Home
The FA Cup third round is always a special occasion in my book.
Football has changed from a team to a squad game.
The Doombar deliberations were all about whom Phil Parkinson would bring in from his squad to cover the enforced absences through injury and loan recalls.
Hopes were high a few youngsters might get the call, at least for the bench.
Our Huddersfield informant, who accompanied us to the match, thought David Wagner would put out a second XI.
As it turned out, Huddersfield started with a fairly strong team and Phil Parkinson gave several squad players a chance to prove themselves.
He surprisingly gave Gary Madine a rest, with a bench full of youngsters.
Huddersfield turned out to be a team keen on possession, without doing much with it, especially in a dour first half.
The only decent chance fell to a ring-rusty Aaron Wilbraham, who managed to miss what we all reckoned we could have scored.
Huddersfield hit us with two quick goals early in the second half but why the second one was allowed to count I do not know, after a horrific tackle on David Wheater in the build-up.
Somebody should ask referee Mr East about that one.
To our credit we fought back and made a game of it, with Derik scoring and doing his chances of playing next week in midfield no harm at all.
We had them rattled for a period and it is a compliment to our spirit that they resorted to time-wasting to see the match out.
Our dreams of Wembley are over for another season but, to be honest, we’ve got more important matters to deal with, like staying in the Championship.
To that extent, the match was good in giving some squad players valuable match time.
Some looked more ready than others, although some players need more time to get their sharpness back, especially forwards.
We have to survive the transfer window and see what kind of squad we are left with.
Whoever is left in that squad has to play a part. We cannot afford to carry anybody these days.
As a crowd, we will need to get behind them all, irrespective of personal feelings about individuals.
As for the magic of the FA Cup, just ask the supporters of Notts County and Coventry City if they are bothered that they beat squad teams.
Source
Football has changed from a team to a squad game.
The Doombar deliberations were all about whom Phil Parkinson would bring in from his squad to cover the enforced absences through injury and loan recalls.
Hopes were high a few youngsters might get the call, at least for the bench.
Our Huddersfield informant, who accompanied us to the match, thought David Wagner would put out a second XI.
As it turned out, Huddersfield started with a fairly strong team and Phil Parkinson gave several squad players a chance to prove themselves.
He surprisingly gave Gary Madine a rest, with a bench full of youngsters.
Huddersfield turned out to be a team keen on possession, without doing much with it, especially in a dour first half.
The only decent chance fell to a ring-rusty Aaron Wilbraham, who managed to miss what we all reckoned we could have scored.
Huddersfield hit us with two quick goals early in the second half but why the second one was allowed to count I do not know, after a horrific tackle on David Wheater in the build-up.
Somebody should ask referee Mr East about that one.
To our credit we fought back and made a game of it, with Derik scoring and doing his chances of playing next week in midfield no harm at all.
We had them rattled for a period and it is a compliment to our spirit that they resorted to time-wasting to see the match out.
Our dreams of Wembley are over for another season but, to be honest, we’ve got more important matters to deal with, like staying in the Championship.
To that extent, the match was good in giving some squad players valuable match time.
Some looked more ready than others, although some players need more time to get their sharpness back, especially forwards.
We have to survive the transfer window and see what kind of squad we are left with.
Whoever is left in that squad has to play a part. We cannot afford to carry anybody these days.
As a crowd, we will need to get behind them all, irrespective of personal feelings about individuals.
As for the magic of the FA Cup, just ask the supporters of Notts County and Coventry City if they are bothered that they beat squad teams.
Source