QPR turned in their worst performance of the season so far and were comprehensively beaten by Huddersfield Town in West Yorkshire on Saturday — in truth by a scoreline that flattered the visitors.

Half an hour into this debacle Queens Park Rangers were awarded a free kick just inside the Huddersfield Town half of the field. Not a bad position really, a chance to put some men into the penalty box, a chance to hold possession in a dangerous area, a chance to test the home defence, who knows, maybe even a chance to register that mythical holy grail: a serious shot on target. What’s more, QPR actually had a lot of time to consider their options. Bright Osayi-Samuel, face like a smacked arse, was engaging in his latest quest for a red card with full back Harry Toffolo, requiring referee Dean Whitestone to come across and deliver a stern lecture, so there was actually some thinking time there to set something up, make a bit of a plan, get some people in position, maybe even bring something off the training ground playbook into a live game situation. Imagine that. When it was time to get underway, Yoann Barbet aborted his first attempt, stopping just shy of the ball at the end of his run up, not liking something he was seeing up ahead. He started walking back to try again, but midway through thought he might have seen a quick and short option so suddenly approached the ball a second time only to think better of it once more. Bit of a shrug, lot of pointing, and then eventually, at the third time of asking, a long, aimless, hopeless punt sent out for a goal kick via one bounce without a QPR player within 15 yards of it. Pub football.

And that my friends is what they call a microcosm. A situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger. One incident among many that summed up the reprehensible, slapdash, careless, unprofessional, sloppy approach of our team to this game and the festering beer shit of a performance they phoned in. This is the issue created by the Brentford and Bristol City defeats, the problem that undermines the hopeful ideal that as long as we keep playing like that results will surely come — that level is difficult to maintain for even a whole game at a time, never mind multiple games over weeks and months, and if you lose even when you play like that it doesn’t bode well for what’s going to happen when there is an inevitable dip. QPR dipped so low here they were barely recognisable as the same team from a few days ago.

Huddersfield, only one place and one point higher than us in the league table at the start of play, beaten comprehensively at Cardiff in the week, were superior in every single department. They were faster, stronger, fitter, and harder working. They were more inventive, more creative, more exciting, more attacking, stronger defensively and more attractive to watch. They were cleverer, better set up, tactically in a different league. Every single one of their players was better than every single one of ours bar goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who needn’t have changed out of his club suit while his opposite number, Seny Dieng, performed a number of rescue missions to prevent the scoreline reaching the proportions it really should have. From front to back, left to right, side to side, up and down, all over every blade of grass on that pitch, it was total domination. QPR looked like a League Two side enduring a tough cup tie away to a team many divisions above them — not a good League Two side either, one of the shit ones like Oldham or Crawley.

The home team scored after three minutes. Josh Koroma invited to run 60 yards down the middle of the field, cut inside onto his favoured foot once he’d reached the edge of the box, and seek out the far corner with a fine finish without anybody laying a glove on him, without anybody really getting within ten yards of him at any point. Let’s just let him run half the length of the field with the ball shall we, what harm can come? Missing: QPR Midfield, reward offered. Todd Kane, talk to me about your thought process with this one could you? I can’t really recall ever seeing a goal like it. Christ on a fucking tiny motorbike.

It would have been two nil after five minutes had Dieng not saved fairly brilliantly down to his right in the bottom corner as Jonathan Hogg tried to turn the ball in from eight yards. Lewis O’Brien crossed for Fraizer Campbell to skew wide at the near post. Koroma curled over the bar from a similar position to the one he’d scored from after Rangers, again, handed Huddersfield cheap possession and then allowed them to maraud downfield unchecked. Rob Dickie gave the ball away shambolically on 24 minutes and then seemed to suffer a nasty looking groin injury getting back and recovering the situation with a block on Campbell — he played on after extensive treatment, though never really looked right. A super counter attack with the excellent Koroma at its heart really should have yielded a second goal ten minutes before half time but Campbell shot straight at Dieng.

