We Are Terriers

We Are Terriers
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Huddersfield Town opinion, analysis and occasionally even insight from Steven Chicken and David Hartrick www.weareterriers.com

  1. 1d ago

    Huddersfield Town press conference ahead of Liverpool visit in EFL Trophy

    Here are some of the edited highlights from the press conference — you can find the full audio, including Jak Alnwick’s contribution, above or in the We Are Terriers podcast feed. Jon Stead It’s another opportunity for players to get minutes tomorrow. Obviously you want to win – what else do you want to see from tomorrow night? I think just getting back to our identity and looking, feeling and showcasing what we’ve been about for 14 games. I think it’s important that we show that and we show that Saturday was just a moment in time rather than anything bigger. I truly believe that. We’ve got a squad where, with us not having the game on Saturday, we can look towards the Leicester game and kind of use these two games to make sure everybody’s in the perfect position come Leicester, which will be a huge task for us. So yes, of course, it’s another game that we want to win. Martin will stress that enough: we do not like losing games. It’s not on our radar at any moment, no matter who we’re playing. So we look to address that. We look to be positive. We look to get the performance looking and feeling back how it has done, and then we look to build on that. We have a busy, busy schedule. Just because there’s a game called off actually means it’s busier, because we’ve got the time now and the opportunity to prepare and be perfectly positioned to go and play Leicester. With that in mind, you do have this gap over the international break now. Does that change how you approach tomorrow night? Might you be inclined to give more of the regular first-team players minutes, knowing they’re not going to be playing for a while, or do you view it as another opportunity for the wider squad to get opportunities and get their eye in a bit more? Yeah, I think we saw that the whole squad is going to be so important. I think that’s really key. Saturday and then obviously tomorrow night, with us not having a game until Leicester, gives us an opportunity to kind of mould those games and make sure that everybody is, again, in the best position we can be as a whole squad come Leicester. There are little bits around individuals that might need a little bit more than others, and some that, if they’re carrying something, there’s an opportunity to give them a little bit of a breather. But again, the squad is so, so important. Everybody is pushing to play. It’s not like there are the starters and another group. Everybody is pushing to be on that pitch, and we need to keep that. So it’s important that everybody is bought in, everybody is supporting in the right way if it’s not them on the pitch, and again making sure that we’re in the best place for Leicester. It’s Liverpool Under-21s who are the opposition. How does it differ playing against a Premier League academy side as opposed to another League One or League Two team? Yeah, again, different challenges. Liverpool, as you’d expect, are physically good. They can change direction well. They’re all young and hungry, technically very, very gifted players, but they haven’t at times been accustomed to some of the hustle and bustle that we would see in a regular league game. So there are slightly different challenges and different things that we need to look at. I think it’s a terrific game. We’ve watched a lot of them and they’re a terrific young side. They move the ball really well. They can hurt you. But again, like you mentioned with us and the squad that we’ve got, we can cause some real problems as well. I think these games have been fantastic in terms of development for our lads, but they’ve posed different challenges with the opposition. I think we get another one tomorrow night, which again is good for our development and the learning of our guys as well. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

  2. 2d ago

    Huddersfield Town show both strengths and weaknesses in up and down week

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.com We know Huddersfield Town’s first-choice XI can get the job done — as they showed again with a strong performance in their 1-1 draw with Luton. But as we then saw in their FA Cup defeat against League Two Exeter on Saturday, it doesn’t take complete wholesale changes for Town to look off their game. With Town in form and at the top of the table, it’s not …

