[jjamez]

So where do we begin? Another game, another huge heap of dross (stronger words are available) served up by those associated with Huddersfield Town and quite frankly it is rather embarrassing if you take the last 3 years that we have had to endure, it truly reeks of sheer incompetence and amateurism from top to bottom. Yesterday saw Town produce another lacklustre performance with the lack of quality showing through yet again. The lack of direction on and off the pitch is astounding and equally worrying.
We can talk all we want about the player sales and how that money hasn't been invested wisely, we know where it has gone. We can talk about the parachute payments and where it has gone, we know where it has gone. We can talk about why inexperienced people are in important places, we know why that is. We can talk about the lack of quality in the squad. We know why that is. We can talk about why we have this pathways ideology, we know why. The Prince of Huddersfield put the land in the care of the pauper and has proceeded to ravage the land ever since.

What makes it worse, is the inability to make our views heard, so that the powers that be at the club know how we actually feel. They'll say that they do, but they very much seem to ignore a lot of it. The only platforms to air our views are online and we all know how easy it is to avoid hearing or seeing things that we don't want. Would things be playing out differently if fans were able to attend matches and protest against what is happening? I have my doubts if I am honest, a protest against what has happened with the money and the training ground development for example, won't make it come back or progress. The only thing it would do is make everything feel uncomfortable for Phil, Dean and the rest of the set up, it might lead to a few token gestures to lull us into thinking its working, a change of Chief Exec, change of Head of Football, but it won't change what is really happening I don't think. Unfortunately, it seems like whilst we aren't allowed into the grounds or to do anything really, that we are going to be stuck with the clowns and the circus will rumble on. We can discuss it until we are blue in the face and the only impact it will have is making us angrier and more annoyed.


Huddersfield Town Team Photo 2020/2021

Talking of blue faces, we move onto the Blue Noses of Brummingum.

Like Town, everything about Birmingham at the moment is feeling blue, although, they come into the game on Tuesday on the back of a positive result, coming from behind to beat one of the leagues in form sides in QPR. It was a late resurgence, with Charlie Austin giving QPR the lead just before half time, but goals in the last ten minutes from Kristian Pedersen and Alen Halilovic gave Birmingham a vital 3 points to keep them 5 clear of the drop zones. Prior to that, points had been hard to come by for the blue side of Birmingham, with February yielding just the 4 points until the 3 came on Saturday, that being said, Town have taken just the 5 points in total in 2021. Some of the standout results for Birmingham in February were losing 3-2 away at Bournemouth, why have I picked that? well Bournemouth are supposed to be one of the better teams in the league and Birmingham had several decent chances before taking the lead through Scott Hogan, he scored again to level it up at 2-2 but former Town player Phil Billing scored the winner coming into the final 10 minutes. It just shows that they are very much capable of creating chances and out leaky defence will have to up its game significantly. Another notable performance, away again, but not quite a goal fest was their 1-0 win away at Sheffield Wednesday, who are also very much in the thick of it down at the bottom. Wednesday went down to 10 men and Hogan scored yet again for Brum.

The other results of February saw them lose at home to Luton via a Dan Potts goal and 3-1 to Norwich with Teemu Pukki bagging a brace there.  The other results on the road were a 2-0 defeat at Millwall through goals from Jed Wallace and Ben Thompson, whilst a boring 0-0 was played out at Wycombe, with Birmingham seeing former Halifax defender Marc Roberts see red for two yellow cards.

January was a real struggle for Birmingham. They began the year in 18th place, but picked up 4 points and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City. They lost 2-0 at home to Blackburn on the 2nd of January and really failed to work the keeper, a 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough transpired after the FA Cup weekend, with Hogan scoring in the first half. Before ending the month with a 1-0 defeat at home to Preston and a 1-1 draw at home to fellow home side Coventry. By the end of January they had sunk to 20th.

Since the two sides met back in October, both sides sat on 10 points in 15th and 16th spot, Birmingham have added 24 points and Town 26 since then and there haven't been many stand out games for them, although there has been a few hefty defeats along the way, which probably highlights why they are in a struggle. They lost 4-0 at home Derby County, 4-1 at home to Middlesbrough as well as losing to relegation candidates Wycombe, also at home, throwing away a lead, we know about that. There has however been wins away at Preston and Bristol City, but positive results have been few and far between.



