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15th September – Ince off the mark as solid Rams win again

15 Tuesday Sep 2015

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15th September

Reading                    0         Orlando Sa sent off 45+2

Derby County         1          Tom Ince 69

Games at Reading have proved difficult for Derby County over the years so this hard earned win is particularly pleasing.

An organised and solid Rams team took the points thanks to Tom Ince’s first goal of the season moving up to 10th place in the process.

This was a game of few thrills and spills, Ince’s neatly taken goal being our best chance, the only other incident of note being the dismissal of Reading’s Orlanda Sa just before the break for head butting Jason Shackell.

Paul Clement talked of surprising people in an interview before this game and made three changes to the team to keep both us and the players on their toes.

Lee Grant found himself back on the bench after his good performance at Preston with Scott Carson restored to the starting XI.

The rotating of keepers does bother me, the position more than most others demands stability but at the moment we seem to be recreating the era of England of c.1978 where Peter Shilton & Ray Clemence were selected in turn by Ron Greenwood.

Carson played well when called into action, pulling off one notable save from Oliver Norwood

Two other changes to the team that beat Preston saw the injured Chris Baird missing out and Stephen Warnock move to the bench to be replaced by Jeff Hendrick and Craig Forsyth with Bradley Johnson playing the pivotal defensive midfielder role in a 4-3-3.

Chris Martin took the captain’s armband in the absence of Baird in a move that appropriately reflects his importance to the team.

It was an energetic start to the game with the hosts winning a couple of corners in the first minute, but without causing any problems for the Rams.

Derby responded with a good move inspired by Johnny Russell’s good work, Russell found Chris Martin on the edge of the area but our No.9 wasn’t able to get the ball out of his feet and Jeff Hendrick’s shot, after picking up the ball, was deflected wide, though the referee did not award the corner it warranted.

The Rams were content to hold their shape and the game moved along without much incident. Jacob Butterfield unleashed a couple of powerful shots from distance, both blocked well by the Reading defence and just past the half hour Scott Carson pulled off an excellent save from a Oliver Norwood looper.

An increasingly quiet and uneventful half came to life just before the end of added time when Royals striker Orlanda Sa, fresh from a hat-trick against Ipswich Town last time out, head butted Jason Shackell (surely not a good idea?) following a niggle between the two players and was given a red card for his trouble.

The Rams were well organised in the first half without ever really threatening the home team consistently. Equally the Royals had not dominated though they flickered with more attacking threat and intent.

Derby made a good start to the second half, an early move culminating in Cyrus Christie firing a shot towards goal.

Just past the hour the Rams made a change, showing some aggressive intent, Darren Bent coming on in place of Jeff Hendrick.

In a quiet second half Bradley Johnson again showed well, putting himself about, playing some good passes and adding a physical presence to our midfield.

The Rams took the lead on 69 minutes with a well worked goal.

Jacob Butterfield played the ball to Chris Martin on the edge of the area and Tom Ince, who’d had a quiet game up to that point, popped up in the area to get on the end of a neat pass from Martin and poke in his first goal of the season.

The rest of the game played out without too much anxiety, Reading, despite being a player down, did press as the game came to its end, but without ever really carving out a clear chance.

Both of our full backs had a decent game with Cyrus Christie showing more of the form and confidence of early last season and Craig Forsyth galloping forward regularly; Fozzie also came close with a late chance blazing a first time volley just over.

Richard Keogh continued his impressive start to the season, composed and organised, his partnership with Jason Shackell increasingly the bedrock of our team.

Reading are a useful team with a habit of turning us over so this is an excellent three points won in a professional and workmanlike way.

Two away wins sets us up nicely for the visit of Burnley next Monday –  what price a nice 1-0 win courtesy of a goal from one J.Shackell ?

Played GD Pts
8 Nottingham Forest 7 1 11
9 QPR 6 1 10
10 Derby County 7 1 10
11 Reading 7 4 9
12 Charlton Athletic 7 1 9
13 Fulham 6 1 8

21st August – Johnny on the spot again for Rams at Blues

22 Saturday Aug 2015

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21st August

Birmingham City     1       Stephen Gleeson 45

Derby County          1          Johnny Russell 61

This was an exciting game with quality on show from both sides but the wait for a first win for Paul Clement’s Rams goes on.

The game statistics confirm that this was more of the same for Derby in that the Rams had;

63% of the possession

20 attempts on goal

Hit the woodwork four times

But only had Johnny Russell’s superb finish to show for it at the end.

Disappointment at not having won put aside, we looked better again in this game and there were long periods of the game where we attacked with tempo and created a lot of problems for the home team.

Tom Ince had his best game of the season so far, was involved throughout and hit the woodwork.

