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Your Huddersfield Town v Coventry City Match Reports

unstableblue added 18:28 - Dec 7 9 points in 3 games, 9th place with +3 goal difference, and 2 points off the play-off places. Mick has the team getting results and long may it continue. But as Mick Mills so correctly stated on BBC Suffolk we're doing it whist not playing particularly well. I have been at Charlton, and at home for Blackburn and Huddersfield, and for long periods Town are playing relatively desperate long ball football. And the team are carrying multiple low performers. But Mick has instilled a fight, and our defence goes from strength to strength. Creswell, Smith, Gerken and Berra were by some margin our best players today. Huddersfield can feel hard done by to leave without a point; for the latter part of the first half and for a 15 minute spell in the second half the level and quality of their football was excellent. They pass well, have pace, distribute the ball hard and for long distance, often. Their goal involved just great passing and movement, and a player running into the box to pull defenders away from marking. They also hit the bar after another slick move. And they were threatening to overwhelm when they made one error in midfield, and it got through to McGoldrick with his quality allowing him to blast in again from range. He is great for Town, but I would say this was still a lower quality performance than some of those seen at home. So back to the start of the game when Ipswich had control of the match and were threatening, their number 3 left back was being run ragged by Murphy, and some of the play from Hyam, Cresswell, Skuse and McGoldrick was of good quality. Then we started to go for this lofted ball down the left channel, repeatedly, and this signalled the pendulum to swing into Huddersfield's favour. I very much liked the look of our starting formation, but it was clear that Huddersfield were not playing in their orthodox way, and yet Mick's switch worked, at least at the beginning of the 2 halves. I have to say Tunnercliffe disappointed today, I like the idea of putting Skuse and Hyam beside him in a 3. But he made a lot of errors and misplaced passes today and seemed to be positionally wrong. Skuse was OK, but again we've seen better, and he carried a knock for some time. As to Frank, oh dear Frank, so much running and effort, but he really isn't good enough, and its a worry this guy can get a starting place. I do him a disservice as for a 10 minute spell in the second half his runs actually did end in good lay-offs. But in the main his crossing, passing and control is of a lower standard than needed in the championship. Its a shame because physically, and commitment wise, he can't be faulted. But Ipswich Town Football Club should have better starting attackers than this. PERIOD. I thought Hyam was good, not excellent because some of his forward passing let him down. But when he is in the mix, and has options he can really get us out of trouble and have a control of the game. He needs to start for us. Cresswell and Smith were just so good today; they had a lot of work to-do. Especially when Scannel came on for Huddersfield in the second half, but they never stopped and today Smith tried to stop using the long ball and get it to Cresswell and Tunnicliffe on the floor, which was so refreshing. The long ball is so tiring. When we get it down we look like we can threaten, all our good chances came from getting it down and moving the ball quickly. Huddersfield gave us a masterclass in it for much of the game. But again Town in that first 10 to 20mins, when they managed to break, had some excellent chances, especially through Murphy, who should have done better. But he came up with the goods at the end. This was by far Gerken's best performance for some time - he has been shakey of late - and I hope this gives him the confidence he needs to press on and have a good season. Our young Villa starlet looked accomplished; with limited input, but made some lovely headers and controls of high balls landing on him - he might need that with our current method of play. So 9 points in 3 games, things are looking up, lets hope Marcus can fund a striker, right back (there's no point dwelling on Chambers today, because he just should't be playing in that position, terrible forward passing today) and winger to help us push on. We also need Taylor to give us more options going forward than Frank. But the main take from today is we're winning, we're playing badly in the main, but just how high could we go if we turned our moments of effective passing into 70-80mins of consistent play, combined with the ever improving back 4? promotion? COYB

