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Post by Jack on Jul 28, 2022 22:34:09 GMT 1
Towards the climax of last season the Cowshed Loyal displayed a banner stating that it was... "time for new heroes".
The class of '22 did not quite deliver on this mandate and write their name into Huddersfield Town folklore. But on the eve of the 22/23 season I'm confident that we still have heroes waiting in the wings.
And I'm even more certain that one of those is Jon Russell.
As a club we are required to look away from the norm to gain an edge off the field, but this also equally applies on the grass too.
Big Jon is unique and I firmly believe this season will be his coming of age as a footballer.
In the 20 or so appearances he made last season he showed a maturity and composure way above his pay grade. The embryonic signs of a vision and awareness not seen since Mooy graced the Huddersfield Town turf. The creation of time and space from a different continuum. Positivity exemplified, always forward, a risk taker but only when the rewards exceed the peril.
Now is the time to build a team around him.
You'll probably hear the name of Chelsea's hottest young prospect ring out around the John Smiths Stadium before Jon gets a tune and whilst I'm pleased we have Tino back this term I'll take a man who has arguably been wronged, and with a point to prove, over one who seemingly has the world at his feet.
Being released from Chobham will give Jon an unrelenting inner drive - that cannot be coached or taught - to prove his doubters wrong.
This will only be to our benefit.
His exclusion from the Wembley starting eleven was perplexing and will only add fuel to his already burning desire to succeed this coming term.
As many will know from his Mormon background Jon has faith. And now is the time we put our faith in him.
Jon, show 'em what you got.
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Post by Million Dollar Babies on Jul 28, 2022 22:43:09 GMT 1
I could understand why Carlos left him out against Forest. They were very quick on the counter and Russell doesn't have the pace to cope with that. Once they were in the lead and sitting back without much intent of grabbing another the game suited Russell.
Great player who could have been one of England's best with a little more pace
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Post by harris on Jul 28, 2022 22:46:23 GMT 1
Got to respect how he came in and staked a claim through sheer merit. I think it was Burnley away his first game? He was an unknown playing against PL players and taking the piss, remember him cruyff turning at walking pace and taking 3 of their midfielders out the game.
Loads of potential, can’t wait to see him flourish this year.
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Post by htafcdreams on Jul 28, 2022 22:53:02 GMT 1
Interesting how Russell does with so much competition and no LOB doing all the running and bringing the ball up. Hope Jon kicks on this season
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Tinpot
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Post by Tinpot on Jul 29, 2022 8:02:57 GMT 1
I would have had him in the starting lineup at Wembley, but I wouldn't have said his omission was perplexing. Luton nullified us - particularly in the 2nd leg - by paying him special attention and it made sense that Forest might have looked to do the same. Maybe his omission at Wembley was part of the reason Forest looked bang average that day - maybe they'd put so much work into nullifying that threat that it came at the expense of other aspects to their game.
I expect that there are 23 head coaches in this division who will look to replicate what Luton did.
Optimistically though, for all that I think the squad has been weakened overall, I think we have a better midfield now than we had in May. Stopping Russell might just mean that we go around him. They'll have the likes of Anjorin and Rudoni to worry about as well, plus trying to figure out how a new coach is likely to use him.
It's going to be interesting.
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Post by Detective Boyle on Jul 29, 2022 8:34:10 GMT 1
Absolutely agree. A huge season for him and imo our next big sale.
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Post by typical on Jul 29, 2022 8:43:06 GMT 1
Russell reminds me a lot of Phil Billing. Bags of potential, tall lad, but not much pace. If anything I think Russell has more than Phil did when he was at town, the technical aspects of the game from Jon as shown with his league goal vs Luton are well ahead of his age, and also has a terrific aerial presence, which again Phil lacked.
