Interview With Performance Analyst Chris Markham

We were privileged enough to get the opportunity to interview Chris Markham who is the performance analyst at Huddersfield Town. Many of you will indeed be following Chris on Twitter (@boulet_6) so we thought we would get to know his opinions, thoughts and his personal career a little bit better;

Huddersfield Town Wembley Ticket Dispute

A lot of Huddersfield Town fans have been dissapointed as well as annoyed with the inability to purchase tickets to Wembley at the official stadium ticket office. Being forced to purchase online or via telephone with TicketMaster. Today, the Chief Executive of Huddersfield Town Nigel Clibbens explained why this was the situation;

"The trip to Wembley looks to have created real excitement with the fans and tickets are selling really quickly. Everything looks set for a massive Town following and a great occasion.

"To sell upwards of 30,000 tickets with travel, including coaches and trains, in less than 10 days is a real logistical challenge. Put simply, our own Ticket Office isn't capable of doing that and we have to be realistic; whilst we could have taken a brave decision and tried to manage the process ourselves, it would not have been right and we were not prepared to risk operational problems in selling the tickets and serving our fans.

"Also, as well as dealing with Wembley, the Ticket Office has to deal with a big Huddersfield Giants game at the Stadium tonight.

"Like last year, we made a very early decision to contract out to Ticketmaster, who are experts in dealing with huge demand in a short period. This means booking fees have to be paid by fans, which is not ideal.

"I'm sure some fans would have preferred to buy directly from the Ticket Office and avoid the booking fee, but this would only have led to massive queues and long waits and run the risk of some very stressed and upset fans.

"The decision was made to give the best service to the fans. So far feedback is favourable with half a dozen adverse comments out of the 10,000 sold. When people have problems, our Ticket Office staff are sorting them out; they are first class, as our fans know."

So what do you think of the whole ticket scenario? Tell us what you think over in the forums.

Scotland Call Upon Jordan Rhodes

Rhodes has been called up to the Scotland U21's upcoming game against Belgium for qualification into the European Championships. Jordan made it 40 goals for the season against MK Dons on Tuesday and has similar form for his international team. He has scored 6 goals in 6 games for Scotland U21's and this has seen him achieving his first senior cap for Scotland earlier on in the season.

Rhodes has also had success for Scotland. 6 goals in 6 !

Rhodes will join the squad after the League One Play-off Final at Wembley between Huddersfield Town & Sheffield United on May 26th.

Grayson Not Interested In Released Leeds Players

Rumours have been floating around linking Huddersfield Town with a few of the players which Leeds United have released under new manager Neil Warnock. Simon Grayson has however stated that he is not interested in any of the players yet but is focusing on the current squad he has aswell as promotion through the League One play-offs. This is what he had to say about the situation:

"Obviously we are at the stage of the year when players are being released, but what is happening at other clubs is really not my problem. I have to look to my group of players and focus the Yeovil game tomorrow and then our two big games against Milton Keynes Dons and try to ensure that we are playing against the likes if Leeds in the Championship next season."

Simon Grayson Only Concentrating On Promotion

Of the eleven players to leave Leeds United, five are to be released with their contracts not being renewed. These are Alex Bruce, Lloyd Sam, Mikael Forsell, Danny Webber & Maik Taylor. Any of them will undoubtedly be able to fit into any League One side and so it wouldn't surprise us if Grayson wasn't tempted to bring any of them to Huddersfield Town.

Play-Off Teams Current Form

Going into the play-offs with good form is crucial as you need all your players to be up for the big games as well as have confidence in each other and the clubs manager/staff. With two out of the four play-off places already decided in League 1, we look at the form of the six contenders for promotion through the play-offs this year.

Sheffield United

Last 5 games

Sheff Utd 2-2 Stevenage

Mk Dons 1-0 Sheff Utd

Sheff Utd 3-1 Leyton Orient

Rochdale 2-5 Sheff Utd

Sheff Utd 2-1 Bournemouth

FORM - WWWLD

10 points out of a possible 15

Sheffield Wednesday

Last 5 Games

Brentford 1-2 Sheff Wed

Sheff Wed 2-1 Carlisle

Colchester 1-1 Sheff Wed

Sheff Wed 3-0 Oldham

Huddersfield 0-2 Sheff Wed

FORM - WWDWW

13 points out of a possible 15

MK Dons

Last 5 Games

Rochdale 1-2 MK Dons

MK Dons 1-0 Sheff Utd

Scunthorpe 0-3 MK Dons

MK Dons 3-0 Tranmere

Preston 1-1 MK Dons

FORM - DWWWW

13 points out of a possible 15

Huddersfield Town

Last 5 Games

Walsall 1-1 Huddersfield

Huddersfield 1-0 Scunthorpe

Preston 1-0 Huddersfield

Bournemouth 2-0 Huddersfield

Huddersfield 0-2 Sheff Wed

FORM - LLLWD

4 points out of a possible 15

Stevenage

Last 5 Games

Sheff Utd 2-2 Stevenage

Stevenage 2-1 Brentford

Stevenage 1-0 Carlisle

Yeovil 0-6 Stevenage

Stevenage 1-1 Preston

FORM - DWWWD

11 points out of a possible 15

Notts County

Last 5 Games

Wycombe 3-4 Notts County

Notts County 2-4 Bury

Brentford 0-0 Notts County

Notts County 3-1 Yeovil

Leyton Orient 0-3 Notts County

FORM - WWDLW

10 points out of a possible 15

Carlisle United

Last 5 Games

Carlisle 4-1 Exeter

Sheff Wed 2-1 Carlisle

Stevenage 1-0 Carlisle

Carlisle 0-1 Charlton

Carlisle 0-0 Scunthorpe

FORM - DLLLW

4 points out of a possible 15

As you can see, Huddersfield Town are currently the most off-form team within the play-off positions in League 1. They have picked up less than a third of the amount of points that rival club Sheffield Wednesday have picked up in the last five games which is why they have slipped down the league table to fifth below MK Dons. All the other play-off promotion contenders seem to have peaked right towards the end of the season and so they shall all be going into the games on a massive high compared to Huddersfield Town who's last back to back win came in the middle of March. What may  become vital is that MK Dons shall take second leg home advantage in the semi-final tie against Huddersfield which is something you want your team to have.

If you was to go on form then Huddersfield Town would be the first team to be knocked out in the play-offs and fail to reach the final which this year is down at Wembley. However, football is full of surprises and a team which goes into the play-offs as slight underdogs tend to play with no fear which can bring the best out of the whole squad. Simon Grayson shall undoubtedly be trying to motivate his players come the play-offs time and his experience with both Blackpool & Leeds has seen him in these positions before. It could well be a stroke of genius by Dean Hoyle to employ a manager who will be able to cope with all the pressures that come with a team in the play-offs. Did he realise that Huddersfield Town was never going to achieve automatic promotion under Lee Clark and ultimately decided to just get a manager on board that has a good past record in the play-offs so that the club have got the best chance of promotion this year? No one shall know apart from Hoyle himself and as the play-offs loom ever closer, the question is...Does Huddersfield Town & Simon Grayson have it in them to defy current form and obtain promotion against all the odds?