  3. 4d ago

    Huddersfield Town press conference ahead of Exeter City in FA Cup first round

    Here are some of the edited highlights from the press conference — you can find the full audio above or in the We Are Terriers podcast feed. Martin Drury Will you be making significant changes to your side to face Exeter? I wouldn’t say significant. I think we’ll make some changes. But again, forgive me, it’s a competition to progress in and to do well in. There’s an opportunity for some players not to play, an opportunity for other players to play…but at the same time, I won’t be doing it just to hand game time out to people. That’s not the way we work. We’ll play a team that we believe will compete well in the game and give us a chance to win the game. As I say, it’s a competition that we want to progress in, so I’m not sat here saying we prioritise the league. Everything’s important to us. It’s not just about the results of the games, but it’s about the opportunity. I said to the players this morning: this is an opportunity for us to keep developing the way we want to play against a different type of challenge to what we’ve had so far. So there will be some changes, but I wouldn’t say that my mind’s on wholesale changes. It’s a competition where everybody is looking for an upset. It would be an upset if a League Two side beat the team at the top of League One, but Marcus was just saying they were only in the same division last year. Bearing that in mind, are you wary of that? I wouldn’t say that’s at the forefront of my thinking. But the message to the players, and the message between the players themselves, is what you mentioned there. This is Exeter, who were in our league six months ago competing, and there were some tough games against them last season. Our focus is on ensuring that we still look like us, we perform like us, we compete like us and, as I say, we develop the way we want to play, irrespective of who we’re playing. That’s the opportunity that I see we have tomorrow against a good side who don’t concede many goals, who defend well, who are aggressive, who attack well, who attack your box as much as they possibly can. We’re fully aware of the threats they pose. It’ll be a challenging game for us. It’ll be a difficult game for us. As you say, in the FA Cup there’s always this underdog that people like to see and of course that’s the magic of the cup. So I’m sure they’re coming here with real belief, and they want to come and compete and try and beat us. We have to stand up to that challenge and ensure that we deliver a performance that is in keeping with what we’ve done so far. You’ve had some really good results lately, but in this one you clearly are the favourites. That’s a very different sort of anticipation to being top of the league and playing Luton, for instance. Do you have to remind the players there can be no complacency? No, I don’t feel that way. I don’t feel that I need to tell them that. I feel like they’re in a really good place, reminding each other. If I saw in training that we weren’t training the right way and we weren’t competing properly, and people didn’t quite look how we normally would look, then of course we’d have that conversation. I’m not seeing that. The players have trained technically well. The players who didn’t play on Tuesday night trained yesterday really hard — I thought they were excellent. Loved the practice, loved the session, the way they conducted themselves. Then today, collectively as a group, everyone was back training together. We did the analysis of Exeter, looked at everything they do in the game, or think they’ll do in the game, and I thought the way the players then went to the pitch after that and trained was again excellent, so I don’t sense that from our players. I don’t feel the need to raise that. They know, and I think they’re just as hungry as the staff are. We want to keep developing the way we play, and tomorrow is the next challenge and the next opportunity to do that. Are you forced into any changes? Has everybody come through Tuesday night OK? There’s only probably one concern, which is Ilias Bronkhorst, who’s just got a slight niggle in his hip — so if he doesn’t play tomorrow, that would be precautionary more than anything else. In terms of everybody else from Tuesday night, everybody came through fine and we’re OK. Obviously Ryan Ledson’s suspension has finished, so he’ll be back available. Bojan [Radulovic] has trained and will be, if not involved tomorrow, involved on Tuesday. But he’s pushing, so potentially available tomorrow as well, and everybody else is OK. Marcus Harness How good is Derensili Sanches Fernandes? Yeah, he’s really good! He’s really good. We love him. He’s obviously got magic in moments and can make something out of nothing, and he’s so consistent in his quality and execution. He’s got a good head screwed on his shoulders as well. So yeah, we just keep giving him the ball and we’re enjoying having him. Long may it continue. I know the head coach keeps talking about coaching that side of it as well. It’s all right having those skills, but doing your bit off the ball as well. How much has everybody bought into that, including Derens? Yeah, there are kind of non-negotiables in any group, really. Some can get away with more than others, but I think the culture that’s being built started when the gaffer came in and took control of us. He’s been on it from the start. We don’t carry anyone. We don’t turn a blind eye to things either. Everyone’s holding each other accountable and everyone’s really bought into it. So it’s just one of those things where we’re pushing each other to try and play at the highest level we can, as consistently as we can. What are your best memories of the cup, both playing and watching? You faced Arsenal in the fifth round with Pompey, I believe? Yeah, because I remember playing Arsenal — I didn’t remember it was in the fifth round. When I think about cup competitions, the big one for me was playing in, I think it was, the semi-final of the Carabao Cup when I was at Burton. We played Man City in a double-header, so that was probably the big cup run that stands out to me. And generally, the FA Cup when you were growing up – did it mean much to you? Yeah, obviously it’s got such history and it’s a massive, massive competition. There are always upsets and stuff like that. Obviously Exeter are a good team and they were in our league last season, so it’s not like it would be a massive upset, but we don’t want to be on the back end of a result like that. We’ve been doing a lot of work today getting prepared, and we’ll just be looking to try and put in the best performance we can. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

