Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: selby on February 12, 2026, 03:39:26 pm
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Just seven days after our slightly surprising cup win we have a game next Tuesday evening against the same club but no doubt both sides making quite a few changes team wise.
With Gaz pointing out that Pearson and Grehan are faster than our first choice pair of Byrne and McGrath, and considering how Huddersfield continually ran straight at our defenders it should make for an interesting evening if their first choice team employ the same tactics and are more successful in front of goal.
Can we repeat the win in the cup, to do so we are going to have to play well in this game, and if we can win it will be a big step forward. A repeat of the form shown at Wycombe could well result in another heavy loss against a team that disappointed in their last game a 2-2 draw at home to Blackpool.
With Alfie May and Lynden Gooch possibly in their squad we have old connections who will want to do well on their return in an experienced squad that are fifth in the division, and in line for the play offs but a position that is unsatisfactory to the owners who have just changed managers, which from the outside is a bit reactionary with a position in the League we would be ecstatic with.
Points in this game therefore are very important to both teams for differing reasons and the result last Tuesday of little importance to the result of this game.
Before the draw result against Blackpool they had beaten Peterborough, Luton, and Bradford before coming unstuck surprisingly at Burton, so will want to get back on track and winning ways and with our game at Rotherham to follow we need to come up trumps against two local sides for league points and bragging rights and get the Wycombe game out of our heads.
All the usual questions, who plays in this game? what tactics are we likely to employ? can we get a result, lots to discuss and chew over, please have your say.
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Just seven days after our slightly surprising cup win we have a game next Tuesday evening against the same club but no doubt both sides making quite a few changes team wise.
With Gaz pointing out that Pearson and Grehan are faster than our first choice pair of Byrne and McGrath, and considering how Huddersfield continually ran straight at our defenders it should make for an interesting evening if their first choice team employ the same tactics and are more successful in front of goal.
Can we repeat the win in the cup, to do so we are going to have to play well in this game, and if we can win it will be a big step forward. A repeat of the form shown at Wycombe could well result in another heavy loss against a team that disappointed in their last game a 2-2 draw at home to Blackpool.
With Alfie May and Lynden Gooch possibly in their squad we have old connections who will want to do well on their return in an experienced squad that are fifth in the division, and in line for the play offs but a position that is unsatisfactory to the owners who have just changed managers, which from the outside is a bit reactionary with a position in the League we would be ecstatic with.
Points in this game therefore are very important to both teams for differing reasons and the result last Tuesday of little importance to the result of this game.
Before the draw result against Blackpool they had beaten Peterborough, Luton, and Bradford before coming unstuck surprisingly at Burton, so will want to get back on track and winning ways and with our game at Rotherham to follow we need to come up trumps against two local sides for league points and bragging rights and get the Wycombe game out of our heads.
All the usual questions, who plays in this game? what tactics are we likely to employ? can we get a result, lots to discuss and chew over, please have your say.
Being a good defender isn't just about pace is it, especially in the third division. There have been plenty of good center halves that cant run.
Our run in looks a pretty difficult one. Huddersfield, Luton, Cardiff, Lincoln, Bolton, Peterborough, Reading- all in decent form. Long trips to Exeter and Plymouth. Local derbies at Barnsley and Rotherham, both away. Port Vale and the cup game against Stockport to be shoehorned in.
This place is going to see some ups and downs between now and May!
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It doesn't help when there is an all round lack of it though Gaz. Or that we try and play a high line.
That's why teams play long against us especially down our left, getting us peddling backwards knowing if they are on the shoulder they have a chance or of picking the headed second ball up on the front foot in our half.
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Think Alfie May still suspended mate
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I will take that as a positive for us.
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Think Alfie May still suspended mate
It doesn't help when there is an all round lack of it though Gaz. Or that we try and play a high line.
That's why teams play long against us especially down our left, getting us peddling backwards knowing if they are on the shoulder they have a chance or of picking the headed second ball up on the front foot in our half.
Pace isn't everything for a defender - there other more important qualities. Pace can certainly help but its one aspect amongst others!
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Think Alfie May still suspended mate
It doesn't help when there is an all round lack of it though Gaz. Or that we try and play a high line.
