Huddersfield Town (H) - FA Cup 1st Round

[desperado]

Thought I was being done by AI on this one.

But I wasn’t aware triangular corner flags are traditionally used by former FA Cup winners 

[Matt Lofthouse]

Didn’t know that 👍🏼

[Marc505]

Magic of the cupometer has stirred slightly.

[Eavesy]

12 hours ago, worthy10 said:

A lot of praise being given to our players today and rightly so.

But Randall; he gets stick around where I normally sit and sat in a different tier today, the criticism seems the same. He always goes for the safe pass. He is weak and backs out of challenges. He messes up when the big chances fall to him. The one from 6yds out in the first half was typical, he topped it into the deck. There was also an occasion where ADC did his high speed dumy and dribble and he passed it to Randall, where time stood still in contrast. I believe we are in a rich vein of form and we have some good players and a deep squad. But I think we've all seen enough of Randall to make an informed decision. He's a weak link, was expensive and if we can loan him or move him on in January that would be good business. 

 He’s had multiple opportunities both starting and from the bench. He is surrounded by very good players behind him, on the wings and upfront. 

His contribution has been practically nothing. His standards are that low that he’s now being praised for ‘getting in good positions’. Anyone could drop in between a midfield and defence, but it’s useless if you do absolutely nothing with it.

He has no speed, no strength, no ability to take anyone on, I’ve seen no evidence of him being able to find a good pass or put someone through, he’s too weak to shoot with any conviction. 

[masi 51]

v

Edited November 2, 2025 by masi 51

[Johnnyrotten]

11 hours ago, Kane57 said:

Baffled at the praise for Sheehan. Another performance punctuated by little half turns backwards and sideways passing. His ball to Christie was excellent though 

We all see games differently, I noticed early on he was "on it" and I watched him closely after that, he literally didn't give the ball away until late on with that air shot, but every pass wasn't only accurate it was done quickly to get us on the front foot.  The little half turns aren't a negative, it gives him time and room, similar with ACD (if only Randall had that skill). 

And he must have made 20 tackles or interceptions, it was a feature from the first 5 minutes to the last how many balls he won.  In comparison Morley could hardly get involved, not always a fault, sometimes just how the flow of the game goes, but on this occasion Sheehan was outstanding IMO.  It doesn't mean he will be next week, and like many he can look a different player away from home at small grounds for some reason.

[Johnnyrotten]

12 hours ago, Stig said:

Shambles what the FA Cup has become. I can't see the general highlights show on till tomorrow eve.

And the games being mainly on TNT is ridiculous. Noone is paying a subscription to watch that, just get them back on terrestrial and try to grow the game FA

Just noticed its on BBC2 at 5.45pm. I'll watch as we're still involved (unlike last year!)

Edited November 2, 2025 by Johnnyrotten

[Johnnyrotten]

12 hours ago, Wanderlust said:

Cissoko usually seems fine going forward, but he doesn’t track back and leaves us vulnerable on that side - the opposite of what won us the game against Cardiff.

I am delighted Dempsey is back because he makes so many runs and arrives in the box at the right time - even though he missed his chance - and relieves pressure when we’re under the cosh. He’s a different kind of 10.

If we can find the team that defends as well as the Cardiff performance and pushes on when the game is open as we did today, we’ll kill it.

Agreed on Dempsey, he's a big step up from Randall if fit.  Although to be fair to Randall he also has a habit of arriving at the right time in the box - his goal earlier in the season and yesterday's 1st half saved shot 2 examples.  But lacks conviction in everything he does.

Not sure what you mean about Cissoko, OK he's not a defensive type but loads of times he was supporting Taylor at left back, especially 1st half, he spent as much time near our corner flag as their's.  

Surely what won us the game v Cardiff was an absolute worldy in the 94th minute 😀 

Edited November 2, 2025 by Johnnyrotten

[gonzo]

2 hours ago, desperado said:

Thought I was being done by AI on this one.

But I wasn’t aware triangular corner flags are traditionally used by former FA Cup winners 

Featured in the film twin town.

Cardiff have them, Swansea don't.

Or the other way round.

[Zico]

 

[woolli]

7 hours ago, Burndens Bogs said:

A fully fit Dempsey is 10 times the player Randall is,the problem is - keeping him fit.

I just don't get Randall, when Evatt signed him he was the last type of player we needed.

He fucked us over for 1.2 million when he new his days were numbered! One of the worst signings in recent history!

[Wanderlust]

27 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Agreed on Dempsey, he's a big step up from Randall if fit.  Although to be fair to Randall he also has a habit of arriving at the right time in the box - his goal earlier in the season and yesterday's 1st half saved shot 2 examples.  But lacks conviction in everything he does.

Not sure what you mean about Cissoko, OK he's not a defensive time but loads of time he was supporting Taylor at left back yesterday, especially 1st half, he spent as much time near our corner flag as their's.  

