BFTG Huddersfield Town

[marlowuk]

In Drenthe, Guthrie, Williams and McCleary we have a really great midfield if - and it's a big if - they stay fit, get regular games together and develop an understanding. The FLS (yeah! I know!) yesterday stated that, in Pog, Sharp, and Alf, we have one of the most potent striking forces in the division. We have the potential to do very well indeed. It is down to the manager (and luck with injuries etc) to motivate the players, get the tactics right and to realise that potential.

OK - I haven't mentioned the defence. McCarthy and Fed are very good. But we do need to strengthen the back four. Bridge is class. Cummings looks good to me. Gunter gets some stick but I like him. But our centre backs are too slow and look very suspect against fast forwards who like to run at them and take them on. That's our achilles heel and where we need to strengthen imho.

[From Despair To Where?]

I was in the home 2 tier stand to the left of the away end yesterday. The general feeling of the Town fans around me was that we were there for the taking but there was an inevitability to the result because they are toothless without Vaughan.

We were poor but and we looked largely untroubled and at least we do a variety of creative options which gives us a chance in most games.

[Victor Meldrew]

Nobody (did anybody actually go who have posted on here?) has said much about McCarthy.
The reporter on SKY was ecstatic in praise of his performance -what a star this lad is.

[Royalee]

Nobody (did anybody actually go who have posted on here?) has said much about McCarthy.
The reporter on SKY was ecstatic in praise of his performance -what a star this lad is.

That would mean them being positive about the club for a change. The only thing positive about our fans is that they're positively shit on the whole.

[SydenhamRoyal]

Good win, needless to say I cba to go but I hear it was pretty grim. Lucky for us that Hudds had Vaughan missing. 3 of the next 4 (Wigan, Leicester, Forest) against some of the strongest teams in this division, if we're still 5th (or higher) after that little lot then fair play.

Interestingly enough for all those Reading fans (myself included) who say we only play well against the good teams, and are shit against the less good teams, we are 3rd best for results against the top half, but rank only 11th for results against the bottom half. If the next 3 were against Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth and Barnsley I'd be really worried.

[Lacoste]

Adkins not popular

http://downatthemac.proboards.com/board/6/talk-town

[stealthpapes]

Akpans swing and miss, FFS

if ever find myself at a game sat next to you, I will ram that camera right up your arse.

Just watch the game FFS

Dear Lacoste

Ben's videos are GR8 and if you tried to bum him with a camera we'd all be jolly shocked and probably try and stop you after a bit.

Yours sincerely

Everyone else.

This one's a 9/10 incidentally.

[Reading4eva]

From the highlights on the FLS - a well taken goal but not much else. Thank god Vaughan was out

[mambo3]

From the highlights on the FLS - a well taken goal but not much else. Thank god Vaughan was out

Is this correct? Huddersfield had 26 chances and we had 2

[AthleticoSpizz]

Sounded like it on the radio.

However, the BBC website stats gave it in favour of the Tigers, but surprisingly, by not that much.

[Upper West Ginger]

Nobody (did anybody actually go who have posted on here?) has said much about McCarthy.
The reporter on SKY was ecstatic in praise of his performance -what a star this lad is.

MOTM for me. He kept us in the game on several occasions. I hope he is still at the club by the close of the transfer period.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Agree, but in the grand scheme of things...he wont be our biggest net loss.

With the perfectly capable Feds waiting in the wings, McCarthy moving on is the least of my worries.

[Handsome Man]

Losing McCarthy would be massive - about a goal every 3 or 4 games difference if he is replaced by Federici.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Really?

You may be right, however, Feds superior distribution may cover up for that

[Ian Royal]

Really?

You may be right, however, Feds superior distribution may cover up for that

Fed's distribution has been less good than AMac's this season. Even his long kicking is only very marginly better. In the admittedly very few chances he's had.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Umm hmmm I'll take your word for that

[Ian Royal]

Glad you have faith in me, in case you change your mind:
http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/94/Show/England-Reading

[AthleticoSpizz]

Yeah but

yeah but

I have seen Feds score two goals

[P!ssed Off]

Glad you have faith in me, in case you change your mind:
http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/94/Show/England-Reading

I had a look at whoscored.com a while ago for goalkeeper kicking (long vs. short accuracy).
Came to the conclusion that their stats are not particularly helpful in this regard.

Here's why...
http://www.whoscored.com/Glossary
" Long Ball
- An attempted/accurate pass of 25 yards or more "

The Madejski Stadium pitch is ~114 yards long.
Essentially, even when a goalkeeper takes a 'short' goal kick, it will likely still be classified as a 'long ball'.

According to whoscored.com McCarthy has attempted 352 passes this season, 267 of them 'long balls'.
Have as much as 75% of McCarthy's passes this season actually been 'long balls'?
No, of course they haven't. The data cannot be taken at face value.

If you were to classify a goalkeeper 'long ball' as say 40+ yards i.e. at least the distance from the edge of the penalty area to the half way line, then it's a reasonable assumption that Fed's distribution far outweighs McCarthy, and that the statistics would almost definitely support this.

[sandman]

Ian Royal is turning into Snowball.

I look at the only time they are in the pitch together to judge their kicking ability and you can tell who is better and more comfortable with the ball at their feet.

When Federici kicks it back to Bibbo and his assistant the ball goes straight to them just about every time. When McCarthy kicks it the power and accuracy just aren't there and often you'll see the ball take a bounce before it reaches the target.