Birmingham played well and are a good side under Gary Rowett, and they will also be rueing the chances they had. Scott Carson had an excellent game in goal for us and made two great saves in the first ten minutes to keep the Blues at bay.

Richard Keogh had another good game and even a change of full backs for this game, with Cyrus Christie and Craig Forsyth brought into the team for this game, did not disturb that.

The swaps at full back were two of four changes made for this game. Johnny Russell started after his goal against Middlesbrough and Darren Bent made his first start of the season.

Chris Baird moved from right back to accompany George Thorne in the centre of midfield, Stephen Warnock and Andi Weimann dropped to the bench and the injured Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Hanson missed out.

We lined up in a 4-4-2 for this game and perhaps that determined the choice of full backs.

Stephen Warnock had a good game against Boro and Cyrus Christie was not even on the bench on Tuesday night but perhaps the mobility of Craig Forsyth and Christie determined their selection with more required from those positions to support the midfield.

Fozzie had a decent game all over the pitch, providing his usual threat going forward. Christie looked better going forward than defensively at times but this was an improvement from him.

After the home team’s energetic start the Rams hit a purple patch from the quarter hour onwards with opportunities in short order falling to Russell, Darren Bent, Bent (again), Tom Ince, Bent (again) and Ince (again)

The woodwork, good Blues defending, a fatal delay in shooting when the opportunity presented itself and rank bad luck all took their turn in preventing us from capitalising on these chances.

While the build up play was good there was a creeping sense of unease about not taking the chances when we had them in this most competitive of leagues.

The game quietened down towards half time but the Rams failure to close down on Stephen Gleeson as the ball was cleared from a corner cost us as his shot from distance took a deflection and found its way into the net to put the hosts ahead just before the break.

Birmingham made a strong start to the second half and came close to taking what may have been a decisive two goal lead heading a chance over and putting a shot wide – the Rams recovered though and hit another lengthy purple patch that lasted for a good twenty minutes.

Craig Forsyth hit a fine shot that Tomasz Kuszczak somehow managed to keep out and away from Darren Bent.

The pressure told for us just after the hour when George Thorne won a terrific tackle to regain possession in our half which in turn led to Tom Ince playing the lurking Johnny Russell in on the left of the Blues area.

With great power and precision JR fired into the roof of the net and we were level.

For a moment on 68 minutes it looked as if referee Lee Mason had awarded the Rams a penalty when Chris Martin went down in the area but, countering the old cliché that refs never change their minds, Mason then booked Martin for diving.

Was it a pen? – Seen them given….. Was it a booking? – Probably not.

It struck me as a Premier League ref in a Championship game feeling the need to make a “big” decision

Andi Weimann was brought on with twenty minutes to go replacing Darren Bent, but not before Bent had hit the woodwork again just after the equalising goal. On another night Bent would have personally bagged four.

The game closed with both sides still eager but both tiring to an extent.

Still unbeaten in the league but no wins for the Rams then.

The evidence on the pitch looks promising with development in each game – we are looking more threatening and our attacking game seems to be moving into gear.

We look particularly good when we move with high tempo.

Our old friends from Yorkshire next then.

                                                                   Played GD    Pts

  1. Wolves                                                       3       0       4
  2. Derby County                                           4       0       4
  3. Nottingham Forest                              3       0       4
  4. QPR                                                               3      -1      4
  5. Cardiff City                                               3       0       3
  6. Leeds United                                            3       0       3

6th April – Relief as Rams back to winning ways at Wigan

06 Monday Apr 2015

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6th April

Wigan Athletic    0

Derby County      2        Chris Martin 51, Darren Bent 81

Chris Martin’s 20th goal of the season and his inspiring performance after coming on as a half time substitute lead the Rams to our first win in eight at the DW Stadium.

There is no doubting the contribution our number 9 makes to our success and the difference he made to a poor and lethargic first half performance was a clear indication of the value he adds to the team.

The prospect of facing a poor and disjointed Wigan team heading for the Third Division (as it should be called…none of this League One nonsense) on a very poor pitch had the makings of a banana skin for a team as lacking in confidence as we were entering this game.

The first half was a poor spectacle that we allowed Wigan to increasingly dominate with their physical approach but the introduction of Martin at half time changed our approach and as soon as we took the lead Wigan’s threat receded.

The Rams made four changes for this game with Raul Albentosa, Stephen Warnock, Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Ward coming into the starting eleven replacing the injured Ryan Shotton, George Thorne and Craig Bryson as well as the struggling Cyrus Christie who dropped to the bench.

There was lots of puzzlement amongst the fans when looking at the defence  Richard Keogh at right back, Craig Forsyth at centre half.

