Five conclusions: Huddersfield Town prove need for shake-up

The Terriers squad was split between the good, the bad and the ugly with the attacking players used from the bench making a case for themselves

1. We’ve seen all of this before; and not in a good way

When Huddersfield Town conceded the same goal against West Bromwich Albion that they had against Cardiff just a few days prior, Andre Breitenreiter was fuming. Imagine how he felt after seeing them do it a third time when Ellis Simms doubled Coventry City’s lead.

Such a failure to learn from mistakes is frustrating to watch, and it’s happening all over the pitch.

Except for the odd occasion when he does something nobody else can, you know that Delano Burgzorg is going to offer nothing bar a comprehensive victory in the offsides column.

You know that too many players in the midfield are going to look positive in spells around the centre of the pitch but offer too little in the final third.

You know that Town are susceptible to through balls and cutbacks from the byline towards the near post.

Coventry certainly knew all that, and exploited it ruthlessly. It’d be nice if Town did that to somebody else one day, wouldn’t it?

This time, it was Radinio Balker who had the chance to track the centre-forward into the box but bafflingly failed to do so. Meanwhile, Michal Helik was so determined to race back into position that he neglected to look to see where that might be until the ball was already on its way to Simms’ feet.

Breitenreiter also expressed dissatisfaction with his players’ inability to block the first and third goals, with Simms shaking off Helik too easily for the opener and Haji Wright doing the same to Brodie Spencer in injury time.

Look, we didn’t have high hopes for this game, which stood out as Town’s most challenging remaining fixture apart from a trip to Ipswich on the final day.

The issue is that Coventry didn’t have to be especially good to get this result. After five games on the bounce without a win – all of which showcased Town’s usual frailties – there’s little reason to believe that the story will be any different against lesser teams.

It wasn’t against Rotherham; it wasn’t against Cardiff; it wasn’t against Plymouth or away to Sheffield Wednesday, away to QPR, or at The Den. Why should we expect that it will be against Stoke, Millwall, Swansea, Birmingham, et al?

Maybe it will be, and we’ll be delighted if it is. But yeesh…15 to 45 good minutes per game is not enough.