[jjamez]

Following a boring week and a bit where nothing much exciting has happened, proper football finally returns as Huddersfield welcome 'Yorkshire' rivals Hull to the John Smiths Stadium. Hull have apparently sold out their allocation of tickets, so it could be a boisterous away end, with the getting mauled by the tigers song hopefully being replaced by torn to shreds at the ankles by the terriers.

Saturdays game also marks the day of the Worthington walk, in honour of club legend Frank, the walk will see a set of Town fans along with the likes of Andy Booth, Michael Hefele and others journey from Leeds to Huddersfield. They set off early morning from Elland Road, to the John Smiths Stadium in time for kick off, via the Shay of Halifax Town, the three main clubs big Frank played for during his career. More info can be found here Worthington Walk



Town come into the game on the back of solid draw away at Luton before the break and a topsy turvy win at home against Blackburn. The draw at Luton could have gone either way in all fairness, with the Hatters having the best of the first half, hitting the post in the process, whilst Town were the better side in the second half, with Toffolo coming close in the dying moments, where had he squared the ball Campbell was waiting, probably flat footed like normal. The Blackburn game saw two sides wanting to attack and on another day Town could have been 3 up within the first ten minutes but for a lack of clinical edge. One would hope that we see the Town that played that game against Rovers, rather than the one who played a few weeks earlier against Nottingham Forest. 

The international break came at both a good time and bad time for Town, sure there had been the odd bad result, but there was still some semblance of momentum from the side and a double header against Hull and Birmingham at home would have been a good time to continue it on. However, there had been a few injuries creeping into the squad, Jonny Hogg, Alex Vallejo and Levi Colwill all picking up little issues, whilst fatigue would have been setting into the legs of the likes of O'brien, Lees and Toffolo, so a mini break would have done the players good in terms of getting the rest and getting those who have been injured back into training. The only thing is, other teams have had the same opportunity in the large part. It was however good to see Sorba Thomas, Scott High and Danel Sinani getting international caps in one way or another over the break period.



Hull meanwhile sit just outside of the relegation places by just one point. It appears that scoring goals has been one of their primary issues, whilst defensively they've been hit and miss. Although it wasn't the case to begin with as they travelled to Deepdale on the opening weekend and registered an impressive 4-1 win upon their return to the Championship. It didn't start well as Preston took the lead within the first 10 minutes, but Keane Lewis-Potter equalised before half time. The floodgates opened for Preston in the second half as Richie Smallwood, Josh Magennis and Andy Cannon all got on the scoresheet. The lost at home on penalties to Wigan in the league cup, but we wont count that. Their first game back in the Championship on home soil saw them welcome Queens Park Rangers, who would register a 3-0 win, former Town loanee Chris Willock being one of the scorers. They followed that up with another home defeat, this time against troubled Derby County who saw their only goal come from former Reading striker Sam Baldock. A few days later and they were on the road to the capital to face Fulham, they returned north with nil points as the Cottagers ran out 2-0 winners. They finished August off on Humberside as they welcomed Bournemouth and played out a 0-0 draw, failing to get a shot on target and registering just 3 shots in total.

An international break started September off but it didn't bring around that big a change in fortune as the Tigers travelled to Wales to face Swansea and drew 0-0 yet again, yet again they struggled to work the goalkeeper. On their way back east they called in for a quick game against Blackburn Rovers, and much like Town did, they managed to find the Blackburn defence being fairly open, unlike Town though, they failed to score and lost 2-0. Back on Humberside they welcomed Sheffield United for the first 'Yorkshire' derby of their season and lost 3-1 with Billy Sharp also missing a penalty, which would have compounded further misery on the Tigers. A trip to the Potteries came next and it was much the same for the struggling Tigers as they lost 2-0. They finished the month off with a 1-1 draw against fellow newly promoted side Blackpool, the Tigers were 1-0 down and 1 man down but managed to find a late equaliser through Tom Eaves. The Tigers ended a winless run that stretched back to the start of the season in the only game of October when they beat former Town boss Neil Warnocks Middlesbrough 2-0 thanks to two goals in the last ten minutes.

Its appeared that over the course of the season they have struggled at defending set pieces and dealing with teams that try to hit on the counter, which are two things that Town could and should consider as strengths considering the pace out wide and the quality of deliveries we have been getting into the box this season.



