25-04-2022, 17:03
I don't want to be a monsoon on Huddersfield's parade, but it worried me to see how happy you were to take that stroll in the park against a team which understandably lost its mojo with the early goal it conceded. Barnsley knew they were on a dog' chance when they kicked off, and Rhodes put them on the RSPCA's death row after just a few minutes. Any plans their coaching staff had made for them would have gone out of the proverbial window at that point.
Despite your strolling play and obvious superiority they remained in the game to the extent of having several efforts on goal. Unfortunately for them none of those efforts bore the slightest resemblance to the goal they finally did score ....... but the point for Huddersfield is Barnsley just might have hit another of those. You ended up just one other perfect strike away from a 2-2 draw in a game in which you could have been three, four or five goals superior.
I really, really want you to go up through the play-offs, but promotion could be a dismal experience if you adopt the same approach to sitting on a lead when you are in the Premiership. Watford are coming down, take a look at their forward line. If you sat back and watched them as you did Barnsley, they wouldn't fall apart for you, it'd take about ten minutes for the score to go 2-3 - and they haven't been good enough to survive, even with Roy Hodgson's organisation.
Equally Lee Nicholls has done a great job for you in goal. Way, way better than you had any right to expect. He was released by Milton Keynes Dons. They even had no ready replacement. Their No1 is a Chelsea loanee. His reserve is a 24 year-old unknown who I'd worry about if Chesterfield signed him! Best keeper in the Championship sounds a lot, but even if true, it's the equivalent of a selling plate in horse racing. Take a look at the keepers for the four clubs struggling against Premier relegation - Burnley have got Pope, who ought be England's No1, Everton have got England's No1, Watford choose between an ageing Foster and Austria's No1, and Norwich have got Tim Krul. Lee Nicholls with one losing England U-19 cap eleven years ago has to take a huge step to reach the level necessary and behind a defence, which is bound to find it difficult, he is going to be tested to potential breaking point. (And good as he's been even I can see things he doesn't do easily.)
You have players full of character and a team spirit which deserves to be rewarded in the play-offs, but then you'll be faced with keeping a manager who has opened a few eyes and dropped many more jaws, and building on all the good things in a successful team in a way that enables the club to step up and survive at the next level. It's easy to throw out the baby when all you want to do is freshen up the bathwater.
Despite your strolling play and obvious superiority they remained in the game to the extent of having several efforts on goal. Unfortunately for them none of those efforts bore the slightest resemblance to the goal they finally did score ....... but the point for Huddersfield is Barnsley just might have hit another of those. You ended up just one other perfect strike away from a 2-2 draw in a game in which you could have been three, four or five goals superior.
I really, really want you to go up through the play-offs, but promotion could be a dismal experience if you adopt the same approach to sitting on a lead when you are in the Premiership. Watford are coming down, take a look at their forward line. If you sat back and watched them as you did Barnsley, they wouldn't fall apart for you, it'd take about ten minutes for the score to go 2-3 - and they haven't been good enough to survive, even with Roy Hodgson's organisation.
Equally Lee Nicholls has done a great job for you in goal. Way, way better than you had any right to expect. He was released by Milton Keynes Dons. They even had no ready replacement. Their No1 is a Chelsea loanee. His reserve is a 24 year-old unknown who I'd worry about if Chesterfield signed him! Best keeper in the Championship sounds a lot, but even if true, it's the equivalent of a selling plate in horse racing. Take a look at the keepers for the four clubs struggling against Premier relegation - Burnley have got Pope, who ought be England's No1, Everton have got England's No1, Watford choose between an ageing Foster and Austria's No1, and Norwich have got Tim Krul. Lee Nicholls with one losing England U-19 cap eleven years ago has to take a huge step to reach the level necessary and behind a defence, which is bound to find it difficult, he is going to be tested to potential breaking point. (And good as he's been even I can see things he doesn't do easily.)
You have players full of character and a team spirit which deserves to be rewarded in the play-offs, but then you'll be faced with keeping a manager who has opened a few eyes and dropped many more jaws, and building on all the good things in a successful team in a way that enables the club to step up and survive at the next level. It's easy to throw out the baby when all you want to do is freshen up the bathwater.