FA Cup - Huddersfield (a)

[Cobi Budge]

Excellent picture & sound quality on this FA Player thing, what you'd expect I guess but it's far better watching than Ifollow.

 

[CBilly's slippers]

Congratulations & good luck for the rest of the season.

 

[Knibbsworth]

Huddersfield manager wasn't playing mind games it seems, their entire line up (bar their keeper) is made up of U23's.

Vallejo (making his debut) is 28. Ironically, if we were playing our strongest side - our first choice keeper is 21 years old (Schofield - he's on the bench). Two of the players (Jones, Olagunju) starting today for us (HTFC), & 6 of the subs aren't even established in the B team.

I love our coach but I'm surprised & disappointed by just HOW much he's weakened the team for this fixture. Honestly, my most realistic hope is just that we keep the score down.

Congratulations on getting through to the 4th round.

Very odd that a midtable second tier side is treating the FA Cup like they don't particularly want to be in it.

Given that all the Prem clubs put sides like that out these days, I'd have thought it was a great chance for a side like Huddersfield to get to the quarter finals, semi finals and who knows?

Instead they are putting a side out as if the first team schedule is packed with Champions League football, and any chance for a rest weekend is a godsend.

 

[davie nine]

Congratulations & good luck for the rest of the season.

Looking at your pseudonym, we had a player called Chris Billy who came from Huddersfield in the ‘90’s. Is there a connection?

 

[CBilly's slippers]

Congratulations & good luck for the rest of the season.

Looking at your pseudonym, we had a player called Chris Billy who came from Huddersfield in the ‘90’s. Is there a connection?

Yep. The name "Chris Billy's slippers" was too long to be accepted by the forum so I had to shorten it. It's a reference to when he was at HTFC, he went through a spell where he couldn't keep his feet - it was as though he was playing in slippers rather than studded football boots.

 

[CBilly's slippers]

Huddersfield manager wasn't playing mind games it seems, their entire line up (bar their keeper) is made up of U23's.

Vallejo (making his debut) is 28. Ironically, if we were playing our strongest side - our first choice keeper is 21 years old (Schofield - he's on the bench). Two of the players (Jones, Olagunju) starting today for us (HTFC), & 6 of the subs aren't even established in the B team.

I love our coach but I'm surprised & disappointed by just HOW much he's weakened the team for this fixture. Honestly, my most realistic hope is just that we keep the score down.

Congratulations on getting through to the 4th round.

Very odd that a midtable second tier side is treating the FA Cup like they don't particularly want to be in it.

Given that all the Prem clubs put sides like that out these days, I'd have thought it was a great chance for a side like Huddersfield to get to the quarter finals, semi finals and who knows?

Instead they are putting a side out as if the first team schedule is packed with Champions League football, and any chance for a rest weekend is a godsend.

There's mixed views amongst Town fans about this. On the one hand, not likely to go up or down, a cup run might add a bit of interest in what is probably the first season in over a decade where we've not had an eye on either trying to get promotion or fearing relegation.

On the other - we really do have a tiny squad and a lot of injuries, & even the ones who aren't injured have looked exhausted for quite a while. We play a very high intensity game & have very high intensity training. I do wonder if our players are being over-trained. Ideally we'd have a bigger squad for this system but we don't, so a rest weekend really is a godsend! Literally, we have no fit, senior outfield players* besides our usual first XI - evidence = our bench for our last league fixture - all of them but 1 played for us yesterday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55450051

I'm surprised and disappointed that there weren't at least a few senior players in there for us yesterday, partly to give us a better chance of making it to the 4th round, but also to give a bit of guidance for the youngsters. Sadly (but perhaps understandably given the squad's fitness) it was decided to rest all senior players.

As I said though, good luck for the rest of the season.

* Vallejo - the 28 year old Spaniard - was making his debut for us & he's scarcely played any games in his whole career due to injury.

 

[gaspargomez]

Congratulations & good luck for the rest of the season.

Looking at your pseudonym, we had a player called Chris Billy who came from Huddersfield in the ‘90’s. Is there a connection?

Yep. The name "Chris Billy's slippers" was too long to be accepted by the forum so I had to shorten it. It's a reference to when he was at HTFC, he went through a spell where he couldn't keep his feet - it was as though he was playing in slippers rather than studded football boots.

Chris Billy was our replacement for Paul Dalton (who moved in the opposite direction to Huddersfield).

I think your team might have got the better end of that deal !!

 

[WoodsyGreen]

Chris Billy went from being a terrace boo boy to player of the year in the space of 12 months. I can't think of too many players who have turned their Argyle career around as much as he did.

I can still see his miss in the away Colchester playoff leg. Clean through with just the keeper to beat he opted to dink it over him but instead feebly dragged it miles wide. That was a real head-in-hands moment for the Green Army - who had already seen many sub-standard displays from him that season.

But the season after, in an under-performing side, he was one of our few consistent performers. I think he was moved from midfield to right-back to replace the injured Mark Patterson and ended the season as player of the year.

Unfortunately we got relegated and he left to join Neil Warnock's Bury.

 

[gaspargomez]

Fair points. But who would you rather have in your team ? Chris Billy or Paul Dalton ?

 

[WoodsyGreen]

Fair points. But who would you rather have in your team ? Chris Billy or Paul Dalton ?

I was taking a trip down memory lane rather than directly responding to your post, gaspargomez.

But on the question of Billy or Dalton... it'd be a bit like going to a car lot and the only two choices being a second-hand Fiesta or a brand new Ferrari!

Though to be fair to Billy, I'd take Dalton over probably 99% of all players I've seen in a green shirt.

 

[CBilly's slippers]

Fair points. But who would you rather have in your team ? Chris Billy or Paul Dalton ?

Depends which version of Paul Dalton if we're basing it on their time at Huddersfield.

Under Brian Horton he was beyond useless. Laziest player you'll ever see & I despised him. Then Horton was sacked & Peter Jackson took over, gave him another chance to prove himself & he was a revelation. For my money he was second only to (then England international) Paul Merson outside the Premier League. Absolute class.

As for Chris Billy.... well...... God (and indeed Neil Warnock) loves a trier.