QPR’s best hope at that point was to keep it to 1-0 going in at the break and start all over again, preferably with all five substitutions made at once, but it never looked likely and another sweeping move ended with Toffolo scoring essentially a more ornate version of the first goal to make it 2-0. There was still time for Mbenza to get in behind Hämäläinen and cross into a penalty area where a Morrison’s meat counter queue of would-be suitors had formed but the shot was eventually blocked, and Toffolo to do likewise down the left and cross to the near post where Dieng claimed bravely to prevent a third.

QPR’s input to the half began and ended with one weak Chris Willock shot at Hamer. When offered the chance to deliver a dangerous set piece from the corner of the penalty area Ilias Chair turfed the ball to the far post as all his team mates ran to the near. If I didn’t hope I know better, I’d say they were doing this on purpose. Spineless. Should have been 4-0 at this point. QPR’s performance so utterly hateful I actually found myself wishing it was.

Huddersfield had dominated QPR every bit as comprehensively as we had Brentford and Bristol City earlier in the week, but there were two key differences. The first, obviously, was they’d stuck a couple of chances away and built a healthy lead, whereas we didn’t. The second, was that Thomas Frank and Dean Holden took decisive half time action, performing major surgery on their teams and set ups to turn the tide back in their favour. They’d been outplayed, they knew it, they did something about it, making multiple substitutions and changing their formations. Mark Warburton said after this game he could have made five changes at half time, given how badly Rangers had played, and that rather begs the question why he didn’t. Out we came for the second half in the same shape, with the same players, bar Macauley Bonne on for Lyndon Dykes in a like-for-like swap.

Now, had Lyndon Dykes played well? No. He’s settling into a new city, new team, new level of football, and has done ok so far, with some quite good performances and some not so good, frequently starved of decent support and service. He’s going to need time, and the team could do a lot more to help him, we accept this. I do think, however, that I’d like to see a bit more Scotland Lyndon Dykes, tearing around the place with a big smile on his face, roughing defenders up and bringing team mates into play, as opposed to the slightly sad and bereft looking Lyndon Dykes we find so often back on his heels when the chance comes along. Simply put, he looks happy playing for Scotland, and a bit miserable playing for us, and he couldn’t have too many complaints at being hooked. But he must be looking around that dressing room yesterday, at the body language and at times behaviour of sacred cows like Bright Osayi-Samuel and Yoann Barbet, at the performances of Kane, Geoff Cameron, Ilias Chair and others, and wonder with some justification exactly why it was him, and only him, to be dragged at the break. I wonder what that’s going to do for his mood, morale and confidence. I await his response in future games with interest.

The like-for-likes continued. Ten more dire minutes drifted by with Rob Dickie, looking half dead, desperately clearing one good chance behind for a corner, and Mbenza flashing a nice delivery right through the goalmouth untouched. Kane just about did enough to avert disaster on 53 when Huddersfield’s other impressive full back, Pipa, stood one up to the far post for Koroma to come steaming in on. Dieng made an unorthodox save when the Spaniard took one on himself from long range. That was all before the fifty fifth minute, at which point we took off one one-dimensional, leaden footed defensive central midfield and replaced him with another, and removed Chris Willock to be replaced by George Thomas. There was some suggestion we’d switched to a midfield diamond, and brought Osayi-Samuel infield, but it looked much the same mess for the same result to me. What exactly did we like so much about our shape in that first hour to keep banging away with it? It’s all the same, only the names have changed.

Compare and contrast not only the decisive effective changes of Frank and Holden with this, but also Huddersfield’s highly tailored and creative approach to picking us apart. Toffolo and Pipa had a field day all afternoon, getting in on our exposed full backs with ease. Jonathan Hogg, meanwhile, gave a defensive midfield masterclass, positioned on the right shoulder of Ilias Chair not only crowding his space but also cutting off the passing lanes Tom Carroll had utilised so well in the previous two games, and waiting on hand for whenever Chris Willock cut in field from the left. The Terriers had basically taken three of our four best players from the prior two fixtures out of the game with one man. Hats off Carlos Corberán, very impressive, but where’s that sort of clever, inventive idea from us? Oh yeh we put all sorts of bits and pieces together with the ball, attacking wise, we love all that. But I can only really recall that Cardiff match, where Geoff Cameron suddenly turned up at right back to great effect, where we’ve done something out of the ordinary, that we didn’t expect, to combat an opponent defensively. We set up the same for Huddersfield away as we would for Las Palmas away. Not only was each individual battle lost on the field, we were comprehensively schooled in the dugout as well.

