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Strong U23s Side Defeated By Huddersfield in Premier League Cup
Monday, 5th Dec 2016 22:46 by James Ager

A strong Town U23 side, featuring seven players who have been involved with the first-team this season, were beaten 2-0 by a young Huddersfield team at Portman Road in the U23 Premier League Cup on Monday night.

Brett Pitman, Kevin Bru, Leon Best, Jonny Williams, Dean Gerken, Josh Emmanuel and Myles Kenlock all started for Gerard Nash's side in what was an unusually strong line-up, with the U18s facing Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in the FA Youth Cup tomorrow when Andre Dozzell appears likely to be among those involved.

Pitman was playing his first game since suffering an ankle injury at Leeds at the end of September.

Adam McDonnell curled an early freekick well wide of George Dorrington's post, then at the other end and with the half hour mark approaching Gerken did well to gather Jack Boyle's dipping long-range effort at the second attempt.

Jordan Williams then got the better of Jonny Williams in midfield and the young right-back strode forward and hit a low drive that flew just wide of Gerken's right-hand post.

In the final minute of the half the Yorkshire side took the lead with a well-worked set-piece routine.

A short corner was pulled back to Boyle who had advanced from a deep position and he then rifled a shot from 25 yards past Gerken and into the top corner.

On 54 Bru burst forward but blazed over when he should have at least tested Dorrington, and midway through the half Chris Smith saw a goalbound header deflected wide from a corner.

However, the visitors should really have doubled their lead with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Sub James Blanchfield gave the ball away and released Ollie Dyson, but Gerken was out quickly to block. George Fowler then got back to keep Regan Booty's follow up effort out to keep Town in the game.

The closest the Blues came to levelling the scores was when Jonny Williams's long-range effort was deflected before being acrobatically tipped over his bar by Dorrington.

The Terriers then broke forward and sealed their win on 89. A neat one-two on the left released Lewis O'Brien, who took the ball forward unchallenged before firing an unstoppable shot across Gerken and into the top corner.

Despite having more of the ball, Town couldn't find that cutting edge and were all too often unable to make the final ball count.

Clear-cut chances were at a premium and Dorrington was only tested with efforts from outside the area.

Kenlock and Emmanuel were offering most of Town's width but none of the senior pros controlled the game or looked particularly dangerous throughout.

U23s: Gerken, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Bru, Fowler, C Smith, McDonnell (Blanchfield 75), Williams, Best (McLoughlin 71), Pitman, Benyu. Unused: Marshall, Hayes, Wilton.


Photo: TWTD



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camblue added 22:49 - Dec 5
When will this nightmare end?
9

jollyroger added 22:58 - Dec 5
We really are cr@p this once great club is dying a slow death
8

budgieplucker added 23:06 - Dec 5
Bru was town's stand out player at the heart of everything accepting the ball from the back four and constantly probing and always making himself available.   Alongside him in central midfield Adam McDonnell also put in a good shift. Huddersfield were very economical in their play and apart from two cracking goals otherwise failed to really test Gerkin. Poor performances from Pitman & Best upfront, never really atempted to run into the channels (although Pitss had a spell playing left wing for a while) and seemed to be waiting for hoof ball rather than the measured style of play on offer tonight. But as all too often Ipswich's final ball was abysmal.

RATINGS

Gerkin       6    Couldn't be faulted for either goal
Emmanuel 6    Good shift with enterprise but not much came off for him this evening
Fowler       5     Solid but doesn't look like he will threaten the first time any time soon
Smith         8   Chris not Tommy.  Looks a good prospect and some great tackles tonight
Kenlock      6    Much the same as Josh this evening.
Williams     6    Tried to hard and often ran into trouble, cracking deflected shot saved by keeper
Bru             8    Nice to watch, kept the game flowing and shouldn't be discounted as a holding                  midfielder for the first eleven.
McDonnell    7       Faded into second half but struck up a really good partnership with Kevin Bru.
Benyu     5       A few nice touches but largely anonymous and looks lightweight
Best        4   Wish I could say something more positive
Pitman   5   No lack of effort but rarely on the same wavelength as his team mates.