It felt like a gambler’s throw of the dice to me and not the kind of experimentation you indulge in with six games of a season to go and all to play for….but I am delighted to be proved wrong as the new defence delivered the first clean sheet since our last win on 24th February when we beat Charlton 2-0.

Steve McClaren spoke after the game about having two “talkers” in the full back positions in Keogh & Warnock and also about how they had identified left centre half as being a position that Craig Forsyth could play.

Having seen Keogh & Shotton and also Keogh & Albentosa, both right footed combinations, sometimes struggle as a central partnership, it was no surprise that a lefty was being thought of but it was definitely a surprise to see us go for it with Fozzy today.

The back five had a good game, Granty making two excellent saves and the skipper and Fozzy coping well with their new positions. Raul started slowly but Warnock had a good game, as did the unit as a whole, albeit against a team that had not won a home match since August.

The Rams should have been ahead on 11 minutes when Darren Bent played Tom Ince in following a break lead by Craig Forsyth but Ince could only tamely shoot straight at keeper Ali Al Habsi.

Without ever really threatening in the first quarter hour the hosts forced five corners which tested the new look Rams back line. All were coped with competently if not always comfortably.

It was truly a dull and lifeless first half – we struggled to make any impact upon the Wigan goal and the only real moment of note after the Tom Ince chance was a great save from Lee Grant as the game moved beyond 35 minutes keeping out a McLean header.

The talismanic Chris Martin replaced Jamie Ward at half time who, like most other Rams, had had a very quiet first half.

There was a feeling of being back on the right track when a couple of minutes into ths second half we saw our first Chrissy Martin “wardrobe” free kick. – How we have missed those….

Joy two minutes later as Chris Martin started and finished a move with the assistance of Johnny Russell, the lively Scot finding Martin with a precise pass from the edge of the area which Martin put away with a clinical finish to put the Rams 1-0 up and send the 4,000 plus Rams fans into loud raptures of delight.

Without wishing to labour the point there was such a change of mood and performance as soon as Chris Martin was back on the pitch.

We have sorely lacked leadership on the pitch and this is something that Martin gives us, of all our players he appears to be the one with the greatest will to win.

Steve McLaren spoke after the game about Martin having 45 minutes in him today. For our prospects for the rest of the season it is to be hoped his journey back to full match fitness is rapid.

The crucial second goal came for the Rams on 81 minutes with a move started by Will Hughes and again involving Johnny Russell, the chance fell to Chris Martin who missed his attempt but Darren Bent was on the spot to fire in his ninth goal of his loan spell.

Lee Grant rounded off his excellent game making another vital save, this time from Kim-Bo Kyung as we moved into five minutes of injury time.

One downside of today was Will Hughes’ 10th booking of the season which will see him miss the games against Brentford and Blackpool.

As good a player as he is, and by god he is, it is frustrating that so many of Will’s bookings are silly niggly ones – just as today’s was.

Yet more changes in the leadership of the league that no-one wants to win as the leaders coming into today, Middlesbrough, were beaten 2-0 at Watford and dropped back to 4th allowing Bournemouth to return to the top with a 4-2 win against Birmingham.

Norwich City rose into the second automatic spot with a 2-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday.

The automatic places may seem a long shot for us now but we have a real opportunity to push on with the two home games coming up against Brentford and Blackpool.

We have already seen this season what a good and resilient team Brentford are but this is crunch time now and the early kick off on Saturday is our chance to build on the excellent second half performance today.

Played GD Pts
1. AFC Bournemouth 41 +44 77
2. Norwich City 41 +36 76
3. Watford 41 +34 76
4. Middlesbrough 41 +28 75
5. Derby County 41 +28 71
6. Brentford 41 +15 70

20th March – Groundhog night at Molineux as Rams downed again

21 Saturday Mar 2015

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20th March

Wolverhampton Wanderers    2      Nouha Dicko 48, Lee Grant (o.g) 69

Derby County                              0

Another evening full of the frustrations that have bedevilled Rams fans in recent games was the outcome of the Friday night trip to Wolverhampton.

A display much improved on that against Middlesbrough was for nothing as the woodwork was clanged, possession dominated but two dreadful defensive errors were punished and there was an all too familiar refereeing mystery that changed the course of the game in the first half.

I was at this game with a Wolves mate and watched from the unusual vantage point of the home stand so it was interesting that those fans around me knowing I was a Ram unanimously agreed that referee Keith Stroud should have either sent off Danny Batth for bundling over Darren Bent as he closed on goal in the first half, or played the advantage and allowed the goal that Tom Ince subsequently scored.

To do neither and only award us a free kick was baffling and with our fragile confidence damaging – as Steve McClaren put it afterwards;

“We’ve set standards at this football club in trying to be humble about accepting refereeing decisions. Tonight that was tested to the limit. It was difficult to take”

Two changes for the Rams coming into this game with the return of Darren Bent and the inclusion of Jesse Lingard at the expense of the two Jamies, Ward and Hanson. A change of formation too with the Rams lining up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 that seemed to morph into a 4-4-1-1 when out of possession.