That's why teams play long against us especially down our left, getting us peddling backwards knowing if they are on the shoulder they have a chance or of picking the headed second ball up on the front foot in our half.
Pace isn't everything for a defender - there other more important qualities. Pace can certainly help but its one aspect amongst others!
It can make the difference though. Am not sure Olowu has the other defensive attributes of heading, marking or reading the game and he is playing at a top end League one team.
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The league game will be a completely different kettle of fish, Huddersfield will have much stronger side to put out, but then again Rovers will also be a stronger team. I will take a draw now, but I suspect (and seriously hope I am wrong) that Huddersfield will win a close game.
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Think Alfie May still suspended mate
It doesn't help when there is an all round lack of it though Gaz. Or that we try and play a high line.
That's why teams play long against us especially down our left, getting us peddling backwards knowing if they are on the shoulder they have a chance or of picking the headed second ball up on the front foot in our half.
Pace isn't everything for a defender - there other more important qualities. Pace can certainly help but its one aspect amongst others!
It can make the difference though. Am not sure Olowu has the other defensive attributes of heading, marking or reading the game and he is playing at a top end League one team.
Olowu won a greater % of his aerial duels than McGrath last season. I think people often have a bias to perceive a ‘tougher looking’ defender to be better in the air.
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Think Alfie May still suspended mate
It doesn't help when there is an all round lack of it though Gaz. Or that we try and play a high line.
That's why teams play long against us especially down our left, getting us peddling backwards knowing if they are on the shoulder they have a chance or of picking the headed second ball up on the front foot in our half.
Pace isn't everything for a defender - there other more important qualities. Pace can certainly help but its one aspect amongst others!
It can make the difference though. Am not sure Olowu has the other defensive attributes of heading, marking or reading the game and he is playing at a top end League one team.
Olowu won a greater % of his aerial duels than McGrath last season. I think people often have a bias to perceive a ‘tougher looking’ defender to be better in the air.
Maybe it was Olowu's tendency to head it up in the air (ten bob head) that makes me think that :).
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Olowu got on crosses though,
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This game looks like another cross roads game as with it being so tight around us points wise it is possible for us to catch others if results go our way or slip back into the relegation places.
Combine that with another game against a local rival down in the relegation fight at Rotherham on Saturday and a lot is riding on the next few days as to how the rest of the season might go.
We desperately need something from both games, basically if we can't win don't lose situations especially at Rotherham, and getting a result v Huddersfield would set us up and send us to Rotherham in a better place.
Huddersfield will be smarting from an 85th headed winner for Stevenage by Carl Piergianni who won the MOM for the game despite only playing as a substitute about 15 minutes which might be some sort of record, and will still be smarting somewhat over our penalty shoot out win there earlier in the week.
This game will be a very different affair team personnel wise for both teams both fielding what they think will be their strongest side, and we can't depend on our keeper to keep us in this game as he did in the cup.
If we play on the front foot we are decent, and need to play as much of the game in their half of the field as possible.
Hopefully our players are up for the two games, a lot looks to be on these games as to how we can look forward.
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We just need to keep performing the way we have been this year. Bolton are probably the most in form team in the discussion along with Lincoln and we absolutely battered them, should have comfortably beat them on the balance of chances created and control of the game.
Since the turn of the year our form display off form, don’t need to worry about anyone else jus need to get the 20 points we need tomato up as soon as possible and then see where we can get to
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I note that their midfielder Marcus McGuane was injured in their game yesterday... He signed in mid 2025 and then got injured - only came back in Jan and had impressed for them recently. Now looks to be out for a period.
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Didn’t have a shot on target against Stevenage let’s hope lightening does strike twice.
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They've got a host of injures and Alfie May is suspended, coupled with the fact that this is their 4th game in 10 days aswell we should be going all out to get the win here. Would set us up nicely for Rotherham.
3-1 Donny
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I will go along with that Fal hopefully, but we have that tendency of getting teams in poor form back on track we need to ditch.
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Their away record in the league isn't particularly good. Indeed, not much better than our record. One notable point is that they concede a lot away from home. They've managed only 2 clean sheets away from home in the league and these were in August and latterly September. Again, pretty much the same terrible away defensive record as us in terms of the high number of goals conceded away. Their last 5 away league game record has been won 1 (courtesy of 89th minute winner at Peterborough), drawn 1 and lost 3. No idea about outcome but you would imagine this isn't going to be 0-0.