Subs
Loughlin        5      Failed to make any impression the short time he was on the pitch
Blanchfield    5      Much the same as Loughlin.
16

rinkydinkpanther added 23:16 - Dec 5
The hits just keep on coming.
2

MicksZzzTactics added 23:20 - Dec 5
Q: How can such a strong side get shut-out let alone lose to a bunch of supposedly mediocre-at-best & predominantly real green Huddersfield youngsters???
A: Only plausible explanation I can come up with is ....drum-roll please ... that the vast majority of the ITFC ones has been "exposed" to the dreaded 'Arrogantusaurus Terribilis Rex' known as Mick McCarthy (and his immaculate incompetent assistant!) along with their negative and hedgehog-like football ideology!!!
And apparently the sheer "level of contamination" from a pure viable football pov is a lot more severe than ever could be expected!!! lol
4

GiveusaWave added 03:26 - Dec 6
By the sounds of things we barely troubled their keeper. Not good news.
6

Currie10 added 04:04 - Dec 6
" On 54 Bru burst forward but blazed over when he should have at least tested Dorrington "

Just about sums up Kevin " not good enough " Bru for me.
0

Surco72 added 07:29 - Dec 6
Personally I do not think the first team is strong and very few of our players would get in the top half teams so to say this second string was a strong outfit was wrong in itself .
The style of play throughout the whole club is stale and needs changing , going nowhere until that happens .
Bedsit FC tell me again what a good signing Best was
2

TractorRoyNo1 added 08:00 - Dec 6
We're sh!t and we know we are!
2

Swn98 added 08:08 - Dec 6
I think this goes to prove my much derided thoughts that our current crop of players are not very good blame who you like doubters once a player ties his boots up 99% off the out come is down to the players.
0

muccletonjoe added 08:32 - Dec 6
The club is on its knees as far as strength in depth is concerned. Mainly filled out with potential which is never realised.
3

ArnieM added 08:33 - Dec 6
There seems to be a thread coursing right through the Club now. You can only put it down to coaching and tactics regarding the BASICS of the game.
5

carsey added 08:48 - Dec 6
"Kenlock and Emmanuel were offering most of Town's width but none of the senior pros controlled the game or looked particularly dangerous throughout." - this sort of phrase in a report from presumably a town supporter worries me. There were enough senior players in that team to be able to get a grip of a bunch of kids.
8

Battyboy added 08:50 - Dec 6
The 23s play better football when there's no first team era playing! Very disappointing performance tonight that now makes it unlikely that we will proceed to the next stage of the cup.
4

Burnzee1991 added 08:53 - Dec 6
Oh dear lads not a good result. Great that Pitman is back though he's probably a little bit rusty from having so much time off, hopefully see him in the first team soon.
1

hampstead_blue added 09:30 - Dec 6
Passion.

If I were a young lad at Huddersfield, I'd be out to tear them up.

Still, you would have expected the class of our (alleged) stronger players to show through.

5

yorksblue added 10:02 - Dec 6
Strong only on paper then
1

Nthsuffolkblue added 10:10 - Dec 6
Was it a lack of fitness/match practice/form? Was it a lack of commitment? A lack of playing as a team? Is it simply a lack of fire-power up front at all levels? It does not bode well for changing things at first team level.
2

Surco72 added 10:32 - Dec 6
SWN98 .... Who brought all of these under performing players who are not good enough to the club ?
Who coaches them to become better players on a daily basis ?
Who selects the team to give them hunger when they have the chance , or drops them when they have a bad game to make sure they are not to comfortable and going through the motions ?
6

MicksZzzTactics added 11:07 - Dec 6
@Swn98
Hmmmm tell that to Eden Hazard!!!
Last season he was for the major part an colossal disappointment for Chelsea!, very visibly "suffocating" in Mourinho's "I'm The Special One's" ultra stringent ideology with the Blues... all the way up to the point where he simply lost his mere WILL to perform (The fashion in which he THEN chose to demonstrate this overall displeasure of his is not one I personally condone, but that's stuff for an entirely different discussion!) And then for comparison look a him NOW under Conte's wings and a entirely new system? .... He has simply put been nothing short of terrific thus far this season!

Another lesser recent domestic example: Christian Benteke!
Now just about every football fan out there acknowlegde the sheer multiple positive managerial qualities of Mr. Klopp along with the undebatable general high entertainment value and "spectacularness" of the football he strives to play (Personally I can certainly attest to the above, as I've watched an awful LOT of televised/internet-streamed Dortmund matches during his glorious time there, not only because I adore his positive style but also because I happen to have a couple of real close friends who has moved to Westphalen). However even back in his days as manager in the Bundesliga there were a few stories over the years about the good Mr. Klopp not treating a couple of individual players "well" ... or more to point: not remotely nice or appropriate! Psychological "wellness" CAN be a very thing also among multi-millionaire footballers... and thus such type of severe mistreatment can make an otherwise real gifted player underperform etc. etc. even in the daily training! All of which I gather was the case with Mr. Benteke .... And then look at him NOW with Pardew at Palace? Absolutely deadly!!! Period!!! And this is supposedly all down to the way he is treated as a human being all-around! since to just perhaps exaggerate my point a bit he is at least to some degree now surrounded by 10 lesser talented teammates on the field at most times, compared to at Liverpool!