Changes made to no effect it was now a case of how many. To be fair, it had been that for a while. Ball introduced himself to the game by miscontrolling the ball and then chucking himself into a loss-chasing tackle from which no good could come. Perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow. Likewise Bright, kicking and niggling his way through a sulky performance, eventually booked by Dean Whitestone for clattering O’Brien. He would finally go round his full back for the first time on 74, and Schindler did himself a nasty looking injury rescuing the situation, but it was the first and last time we saw it. Any watching scouts hoping to take advantage of that contract situation may well have left thinking Toffolo would be a far better investment — who knows, he may even arrive with Osayi-Samuel still in his pocket and you could get two for the price of one.

Pipa, in again on sixty-four, picking out a specific team-mate with a good final ball (sorcery), O’Brien went on his weaker foot with the shot and Dieng saved well in the corner. Two minutes later another lousy set piece from Chair set up a counter attack with Mbenza, but Campbell just missed his connection with a diving header at the near post.

Barbet might have scored when Rangers did finally put something cute together from a corner ten minutes from time but I’ll be perfectly honest right now, hands in the air, I wanted Huddersfield to score more. I wanted them to score again, and again, and again. I wanted them to score because at 2-0, you could potentially brush this under the carpet as a bad day at the office. Indeed, Warburton said afterwards that the schedule had got the better of us, we looked leggy, and it was one match too many, which rather ignores the fact that Huddersfield are not only playing to the same schedule as us, but have played three of their last four games away from home including monster midweek trips down to Wycombe and Cardiff while QPR have played four consecutive games in West London prior to this. The game was a 4-0 or 5-0 in all but name. They deserved it, we deserved it, and I ended up rather hoping for it because everybody involved in this needs to know it is not in any way acceptable and sometimes only a proper tonking will do that.

We’ll end where we began, with a QPR free kick. The Schindler injury meant seven minutes of stoppage time to enjoy and within that Thomas was fouled on the edge of the area. More Gallic testiculating and arm waving from Barbet who’d no doubt picked out a nice seat in the stand behind the goal for his shot. In actual fact Dom Ball took it. Dominic Ball. A direct free kick from the best part of 25 yards. He takes those for us now apparently. And that’s where we are this week.

Links >>> Photo Gallery >>> Ratings and Reports >>> Message Board Match Thread

Huddersfield: Hamer N/A, Pipa 7 (Bacuna 73, 7), Schindler 6 (Edmonds-Green 79, 6), Sarr 6, Toffolo 8; Eiting 8, Hogg 8, O’Brien 7; Mbenza 7 (Duhaney 87, -), Campbell 7 (Ward 73, 6), Koroma 8

Subs not used: Pritchard, Diakhaby, Brown, Schofield, Daly

Goals: Koroma 3 (unassisted), Toffolo 39 (assisted Koroma)

QPR: Dieng 7; Kane 4, Dickie 5, Barbet 4, Hämäläinen 5; Cameron 4 (Ball 56, 4), Carroll 5; Osayi-Samuel 4 (Kelman 82, -), Chair 4 (Adomah 82, -), Willock 5 (Thomas 56, 5); Dykes 4 (Bonne 46, 4)

Subs not used: Masterson, Bettache, Kelly, Kakay

Bookings: Ball 62 (foul), Osayi-Samuel 71 (foul)

QPR Star Man — Seny Dieng 7 Three good saves to prevent the scoreline getting to where it really should have done.

Referee — Dean Whitestone (Northants) 8 Very little to referee, such was the uncompetitive nature of the game, but very few mistakes and both cards absolutely justified.