  4. Nov 2

    Huddersfield Town press conference ahead of Luton Town test

    Here are some of the edited highlights from the press conference — you can find the full audio above or in the We Are Terriers podcast feed. Martin Drury Will you be forced into any changes, Martin, or will it just be specifics? Yeah, no forced changes. Everyone came through the game well. Those that were in the squad or out of the squad that are fit and available are still fit and available for tomorrow, and we won’t expect anybody back who wasn’t involved on Saturday in terms of injuries. So no forced changes, but obviously we assess what sort of challenge the game will pose to us and what players we feel are best suited to it. You talked the other day about the detail that goes into, for instance, picking between your centre-backs. How important is that analytics and numbers side of the game at Huddersfield at the moment? One of the most exciting parts of the job is we’ve got a lot of skilled people now in football. I think we’ll never, ever move away from gut and what your eyes tell you, but it’s also nice to have some evidence and some backing around the rationale for why you make decisions, why you make choices. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t, but it’s good to have that extra support from people around you. The way that we look to approach this game and every game is: what are the right players for this game? What’s the right shape for this game? What’s the right approach with and without the ball? That’s no different tomorrow against a completely different challenge. Luton and Bradford are opposites — so yeah, we’ll have a shift in terms of our approach, but our principles remain the same. Is it helpful to you as a head coach that Chris Markham’s background is in analytics? He understands the value that can have. Do you feel like you’ve got that team right at the club now? Yeah, as you say, Chris’s background is within that. He’s worked across different areas of football, at international level in the England set-up, the FA, and he’s got unbelievable experience within that, so I do feel well supported from him and his experience. That certainly helps not just in terms of games, but recruitment from that side of it, because there are a hell of a lot of things and context that go into recruitment. I felt in the summer, being mine and Chris’s first window together, he did some really good things and we did some really good things. The club were supported by the owner and it was in-depth in terms of our approach to try and get it right. Again, it’s one window, so we need longer to get it absolutely perfect. Then alongside that, we’ve got a group of analysts who are working incredibly hard, and I have to pay tribute to them because at times they’re a little bit of the unsung heroes in terms of the support that they give us as a coaching staff and how hard they work. So yeah, I’m supported by people who are honest, who care about the club, who want the club to be successful. That’s pretty much the culture from top to bottom right now, from what I see. There’s nobody that lives outside of that. Everyone’s within that. I just wanted to check in on that culture, actually, because I know you’ve described it before as being a process and something that’s continuous and you have to stay on top of. Sitting here now in early November, are you pleased with what you’ve seen over the past few months, and are there any things that you feel like you’re still working on? Well, there’s certainly a competitive nature about the group. They’re hungry to succeed. I think they can smell that there’s a possibility, if they’re competing and they’re at their best, so I think they believe in each other as a group of players. I suppose a lot of the pleasing parts are a lot of the parts that we’ve been criticised for in the past. Last season, criticised for away form. I believe we’re currently the best in the league for away form. Conceding late goals – we’ve conceded very, very few late goals, touch wood, in the 13 games and the cup games on top of that. So there’s been improvement in areas that needed to be improved, and we had to improve. But that says a lot about the players, that they can take a little bit of criticism and actually focus on trying to improve that, alongside the staff. Again, the coaching staff are working incredibly hard as well to help that. I think, in general, there’s a good mentality about the group. Where would I like us to improve? I don’t think we’ve been challenged in the biggest way yet in terms of what the season will pose. It’s all nice when the season starts and the pitches are nice and everyone’s fresh-faced, and you start and you get a good run and there’s a little bit of momentum building. I think your culture is really tested when it starts to get into the winter months, and everyone starts to get a little bit more tired, and you get a few injuries, and you get a couple of suspensions, and then you have a little dip. All these things I’m speaking about are going to happen. As a club, as a group of players and staff, that’s when our culture as an organisation will be challenged and tested. Right now, every challenge that the players have faced and have been posed with, I think they’ve adapted and they’ve embraced. Again, that’s testament to them, but there are definitely going to be a few more speed bumps in the road that we anticipate, look forward to and embrace as well. Is that why, even with some of the recent results, you’ve been quite insistent on wanting to have more control? Is it about being ready for when things do get more difficult? You need to be ready to do that, and there might be occasions where if you don’t get that control, it can be costly for you. Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely. We’re in a good place right now, and the way that we attack and the way that we score goals is really, really good — the players are doing some amazing things. But you can’t be reliant on one way. That’s where we need to be able to sometimes take a little bit more control, continue to try and attack in different ways and keep building the other ways alongside fast attacks. Because, as you rightly say, people over time will learn to stop certain things that you’re doing, and then you have to adapt again or get better at the things you’re doing. So yeah, it’s just being mindful and respectful that we’re playing against good teams in this league, and good coaches, good players. As I say, when you start to get to those cold winter nights and the bad weather that no doubt is just coming around the corner, that’s when your character is tested. That’s when you want to see a strong mentality as a group, that’s when a no-excuses mentality is going to be key. Right now, the players have shown that, and hopefully they continue to do that. Radinio Balker You can see the confidence and how much you all seem to be enjoying your football. Does that make a big difference to you as a player when you’re enjoying it as much as you are? Yes, of course. Winning is always a medicine, I would say. If you’re losing three on the bounce, I think the confidence would be a little bit less, even though you don’t want it to be, so it’s always good to win. I think you can see it also in the chances that now we are scoring in the quick moments where we might have missed them if we’d lost three on the bounce. It’s always good to win and have a good spirit in the team. You’re in excellent form this season and seem to have found that consistency. Is this the best spell you’ve had in your career, would you say? I don’t think it’s the best. I think I had a really good stint before I came here, at Groningen, where I’d just come back from my ACL and had a really, really good stint, so I think I still have some more to give. Of course, I just had that little niggle from my hamstring injury, but I think I’m on my way to doing the same and hopefully showing it over a longer period, because that’s the main thing for me. I think it needs to be consistent for a longer period before I can say: “Yeah, this is t… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