Hull City will be boosted by the return of influential duo George Honeyman and Tom Huddlestone for this weekend's trip, Alfie Jones has a hamstring problem that is likely to keep him out for the next three to four weeks, Callum Elder, Josh Magennis and Matt Smith have all returned fit and ready from their international travels.

In terms of ones to watch, its not very straight forward,

The main one would be Keane Lewis-Potter, Harrys half brother, the forward has the ability to create some magic around the box. I'm only messing about being related to Harry. But with Hull only scoring 8 and Lewis-Potter scoring 3 of those and setting up a further 2, its fairly certain that he will have a big part to play in any Hull attacks.



Another player that features amongst the forwards that will need to be watched is George Moncur. The former West Ham youth had a spell at Barnsley a few years back and signed for Hull this summer from Luton. Yet to score this season and has made 2 assists so far, he operates just behind the strikers, but will need to be watched as he has created 13 chances for the Tigers in the 9 games he has played for them.



Huddersfield will be without Alex Vallejo who is still suffering with a knee issue picked up against Blackburn, but Jonathan Hogg and Levi Colwill both returned to training over the international break and come back into contention for Saturday. Pipa, Jordan Rhodes, Aaron Rowe and Ryan Schofield all remain out longer term, with Mipo Odubeko also likely to miss out due to illness. Scott High, Sorba Thomas and Danel Sinani all return from international duty and it remains to be seen whether they are available to feature from the start.

Cobertalk-

McCann- “If you look at Huddersfield’s start to the season, they didn’t start too well, Fulham thumped them at home quite early on. Since then, I think they’ve been quite consistent. What they do well is that they stay in the game. That’s what they’ve been good at this season - they’ve always given themselves an opportunity to stay in the game.

“Carlos has done well there. I think it’s his second year in management. The way they play and the personnel they use seems to be working for them. We know that we have to be good behind the ball but we have to make sure that we hurt them at the other end of the pitch.”

“I think we just need to be a bit more ruthless at the top end of the pitch, We’ve had some very good performances away from home but haven’t picked up enough points. We want to try and turn those performances into wins now and build on the last two games as much as we can"

"It’s great to see so many fans going to support us, We’re delighted with that. In the last game against Middlesbrough, the fans were brilliant. They drove us onto victory, so it’s nice to see them coming to support us again. We want to go and put a good performance on and hopefully get the three points for them.”



It is a fairly even record when it comes to the head to heads between the two sides, with the first game coming all the way back on Snoots 10th birthday back in January 1911  Town won 2-0 that day. The overall record is 23 Town wins, 21 defeats and 11 draws. The most recent came back in January 2020 where a 96th minute goal from Steve Mounie saw Town run out 2-1 winners, after Karlan Grant had seen his first half opener cancelled out by Ryan Tafozolli. Town did the double over the Tigers that season, with Town winning 3-0 in October. A second half salvo from Karlan Grant, Elias Kachunga and Juninho Bacuna gave Danny Cowleys side the 3 points. If memory serves, it was a game where Adama Diakhaby had their full back on toast and actually looked like he could be a useful footballer...it didn't last.



Played for both quiz. 10 names, you know the score

1) Local boy who started off in Huddersfields centre of excellence before moving on elsewhere. Made his name in and around Premier League squads and also had time out on loan on the continent. Has had two spells at tomorrows opponents, his first came on the back of a successful loan abroad and acted as a catalyst for his career in the Uk.

2) Had a short spell on loan with the Tigers which yielded 4 goals in 17 games, his time at Town was short and not productive due to injury. Is probably best known for his time over in Russia which preceded his coming to England. 

3) Had a short loan spell as injury cover here at Town. A prime candidate for a good old booing every time he came here on the opposing side. Somehow became a Premier League player and a full international. Spent 5 years at Hull and made over 80 appearances.

4) Currently managing his hometown club and is finding his position increasingly perilous as each day goes by. Sometimes credited as being the best centre half never to play for England. Never played for either club but managed both teams, also managed two of the three Sheffield sides, once he got back from watching cricket. I dont need to say owt else do I?

5) A player that comes from a footballing background, one that often seemed to interfere with his career early on. Highly talented when he first came on the scene and often linked with moves to some of the bigger European sides, he spurned their advances to try and become an established Premier League. It didn't really work out. A brief spell at Hull saw him spend time on loan at two midlands clubs, before moving full time to one of them. There he became a solid Championship player before making the move to Town. His spell here was brief and probably undeservedly so as I feel he probably deserved more time here as he wasn't that bad.