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E15Hoop added 14:34 - Dec 6 Like a battered husband, I keep asking the same question: "Why do we let them do this to us..?"😢
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Spaghetti_Hoops added 15:04 - Dec 6 We had a stinker. They took advantage of our weaknesses. It's not the end of the world. Normal life will be resumed.
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Geoff78 added 15:23 - Dec 6 Why have I applied for tickets in the ballot? Because I remember those magnificent moments that brought such joy and still believe (in spite of the evidence) that I might see one or more next weekend or the following Tuesday... please!! And to be reminded of those beautiful moments I've just watched WBA v Palace. Darnell played well even on the receiving end of a thrashing, but there were some lovely moments from Eberi Eze, gliding through midfield, around statuesque defenders. One of the other things we miss is how he could win free kicks and relieve pressure on our defence. He won at least two free kicks this way for Palace. In the Huddersfield game we never found a way of easing the pressure or getting forward after a Terrier's attack broke down. And of course there were all the other problems Clive has described. Finally, just don't understand why Kane was not taken off at half time. Thanks Clive for reminding us just how awful it was.

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E15Hoop added 15:57 - Dec 6 Spaghetti: The point Clive is making, and which I'm inclined to agree with, is that this shower of whatsit didn't offer us up any kind of evidence whatsoever that this ISN'T normal service, and that what we saw in the last two games wasn't a team stretching out and playing well above its normal default level. Not only was this performance truly, truly abysmal, but worse still, it looked like the majority of the team didn't even want to be out on the pitch. No cohesion, no leadership, no hunger - they offered us up literally NOTHING..

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jtuck added 16:29 - Dec 6 It is not the end of the world but fans like us cannot just sit there and accept this slop. One striker up front not working. Change it. Hogg running game. Change it. Full backs exposed. Change it: 5 at the back, or 6 or whole team. Do not go quietly into that good night. And I'm someone who backs Warburton for the long haul.
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18StoneOfHoop added 18:10 - Dec 6 Poo, Something - at least a point v Wall - or I'll be very sad,cross and disappointed. Yet there's nobody useful to come back from injury, there is nothing to change things in that squad. [sigh]
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Hastings_Hoops added 18:36 - Dec 6 Clive - I get and share your frustrations about the excuse of ‘tired legs’ not really applying as other teams are in the same boat. The difference I suppose is that we’ve got three players (Dykes, Kakay and Hamelainen) who have been flogged to death internationally. ...Dykes, in particular being flogged to death internationally is very bad news for us and, as lone striker, is bound to hurt us. Notwithstanding the above, isn’t it exciting that we’ve got three young internationals!

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Hoopstar added 18:39 - Dec 6 I'd hate to see what would have to happen for someone to be given a 3/10!
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Sittingbournehoop added 21:01 - Dec 6 Awful performance, we looked beaten early on once we had invited their first goal, it was a great finish but he was given all the time in the world, no closing down. The body language from the players, lack of desire, a complete shambles of a team, we really should have been beaten by 4 or 5, I’ve stopped believing in Warburton, and some of the players have as well judging by that performance, nothing short of a disgrace. When we play well we can’t win games, and this time we just completely gave up. The tactics were all wrong, and Warburton seemed clueless in how to change things to improve anything. He seems to still have the goodwill of the majority of the fans, but I for one can’t wait to see the back of him.

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Spaghetti_Hoops added 21:12 - Dec 6 E15Hoop: I don't recognise Championship football from how you describe it. 7pts from 5 games in November. 3 away. Two wins against weaker teams. Two defeats to stronger teams. A draw against one of the strongest teams. All about par for a lower mid div team. Arguably an unlucky 2-1 against one of the stronger teams in midweek when I thought we were just the better side (Infogol Expected Goals 2.93 v 1.93). Most teams throw in a stinker once in a while. That performance against Huddersfield was certainly a stinker mainly because we conceded early and created so little. How much relevance does it have for the Millwall game and the future, I would suggest next to none. Huddersfield are good on the break and strong at attacking down the wings (see WhoScored). Same as Coventry, another team we did poorly against. Against Bournemouth, Watford, Brentford and Bristol City we played well. So zero reason to go OTT with negativity. We are good against some teams and poor against others. What we don't need is exagerration and panic. Clive is a journalist. He is addicted to exaggeration. It seems to suit the vocal majority that post here. I am sure the silent majority have seen it all before and know that it was just one bad day at the office. Disappointing but nothing to get angry about.