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
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Nice to see the optimism on here, I hope you're all right!
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
37 minutes of game time so far for Bromley.
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
Our best two chances that day fell to Middleton and Broadbent.
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
We were sensational that half.
I recall 2 things;
I think it was Broadbent who was having a hell of a game then he got booked. Someone definitely got booked and it seemed to affect us.
Our wingers were having great games and Grant couldn’t wait to swap them. Those that came off the bench were useless.
I am confident we can win this one.
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
Our best two chances that day fell to Middleton and Broadbent.
Yeah Broadbent should’ve scored. I can’t remember Middleton’s? Sbarra was clean through that, that’s stuck into my brain. We’d have won if we went in in front at HT imo.
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If only Sbarra had longer legs/a bit more pace but have to say it was a brilliant tackle on him
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Some of the best football we’ve played this season was the first 45 at their place (league). We ran out of steam and they shifted a few things for the 2nd half. Replicate that first 45 on Tuesday and we will win. We won’t be so wasteful this time I don’t think. It’ll be Molyneux, Lee, or Adelakun the chances fall to, not Sbarra :lol:
Mind you I thought Ajayi looked some prospect when he came on.
We were sensational that half.
I recall 2 things;
I think it was Broadbent who was having a hell of a game then he got booked. Someone definitely got booked and it seemed to affect us.
Our wingers were having great games and Grant couldn’t wait to swap them. Those that came off the bench were useless.
I am confident we can win this one.
Yeah it was Broadbent with the yellow. Had to run half a length across the pitch to make a foul as Molyneux just gave up running. No choice but to take him off and we were done then. Broadbent was our best performing player the weeks around that time.
Remembering back, Ajayi didn’t really do much when he came on but his pace I remember thinking he’d be quality with a run of games.
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If only Sbarra had longer legs/a bit more pace but have to say it was a brilliant tackle on him
He neshed it big time.
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Earlier games in the season have to be forgotten and will have no bearing on the game tomorrow night.
The fact is we need to be on it and have players playing somewhere near their ceiling of ability and the few players we have that are division 1 standard on their game.
Huddersfield are one of the divisions teams that are underachieving and at he moment are not in great form, which gives us an opportunity to get something from the game, but they will be well aware of our weak spots in defence and will look to start quickly and attain a foothold to stretch us and open the game up tactically and they have room to get at our back line at pace.
Our work rate needs to be at the top of its game, the extra days off should help, and we can look to out work them.
If we don't win don't lose has got to be our mantra now with every point important.
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Huddersfield played away Saturday and are obviously away at our place on Tuesday. The extra rest and prep time we have had is a big advantage. Extra time to put together a plan and to practice the details makes a huge difference against a team that's only had a rest day and one preparation day.
The above situation has resulted in us being slight favorites for the game with the bookmakers.
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Wow , im surprised we are favourites ( even slight favourites) but lets hope they are right
We could do with jump starts like Boro and Wigan and a decent Ref.
Only 2 defeats ever on my Bday ( maybe Bookies know that as well)
Last game on Bday was Grimsby 1 Rovers 5 what a great game. Actually a start like that for us would be ideal
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If we can get out of the traps early we can get a good result . They’ll be hurting after their recent losses and a team not playing to their potential . A Win !!
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My hope of a good Ref fell at first fence
https://www.drfc-vsc.co.uk/index.php?topic=293316.msg1368458#msg1368458
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They are short of attacking options to say the least.
No Radulovic due to a torn hamstring. Their attack improved when they played him and the suspended Alfie May together.
They then loaned Joe Taylor out to Wigan (scored against us) and signed striker Ryan Hardie on loan from Wrexham even though he’s currently injured.
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They are short of attacking options to say the least.
No Radulovic due to a torn hamstring. Their attack improved when they played him and the suspended Alfie May together.
They then loaned Joe Taylor out to Wigan (scored against us) and signed striker Ryan Hardie on loan from Wrexham even though he’s currently injured.
Noticed Will Alves didn’t make the squad at the weekend. He’s only young but looks a great prospect.
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They are short of attacking options to say the least.