  5. Nov 2

    Huddersfield Town are good now, actually

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.com This week’s We Are Terriers podcast has almost nothing but praise for Huddersfield Town — and why wouldn’t that be the case after they enjoyed themselves so thoroughly in Saturday’s big derby? We talk about where that game against Bradford was won, how Town sustained the hosts’ pressure, and the quality that shone through once again to blow the Bantams a…

  6. Oct 30

    Huddersfield Town press conference ahead of Bradford City derby

    Here are some of the edited highlights from the press conference — you can find the full audio above or in the We Are Terriers podcast feed. Martin Drury Team news…is Bojan Radulovic going to be available tomorrow? No, no, he’s not ready. Everybody came through the game last week fine. Obviously some players got some minutes in midweek as well, so they came through that really well. So yeah, no real updates in terms of injuries. And we saw Radinio Balker back on the bench last time out. Is he in a position where he could theoretically start for you? Well, he’s fit, so theoretically he could start and he could not start, same as any other player. But he’s available, as he was last Saturday. He’s back in contention tomorrow. How much of a conundrum does that give you? A player of obvious talent, but equally a back line who are doing really well at the moment. Yeah, I can say that about a number of players at this moment in time. It’s not just the back players. The players in midfield, the players at the top end of the pitch. Those that are playing and starting are doing well. Those that are coming off the bench and coming on are doing well, so it’s a positive headache that I have. Again, it’s full credit to the players and how they’re aware that they’re training, we’re all ready to play and we’re all ready to go, so it’s difficult for us to decide on that. What I like is we’ve got different tools for different types of challenges that we face, and no doubt tomorrow we’ll face some different challenges to what we’ve faced previously, so we look forward to it. There’s a lot of emotion that goes into local derbies, and I’m sure you’ve been privy to some massive ones in your time at Manchester United, over in Spain, West Brom and the local rivalry around there. Having seen all of that, what is the key to success in these kinds of scenarios? I think Michael Duff alluded to it: there are probably two layers in terms of recognising the importance of what it means to both football clubs and what it means to both sets of fans. But for us, it’s another opportunity to keep developing the way we want to play. It’s another opportunity to get better at some of the things that we want to improve on. And this game in particular, as I spoke about before, because of their defensive record, is a great opportunity for us to keep trusting the things that we’re doing and actually go and test ourselves against the best in the league at stopping people scoring. We know we’re going to have to defend really well because let’s not forget how well they attack and how many numbers they commit forward to attack. But also, as I said, we will impose ourselves on Bradford. That’s why we’re there. In these types of fixtures, you want players to be fully committed. You want players to be fired up. We have to have that emotional control in it and focus on another performance where we feel we can keep building. It’s a difficult balancing act, isn’t it? The cliche is that you have to play the game, not the occasion. But is there some degree to which actually being a bit fired up for these things can ultimately pay dividends? I think if you’re not, you get found out. You get caught out. So I think it’d be naive to think we can go there and be really, really calm about it. That’s not the type of game it’ll be. But it’s one we’re looking forward to. As I say, we’re looking at a competitive game. I can’t repeat myself enough: our players are excited. They’re not fazed by tomorrow. They’re really looking forward to it. The moment I threw some stats and some data at them to say, “Look, this team’s the best at this, this and this,” they started sitting up in the chair and going: “Okay.” So they look ready for the game tomorrow, but again, with a