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actonman added 21:40 - Dec 6 Kane got away lightly with that summary of the first goal ! I’ve been watching football for 40 odd years and I have never seen a player do what he did . It was like in play zonal marking where he could only put a tackle in if the oppo player was on the left flank.
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extratimeR added 21:57 - Dec 6 I sat their thinking this is awful, easily worst of season awful, and then I thought Clive , (poor sod) he's got to report this strangulating, (is that a word?) mess. I did wonder if their was a bug in my house after reading the Barbet free kick, we all jumped up and said "but heirs nobody standing over their? that's pure pub football. (I have noticed how nervous the Seagulls get when Barbet positions the ball, not the seagulls near the goal). Yes, if not for Dieng I had it down as a comfortable 5 or 6.0. The First goal I wondered where our midfield in front of Cane had gone, (the poor camera angle meant I couldn't see if anyone was tracking back, but the defensive strategy seemed to be " don't worry he will get tired running that far" it didn't work. The whole team didn't look to bothered, including Warburton,( I wonder what Eustace would have done if allowed to make the call on Saturday?), their was a distinct air that something wasn't right with the team, Dickie did well to play on he was obviously in pain. Barbet seems to enjoy the freedom to spray the ball wherever he wants, it must grate with the other players. I like Ball and respect his honesty, and he has put in some excellent performances this season, ( I have been harsh on him in the past), but I do feel his Free Kick should pass into History for its sheer magnificence, insisting on taking it, I thought he is to close and hasn't got the skill to put it in the far corner, but the beauty of it just wandering over the wall and arriving exhausted in the keepers arms was surely our best effort of the afternoon. Excellent report Clive!

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Spaghetti_Hoops added 22:56 - Dec 6 I only saw the Sky highlights. There weren't many. Expected goals came out at 1.02 v 0.23. Huddersfield only had two goal attempts rated better than 10% chances. This idea that we should have been thrashed 5 or 6-nil is sheer fantasy. I can understand the disappointment that we created so little but this idea that we would have been thrashed 5 or 6-nil but for Dieng is sheer fantasy.

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Northernr added 05:57 - Dec 7 So you disagree with my view of the game having not actually watched the game yourself?
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stneotsbloke added 09:23 - Dec 7 Spaghetti Hoops is clearly deluded. Huddersfield weren't good but not great. They were clearly better than us in every area of the game. They beat us comfortably without being outstanding. None of us like seeing R's beaten but there was something deeply annoying about that game. It's getting very annoying to hear Warbs blame fatigue, other teams have played the same number of games and don't use that as an excuse. He keeps saying we're that we're a young team and still learning, that's not really true as there is plenty of experience in the team and most of the youngsters are warming the bench. The team he played on Saturday is one bought , trained and prepared by him and his team. He says he's working on a tight budget, that's true but he's still spent good money. I've seen too many managers in my fifty years supporting R's and changing again will mean yet more turmoil. I'm still backing Warbs but he really does have to start getting a consistent tune out of this squad, the fans are beginning to lose patience. Millwall,Reading and Stoke are very big games for him.

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Spaghetti_Hoops added 11:14 - Dec 7 What I watched did not tally with your report, Clive. The guys that analyse matches dispassionately say Huddersfield created one good chance. The next best was a 13% effort. I accept your reports here are intended for entertainment rather than accuracy. That's what the punters seem to want. As for you hoping the opposition score more to emphasise their superiority. That's just awful. When I think so little of my team I'll give up. Which in 50+ years hasn't happened yet. We had a stinker because we created next to nothing. Why? Is the interesting question. The BBC picked out this from Warburton's comments "Today was a really bad day at the office for us. "We were second best at everything and Huddersfield deserved the points. "I can't explain the performance to be honest. We were so off the pace. We were below par and we lost duels all over - almost to a man." He didn't duck the question. What more could he say? He is the intelligent calm type, which for me is a huge advantage in the situation we are in of keeping the ship afloat while steadily developing young players and playing a style which is shown to work best when/if we ever get promoted. Piling fan pressure on him can only have a negative consequences. Does the Huddersfield game worry me. No. Because I watched the Brentford and Bristol City games and the performances were well up to mid div standard, and we seem to have enough goals in us to win at least some matches. I cannot see that the anxiety your sort of report promotes does anyone any good. Clearly a lot of people agree with you, panic at each and every setback, but that doesn't make them right.

