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There have been times when a victory like this had the Wanderers dressing room walls shaking with stereo bass, and pumped-up players making grandiose statements of play-off chases... but not anymore.
Sure, congratulations were handed out where necessary, not least to Andy Lonergan for some phenomenal work either side of the break.
But by the time the players emerged from their debrief with Neil Lennon, feet had practically been nailed to the floor. It was straight back down to business.
There is something almost mechanical about the manager’s insight into games, his refusal to accept anything other than his view of perfection. And thank heavens it is rubbing off on his players too.
Quizzed on the performances of Max Clayton and Josh Vela – both thrown into a battle the previous regime felt was too tough for youngsters to handle – his response was positive, but measured.
Both, he said, were handling themselves well but could have used the ball better and would be reminded so on the training pitch this weekend.
It is 932 days since Owen Coyle stood hunched against the tunnel wall at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium and vowed to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
When his shortfalls were exploited, Dougie Freedman picked up the baton and went close. That tilt towards the play-offs was the nearest Wanderers have looked to a side with the right mentality to go up, but even that was short-lived.
Lennon has injected passion back into the cause and given the fans a brand of football they can get behind.
But he is nobody’s fool, and the Northern Irishman knows full well that to take that next step and become a consistent team, he still has add something else.
Lennon wasn’t getting carried away by this result, nor a rise up the table. His concentration is fixed on milking every ounce of effort from the players at his disposal before reaching for some extra quality in January.
Then, and only then, will we be able to assess if Wanderers’ campaign is simply a matter of rebuilding for next time around.
Craig Davies, whose goal sealed a fourth consecutive home win, was a perfect example.
He emerged from the dressing room like a scalded cat, in no doubt where his manager expected improvement next weekend against Reading.
Shattered, and propped up by the door frame of the media room, Darren Pratley was exactly the same.
“Since we got relegated it always been ‘promotion, promotion, promotion’ and we never seemed to do it,” the midfield said.
“That tells me we need to put it out of our mind a bit and just try to keep playing well.
“We’ve talked about it for the last three years and something has been off, so we need to do the old cliché and take each game as it comes.”
It is hard to deny the progress being made since Lennon came to the club, nor that Wanderers are making ground on the sides above them in the table.
Yet focus is very much on short term, making the necessary tweaks which can get a result at Reading next weekend, and repeat.
Some characters within the Whites dressing room are thriving on this no-nonsense environment.
Pratley is playing his best football since arriving at the club, likewise Davies – although like Chung-Yong Lee, he was generally below-par against Huddersfield compared to recent outings.
The back four look as solid as they have for a long time, anchored by Andy Lonergan, who has developed a magnetic relationship with the ball in the last few weeks.
Blessed with a second daughter this week, the down-to-earth Lancastrian could probably expect some sleepless nights from here on in.
But he would have slept soundly after this performance, making a quite breathtaking point-blank save just after half time from Jacob Butterfield to put alongside other impressive efforts to deny Nakhi Wells and Grant Holt.
His opposite number Alex Smithies – unbeknown to most in the stadium at the time – also got a crucial fingertip on Davies’s first-half shot to divert it on to the crossbar.
That proved the only incident of note in a dreary first half, broken up by some over-fussy refereeing by Carl Berry, who also waved away Wanderers’ pleas for a penalty when Mark Hudson dragged down Davies on the very edge of the box.
Huddersfield started well in the second half and how Lonergan blocked Butterfield’s effort from six yards is anyone’s guess.
But it did spark Wanderers into action and once they brought Liam Feeney, Max Clayton and Chung-Yong Lee into the game, things quickly picked up.
Davies’s goal came from a fine pass threaded through for Feeney by Chung-Yong, and though the Wales international did not make as clean a contact as he did with his effort in the first half, that seemed to be enough to take the ball past Smithies.
As Huddersfield pushed forward in the later stages, each Wanderers counter looked capable of bringing a second. Again, some poor choices in the final third prevented that from being the case.
This was a game which had started on a respectful note with a tribute to the late Roy Hartle, and the club should be commended for a dignified and well-observed presentation before kick-off.
You can bet a result and clean sheet carved out in the gritty manner this one would have met with his approval.
For Wanderers, who go in search of some redemption at the Madjeski Stadium next weekend after their embarrassing display in January, it is back to Euxton and more hard graft.
Stranger things have happened in the Championship than a club who were rock bottom just eight games ago going on to trouble the top six – just ask the Royals, who had Matt Mills in tow when they did exactly the same a few years back.