lot of respect for who we’re playing against. They’re a very strong outfit and we have no illusions that we can go there and just think about attacking. We have to defend very, very well and we have to be organised without the ball. We have to commit everything we have into the performance. But again, it’s a great one for the people of both places, and it’s one that we look forward to. When the game’s ended, we’ll be on to the next one, so it’s not the end of the world either way — but of course, it’s an important fixture for both sets of fans. The last couple of games when we’ve spoken to the opposition managers, Tom Cleverley and Gary Caldwell, both highlighted the quality of your transitional play. They both praised Huddersfield as the best team in the league at it. What goes into that on the training ground? Is that the hardest part to get right as a coach? Well, it depends what type of players you’re working with. So it’s probably not the hardest thing to get right for us because we have players with instincts to do that. If we didn’t have players with pace, we didn’t have players with instincts to attack fast, and I’m asking them to do that, it’s quite challenging. Probably more challenging is the other side to it: for us is to have a little bit more control at times and not attack as fast in some moments. I certainly would prefer it to be that way, and not at the detriment of our ability to attack fast. We want to keep doing it whenever the moment’s right. We have to develop how ruthless we are when we do it, particularly tomorrow against this team, because I don’t feel we’ll get the same amount of opportunities we’ve had against every opponent this season. So we have to be ruthless when those moments arise, but at the same time, we don’t want to be one-dimensional in the sense that we only score goals from attacking fast. That’s what’s pleased me most about this season: we’re scoring different types of goals. I think for us to have a chance to be competitive in the game tomorrow, we have to attack in different ways. It can’t just be this transitional team that people are referencing us as at this moment in time. But of course, it’s pleasing that we are able to do it efficiently and effectively right now. That’s come down to the quality of players that we have. Ilias Bronkhorst There’s been a lot made of your relationship down that right-hand side with your former Excelsior teammate Derensili Sanches Fernandes. Why do you think that relationship between the two of you works so well? I think because we played together for two seasons, of course. Now we live in the same building as well, so we drive every day together. We speak the same language, and I think we have a good connection. Also this season, I think the supporters can tell we have a good connection between us. It’s a good start for both of us. Is he following you around, then? Well when I was picking my apartment, I told him it was a really nice apartment, and then he wanted the same! So yeah, it’s nice for me to have him around as well. Big game coming up on Saturday. Even if they weren’t local rivals, it’s still a big game: first against fourth. In terms of local rivalries, have you played in many derby matches over the course of your career? Yeah, I’ve played a few rivalry games, and I know every derby is big, also for the supporters. But I think for us it’s an important game, as all the other games are. We want to win every game, especially this one because I know it’s so important for the supporters, so we’re aiming for three points tomorrow. Which rivalries or derbies have you played in before? Who were Excelsior’s big rivals? We had Sparta Rotterdam, and also Feyenoord, but I think they saw us as a little brother! But for the supporters it was a big game, and when I played for NEC against Vitesse, it was also a really big derby. So yeah, I’ve played a few derbies. And how much do you thrive on that kind of lively atmosphere when it’s a big match like that? I love it. You feel it’s really important for the fans, so they want to push you as much as they can. I think it gives you a little bit extra on the pitch, so I hope we get the full support tomorrow and they will give us a boost. We were talking to Martin Drury this time la… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