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Northernr added 11:16 - Dec 7 So that's a yes?
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E15Hoop added 11:29 - Dec 7 Spaghetti - you need to watch the full 90 minutes and then I think you'll change your standpoint. You're also about the only person I've ever come across who seriously thinks Clive's exaggerating. He generally gets it bang on the money. Even if everyone agrees with you, don't you think the fact that Warburton can't explain the performance is worrying enough in itself?? If one or two of the players were off the pace then OK, but 10 out of the starting 11 with really poor body language and clueless positional play?? That, by anyone's standards suggests a serious problem with no time to address it, meaning that we're relying on the players to self-manage before tomorrow night's game. My forecast is that we will get a positive reaction from them, but I fully expect another disjointed performance with several clueless elements.

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MelakaRanger added 11:57 - Dec 7 The past few weeks seem to sum up our 'normal' of the past 12 months. Play well for a good part of the game against 'better' teams, miss 9 out of ten goal chances, get to a position where we should be at least 2 or 3 goals clear and then let them score against the run of play. Then let out performance drop and allow the opponents to boss the game and score enough to win. And against 'inferior' teams allow them an easy goal to take a lead and then fart around with tippy tappy sideways moves, offer little threat at goal and allow the inferior team to totally boss us. I get that Warbs is working on a shoestring budget but its the same issues week in week out. With the exception of a few Peachy runs - like last years games against Cradiff and Swansea - we flatter to deceive. Many have said that he has no Plan B excepet to do Plan A better. Trouble is, after 18 months of trying he has shown he cannot make Plan A any better. His contract expires in May and I fully expect him to not have his contract renewed. In fact it wouldn't surprise me to see us lose 3 or 4 of the next 4 games . And that would surely result in his departure

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PinnerPaul added 13:15 - Dec 7 Geoff - It was a joy to watch Eze and see him praised on MOTD 2 and Furlong has looked good each time I have seen him. But....come on, a 5-1 defeat, you're a defender AND you score an own goal - not sure in what universe you can ever call that having a good game!
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francisbowles added 14:26 - Dec 7 Pinner I only saw the Palace highlights but Furlong had an assist for the WBA goal and the own goal seemed to be deflected onto him by a team mate. He did seem to play quite well.
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R_in_Sweden added 15:05 - Dec 7 What's a 13% effort? I'm baffled.
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cornwallmike added 15:25 - Dec 7 Aren't those pre-appointment comments from fans of Warburton's previous clubs coming home now ? No plan B; sticks to favoured players; ignores defence etc etc I hate the thought of changing managers again for all the obvious reasons but surely Ferdinand and Hoos must give Warburton some sort of ultimatum - sort the defence out now and achieve X clean sheets in the next 10 games or you're out. It's astonishing that we have to score twice to get one point and three times or more to get three, when we start with one point. 110 goals concedd in 68 games tells the whole story.

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TacticalR added 17:15 - Dec 7 Thanks for your report. The lack of basic game intelligence on display is disturbing, especially since Warburton is supposed to be one of the more thoughtful managers in the game. There is also a dire lack of defensively minded players, which has been covered up to a degree by having a decent attack, although that attacking threat completely disappeared in this game. For the first goal Kane was caught upfield, managed to get back in front of Koroma, then decided to leave Koroma for the player overlapping on the left, leaving Koroma completely unmarked to take his shot. Once again we got killed on the break. Aside from being better than us, Huddersfield knew our weak spot on the left and directed their attack there. In midfield they used Hogg to snuff out Chair, and none of our other players were able to step up to take Chair's place. Agree with extratimeR that Dieng is saving our blushes by keeping the scoreline down.

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PinnerPaul added 17:23 - Dec 7 FB - not sure ANY player of ours, let alone a defender would be getting such a charitable review after a 5-1 home defeat! Don't get me wrong I think PF has done excellently - he is a regular starter, Phillips isn't and Austin seems to be on his way out - who would have thought that a few years ago? Add to that the 'failures' of Smithies and Freeman to make it in the Prem and it just goes to show how hard these things are to predict!

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