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Post by turbo2 on Jul 29, 2022 8:45:58 GMT 1
Got to respect how he came in and staked a claim through sheer merit. I think it was Burnley away his first game? He was an unknown playing against PL players and taking the piss, remember him cruyff turning at walking pace and taking 3 of their midfielders out the game. Loads of potential, can’t wait to see him flourish this year. It was an incredible debut coming from nowhere. Really interested to see if he can really step up to the next level. Still very young for a lad playing centre mid in the championship |
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Sparrow
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Post by Sparrow on Jul 29, 2022 9:10:52 GMT 1
Russell reminds me a lot of Phil Billing. Bags of potential, tall lad, but not much pace. If anything I think Russell has more than Phil did when he was at town, the technical aspects of the game from Jon as shown with his league goal vs Luton are well ahead of his age, and also has a terrific aerial presence, which again Phil lacked. Agree with this. Plus the composure of the goal against Cardiff to flick it in with the outside of his boot. First time I saw him play was the B team game against Watford where we won 7-0. He was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Quality, Quality player |
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Post by themanfromatlantis on Jul 29, 2022 9:20:20 GMT 1
He reminded me of a 'clumsy' Aaron Mooy last season. By clumsy I mean that his moves are less elegant, but often effective. He's a fair bit to learn (as in knowing when to try stuff and when not), and as for pace, these tall players tend to look a bit lazier than smaller players because of their stride length. They also seem to look less elegant with their feet & don't get the praise for that side of their game, but Jon does pretty well there. If you take Mooy as an example, some players don't always need pace, they just read the game so well & are always one move ahead of the opponent flying in to tackle them.
Hope he goes on to have a great season with us, seems like a great lad...
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Post by tyketaffy on Jul 29, 2022 10:26:44 GMT 1
He has the brains, the skill, the power, the stamina and the will to be a very good player, sure he lacks a bit of pace but the smarter players in his position compensate for that with their ability to read a game. I really think he will kick on this season and become one of the first names on the team sheet each week. Lets face it had he had the pace as well we would never have got him in the first place, he would be in the prem already. The other thing I liked about him last season was how well he slotted in right away with the rest of the squad and his obvious delight when we scored and his rapport with the crowd. I suspect he's one of those players who absolutely thrive on fans support for him and it raises his game.
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Post by ACW on Jul 29, 2022 11:28:33 GMT 1
Really looking forward to seeing Russell develop this season.
Obviously has a lot to learn, but you can see we have a quality player.
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Post by willo on Jul 29, 2022 12:13:22 GMT 1
Big season coming up for big JR. If he can kick on, he could end up being a bigger asset than Billing was. Genuinely have high hopes for the lad.
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k1man999
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Post by k1man999 on Jul 29, 2022 12:46:27 GMT 1
Interesting how Russell does with so much competition and no LOB doing all the running and bringing the ball up. Hope Jon kicks on this season Bang on , I like big Jon but does need a willing runner along side as he is not quick and can caught out of position defensively but the boy can play |
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Post by omegasupreme on Jul 29, 2022 20:44:21 GMT 1
Sorry but I completely disagree with this narrative about Russell. No doubt he’s got ability but most of the time he’s just an over casual ball watcher. He never puts a sprint in. He never picks a man up. He got away with it a lot of the time last season with O’Brien next to him. He’s getting exposed for it so far tonight though. He’s a massive problem.
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bigtruck
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Post by bigtruck on Jul 29, 2022 20:48:52 GMT 1
Sorry but I completely disagree with this narrative about Russell. No doubt he’s got ability but most of the time he’s just an over casual ball watcher. He never puts a sprint in. He never picks a man up. He got away with it a lot of the time last season with O’Brien next to him. He’s getting exposed for it so far tonight though. He’s a massive problem. But as head coach you know his quality and his weaknesses. So why set the team up to highlight the latter. |
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Post by omegasupreme on Jul 29, 2022 20:51:55 GMT 1
Sorry but I completely disagree with this narrative about Russell. No doubt he’s got ability but most of the time he’s just an over casual ball watcher. He never puts a sprint in. He never picks a man up. He got away with it a lot of the time last season with O’Brien next to him. He’s getting exposed for it so far tonight though. He’s a massive problem. But as head coach you know his quality and his weaknesses. So why set the team up to highlight the latter. I think as a centre midfielder you have to be able to offer more, regardless of the set up. As I said before I think he was a problem last season at times but it was somewhat compensated for by O’Brien. |
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Post by efesodje23 on Jul 29, 2022 21:01:26 GMT 1
He's essentially a poor man's Phil Billing. But he puts the effort in and even then only gets to the stage of Billing not putting anything in
...
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htfc1984
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Post by htfc1984 on Jul 29, 2022 21:47:19 GMT 1
He's essentially a poor man's Phil Billing. But he puts the effort in and even then only gets to the stage of Billing not putting anything in ... If you class that as effort... |
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Post by Headless Chicken on Jul 29, 2022 21:51:59 GMT 1
Ha. So we've gone from Carlos being a moron for not picking him to him being shit 🤣🤣🤣
Football fans, don't you love em.
