Huddersfield Town (0) 0
Port Vale (1) 1
Reported by Nigel Taylor
Just over 10,000 turned up, but I for one wished I hadnt bothered. The game was unwatchable for the most part due to the most diabolical refereeing I have seen so far this season. The ref (& 1 linesman) didnt favour a team, they made bad desicions both ways, blatant corners been given as goal-kicks, blatant goal-kicks been given as corners.
When Burnett went down injured towards the end, I'm POSITIVE that he'd gone up with a header on goal, the defender had got the ball and knocked it wide for a corner. But for some strange reason, a Town player picked the ball up and took a throw-in - any ideas?? Also in the dying moments, Lawson beat the last defender with pace, the defender went down (without a complaint) and the ref blew up - Lawson missed the lobbed shot but got booked for it anyway.
First half was dire, neither team looking like they wanted to win. Bullock took a knock 5 mins before half-time which resulted in his substitution at half-time, I didnt see Payton being injured, the only injury he had was rigor-mortis, hopefully he was brought off because he was rubbish.
From the re-start Town looked a lot better, Lawson doing a lot more running that Payton had, the removal of Williams after 10 further minutes was a blessing, he wasnt QUITE as bad as last week but he was still bad - Crosby came on and from his first touch did a good job of putting hisself in the shop-window.
Makel had a decent first half, he's going for the simpler balls this time around and it seems to be bringing the best out of him, he's battling hard, jumping for high-balls, a revelation really - Burnett looks good but tries to do too much, often resulting in him losing the ball dangerously, he'd do well to use Makel as an escape route a bit more.
With away trips to Wolves and Bolton coming up we could be in BIG trouble by the time the Bradford game comes around.
On Wednesday I'd like to see Dalton & Crosby in the starting line-up with Edwards and Lawson up front as this is surely our best combination at present, Lawson on particular won the crowd over on Saturday as he was the only player battling for the ball.
When Stewart does eventually come back (which could possibly be for the Bradford match if he responds well, but probably not until the week after) DESPITE what you read about him being on the verge of coming back every match I think its time for Horton to cut his losses, realise that in Lawson we've got a striker who is committed when the chips are down, and get rid of Payton whilst he might still be worth something. I hate to say it, but getting rid of Jepson over summer seems like the worst bit of business that Horton has made, the game on Saturday we needed a Jepson to grab hold of the game and get the players fired up.
Chris Waddles month contract at Bradford will have expired by the time the match comes around, but I'd say theres a reasonable chance of him being made player-manager by then. Bradford always do well at our place, and at the moment is the best time to play against Town, I just hope we dont embarass ourselves on telly again.
I had waited to see the performance on Saturday before deciding on going to the Bolton match, unfortunately chaps, you've lost a voice as there is no way I'm going to pay to watch a team performing like we are at the mo.