Category Archives: League Cup

12th August – Cup of woe as Rams beaten and bowed by Pompey

12 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in League Cup

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

12th August

Portsmouth     2         Adam McGurk 49, Conor Chaplin 76

Derby County  1         Jason Shackell 73

A Rams team lacking in energy and urgency were deservedly beaten by League Two Portsmouth in the First Round of the League Cup.

The home team were consistently in our faces, more determined and recovered from the Rams equalising with 15 minutes to go to hit back almost immediately and score the winning goal.

There was no sense of injustice at this result as the home team bridged the two division gap between the teams with seeming ease.

Paul Clement made eight changes for this game, in came Lee Grant, Isak Ssewankambo (for his debut), Alex Pearce (another debut), Craig Forsyth, Jeff Hendrick, Andreas Weimann, Simon Dawkins and Darren Bent.

The Rams lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Chris Baird & Hendrick anchoring the midfield and Russell, Weimann and Dawkins in support of Bent.

Pompey managed by the former Chesterfield firecracker of a manager Paul Cook started well and former Burton Albion player Adam McGurk pulled a chance wide in the first quarter of an hour after some Rams confusion on the right of the defence.

The theme of the first half continued to be more Portsmouth energy and attack as the home team stayed on the front foot and looked for gaps.

The Derby players seemed to struggle to acquaint themselves with each other and were ponderous in comparison.

There were little glimpses of promise during the latter part of the half with Johnny Russell and Weimann causing problems for Portsmouth without creating any clear chances. The half dribbled to a close without further incident and a sense of us not really hitting our stride at all.

The second half started with a flicker of intent from Derby as Weimann again caused problems but soon after Jeff Hendrick lost possession too easily, and Pompey scored following an awful mistake from Lee Grant, who made a mess of header from McGurk.

The disappointing thing was that the lead was entirely deserved on the balance of play up to that point.

Two changes on the hour for the Rams trying to change things as Chris Martin and Tom Ince came on for Darren Bent and Simon Dawkins.

Bent, particularly, struggled to be an influence on the game but he doesn’t prosper as the lone striker; we saw that a number of times last season, so it was a puzzle to see him in that role again.

The final change for the Rams saw George Thorne join the game after 68 minutes, debutant Ssewankambo making way and skipper Baird dropping back to right back.

Within a minute Thorne had played the best pass of the night to get an attack moving and a further three minutes later the Rams were level as Jason Shackell rose highest at a corner to head home.

Thoughts of powering on to take the lead disappeared quickly as Conor Chaplin shot home and gave Pompey the lead again.

We huffed and puffed as the game drew to a close without ever coming close to scoring and in contrast to last season when we made it to the last eight we bow out of the Cup at the first hurdle.

Sure we made eight changes, but so did Portsmouth, so we should have done better.

Jeff Hendrick had a poor game, but like Darren Bent he was again playing in a position that he does not seem suited to. Johnny Russell’s work rate was as herculean as ever but we hardly created a chance all night which was a worry.

Alex Pearce looked a little slow , expect to see former skipper Richard Keogh back on Saturday and it is pretty safe to say that Scott Carson is a strong favourite to start in goal against Charlton.

George Thorne looked a class apart in his brief cameo and in him and Jason Shackell we have the makings of a strong spine to the team.

Surely it is disappointing to lose this game but to expect us to hit the ground running after a summer with such significant change was always hopeful rather realistic.

Interviewed after the game Paul Clement said he already knew his team for Saturday’s home game at the iPro – I think we can all have a pretty informed view of that 11 as well that will face up to Charlton where a home win would be very welcomed.

16th December – Rams ask no Quarter but the cup run ends against Chelsea

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in League Cup

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

16th December

Derby County               1                     Chelsea               3

Craig Bryson 71                                     Eden Hazard 23                                          Jake Buxton sent off 78                        Felipe Luis  56                                                                Andre Schurrle 82

The Rams bowed out of the League Cup in the last eight after a spirited and skilful performance against an impressive Chelsea side.

The Premier League leaders showed their intent by fielding a strong side including ever popular captain John Terry, Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Didier Drogba and, most damagingly for Derby, Eden Hazard.

For the Rams Jake Buxton replaced the suspended Ryan Shotton and Will Hughes was restored to the starting eleven replacing Jeff Hendrick.

A cagey start saw neither side create any meaningful chances, Derby being less keen to play out from the back at every opportunity as we tend to do in the Championship, probably a wise move with the likes of Hazard and Schurrle snapping away at our players.

This game was always going to be a good test of which of our players could cope with the demands of playing against a top Premier League team side and the performance should give us some cause for optimism.

I thought that Craig Bryson had an excellent game buzzing around with intent and causing problems for Chelsea as well as taking his goal very well. Similarly Will Hughes played well and as is par for the course Johnny Russell was tireless, chasing down, tracking back and also setting up our goal.

Omar Mascarell also played well and seemed much more at home than he sometimes does in the Championship perhaps reflecting the differing styles of those leagues and our opponents.

