Five conclusions as Huddersfield Town horror show renders play-off talk laughable

A four-goal defeat at The Valley — which could easily have been worse — underlined just how far off the required pace the Terriers are

1. That’s the standard for the play-offs, and Huddersfield Town are miles off it

Dire. Wretched. Diabolical.

The game could not possibly have started any worse for Town, and yet somehow it only spiralled from there. Had it not been for several narrow Charlton misses, some big Lee Nicholls saves and an offside flag, it could and probably should have been double the margin of defeat.

There is nothing positive to say. Never mind failing to string passes together — Town could barely get the first one right.

The centre-backs were shocking. The midfield went missing. The wingers barely saw the ball. Charlton looked irresistible, attacking with pace and chilling accuracy, but Town showed all the resistance of a cheap wafer ice cream cone trampled into a puddle.

This was 7-0 at Norwich levels of awful. In fact, scratch that, we have a more recent point of comparison: it was Crawley losing 5-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium levels of terrible, and they’re on their way to League Two.

Forget the play-offs if Town are going to play half as badly as this. The very concept of a top six finish is risible at the moment.

2. When the going gets tough, Town run away in the opposite direction