Was there any changes in January? well they have decided to stick with Jose Mourinho protégé Aitor Karanka for now and  the club was struggling for the last few years when the Chinese owners money dried up resulting in poor pieces of business and struggling through. That all changed last summer when they sold boy wonder Jude Bellingham for an initial 20 million, enabling them to be more active in the market.  In January the club were able to bring in 4 players in addition to the 10 they signed in the summer, some for decent money too, like Hogan for 2.5 mil and keeper Neil Etheridge for 2 mil. The January business wasn't as costly, but it still saw Southampton fullback Yan Valery sign on loan along with Rekeem Harper from West Brom. Keyendrah Simmonds joined on a free from Man City's under 23's, but the main addition was that of Sam Cosgrove from Aberdeen. The burly forward signed for 2 million but has only made the 2 appearances for Birmingham so far and has yet to score.



In terms of departures in January, the list is fairly short. Dan Crowley left to join Hull on loan, whilst Maikel Kieftenbeld left to join Millwall and long time Brum player David Davis joined Shrewsbury on a freebie. Once highly regarded midfielder Josh McEachran was released in January and is yet to find a new club.

What to know about Birmingham, well they are still managed by Karanka, who has also managed at this level with Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest. He's known for focussing on the defensive aspects of the game with less emphasis on scoring goals, more trying to edge games out by the odd goal. Which is fine if you have goalscorers and defenders, it seems like Town, City do not. Some fans wanted him at Town when Wagner (or was it Siewert) left, but his management style doesn't strike as being in fitting with what Towns has been for a number of years. Has often been called out for being unwilling to trust the younger talented players, favouring the experienced heads, but his overall record isn't overly bad and he does tend to find a way in the Championship. He is currently being assisted by His brother David who was a coach with him at Forest.



In terms of who to look out for on Tuesday night, Scott Hogan is probably the main name to pick. Made a name for himself in professional football back in the 2013-2014 season whilst at Rochdale where he scored 17 goals in 33 appearances in league 2, earning a move to Brentford. He scored 21 times in 33 appearances for Brentford in a 3 year stay at the club. He scored 14 of those goals in the 2016-17 season and left to join Aston Villa in the January window. His time at Villa was an unhappy one overall, with the striker struggling to make any real impact at the club, scoring just the 7 goals in 56 games. During his 3 years at Villa Park, the Republic of Ireland international spent time out on loan at the likes of Sheffield United where he scored 2 in 8, Stoke City, where he score 3 in 13 and at Birmingham where he scored 7 in 17, before signing permanently in the summer.  He has scored 6 goals this season and is their leading scorer in all competitions.

Another name to take note of is Jeremie Bela. The Angolan winger has been at the club since signing from Albacete back in 2019 and has made 59 appearances and scored 5 times. He is a product of the famous INF Clairefontaine centre, for those who don't know of it, it is one of 12 elite academies in France and is situated outside of Paris, well 50k outside of Paris. Notable products of the Clairefontaine centre are players like former Spurs and Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong and former Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby. Lesser known players like Thierry Henry, Olivier Giroud, Nicholas Anelka and Kylian Mbappe have also come through the system, but none have achieved anything... Bela is known for having a fair amount of pace on him and is able to play on either flank. I imagine he will be lining up on the left tomorrow in order to attack Richard Keogh. Bela has only scored 3 times this season but is joint top for assists with Ivan Sanchez on 5.



The final name to look out for comes a bit further back on the pitch in the form of Maxime Colin. The fullback has featured 34 times for the blues in all competitions and has been a virtual ever present for the club since signing from Brentford back in 2017. He has played 161 times for Birmingham in all competitions scoring only 4 goals, but has made 13 assists. What makes him stand out even more is that he rarely seems to pick up bookings, having had just 14 since joining Birmingham The frenchman did not attend a French centre of excellence because his parents favoured a normal education and he is contracted at St Andrews until 2023.



