Town run out of Championship time and now relegation looms
FORMER player turned firefighter Tom Cowan was the special guest at half-time on Saturday.
Neither Red Adair, the assembled cast from 1970s hit film The Towering Inferno or even Neil Warnock can now save doomed Huddersfield Town.
With one game to go, it’s all but mathematically over after an infernal mess of a season.
Andre Breitenreiter will let his feelings be known to the Terriers hierarchy after an awful 2023-24 ends at Portman Road. Judging by some pointed references on Saturday, it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall.
Players will take the majority of the rap. But this is a grim failure owned across the club.
Recruitment has been poor, too many players have done their own thing, while injuries have bitten and tactics have been questionable.
As Breitenreiter correctly opined, ‘many, many problems’ have contributed to Town’s fall. But the chief reason for Town’s demise was the decision to allow a tried and trusted figure in Warnock to leave early.
After Warnock left, the talk was of philosophy and building something over time.
All very admirable, but this division does not afford such luxuries to clubs like Huddersfield who have been hovering in the wrong half of the table for much of the past decade or so.
You don’t run before you can walk. Crunch the 23-24 numbers and virtually every which way you look, they convey that Town deserve to be heading where they are.
The only one sense of injustice arrives amid those ghastly late events at Ashton Gate.
Their number of wins is still in single digits; only Rotherham have conceded more goals and possess a worse goal difference.
No side has drawn as many games and draws kill you. Few will be surprised that a draw, 18 now in total, finished Town off.
The wider statistics show that time has finally caught up with Town. In their ten seasons at this level since 2012-13, they have finished 16th or below on eight occasions, featuring several relegation battles – including four in the past five campaigns.
They have also had 12 permanent head coaches/managers in that time – four this season including caretakers – and it remains to be seen if Breitenreiter says ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ with the German clearly perturbed by the culture he has witnessed on a day to day level among players at Town.
He spoke of witnessing ‘unacceptable things’ in his time in charge which he had not experienced in ‘30 years in the business.’ A withering indictment.
On an occasion ironically designated as Fan Appreciation Day, noone in blue and white was happy. Unless you count Sheffield Wednesday.
There was an air of resignation at the end from Town followers, while Birmingham fans were angrier. ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ was the chant.
Their Huddersfield counterparts had aired that the previous Saturday. Seen it, done it.
The sight of two unconvincing sides huffing and puffing their way to a draw that neither wanted was somewhat apt on a nothing day, weather wise.
Against a Blues side whose away form is the second worst in the division, Town did get the home crowd more engaged after levelling early on in the second half through Rhys Healey, who cancelled out Koji Miyoshi’s opener just before the interval when he calmly turned in Jack Rudoni’s cut-back.
They pressed to get a winner. There was work, but no wit.
The quality level in the final third, for the umpteenth time, was lamentable.
Blues took the lead when Miyoshi stole a march on Brodie Spencer at the far post to turn in a Keshi Anderson cross.
After Town levelled, Jay Stansfield almost put Blues back in front, while Danny Ward went agonisingly close with a late curler.
It was not to be. In time, thoughts will turn to the summer and a muchneeded overhaul.
It appears doubtful whether Breitenreiter will oversee it. Huddersfield Town: Nicholls; Pearson, Helik, Spencer; Turton (Radulovic 79), Matos (Wiles 68), Kasumu, Rudoni, Koroma (Thomas 58); Healey, Ward. Unused substitutes: Maxwell, Burgzorg, Headley, Edwards, Jackson, Iorpenda.
Birmingham City: Ruddy; Laird, Bielik, Sanderson, Buchanan; Paik, Sunjic (Jutkiewicz 77); Miyoshi (Pritchard 77), Bacuna (Dembele 64), Anderson (M Roberts 77); Stansfield. Unused substitutes: Etheridge, T Roberts, James, Gardner, Hall.
Referee: M Donohue (Greater Manchester).