Source
Sure, congratulations were handed out where necessary, not least to Andy Lonergan for some phenomenal work either side of the break.
But by the time the players emerged from their debrief with Neil Lennon, feet had practically been nailed to the floor. It was straight back down to business.
There is something almost mechanical about the manager’s insight into games, his refusal to accept anything other than his view of perfection. And thank heavens it is rubbing off on his players too.
Quizzed on the performances of Max Clayton and Josh Vela – both thrown into a battle the previous regime felt was too tough for youngsters to handle – his response was positive, but measured.
Both, he said, were handling themselves well but could have used the ball better and would be reminded so on the training pitch this weekend.
It is 932 days since Owen Coyle stood hunched against the tunnel wall at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium and vowed to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
When his shortfalls were exploited, Dougie Freedman picked up the baton and went close. That tilt towards the play-offs was the nearest Wanderers have looked to a side with the right mentality to go up, but even that was short-lived.
Lennon has injected passion back into the cause and given the fans a brand of football they can get behind.
But he is nobody’s fool, and the Northern Irishman knows full well that to take that next step and become a consistent team, he still has add something else.
Lennon wasn’t getting carried away by this result, nor a rise up the table. His concentration is fixed on milking every ounce of effort from the players at his disposal before reaching for some extra quality in January.
Then, and only then, will we be able to assess if Wanderers’ campaign is simply a matter of rebuilding for next time around.
Craig Davies, whose goal sealed a fourth consecutive home win, was a perfect example.
He emerged from the dressing room like a scalded cat, in no doubt where his manager expected improvement next weekend against Reading.
Shattered, and propped up by the door frame of the media room, Darren Pratley was exactly the same.
“Since we got relegated it always been ‘promotion, promotion, promotion’ and we never seemed to do it,” the midfield said.
“That tells me we need to put it out of our mind a bit and just try to keep playing well.
“We’ve talked about it for the last three years and something has been off, so we need to do the old cliché and take each game as it comes.”
It is hard to deny the progress being made since Lennon came to the club, nor that Wanderers are making ground on the sides above them in the table.
Yet focus is very much on short term, making the necessary tweaks which can get a result at Reading next weekend, and repeat.
Some characters within the Whites dressing room are thriving on this no-nonsense environment.
Pratley is playing his best football since arriving at the club, likewise Davies – although like Chung-Yong Lee, he was generally below-par against Huddersfield compared to recent outings.
The back four look as solid as they have for a long time, anchored by Andy Lonergan, who has developed a magnetic relationship with the ball in the last few weeks.
Blessed with a second daughter this week, the down-to-earth Lancastrian could probably expect some sleepless nights from here on in.
But he would have slept soundly after this performance, making a quite breathtaking point-blank save just after half time from Jacob Butterfield to put alongside other impressive efforts to deny Nakhi Wells and Grant Holt.
His opposite number Alex Smithies – unbeknown to most in the stadium at the time – also got a crucial fingertip on Davies’s first-half shot to divert it on to the crossbar.
That proved the only incident of note in a dreary first half, broken up by some over-fussy refereeing by Carl Berry, who also waved away Wanderers’ pleas for a penalty when Mark Hudson dragged down Davies on the very edge of the box.
Huddersfield started well in the second half and how Lonergan blocked Butterfield’s effort from six yards is anyone’s guess.
But it did spark Wanderers into action and once they brought Liam Feeney, Max Clayton and Chung-Yong Lee into the game, things quickly picked up.
Davies’s goal came from a fine pass threaded through for Feeney by Chung-Yong, and though the Wales international did not make as clean a contact as he did with his effort in the first half, that seemed to be enough to take the ball past Smithies.
As Huddersfield pushed forward in the later stages, each Wanderers counter looked capable of bringing a second. Again, some poor choices in the final third prevented that from being the case.
This was a game which had started on a respectful note with a tribute to the late Roy Hartle, and the club should be commended for a dignified and well-observed presentation before kick-off.
You can bet a result and clean sheet carved out in the gritty manner this one would have met with his approval.
For Wanderers, who go in search of some redemption at the Madjeski Stadium next weekend after their embarrassing display in January, it is back to Euxton and more hard graft.
Stranger things have happened in the Championship than a club who were rock bottom just eight games ago going on to trouble the top six – just ask the Royals, who had Matt Mills in tow when they did exactly the same a few years back.
Source