Going head to head, Town come out on top, but only just, winning 42 times against the Brummy boys, with them coming away victorious 39 times, with the points being shared 33 times. It is worth noting that the last time Town won at home to Birmingham it was in a memorable match for Town fans. With 2 leagues separating the two sides, Town welcomed then Premier League Birmingham to the then Galpharm Stadium in the FA Cup. Town made a quick start to the game, with Luke Beckett firing them ahead after just the 4 minutes. Former Barnsley striker Garry O'Connor levelled things up after 20 minutes but with the fixture heading towards a replay, Chris Brandon found the back of the net to send them through to face Chelsea. It was a result that led to a few Town players being linked with moves up the league with the likes of David Mirfin, Andy Holdsworth and current Town commentator Matt Glennon all rumoured to be wanted elsewhere, but nothing materialised for any of them. It does feel like a lot of our most recent meetings have resulted in draws, but the last 2 meetings have yielded 3 points going to either side. This season a late Lukas Jutkiewicz gave Brum the points after Isaac Mbenza had cancelled out a Gary Gardener opener. Whereas last season Town ran out 3-0 winners, a result that saw us climb out of the relegation places, the earlier game at our spot came as one of the many recent draws on home turf.

Carlos did his usual media duties earlier today

"We don't add any of the injured players to the squad, but we haven't lost anyone. Richard Stearman's progression is really positive. We are going to need more training with Yaya Sanogo to adapt him to play a full game."

"We need to analyse all the players in the team and our options at left-back. Jaden Brown could give us this option, but I need to evaluate it."

"We have to develop the mind of the players; that's the role of the Coach. You have to have players with personality, strong character, and that can deal with difficult moments."

"We need to be ready to adapt to any situation. In all games you will have moments where you lose control whether that be long balls, set pieces or control; that's why football's a challenge. You need to have the character to suffer & beat the critical moments."

"It'll be a very tough, complicated games, but both teams are playing for the same target. Birmingham are in a good moment. In their last three games they won two. We want to change the feeling we have from the last two games. Tomorrow is an important day."

"It's very necessarily from now until the end of the season to have a good dynamic playing at home. We want to change the dynamic when we are playing away. I face every game with the same mentality, trying to go for the three points and prepare the players."

"Josh Koroma, I don't expect to have him until the middle of April. Rolando Aarons will be before. He could be back at the same time of Harry Toffolo, maybe three to four weeks. Jonathan Hogg and Danny Ward could both be working with the team after Cardiff."

“For Tommy Elphick it's very positive. He suffered a long, long term injury. He is moving towards the light training some days with the group and got minutes with the B Team. To have the option to have him in this recovery moment is good too.”

"We just play for our fans. Our aim is to try and make our fans proud. I would like to have our fans here when we are getting good results & in difficult moments. Football is special because of the connection with the fans. You don’t play for yourself, you play for them.”

It felt like he said a lot without really saying anything, other than it is as you were in terms of our squad, hopefully we see Aaron Rowe return to the line up, he has been one of only bright sparks, they are few and far between and I hope we don't see Jaden Brown replace Sorba Thomas on the bench, we seem to always have a load of defenders on the bench, if anyone he could replace Scott High.

As for Birmingham, it doesn't appear as if they have any injuries or suspensions in their squad, so barring any rotation it would seem that the have a full strength squad to pick from. Luck them.

Last time out the lined up;

Neil Etheridge in goal

Colin at right back, with Harlee Dean and Jake Clarke-Salter at centre back and Kristian Pedersen at left back

Ivan Sunjic played the holding role with Rekeem Harper and Gary Gardener in front of him, whilst Jeremie Bela and Ivan Sanchez were on the flanks with Scott Hogan leading the line on his own.

On the bench Marc Roberts replaced Clarke-Salter, Jonathan Leko replaced Bela, Jutkiewicz replaced Hogan, Alen Halilovic replaced Gardener and Yann Valerie replaced Sanchez. The unused subs were goalkeeper Andres Prieto, defender George Friend and midfielders Adam Clayton and Riley McGree.



A foot in both camps

1) An easy one, played for us in league 1 and the Championship, before moving down south. He had 4 years at Town and 3 at Birmingham and lists Bradford, Scunthorpe and Charlton as other employers of his.