No Radulovic due to a torn hamstring. Their attack improved when they played him and the suspended Alfie May together.
They then loaned Joe Taylor out to Wigan (scored against us) and signed striker Ryan Hardie on loan from Wrexham even though he’s currently injured.
Noticed Will Alves didn’t make the squad at the weekend. He’s only young but looks a great prospect.
He was a constant threat to us in the Vertu match.
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They are short of attacking options to say the least.
No Radulovic due to a torn hamstring. Their attack improved when they played him and the suspended Alfie May together.
They then loaned Joe Taylor out to Wigan (scored against us) and signed striker Ryan Hardie on loan from Wrexham even though he’s currently injured.
Noticed Will Alves didn’t make the squad at the weekend. He’s only young but looks a great prospect.
Yes thought he was their best player on the night, surprised they're not using him more.
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Wrap up warm only going to be 1 degree at kick off time.
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Plaling with Lee as a number 9 again. Didnt seem to work last time. Gibson starting, Adelakun on bench.
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Eyebrow raised at the starting line up. Still enough to win it with a decent performance!
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Haks has looked bow loxed the last few games, albeit he’s always trying to be positive on the ball ! I can see him coming on either at half time or 60 mins if gibbo if poor, which wouldn’t surprise us !
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Some good technical players in that line up but a lack of penetration would be my worry!
(This is your cue to bet on Rovers 4+ goals) :lol:
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Elliot lee at no9 again
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Attacking midfielder up front? Odd, have we ever picked the same starting 11 from the previous game this season?
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The press in the last 3 minutes of this first half is the best I’ve ever seen from Rovers
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Not sure I’d be playing Lee as a 9. Negates all of his main assets. Huddersfield have offered zero so far.
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Not sure I’d be playing Lee as a 9. Negates all of his main assets. Huddersfield have offered zero so far.
Agreed. Think he would bring a lot more out of Hanlan if they played together as a 10 & 9.
Great win tonight. Three clear of the drop.
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Comfortable in the end. They didn’t have a shot on target all night. They were flat as a pancake after two away games in quick succession. Another 15 points from 15 games should be enough.
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Crap game. Great win. Sterry & Gotts the pick of the bunch for me.
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I thought Ben Close played really well, gave both Gotts and Bailey a rocket in the first half for not chasing out. Really good to see, we need more of that in the team.
Gotts had a decent game, along with Byrne, who didn’t miss a thing all night.
It was a bit of a struggle for the rest of them, Huddersfield players were fast and in our faces, they had no time to think or space to work in. So all in all a great scruffy win. Just the ticket - not often we come out on top of these types of game.
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Very happy tonight with that performance, we upped our pace and intensity right from the start and matched them all over the park.
They have some very good technical players like Alves, Ledson and Harness but we kept them mostly quite and prevented them creating much, in fact id say that was the most comfortable game TLT has had all season.
Good solid team effort all around, we always do better when we play at a faster tempo and with Gotts we had someone who set the pace well. Grant even managed to time his subs well even if Hanlon is the most clumsy player i've ever seen play for us, and that's some accolade when you look at the contenders!
Great three points for us, now we need to ram this home with a good win at Rotherham.
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Comfortable in the end. They didn’t have a shot on target all night. They were flat as a pancake after two away games in quick succession. Another 15 points from 15 games should be enough.
Well it is Shrove Tuesday
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Attacking midfielder up front? Odd, have we ever picked the same starting 11 from the previous game this season?
Yes, against Wycombe and there were plenty of folk saying we should have made changes.
People will moan either way as this post proves
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Horrible game to watch but great 3 points!
Taxi for Gibson - who looked disinterested all game.
Sterry poor first half but stepped up second half against a very dangerous winger.
Gotts easily MoTM.
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Praise for every player tonight for a no nonsense battling display where every one of them gave their all.
Not a great game for the purist but our teams play off the ball was as good as we have been this season, and we to a man did what we had to do to win the game,
Our back four who I have given some stick to in other games to me tonight were great, that good our keeper had very few if any shots that really troubled him.
And like others have said Close and Gotts got through a tremendous amount of work disrupting Huddersfield's play in mid field., helped by the forward players also helping out when needed players who didn't get a lot of ball in forward positions but worked hard, as both wide men did also.