Surely what won us the game v Cardiff was an absolute worldy in the 94th minute 😀 

I think Dempsey and Randall are very different types, Dempsey being energy,  tackling and running and perfect for a more open or direct passage of play, whilst in theory at least, Randall is supposed to use tight control and short passing to unlock a packed defence - but for me he hasn’t quite done it often enough yet and Forss or even McAtee have been better at it.

With Cissoko, I think he is attack minded, but doesn’t do the defensive  side well whereas I’ve noticed eg ACD getting back more and getting tackles in recently. Of the wide men, I think Cissoko is the weakest defensively and I think SS has been asking more of the wide men in that respect - which has coincided with our improved results. When Hudds started playing in the second half we looked far more vulnerable on that side even though the cross for their goal came from our right (but I put that down to Miller going walkabout and it shouldn’t have happened)

As for Cardiff, I reckon our defensive performance for 85 minutes against a very good team was as outstanding as the goal.

 

[Take Hunt Off]

Enjoyed the game yesterday free from league pressures. Cissoko went up a few notches (from a pretty low base) & no complaints about his work rate either .

Our left side with him & Taylor looked good back up for Conway /Gale I’m  not convinced about Tutu he always seems half arsed .Great to see Dempsey back though .Can’t see SS persevering with Randle much longer.

Didn’t realise Millar had messed up for their goal & he also dropped a cross .His kicking went haywire for a while after .Not the biggest fan of Sharman Lowe but he’s not under much threat from Millar based on yesterday which is a pity.

Sheehan was good yesterday as he was against Cardiff , Morley was pretty average tbh but not much in front of him really as Dalby was mainly in their no5’s pocket for most of the time.

Christie played well although got creamed in the build up to their goal age perhaps catching up with him he was really blowing out of his arse at the end.

Ref let a lot go but for both sides which was ok.

[Johnnyrotten]

6 minutes ago, Wanderlust said:

I think Dempsey and Randall are very different types, Dempsey being energy,  tackling and running and perfect for a more open or direct passage of play, whilst in theory at least, Randall is supposed to use tight control and short passing to unlock a packed defence - but for me he hasn’t quite done it often enough yet and Forss or even McAtee have been better at it.

With Cissoko, I think he is attack minded, but doesn’t do the defensive  side well whereas I’ve noticed eg ACD getting back more and getting tackles in recently. Of the wide men, I think Cissoko is the weakest defensively and I think SS has been asking more of the wide men in that respect - which has coincided with our improved results. When Hudds started playing in the second half we looked far more vulnerable on that side even though the cross for their goal came from our right (but I put that down to Miller going walkabout and it shouldn’t have happened)

As for Cardiff, I reckon our defensive performance for 85 minutes against a very good team was as outstanding as the goal.

 

Fair comments.  But I think your earlier one that Cissoko "doesn't track back" was harsh, as if he never does, I'm not disputing he's probably the least defensive of the 4 wingers, but its not like he's stood on the halfway line, he does join in.

I'll agree to differ on Cardiff, we were fairly solid against a flat attacking performance from them, but that would have earned us 0-0 which is what that game was all day long.  Then ACD won it with something completely out of the blue, this wasn't like eg Posh last season (Lolos in injury time) or the Lincoln equaliser (OG).  Those goals were coming, absolutely fully deserved and justified; the winner v Cardiff didn't reflect our fairly poor attacking performance and I'm hoping that was a one off for home games because we are better than that going forward.

[Wanderlust]

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

We all see games differently, I noticed early on he was "on it" and I watched him closely after that, he literally didn't give the ball away until late on with that air shot, but every pass wasn't only accurate it was done quickly to get us on the front foot.  The little half turns aren't a negative, it gives him time and room, similar with ACD (if only Randall had that skill). 

And he must have made 20 tackles or interceptions, it was a feature from the first 5 minutes to the last how many balls he won.  In comparison Morley could hardly get involved, not always a fault, sometimes just how the flow of the game goes, but on this occasion Sheehan was outstanding IMO.  It doesn't mean he will be next week, and like many he can look a different player away from home at small grounds for some reason.

Since coming back from international duty, Sheehan looks like a different player to me, much improved. Not sure what happened - maybe something in their training camp - but suddenly he’s not shying away from tackling and has stopped giving away cheap free kicks and that seems to have stopped other teams from crowding him out, which in turn has given the extra half second to pick his pass.

Or maybe it’s because of the way SS has tweaked the players around him or he’s having Weetabix for breakfast - I genuinely don’t know - but whatever it is I’m absolutely chuffed for the lad and for us as he’s more like the Sheehan of old.

I suspect that after that run of games where we were drawing and conceding first there’s been a shift in mindset in our own training with a bit more focus on defending as a team and then shifting the ball quicker as recently we’ve been excellent on turnover. 
 

Whatever it is, we look a much stronger outfit than we did a few weeks ago IMO.

[Johnnyrotten]

6 minutes ago, Take Hunt Off said:

Enjoyed the game yesterday free from league pressures. Cissoko went up a few notches (from a pretty low base) & no complaints about his work rate either .