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LankHenners added 18:51 - Dec 7 Mick changed the formation to 4-3-3 from the off today, with Hyam, Skuse and Tunnicliffe the middle three behind Murphy, McGoldrick and Nouble. Ipswich started brightly and had a couple of decent chances in the opening few minutes. Chambers picking up a pass from McGoldrick before lashing a shot across goal. A couple of minutes later, Cresswell put the ball back into the box after his initial corner was blocked and Berra headed just wide at the far post. McGoldrick and Murphy had a shot each but without causing too much trouble. The first significant moment in the game came shortly after 20 minutes. Berra and Vaughn jumped up for the ball in the Town box and Vaughn decided to fall over. The ref gave the dubious penalty. However, he tried to be clever with stutters and little fakes but ended up passing the ball to Gerken's left, the 'keeper getting down to smother the ball. Town had looked the better team but they were made to pay for not taking their chances when a jinking run by Hammill (who was allowed to do so by Chambers) ended in the winger pulling the ball across goal and Ward was there to knock it past a helpless Gerken. Skuse then hit over with a long range effort and McGoldrick hit a shot just wide after a great turn on the edge of the area. Half Time and Town would have felt hard done by to be 1-0 down. The second half started with a bang for Town as Huddersfield decided to give the ball to Skuse, who pulled out a brilliant pass to McGoldrick on the edge of the box who in turn fired a low left-footed shot into the right corner on 50 minutes. Town felt a buzz of momentum and nearly got a second straight away when Huddersfield failed to clear a Town ball into the box and Chambers sent a thunderous shot fizzing over the bar from 25 yards on the right. Town then wasted a free-kick by playing it quickly to Murphy who shot well over. This signalled the game moving into a period of scrappy play on Town's part as we allowed Huddersfield far too much time on the ball. The midfield were guilty of getting to every ball second, if at all, as Huddersfield applied more pressure. Skuse went off for Tabb with what must have been a knock to the ankle picked up earlier as he was far better than Hyam and Tunnicliffe in the centre. Huddersfield's pressure nearly paid off when Tom Smith sent a fantastic shot hurtling towards the opposite top corner from the right. Gerken, however, wasn't going to be beaten, and he leapt across goal to push the ball away. McGoldrick hit well wide before Graham came on for Nouble for his Town debut. We then rode out the pressure as the game became an even, yet rather poor, affair. McGoldrick threatened again and looked dangerous but it was looking ever more likely that Town would not score from open play. Thankfully, we got a free kick when Lynch fouled Murphy 30 yards from goal. Cresswell, on the second attempt having been told to retake it, dinked the ball into the centre, Berra looked like he got a head to it, the ball went across the six yard box for a headed tap in for Murphy, who had been showing his aerial strength all day, on 89 minutes. Mings replaced McGoldrick in the 4 minutes of stoppage time and there was one last cheer before the final whistle as the tiny Tabb jumped up to win a header over a tall Huddersfield player. The whistle went and although Town played very averagely for large parts of the game, particularly in the second half, you could argue that we deserved based on our solid defensive display and integrity towards the end of the game. Player ratings: Gerken: 8 - Poor penalty, but still had to save it, a couple of other top class saves and, on the whole, controlled his area well. Very close between him, Smith and Cresswell for Man of the Match. Chambers: 7 - Could be argued that he should have done better for their goal but was very strong defensively otherwise and came close twice to a screamer of a goal. Berra: 7 - Typically solid performance by him and didn't do a lot wrong. However, was outperformed by his centre-back partner once again. Smith: 8 - Won everything in the air at the back and did not let anyone past him. An absolute rock at the back at his best and was very close to that today. As mentioned previously, a toss up between him, Cresswell and Gerken for Man of the Match today. Cresswell: 8 - Solid defensive display and showed some good attacking play. If he had have got forward a bit more then he would have taken my Man of the Match award but as said before, almost too close to call between him, Smith and Gerken. Hyam: 5 - Lacks forward vision and was guilty of passing the ball backwards and sideways too often. Showed tenacity at times but overall was not impressive for me. Skuse: 7 - The pick of the midfield three for me with his quality passing and solid defensive display. Great pass for assist to goal. Midfield looked more ragged after his forced withdrawal. Tunnicliffe: 5 - Looked all over the place today. Was neither a great asset defensively nor looked very impressive when going forwards. McGoldrick: 7 - Great feet as always and looked dangerous when he had the ball. Well taken goal and always looked to pass the ball forwards. Looked a little slow at times and made some uncharacteristically bad passes occasionally. Nouble: 5 - Used his strength and chased the ball down but someone needs to teach him how to control and pass a ball as he was the weak link in the attack today and wasted a couple of chances to hold the ball up and play someone else in by either panicking and giving it away or taking too long on the ball before losing it. Murphy: 7 - Great aerial asset to have in the team and looks more assured in the air than last season and since the start of this season. His and McGoldrick's partnership upfront is looking more and more deadly by the game as they compliment each other well. The subs added little but Tabb tried and was chasing the ball for most of the game. Gets brownie points for that header over the much taller lad at the end. Graham wasn't involved much but looks like he has a great touch and showed that he can add some flair to the attack if given enough game time. Mings was only on for all of 2 minutes. The ref gave dodgy decisions both ways so was at least consistently bad. The linesmen gave some dubious offsides as well. Interesting set up by Mick and if the midfield were performing better then we may have seen more dangerous attacks and another goal or two. Not too bad a crowd with nearly 16,000 coming up to Christmas. We're in form and winning games so surely if the prices are dropped then more fans would be encouraged to come. Noisy away support and just over 500 of them made the trip down so kudos to them.

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TimmyH added 20:44 - Dec 7 Spot on@unstableblue! both posts in fact are pretty accurate on player assessment.
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cossy81 added 20:01 - Dec 8 Enjoyed the game,not too much quality on show but an exciting finish.We missed the drummer coordinating the singing today,it's a shame he isn't centrally in the stand cos the left side keeps singing different songs to right side and vice versa,imagine the noise if we were all on the same hymn sheet!
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dalianwasexciting added 11:00 - Dec 9 Little needs to be added to those posts above, the game was for long periods frustrating, but how many times have we played better and how many times have we lost, particularly to a late goal. Defensively we look ok, but Chambers is not a full back and perhaps 3 Cb's a the back and a pair of wing backs may be the way forward. Murphy did look better heading the ball today, but still did not win too many - he often seems to jump too early. Having said that he was in the right place at the right time, how fortuitous our attempts at taking the quick free kick were thwarted. I have to say that Huddersfield looked ordinary at best, and therefore this was a game where grinding out the result was all important, quite possibly Scuse being the pick, always seemed to have time on the ball to take that extra touch, and the through ball to McGoldrick was of supreme quality. Onwards and upwards, just a shame that the crowd was on the low side despite being on the back of 2 consecutive wins

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