Not a great watch, but a great battling performance that got its reward, a very well done from me.
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Great scrappy win, will take that all day long. Gotts fantastic again. I like Byrne, does the basics and solid. Full backs were good. Thought close did well and Bailey got about.
I think we're struggling with not being able to make the ball stick up front. There's no outlet, as soon as its cleared, its coming back. Can't expect Lee to do any better with that. Hopefully Frankie isn't too far away. Let's be honest, without the penalty, we wouldn't have scored tonight. But I'm so chuffed with that win. Defended really well at the end as well when the pressure was on a bit.
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Yes a tough watch at times but you can’t fault the effort tonight.
Only exception being Gibson who did absolutely nothing.
I cannot understand how he could start in place of haks or Clifton.
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Thought Senior and Byrne did well also.
Massive 3 points that. Huddersfield tactically were horrific.
Looked a pen also for the push on Molz?
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Wow , im surprised we are favourites ( even slight favourites) but lets hope they are right
We could do with jump starts like Boro and Wigan and a decent Ref.
Only 2 defeats ever on my Bday ( maybe Bookies know that as well)
Last game on Bday was Grimsby 1 Rovers 5 what a great game. Actually a start like that for us would be ideal
I'm taking the credit. Made myself laugh at HT when deservedly 1 0 up and I looked at my Watch and said , Let me just check the Date , oh yeah 17th Feb
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Worth looking back at that thread when loads of people totally lost the plot over Byrne when he signed. Maybe not the best player in the side but has been far from the worst. He’s done well in all his games. Give people a chance. They usually surprise you.
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Praise for every player tonight for a no nonsense battling display where every one of them gave their all.
Not a great game for the purist but our teams play off the ball was as good as we have been this season, and we to a man did what we had to do to win the game,
Our back four who I have given some stick to in other games to me tonight were great, that good our keeper had very few if any shots that really troubled him.
And like others have said Close and Gotts got through a tremendous amount of work disrupting Huddersfield's play in mid field., helped by the forward players also helping out when needed players who didn't get a lot of ball in forward positions but worked hard, as both wide men did also.
Not a great watch, but a great battling performance that got its reward, a very well done from me.
My only gripe with the back four tonight was their insistence in giving McGrath the ball to give it away, give it to someone that can actually play a ball
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Sterry was my man of the match. Some exemplary defending from him.
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Timmy didn’t have a shot to save tonight.
The team as a whole defended really well, especially the back four who were solid and won almost every ball that they went for.
Gotts continued his good form and Close was Mr Calming Influence, always available to receive a pass and rarely gave the ball away.
As others have said, Lee struggled to get into the game but we all know he isn’t an out and out striker and wasn’t able to hold the ball up so hence, it was always coming straight back.
Okoronkwo will make a difference when he eventually gets fit again.
A good battling performance by the lads and worthy winners in a game that wasn’t great to watch but meant everything to us at the end.
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Yes a tough watch at times but you can’t fault the effort tonight.
Only exception being Gibson who did absolutely nothing.
I cannot understand how he could start in place of haks or Clifton.
It was a game made for Gotts and his like. Thus Clifton, who was not even brought on as a sub, would have thrived.
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Really poor game of football.
Other than the penalty we offered nothing in attack. Fortunately, Huddersfield were crap on the day and showed no urgency.
Unconvincing performance, but we ground out a good result, something we haven't done enough until recently.
Suddenly 50 points doesn't seem too far away.
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Sterry was my man of the match. Some exemplary defending from him.
I said with 10 minutes to go " wish we had 5 Sterrys defending for rest of game " as he was having a great game and battling for every single ball
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Sterry was my man of the match. Some exemplary defending from him.
I said with 10 minutes to go " wish we had 5 Sterrys defending for rest of game " as he was having a great game and battling for every single ball
Sterries - lol
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TLT - Not a great deal to do but apart from a few positioning errors he was bang on when called on.
Sterry - MOTM.
McGrath - Good no-nonsense defending. His 6 yard passes forward put us in trouble time and time again.
Byrne - Very composed. Couple of eery moments in first half when he stepped out but that’s nitpicking. Best centre back we have.
Bailey - Wasn’t really on it last night. Certainly allowed one of them.
Gotts - 2nd behind Sterry. Stands out in our side, just accepted he’s one of our best players now.