Our left side with him & Taylor looked good back up for Conway /Gale I’m  not convinced about Tutu he always seems half arsed .Great to see Dempsey back though .Can’t see SS persevering with Randle much longer.

Didn’t realise Millar had messed up for their goal & he also dropped a cross .His kicking went haywire for a while after .Not the biggest fan of Sharman Lowe but he’s not under much threat from Millar based on yesterday which is a pity.

Sheehan was good yesterday as he was against Cardiff , Morley was pretty average tbh but not much in front of him really as Dalby was mainly in their no5’s pocket for most of the time.

Christie played well although got creamed in the build up to their goal age perhaps catching up with him he was really blowing out of his arse at the end.

Ref let a lot go but for both sides which was ok.

Agree with all of that.  All I'd say on Miller was that I also hadn't realised at the time he was at fault for the goal, I came away thinking he'd played well other than spilling the catch.  This is not a dig at TSL in the slightest, but Miller made more saves in the 2nd half than TSL has made all season - at least 3 and one was very eye catching when it was 1-0, low to his right at speed.  One of those when if it had been a goal the keeper wouldn't necessarily have been "at fault".  He was poor for the goal though and might have caused a 2nd to be conceded on another day so agreed he won't be replacing the more secure TSL any time soon. 

[Wanderlust]

4 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Fair comments.  But I think your earlier one that Cissoko "doesn't track back" was harsh, as if he never does, I'm not disputing he's probably the least defensive of the 4 wingers, but its not like he's stood on the halfway line, he does join in.

I'll agree to differ on Cardiff, we were fairly solid against a flat attacking performance from them, but that would have earned us 0-0 which is what that game was all day long.  Then ACD won it with something completely out of the blue, this wasn't like eg Posh last season (Lolos in injury time) or the Lincoln equaliser (OG).  Those goals were coming, absolutely fully deserved and justified; the winner v Cardiff didn't reflect our fairly poor attacking performance and I'm hoping that was a one off for home games because we are better than that going forward.

Chicken and egg though. Prior to playing us Cardiff scored plenty, but I reckon our defensive performance was the reason their attacking performance was flat. We gave them nothing and defended as a team from the front.

Still think Cardiff have one of the best defences in the league- and it took something special to break it.

For me, it was a rope-a-dope performance, executed brilliantly.

[desperado]

1 hour ago, Eavesy said:

 He’s had multiple opportunities both starting and from the bench. He is surrounded by very good players behind him, on the wings and upfront. 

His contribution has been practically nothing. His standards are that low that he’s now being praised for ‘getting in good positions’. Anyone could drop in between a midfield and defence, but it’s useless if you do absolutely nothing with it.

He has no speed, no strength, no ability to take anyone on, I’ve seen no evidence of him being able to find a good pass or put someone through, he’s too weak to shoot with any conviction. 

Fucking hell.

Who are you? That doorman from Maryport? 🤣

[Rival Son]

1 minute ago, desperado said:

Fucking hell.

Who are you? That doorman from Maryport? 🤣

I think @Eavesy was talking about Randall, not Dempsey.

[Marc505]

11 hours ago, Didledee said:

nostalgic camera view

Watching goals at breakneck speed on the TNT "highlights" show, I noticed Blackpool look like theyve switched sides for the main camera angle.

Funny how you notice stuff like this when you've been hooked up to a TV football drip for 30 odd years 😃

Edited November 2, 2025 by Marc505

[Wanderlust]

I would add that we have changed dramatically as a team. Less focus on possession and passing it about at the back, and more on defending together, winning the ball back and immediately looking to move it forward  - not just to the wide men, but through the middle too.

And I like it.

 

[desperado]

1 minute ago, Rival Son said:

I think @Eavesy was talking about Randall, not Dempsey.

Ah right. My apologies @Eavesy

Makes a bit more sense now. 

[Tombwfc]

15 hours ago, only1swanny said:

1st December marks a year since Dion Charles last scored.. 

And people were shaking their heads when we sold him. 

 

 

 

He'd still be our second best striker behind Burstow and we spunked the money we got for him (and then some) on Joel Randall.

Fair to say that move was a disaster all around.

[Ani]

2 hours ago, masi 51 said:

Taylor put us 2-1 up on the day Dan put St Mirren 2-1 up. Doubt two players have  ever scored and a former player scored on the same day in the past for the same team

Took me a while to understand what you were saying as am a bit slow today.

in the old days transfers often involved players moving between clubs so we might buu a player from Blackburn and they would get some money and player as part exchange, so would be more likely. 

[Cheese]

13 minutes ago, Ani said:

Took me a while to understand what you were saying as am a bit slow today.

in the old days transfers often involved players moving between clubs so we might buu a player from Blackburn and they would get some money and player as part exchange, so would be more likely. 

I've read it several times, and I still don't have a clue what he means.

(Although he's now deleted it, so maybe he didn't know what he meant either!)