Also in the credit column for me was Jake Buxton who was strong, won a lot in the air and coped well with the challenges facing him right up until the wrong headed decision to send him off shortly after Craig Bryson’s goal had turned the noise in Pride Park up a notch or ten.

A ball over the top saw Bucko and Loic Remy, on for the injured Drogba, tussling as the ball skidded across the wet pitch, Bucko was clearly trying to shepherd the ball back to Lee Grant who duly came sliding out for the ball and, it seemed, possibly out of the area with the ball in hand.

At this point the linesman on the west side started waving his flag furiously ….Lee Grant clearly thought he was going to be dismissed, as did we, though being close to the linesman in question we were offering some words of wisdom to him in a sense of friendship and constructive criticism.

Confusion and anger greeted the subsequent waving of the red card in Bucko’s direction.

Denying a goal scoring opportunity? …really??

I am very confident that a similar situation in a, say, Chelsea vs. Manchester United game would not have resulted in a red card – we got the rough end of a Premier League vs. Championship decision there.

The momentum of our fight back was lost and it was no surprise to see Schurrle slot away a third goal shortly afterwards after Lee Grant saved well from Hazard.

 Eden Hazard was impressive throughout and a constant threat to us. After the good start it was frustrating to see Richard Keogh play the ball to Hazard on the edge of our area, a quick exchange of passes with Cesc Fabregas saw Hazard firing into the bottom corner to put Chelsea ahead.

Chelsea’s second goal led from another Premiership decision from the referee as willo-the-wisp Will Hughes brushed past Didier Drogba and sent the man mountain centre forward flying. From the subsequent free kick Felipe Luis belted the ball into the corner beyond the flying Grant.

Despite the scoreline we played well in this game and a similar level of performance will win most Championship games – and there in lies the challenge for Derby’s coaching staff – how to replicate this again and again.

A 30,000 crowd, a loud away contingent and a home crowd in boisterous and supportive voice gave an attractive indication of what it would be like to be back in the Premier League.

We saw a glimpse of what we are aiming at in this game and a reminder of the challenges that would await if we were successful but, personally, I can’t wait for us to be back in that top league.

 

28th October – High Fives as Rams hit back against Kit-men

02 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by in League Cup

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

28th October

 Fulham       2                                                    Derby County      5

 Moussa Dembele 27,45                                    Chris Martin 45 (pen)

                                                                          Johnny Russell 47

                                                                          Simon Dawkins 54, 65

                                                                          Jeff Hendrick 62

What’s the phrase ? …..game of……game of two…..that’s it ! …..game of two halves.

 Rarely has the well worn phrase seemed so fitting as the Rams endured a nervy and disjointed first half only to come out for the second half of this League Cup 4th round tie at Craven Cottage and blow Fulham away with a performance of verve and tempo.

Changes ahoy for this game as in came Kelle Roos for the cup tied Jack Butland, Jake Buxton returned to the team after injury replacing Zak Whitbread and Omar Mascarell, Jeff Hendrick and Simon Dawkins replaced John Eustace, Will Hughes & Jordan Ibe.

Fulham made eight changes to their team, something that caused a certain amount of disgruntlement amongst their fans online afterwards, but it did not seem to be causing them any problems as they put the Rams under pressure from the first whistle.

No surprise that the word has got around – squeezing our midfield and pressuring our attempts to play out from the back seems to be the go-to tactic for causing us problems. Fulham certainly seem to have paid attention to the game last Saturday as they started with energy and purpose and put us under pressure.

We did not cope well with the pressure and Kelle Roos made a good early save from Dembele but he was left with no chance as Craig Forsyth played a blind back pass straight to Dembele who put Fulham ahead.

Fozzy has had a few games now where he has only shown flashes of his attacking potential and has looked shaky defensively – whether he can pull out of this dip quickly will be important as he offers the Rams a lot when he is on form.

Bad got worse quickly as Omar Mascarell accepted the ball from Roos but was surrounded by two Fulham players who knicked the ball off his toe and a moment later Dembele was on a hat-trick and we were 2-0 down.

While our play improved during the half we were still not exhibiting the kind of play we have grown accustomed to and prospects did not look good…..then with the first half coming to an end Fulham’s Tim Hoogland handballed a Mascarell free kick and Derby were awarded one of the more obvious penalties of the season which Chris Martin smashed away with feeling.

For all that the first half was troubling the second half was terrific as the Rams shot out of the blocks with pace and energy and were on terms within minutes as Johnny Russell finished a fine move, Simon Dawkins scored a peach of a goal firing into the top corner after great play from Martin & Bryson, Jeff Hendrick fired in a fourth from close range and as the cherry on the cake Simon Dawkins backheeled in the fifth before twenty minutes of the second half had elapsed.

The return of a fit again Simon Dawkins in the last game and a half has shown just why the management rate him so highly and if he can add regular goals to his game he is a potent threat.

 

Fulham had a young side that clearly tired but that should not detract too much from a fantastic second half performance from the Rams.