside for Arfield who could only manage to hit the side netting with his shot. Thirty-four minutes into the first half, Danny Ward made the Yeovil keeper work with his 25 yard effort that he could only parry away.

Jack Hunt and Scott Arfield were performing extremely well for Huddersfield and on the stroke of half time they combined together which ultimately ended with a dangerous Hunt cross only for on-form striker Lee Novak to send a glancing header into the back of the net from 12 yards out. The lead could of easily been doubled just seconds later as Higginbotham beat his marker to force Walker into a splendid diving save from 20 yards out. The terriers went into the dressing room at half time with a deserved goal advantage in a game that was slowly becoming more and more one sided.

Lee Novak celebrates his 3rd goal in 3 games

With the restart, Yeovil tried to get themselves back into the game and should of equalised through striker Andrew Williams who got past Clarke, Morrison and Hunt before having his effort superbly saved by Ian Bennett who was trying to cement his place as the terriers number one goalkeeper. Kieran Agard then threatened the home sides goal as his 18 yard shot just whistled past the wrong side if the post.

Jack Hunt continued to impress Grayson and the fans but it was on-loan defender Morrison who's header had to be cleared off the line to deny his team a clear two goal lead. However, it didn't take long before the game was killed off by the terriers as Danny Ward doubled the lead when his shot rifled into the bottom corner after a neat little flick on by Higginbotham. With the game all but wrapped up, Grayson changed things by bringing on Rhodes, Robinson & T.Clarke at the expense of Novak, Johnson & Hunt. Ward came close to making it three but his late effort didn't beat Walker who had a solid game for Yeovil and kept Huddersfield at bay for longer than expected.

With Walsall beating MK Dons it means that Huddersfield Town have leapfrogged them into fourth place and by doing so have gained the second leg home advantage in the play-offs. Massive performance from Huddersfield Town today and they were very impressive for the first time under Simon Grayson. Maybe we are peaking at the right time for the play-offs but more of the same and we shall be heading to Wembley!

Frustration Of Our Midfield

Huddersfield Towns midfield has, all season long, under performed and in some matches been non-existent. Kay, Arfield, Miller, Johnson, Gudjonsson, Gobern, Robinson, Roberts & Ward have all had poor seasons both under former manager Lee Clark and Simon Grayson. Either due to injuries or simply showing no passion when on the playing field, Towns midfield has been chopped and changed virtually every game which has frustrated both the fans and possibly the players a well.

However, who blames Clark & now Grayson for doing so? I certainly don't. If your playing for a promotion chasing club which backs you with big wage packets every week, then showing an inept performance when on the pitch is unacceptable and the players deserve to be dropped immediately. A midfield should be the heartbeat of any football club and if you can win the midfield battle against your opposition, your halfway there to getting all three points in my opinion. Huddersfield Town have not only failed to do that this season, they have also failed to find any sort of creativity/spark from the middle of the park. Let's have a closer look at some vital statistics from the 2011/12 season so far for Huddersfield.

Midfield Goals
Gary Roberts - 6
Danny Ward - 3
Scott Arfield - 2
Oscar Gobern - 2
Rest of midfield have just one or no goals

Midfield Assists
Danny Ward - 11
Gary Roberts - 8
Scott Arfield - 4
Damien Johnson - 2
Danny Cadamarteri - 2
Kallum Higginbotham - 2
Rest of midfield have just one or no assists

From the statistics above you can see that we attack down the wings and that is why both Danny Ward & Gary Roberts top both the midfield goals and assists lists. Huddersfield Town have relied on their wingers to perform too much this season due to the fact that our abundance of midfielders have been poor and have lacked the creativity needed to assist the strikers and score those much needed goals. Our highest scoring central midfielder only has two goals to his name and regardless of how many times the team has been changed around, it is still a very bad statistic for the terriers. Even Kallum Higginbotham who has only just been brought in to the squad after being bought and loaned out for the remainder of the season, is creeping up to our leading assisting central midfielder Scott Arfield.

Going into the play-offs with a midfield that's uncertain who is going to be starting or even on the bench is most certainly not a good thing to be doing. Simon Grayson has tried to determine who his midfield is going to be but i don't think even he knows yet who shall be playing against MK Dons in the play-off semi finals.

Everything looks to be against Huddersfield Town qualifying for the final down at Wembley and gaining promotion through the play-offs but in football you never know what is going to happen and thats why we love it. Come on Huddersfield !!