6) Came through the academy of his boyhood club and had a year on loan at Town which resulted in Town wanting to bring him in full time, but injuries at his parent club put an end to that. Made over a 150 appearances for his club during the 20 years he had there, before moving on to Hull for 2 seasons and then to Sunderland for one final season as a professional, but never made an appearance for the black cats.

7) Defender who had 4 years at Hull after coming through their academy. During his time there he made 11 appearances and had loans at Carlisle, Huddersfield and Chesterfield. He would leave Hull to move to Chesterfield permanently and would have a further year and a half there before moving to the Championship. He is now the captain of a Premier League side.

8) Irish midfielder from Preston and began his career there before moving to West Brom and then onwards to the likes of Sunderland and Everton. Played the vast majority of his career in the Premier League and it was only towards the end that he started to move down to the Championship barring a loan spell at Town for half a season as we pushed for promotion from league 1. Is now a pundit.

9) Originally from Pontefract, he came through Towns academy and made 37 first team appearances before moving on. Made 23 appearances for Hull in a 3 year period, but it was Hartlepool where he played the vast majority of his career, registering 244 appearances for the club. Ha since had an unsuccessful attempt at managing.

10) Another local boy who came through the clubs academy and made 75 appearances for Town in total before moving away. A journeyman career followed including a year at Hull, who in turn sent him out on loan back to Huddersfield where he only made 4 appearances and failed to score. His best times came whilst at Notts County where he scored 11 in 63, but he also found himself in trouble whilst there, having being interviewed over a stabbing, nothing came of it and he was released. A few years later he was found guilty of match fixing and found himself behind bars.


Annie Grams

only a few for you to have a look at

1) Tour Be Halved

2) Acne Sex Lube Advert

3) Fit Bronc Lift

4) Chronic Hilts

5) Invaders Own Dad

[theo_luddite]

Nice one jjamez

I'm thinking 1 in the kwiz is Fraizer Campbell and 3 might be Brucie's lad Alex, while 4 might be Alex's dad.

I'm working on the rest.

The M6 has been an absolute mare today so I'm heading norf in the morning.

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PS, 10 is "Delboy" Facey

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one, jjamez. Cheeky chops. You were 6 months out with my birthday. I'm not that old you young whippersnapper.

No 9 Sam Collins.

Acne Sex Lube Advert is a great anagram. No idea who it's meant to be, but lol.

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No 7. Liam Cooper.

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No 8. Kevin Kilbane.

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Anagram 4 - Chris Chilton

[jjamez]

The sex lube advert one is a little bit nasty from me in all fairness

[ritchiebaby]

The sex lube advert one is a little bit nasty from me in all fairness

Is it something to do with squeezing pimples?

Anyway, Annie 5 is Andrew Davidson

[ritchiebaby]

And we make it into the top 6, and only 5 points away from the top 2. That'll do!

[theo_luddite]

Was it just me or did anyone else have problems logging in this morning? Regardless, back up and running and 3 more points in the bag and another Dwayne (mini Scanz) screamer from outside the box.

Ey up, that'll do. Put t'kettle on.

[Lord Snooty]

Yes, theo. The site was down this morning. Came on about 11.

[theo_luddite]

Had me wondering if it had all gone t*#s up again when I set off up the M6 this morning I must admit.

[Lord Snooty]

We are now in a fantastic position to kick on, with some very winnable (apart from next Saturday) games coming up. We started off like a train this aft and deservedly took the lead. And just like usual when we get an early lead, we let the opposition back in, instead of getting a second.

However, Hull are not prolific in front of goal and couldn't finish off any of their good work. That's because we looked really solid again in defence. Tom Lees was never this good before, was he?

Colwill steady as ever and what an attacking threat as well. Shame his final passes at the end of his Beckenbauer runs weren't much cop.

Lil Duane got man of the match. No argument with that. We questioned his inclusion at the start, purposely so he would prove us wrong.    And what a goal! 

I would have given Lewis the MoM, if Duane hadn't scored. He was here, there and everywhere, even though he had that head injury.

Another high energy performance from Danny Ward. He was all over the place. Sorba was fantastic in the first half, but faded towards the end and was rightly subbed, but earned his half lap of honour.

And another excellent master class in time wasting at the end from Mr Nicholls.

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Oh and Sinani. Very unlucky not to score. Great save by their keeper.

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Oh and McCann never stopped whining. Sit down and shut up, you Pish twat.