THE ship had been steadied at Wanderers over the last few weeks, and then along came this iceberg.

We shouldn’t go overboard about one bad result but for all the praise that has gone the Whites’ way, so should an equal measure of criticism for a frankly shameful second-half performance at the John Smith’s Stadium.

The rate at which they sank, having lead for more than 40 minutes through Liam Feeney’s early strike, was bewildering.

Once Emyr Huws had drawn his side level on the stroke of half time it was panic stations and the team that emerged after the interval was as ineffective as anything in recent memory, including the nightmarish 45 minutes at Middlesbrough earlier this season.

Among the madness, Wigan Athletic loanee Huws doubled his tally, Joel Lynch and Muzzy Carayol ended eight and 18-month goal droughts and Derik Osede saw red as Huddersfield recorded a first home win since Easter Monday.

That was also the same day Wanderers last won on the road, at Cardiff, but no drive home on the team bus can possibly have been as quiet as they trip they took back down the M62 on Saturday.

Considering the gradual improvement that had been made since that awful first half at the Riverside five weeks ago, you can only hope this serves as a wake-up call.

The qualified success Neil Lennon’s side had made was built upon a solid back four. Taking Dean Moxey out of the equation – in truth, he did little wrong – Derik, Prince-Desire Gouano and Lawrie Wilson had an afternoon they will want to forget quickly.

In front of them a midfield which had looked willing to receive and keep the ball in the first half an hour vanished after the break, aside from a little stubborn resistance from ex-Town man Neil Danns.

But the manager’s role in a quite demoralising defeat is not beyond scrutiny either.

Faced with a reshuffle after losing Zach Clough to injury he opted for Stephen Dobbie in behind Emile Heskey in attack rather than to push in-form Mark Davies further forward and introduce Jay Spearing or Josh Vela into midfield.

The decision backfired on two fronts. Firstly, he lost Heskey very early on to a calf injury, which meant Gary Madine was coming into the game in a very different mindset. The big striker never looked on his game – and you wonder how much of that sluggishness was down to being dropped in the first place?

Watching the game from the press and directors’ boxes were Whites luminaries like Frank Worthington, Andy Walker and John McGinlay, what Lennon wouldn’t do to have one of those natural attacking talents in his team right now. The need for a new striker is greater now than ever before.

Secondly, should we question whether the current system is bringing the best out of Mark Davies?

Without Clough there is a creative edge missing in the middle of the park but a look at Davies’s work against Huddersfield shows that the vast majority of his 74 touches on the ball were on halfway, or just inside his own half.

He saw more of the ball than in either of his previous two games against Sheffield Wednesday and Wolves but in areas that won’t have worried Chris Powell’s side in the least.

Playing Davies in a deeper role has brought a bit more responsibility out of the stand-in skipper and his performances thus far have been good – but can we really afford the luxury of two genuine sitting midfielders in Josh Vela and Jay Spearing kicking their heels on the bench?

The other main gripe would be the decision to allow Prince to continue after his half-time illness.

The Frenchman caused a slight delay to the second half by darting back down the tunnel, after which he looked nothing like the defender the fans have dubbed “The Wall” in recent weeks.

Huddersfield’s threats out wide meant there was no option to switch to a three – Lennon’s fingers have been burned on that front before – but would it have been right to throw young Alex Finney in?

Lennon chose not to, and aside from the second-half collapse, he has also lost Derik to suspension for next weekend’s home game against Brighton after the Spaniard committed a couple of silly fouls around the penalty box in frustration.

There was no sign of a collapse early on when Wellington Silva slipped Feeney in for the opening goal with little more than two minutes on the clock.

The on-loan Arsenal winger should have doubled the lead with a header, hooked off the line by Elliott Ward, and half-chances also fell to Davies and Danns from the edge of the box.

Nerves started to jangle midway through the half when a sliced clearance from Prince bounced off his own bar. It was clearly contagious, as Ben Amos allowed a back-pass to slip through his legs, almost presenting a simple tap-in for the excellent Harry Bunn.

On the stroke of half time the cave-in began. Huws was found unmarked from a corner but with no pressure on the ball, he took a touch and drilled it into the bottom corner.

Carayol, on loan from Middlesbrough, then started to torment full-back Wilson at will. After creating one good chance for Huws he then skipped past two static defenders to take an opportunity himself and give Huddersfield the lead.

The same two players combined for the third – the space between Prince and Wilson now big enough to drive the proverbial bus through.

And when Wilson was dispossessed on the edge of his own penalty box by Lynch for the fourth, the Whites were begging for the final whistle to sound.

It did, but not before Derik became the third player sent off for Bolton this season by earning his second yellow for a foul on substitute Nakhi Wells. The Spaniard can’t say he wasn’t amply warned by Trevor Kettle, and there can be no complaints.

Although perspective must be kept, this defeat was not against a side that will be challenging for honours at the end of the campaign. All respect due to Powell’s men, they are rebuilding and survival is also the name of their game.

Wanderers will come up against two heavyweights in the next couple of weekends but must produce more than this.

One storm in a teacup? Or a sign of rougher seas yet to come?