  7. Oct 26

    Decisive quality now shining through for table-topping Huddersfield Town

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.com Why are Huddersfield Town top of the table? Because they have the quality required to make the difference in tight games. That was on show in back-to-back home victories over Peterborough United and Wigan Athletic. Neither game was straightforward for Town, yet on both occasions they were able to break down the opposition with real incision to make it nin…

  8. Oct 23

    Huddersfield Town press conference ahead of facing Wigan Athletic

    Here are some of the edited highlights from the press conference — you can find the full audio above or in the We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Joe Low’s contribution. Martin Drury Quick check on Bojan Radulovic first — not involved on Tuesday night. You talked about just not taking any risks with him and a bit of fatigue. Is that still the situation, or is he back for Saturday? No, he won’t be back unfortunately. He’s still got a little bit of an issue with his hamstring, so it’ll probably be a couple of weeks before he’s getting back involved. Tuesday was precautionary because we thought it was a little bit fatigued, but we’ve investigated it a little bit further and there’s a little issue with his hamstring. It’s not a big issue, but something that we need to be mindful of. And everybody else came through Tuesday okay? Same squad to pick from at the weekend, or is anyone back? David Kasumu’s back fit. We need to look at how we manage and integrate him back in. Obviously Ryan Ledson’s back fit but unavailable for the game. And Radinio Balker is injury-free, so he’ll be in contention to be within the squad tomorrow. Probably not ready to start again. That’s good news. Is he a little bit ahead of what you expected? [The prognosis] was two to three weeks, so it’ll be two weeks tomorrow. He’s been banging the door down. He feels good and he wants to play. The medics and the performance team are also doing their job of making sure that we bring him back in a safe manner. If you asked him, he’s fit, he wants to play. He’s probably not quite there yet, but he’s certainly in contention to be in the squad. You’ve mentioned Ryan Ledson, so let’s address that now. The news coming out today is that he’s going to serve a three-match ban for comments made to match officials at half-time and after the full-time whistle against Sheffield Wednesday. Emotions run high, don’t they? What’s your take on that situation, particularly given how big you are on the culture at the club and the messages that sends out? I think first and foremost, Ryan’s been a very, very good captain for us on and off the pitch. I know Ryan is a person who’s very, very passionate about us being successful and about the group being successful. Of course, we have some standards and behaviours, and Ryan knew straight after that he probably shouldn’t have got involved to a certain extent. I understand why — completely understand why. I’m sure there have been similar instances of this happening at other clubs across the country, but in this case Ryan’s been punished for it, so we have to deal with it. It is what it is and we move on. It’s always good to have good players available, absolutely, but at the same time, it’s three games. If anything, it’ll probably give him a bigger lift when he does come back, and maybe give the group a bigger lift when he does come back, so we have to wait a little bit longer. He didn’t need to apologise to me. I don’t see it as a massive issue. These things happen in football. If I spend all my time worried about that or concentrating on that, then I’m not really looking at what’s in front of us in terms of Wigan and the other games that we’ve got against really good teams. So it is what it is. That sounds maybe a little bit blasé, but we just move on. On Marcus Harness, you said the other day about how he’s had to play a lot of different roles, possibly to the detriment of his form. Is it about trying to find the right role for him consistently now, or is it trying to find places for him in your system game to game? That’s the same for a lot of players that we’ve got. A lot of players have played different positions so far this season because of some of the injuries that we’ve had and the different types of game plans that we put together against different opponents. Marcus is no different to anybody else, other than the fact that at the back end of