2) A lovely looking chappy from the north east of England that is rather fond of Newcastle, has been around a fair bit checking in at numerous different clubs. Has managed both Town and Birmingham. His time at Town was the longest stay he's had as a manager, normally finding himself getting the boot.

3) A striker that played on loan at both clubs, before turning both loans in full time deals. Scored 31 goals for Town and probably would have had more were it not for injuries and suspensions. His time at Birmingham yielded 0 goals in 15 games as he moved swiftly on. Has since been nomadic and plagued with reported bad attitude.

4) Another with a reported bad attitude. He began his career at Birmingham and was highly thought of making 16 appearances for the club. A handful of loans followed and upon his return, his attitude in training was questioned and he was ultimately let go and fell down the leagues, before moving to Huddersfield. He played once for Town before moving on again.

5) An international defender that joined Town on loan from Birmingham and made 12 appearances. He made 16 appearances at Birmingham after joining them from Burnley and went to ply his trade abroad after his release.

6) An international midfielder that had loans at both Town and Birmingham. His loan at City came early in his career and he made 17 appearances for them. His loan spell at Town came after he had suffered a serious knee injury. He would make 30 appearances for Town during his loan and scored 5 times. He currently plays in League 1 at an underachieving club.

7) A hard tackling midfielder that is now retired and has a backroom staff job at one of his old clubs. He played a large chunk of his career in the Premier league with various loans out. He spent 8 years at Birmingham before moving down south. He had 2 loans at Town, with a season ending injury ruining one of them, he never scored for Town but was nominated for the player of the season award.

8) A defender that came through the system at Birmingham but never made a league appearance for the club. He had multiple loans out during his time at Birmingham including a year at Scunthorpe (my commiserations) and a short loan at Peterborough (more commiserations) He had a brief loan at Town, all of one day, before it became a permanent deal. He made one appearance for the club, with some thinking he deserved more of a chance before departing at the end of the season. He has since been around the lower leagues, playing over 150 games for Mansfield and can now be found playing in the Conference.

9) Another international midfielder that came to Town on loan, but from Leicester. He spent half a season on loan at Town playing primarily on the right and made his debut for Town against Birmingham. He played 17 times for Town and scored 2 goals. His time at Birmingham was a bit longer, spending 2 years at the club, but never really achieving what he had at Colchester and would go on to do at Crystal Palace. Since his loan spell at Town he has being plying his trade in the North West of England, most recently in the Conference.

10) A goalkeeper that is rated as one of the best to wear a Town shirt, becoming a firm favourite during a 3 year spell, that started auspiciously. He made 135 for Town and retired back in 2008.

And now the Brumbie anagrams.

1) Hate Mail Shall Clean

2) Zest Nut Term

3) Jade Ford Orb

4) Bald Jug Hem Line

5) Convert Friars

[ritchiebaby]

Brumbie Anagrams
1. Small Heath Alliance

[Lord Snooty]

1. Lee Novak
2. Lee Clark

---

3. Jjamez Vaughan

[WakeyTerrier]

Oh JOY another match, this has all the hallmarks of our fixture v Luton last season.

A must win game against a team struggling below us.

We know we cant defend, we know we need to score goals.

Not expecting many changes from Saturday if any. Maybe swap one ageing centre back for another.

Ken Dodds diddymen running around like headless chickens in midfield.

Campbell, chasing down lost causes before fouling the opposition defender with a late challenge.

God I'm ready for a beer!

[Lord Snooty]

4. ?
5. David Edgar
6. Emyr Hughes
7. Barry Horne
8. Krystian Pearce
9. ?
10. Nico Vaesen

[WakeyTerrier]

LOL team news in in, 1 change Stearman for Keogh

[Lord Snooty]

Poor quality football from both teams. Got nil nil written all over this.
Don't know how their lad only got a yellow for the assault on Stearman.

[WakeyTerrier]

Dreadful 45minutes of football. Bring on the clowns at least they’d be entertaining

[theo_luddite]

1-1 again, there's a surprise

[Lord Snooty]

One piece of quality in the game produced a fantastic goal. And then we gift them an equaliser.
Typical Town.