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Post by omegasupreme on Jul 29, 2022 21:55:26 GMT 1
Ha. So we've gone from Carlos being a moron for not picking him to him being shit 🤣🤣🤣 Football fans, don't you love em. [br Well I never called Carlos a moron for not picking him. Are you actually defending that performance tonight or are you just wanting to have a pop at football fans for voicing a critical yet completely justified opinion? |
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Post by Headless Chicken on Jul 29, 2022 22:02:07 GMT 1
Ha. So we've gone from Carlos being a moron for not picking him to him being shit 🤣🤣🤣 Football fans, don't you love em. [br Well I never called Carlos a moron for not picking him. Are you actually defending that performance tonight or are you just wanting to have a pop at football fans for voicing a critical yet completely justified opinion?  you on about. Where does that even remotely support tonight's shite performance. We've seen plenty of moaning about CC not picking Russell, as if it was the craziest decision ever. Just making the point the two things don't go together, regardless of who said each. |
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Post by omegasupreme on Jul 29, 2022 22:04:25 GMT 1
[br Well I never called Carlos a moron for not picking him. Are you actually defending that performance tonight or are you just wanting to have a pop at football fans for voicing a critical yet completely justified opinion? you on about. Where does that even remotely support tonight's shite performance. We've seen plenty of moaning about CC not picking Russell, as if it was the craziest decision ever. Just making the point the two things don't go together, regardless of who said each. Well rather than you having a generic moan about tootball fans - why don’t you say what you think about Russell. |
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Post by Headless Chicken on Jul 29, 2022 22:23:18 GMT 1
you on about. Where does that even remotely support tonight's shite performance. We've seen plenty of moaning about CC not picking Russell, as if it was the craziest decision ever. Just making the point the two things don't go together, regardless of who said each. Well rather than you having a generic moan about tootball fans - why don’t you say what you think about Russell. Not sure why I'm responding, but anyway... He's very talented, but is so slow to a point it's prohibitive. I personally think him and Hogg are a poor combination. |
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Post by impact on Jul 29, 2022 22:24:36 GMT 1
Russell can't play in a 2 right now. The game passes him by defensively. He doesn't read danger, ball watches and is too slow to get back.
In a 3 he looks good when you have 2 others doing the work.
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Post by Paphos Terrier on Jul 29, 2022 22:29:24 GMT 1
Well rather than you having a generic moan about tootball fans - why don’t you say what you think about Russell. Not sure why I'm responding, but anyway... He's very talented, but is so slow to a point it's prohibitive. I personally think him and Hogg are a poor combination. Hogg needs to be on the bench this season. The General my arse where was he tonight organising on the pitch. Russell looked so unfit tonight and for a pro footballer this isn't acceptable but he wasn't on his own by a long way |
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Post by omegasupreme on Jul 29, 2022 23:17:36 GMT 1
Well rather than you having a generic moan about tootball fans - why don’t you say what you think about Russell. Not sure why I'm responding, but anyway... He's very talented, but is so slow to a point it's prohibitive. I personally think him and Hogg are a poor combination. At least we agree on one thing. |
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Post by Larry David on Jul 29, 2022 23:26:38 GMT 1
Blowing out of his arse by 39 mins. Professional footballer. That level of fitness is unacceptable. Yeah he isn't the fastest but was woefully out of position so many times then couldn't get back. He was trying to be O'brien but looked more like an old granny.
Him and hogg and young Duane are not a great combo.
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Post by terrier86 on Jul 29, 2022 23:57:45 GMT 1
His biggest issue is his 1st touch. If he gets that right he will be a player.
Agree with some of the other comments about him and Hogg together. Perhaps away from home it works, but it isn't dynamic enough and the lack of pace between them is highlighted more when you have a good passing team like Burnley. He struggled to press high enough (probably about fitness).
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Post by harris on Jul 30, 2022 0:06:12 GMT 1
His biggest issue is his 1st touch. If he gets that right he will be a player. Agree with some of the other comments about him and Hogg together. Perhaps away from home it works, but it isn't dynamic enough and the lack of pace between them is highlighted more when you have a good passing team like Burnley. He struggled to press high enough (probably about fitness). I thought his first touch was his biggest asset lol. Just goes to show football is a game of opinions |
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you on about.
