Oh dear, Martin has been handed a one game touchline ban (for picking up 3 bookings) and will be in the stands tomorrow.
Agreed. Apart from about 15 minutes after their goal we completely dominated. One of our best performances this season imo.
This is another ground I've only ever been to once (in 2017). I didn't realise it at the time but the never ending coach journey turned out to be more enjoyable than the game itself (0-0). The locals that we met were friendly and some seemed surprised we had made such a long journey. I can only assume that leaving Yorkshire is seen as a voyage of discovery for the good folk of Huddersfield. The John Smith's is a lovely unusual shape on the inside and the home crowd made a lot of noise all around the stadium, they easily drowned out any attempt the Saints fans made to make themselves heard. That was their first season in the PL and they had made a good start, I doubt the noise or attendance levels now are anywhere like what they were then. Can't tell you anymore than that as we got off the coach and straight into the bar next to the ground (away fans were made welcome). Huddersfield is a mill town that made textiles in the Victorian era and apparently has "much neo classical Victorian architecture", unfortunately none of which I could see from my seat in the bar.
We saw a lot of teams come and go in our tenure in the PL (including, of course, ourselves). Not counting the two teams that came up with us, we saw 20 different clubs make their triumphant return to (or debut in) the PL: Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Burnley, Cardiff, Forest, Fulham, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Norwich, Palace, QPR, Sheffield Utd, West Brom, and Wolves.
Obviously getting the win is the most important thing, but I really hope this is the game where we go out and win by three or four goals. Back in 2011-12, we had 36 points after 16 games. It felt like we were absolutely at the top of our game, and it was a case of whether we could maintain that or would drop away. Whereas this time, I don't think we're yet anywhere near our best. There's definitely another gear or two which we could move into it . Only two matches so far where we've kept clean sheets. Only three matches so far where we've scored more than two goals. Only two matches so far where we've won by more than one goal. None of that is a criticism of our season so far. And the circumstances this time are so different to back in 2011-12 that the two seasons are barely comparable. But there is undoubtably room for us to grow further - and with tomorrow being the start of a hectic run of fixtures, it would be nice to see us move up to that next level sooner rather than later. Turn those 2-1 wins into 3-0 wins.
I was about to correct IOAG, I completely forgot too. Had to look it up, was only 5 years ago but yes, apparently they were there!
Us to, just finished breakfast with a couple of mugs of coffee. It's a bright and breezy day we'll have a walk before pre match beers.
Just getting ready to leave. Lots of layers for the 5 degrees of cold. About an hour and a half to get there if I avoid the Novembermas shoppers!
Not to forget that football stadiums are always about 5° colder than what any thermometer will tell you. Not sure why, but always bloody freezing!
My late father always took a newspaper to The Dell and SMS to put under his feet in the colder months. I'm not sure if it works, but he swore by it.