last season in particular, he played almost every minute for us. He was a standout player. I appreciated everything that he did at the back end of last season. I thought he was amazing. He was fantastic throughout pre-season. He started the season really strongly. But as I said before, we asked him to play in different roles, and that’s on us as staff — but he’s such a selfless person. Never once did he say, “It’s not really my position, I don’t want to play that.” He was brilliant, and that’s because he’s such a team player. But of course, we have good players in the group, and sometimes players play in positions and they excel, they do well and they deserve to stay in the team. That’s the healthy competition that we want. No player, even if you’ve had an amazing career like Marcus, and we know how good he is and the qualities that he’s got, has a god-given right to start games. It’s about how we play and train every day. Marcus has been exceptional on the training ground, so I know that when he comes on in a game or he’s called upon to start a game, he’s going to produce a level of performance that is only going to help the team. That’s exactly what I saw on Tuesday night, and he’s pushing very hard to start for us. I know that when he does, he’ll be very, very good for us yet again. So it’s pleasing for me that I’ve got that level of quality, both as a person and as a player, to give myself a headache really around team selection. Right now, I think the group are in a good place in the sense of respecting where we’re at and how you get in the team and how you stay in the team, and understanding when you’re not in the team, sometimes it’s not because you’re doing anything wrong. It’s just certain game plans that we have. We’ve seen you deploy him in the front line, in a front two and in the press as well. We know that even if he’s not having the best day on the ball, you always get a big shift out of Marcus. Is that a position we might see more of him in, particularly if Bojan is out for the next couple of games? Potentially, yeah. We know what Marcus has got in the final third. His goal against Notts County was exceptional as well, when he makes a move from the left-hand side in behind and takes it really cleanly and early, so of course he’s a goal threat. He’s just a good footballer. He’s a goal threat. He played as a six away at MK Dons and helped us control the game as a deep-lying six. Then he’s in the box against Northampton scoring goals. So he’s just a talented footballer with a real gratitude towards everything that we ask of him. Will he play at the top end of the pitch? Absolutely. Might he play deeper down? Probably. But I know he’ll do well with whatever he has to do. We didn’t really talk about it the other night, but a goal for Ilias Bronkhorst. Do you want to see more out of him in the final third? Could that be an important moment for him? We know he’s got loads of attacking threat and capabilities in the final third — that was the reason why he was brought to the club. I think what he’s doing right now, he’s complementing players around him. He’s allowing Derens to produce the level of performances that he’s producing because of the support he’s giving him, the way he’s feeding him the ball, the way he’s supporting him on the outside or from underneath. So Ilias has had a really positive start. I can’t pay any more respect to Ilias in terms of coming to a new country with a new group of players, and the way he’s started the season is absolutely crazy — how good he’s been, quicker than I would have anticipated. But of course, yeah, he’s got the capability to score more goals. He’s a big lad and he can score from set plays. We want him to be a little bit more aggressive at the top end of the pitch because we really believe he can be. At the other end of the pitch, he’s been really, really good for us and strong for us at defending that space. So he’s had a really positive start to his life at Huddersfield. Hopefully that continues. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

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About

Huddersfield Town opinion, analysis and occasionally even insight from Steven Chicken and David Hartrick www.weareterriers.com

Information

  • Creator
    We Are Terriers
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    145
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Steven Chicken
  • Show Website
    We Are Terriers

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