And I could easily carry on mentioning other cases from English football and not necessarily from the the PL, even some going way back, but I expect you to get my drift @swn98... as I indeed do yours i.e. "99% off the out come is down to the players" which I up to a certain degree could agree with (particular in the last century) in THEORY sounds like a pretty decent concise outlook, outlook on these often overpaid footballers playing in say just the top 2 tiers in England nowadays...... unfortunately though it's not always the case in PRACTICE I'm afraid as their managers, said manager personal treatment, and said managers tactical approach potentially CAN have a real adverse effect on a sizable number of them!
1

MicksZzzTactics added 11:12 - Dec 6
@swan98 I addition to the above post I would just also like to mention the following: That I vehemently recall MM stating the following (or words to that effect) several times during SOME of the last handful of transfer windows: "I'm totally happy with the players and squad I got"; "There are nobody "available" out there that could really strengthen my current squad!"; ""Even with the money available, I don't believe we need more/other players!" and so on and so on. I'm sorry to bring this to you @swn98 but practically all the players you believe are "just not good enough" in or around the 1st team are nowadays all his players, beside signings he have selected who is left here and who is gone from his dreaded predecessors' regime, he alongside his faithful prehistoric sidekick orchestrates training them (after 4 years I'm personally still not sure what it is they do all week long, sure can't be spending much time on creative things or "shooting practice" :-) lol), he is the one who on a weekly basis INDOCTRINATE them with this dire, negative and hedgehog-like tactics .... apparently the only tactics he trust .... so the bucket simply stops with him your dear dinosauric manager @swn98, as he is the one to be held accountable for all the aforementioned! Period!
And ohhhh the notion among some fans here: that NATURALLY Mick would buy nothing but real high quality players if ME gave him an annual "blanco cheque" (and there were no Fair Play rules to worry about!) is simply ludicrous imho, cause their is plenty of prior evidence about The Dinosaur's player preferences: not only here but at his prior places of work: A) Prefers they have played for him before, Wolverhampton Wanderers comes to mind :-) ... no matter their current talent & age B) prefers they a some Irish Connection :-).... again no matter their current talent & age; And least but not last and on the most serious note C) They must all be "GRINDERS" not only willing to defend 1st and attack later (maybe! just maybe! lol) but they must also be willing to play completely out of their favorite/natural positions i.e. as a proverbial round peg in a square hole!!!
1

del45 added 15:58 - Dec 6
once again no goals going from bad to worse even when playing kids.
1

Swn98 added 16:42 - Dec 6
Once the players tie up their boots and walk on the field it's down to them you see MM and TC screaming at them and they don't I think can't do what's required of them with regards to purchasing he gets the best resources with the money given to him when he does find players they are sold so he can't build a team.
Not to worry one day y0he will be gone somebody else will pick up the mantle and then the keyboard warriors can get to work on him.
-1

MicksZzzTactics added 18:16 - Dec 6
@Swn98
Well up to today I was fairly convinced that the beyond "colorful" @geminimustang in reality simply had to be Mrs. McCarthy, and you dear @swn98 "merely" some Irish cousin of his! lol lol lo lol
But now I'm no longer so sure .... in fact as of today I now tend to believe YOU are the real Mrs. McCarthy (with @geminimustang thus relegated to posting as one of the 3 Mick McCarthy Juniors, or else giving his/hers posts' undeniable "Scorned Woman" femininity about them :-) perhaps daughter Catherine even!)

In any event you dear @swn98 in particular simply has to be a "McCarthy"! Hands down!
Why you may ask ??? Well more then ever having read your very lastest post here on this article it's DEAD OBVIOUS isn't it, as you basically are just as arrogantly ultra STUBBORN as Mick, aren't you now? Never ever moving just 1 micromillimeter, never admitting to being wrong about nothing .... and repeating the same thought-processing mistakes over and over again while exactly like your husband Mick = obviously expecting different and succesful results! :-)

Obviously you are entitled to your opinion no matter how scre@wed-up and/or absurdly "in denial" it with alarmingly regularity comes across, but I just don't get why you spend soooo much time commenting here on the News Pages of TWTD where 98% can't stand you (and having read some of your antagonistic and ultra ridiculing 'choice of words' in recent weeks you very clearly can't stand them!) and where you btw by now have reached "troll status" all the while setting new records for most down-votes in TWTD history :-) lol ...... rather than spending your good energy with your In-Mick-We-B-L-I-N-D-L-Y-Trust "Bretheren" over in the TWTD Forum???????????
Any which way, personally I rest my case outlined in my first 2 posts above and otherwise I simply give up arguing or trying to make you see just a tiny bit of "The Light", dearest! :-)
1

spanishblue added 07:09 - Dec 7
Ha thats a laugh strong under 23 side how can that be with a first team like ours,been to uk twice this season for the first time in 40 years did,nt even look at the fixtures
0


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