Close - Really good last night so that’ll be a 2 year contract extension.
Gibson - Atrocious. Not up to this level.
Molyneux - Weak and needs to stop looking to go down. Good penalty I thought and did get better 2nd half.
Lee - PLEASE PLAY HIM DEEPER!! Every time he touches the ball he oozes class, whichever centre forward plays in front of him will just be better for having him so do it.
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Now coming into some decent home form finally. Since turn of the year we've been at home 6 times, won 3 times, drawn 2 and lost only 1 - to Championship Southampton by a single goal.
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Huddersfield striker Dion Charles just goes to show that spending big money on a ‘proven goalscorer’ doesn’t guarantee a worthwhile investment!
Huddersfield paid £750,000 last January for him after he was prolific for a few years in this division at Bolton. He’s only scored twice in the league since and offered nothing in other aspects of his game last night either.
Now Huddersfield are stuck with him for another two years and he’s 30 years old. Likely on wages that make him hard to shift.
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Were Terriers fans booing him off when he was substituted , or their Manager for taking him off ?
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Were Terriers fans booing him off when he was substituted , or their Manager for taking him off ?
They were cheering the substitution.
Something sneaking in to fan behaviour which I don’t like.
As bad as he was, it must be really upsetting to hear if you’re that player from your own supporters.
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Thought Senior and Byrne did well also.
Massive 3 points that. Huddersfield tactically were horrific.
Looked a pen also for the push on Molz?
Yes it was a clear push and should have been a pen for me, and probably majority of south stand
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Timmy didn’t have a shot to save tonight.
The team as a whole defended really well, especially the back four who were solid and won almost every ball that they went for.
Gotts continued his good form and Close was Mr Calming Influence, always available to receive a pass and rarely gave the ball away.
As others have said, Lee struggled to get into the game but we all know he isn’t an out and out striker and wasn’t able to hold the ball up so hence, it was always coming straight back.
Okoronkwo will make a difference when he eventually gets fit again.
A good battling performance by the lads and worthy winners in a game that wasn’t great to watch but meant everything to us at the end.
An accurate summary I think. We've not really seen what Lee is capable of playing in the role he's asked of at the moment he's living off scraps and trying to hold things together.
Another factor even when we get Frankie back, is the state of the pitch which doesn't really help possession based football with slick passing, more like the ball being a bar of soap difficult to get control of.
Going forward of course it's the same for both teams but we're going to have to put up with games like last night where it's about limiting mistakes and playing safety first football. It's definitely not the surface for trying tricks and flicks Mr Gibson!!
Every game is a cup final from here on.
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I know we are lumbered with it, but Rugby really does destroy the pitch
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Only one of the teams in L1 that played away on Saturday and away again last night won (11 games). Such a disadvantage being in that situation.
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Playing on a frozen pitch against Southampton has destroyed the pitch. Forgive me if I'm wrong but a former groundsman used to post on here and he said Football does far more damage to a pitch than Rugby League.
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Playing on a frozen pitch against Southampton has destroyed the pitch. Forgive me if I'm wrong but a former groundsman used to post on here and he said Football does far more damage to a pitch than Rugby League.
I just don’t believe that, we have the same problem every year as soon as the Rugby starts
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Playing on a frozen pitch against Southampton has destroyed the pitch. Forgive me if I'm wrong but a former groundsman used to post on here and he said Football does far more damage to a pitch than Rugby League.
Exactly that, playing in freezing temperatures does the damage.
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TheFunk is correct about the damage done by playing on a frozen pitch, it kills the top growth. It doesn't kill the plant but because there is no growth at this time of the year there is no new grass to replace it. I'm unconvinced however that football does more damage than rugby, the weight difference between football and rugby players alone will be a factor and that's before you consider the tearing up the surface with scrummaging.
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The issues with pitches across the country are mainly weather related. It's just common sense at this time of year.
No point blaming one code or another, as the pitch would be suffering anyway without Rugby or visa versa. Bradfords pitch last night for example looked just as bad if not worse than ours.
The point is, teams have to adapt their game to cope with the conditions so it's likely we'll see lots of mistakes with ball control, misjudging passes and bad bounces etc. We need to take this into account when assessing games and individual performances.