For the players we had on the pitch the formation seemed to be an improvement as Will Hughes, Craig Bryson, Tom Ince and Jesse Lingard saw a lot of the ball throughout the game and worked well together. It was the most I had seen Lingard involved in a game and he looked sharp skillful and willing.

Ince worked hard, always looking to create and struck the crossbar with a looping shot in the first half and came close to breaking through with some intricate one – twos on a number of occasions.

Craig Bryson also hit the woodwork in the second half with a cross shot that Tomasz Kuszczak might just have got a fingertip to and these near misses added to 60% possession and 15 efforts on goal suggest a game that we should have won but for all of the above we were never clinical enough in front of the Wolves goal nor composed enough in front of our own.

Wolves set up with two pacy strikers in Benik Afobe and Nouha Dicko but were often happier to play on the break, conceding possession and territory to us and, particularly in the second half, setting up on the edge of their penalty area and looking to crowd out any of our intricate passing moves.

Our full backs, particularly Cyrus Christie, struggled to get forward effectively and while Craig Forsyth had plenty of opportunities to put in dangerous crossed his final ball too often found a gold shirt. There was a superb opportunity early in the first half when Fozzie was freed on the left and with Bent open and waiting in the penalty area he just failed to find him. A little bit of composure and precision then could have made all of the difference.

I’m beginning to doubt our half time routine and preparation. Is that pre-kick off warm up worthwhile?

Yet again we were slow and sluggish out of the blocks and a mistake by Fozzie gave the ball away to Kevin McDonald who played in Nouha Dicko who fired through Lee Grant to give the home team the lead and immediate deflation to Rams hopes.

There followed what felt like a long period of Derby pinning Wolves back onto their eighteen yard line without ever making an incisive breakthrough. Wolves withdrew Dicko to add another midfielder to add to the defensive barricades.

Unfortunately just before the 70 minute mark the Rams self destructed, Lee Grant opting to try and punch a sliced Richard Keogh clearance from under his own bar only managing to punch it into the net to make it 2-0.

The rest of the match consisted of the Rams playing some attractive approach play without ever creating a clear cut chance interspersed with Wolves breakaways most notably Bakary Sako rumbling through at least six apparently exhausted Rams players and finding himself one on one with Lee Grant only to blaze over.

I left Molineux with a palpable sense of gloom about our prospects even to make the playoffs this year, never mind automatic promotion. In the hours since I have remembered some of the good play we saw last night but at the risk of repitition to the point of boredom, we are so dearly missing the qualities of Chris Martin and some composure in defence.

We have a fortnight off now and it is to be hoped the Rams use the days wisely and that also injuries heal in that time.

The results today have been kinder to us than they could have been with both Watford and Middlesbrough losing and Brentford drawing so we at least have the destiny of the season in our hands.

This is a crazy division this year and we know anything is possible before season’s end but we need to find our mojo…and quick.

Played GD Pts
1. AFC Bournemouth 39 +42 73
2. Watford 39 +32 72
3. Middlesbrough 39 +29 72
4. Norwich City 39 +33 70
5. Derby County 39 +26 67
6. Ipswich Town 39 +16 67

10th February – Resilient Rams make a point at Bournemouth

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

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10th February

AFC Bournemouth 2 Matt Ritchie 12, Callum Wilson 44
Derby County 2 Tom Ince 30, Darren Bent 68

There is such a thing as a good point and in the aftermath of a breathless game at the Goldsands Stadium this feels like one.

This was such an intense game. It was high on tension, but also high in quality, as the Rams showed great character and resolve to equalise twice against the free scoring hosts and secure that good point.

Indeed we largely controlled the second half, restricted Bournemouth to one skewed Harry Artur effort and could quite easily have taken the three points from this crucial game.

Two of our January signings were on the score sheet with Tom Ince and Darren Bent both showing great poise to put away their chances and in doing so vindicating again the decision making processes at the club at the moment.

Think for a moment the impact that Ince jr. and Darren Bent have had in their short time at the Rams, seven goals between them and a lift to the squad and the team – and they are only part of the enhancement to the squad in January with Raul Albentosa likely to play a key part in the season to come and the presence of Stephen Warnock on the bench surely a factor in the resurgence of Craig Forsyth’s form in recent weeks.

The Rams made one change for this game, Cyrus Christie replacing Ryan Shotton at right back and it was a quick and powerful start to the game by Derby putting pressure on the hosts who looked nervy for the first five minutes and creaky at the back.

The mood changed quickly though and we seemed to be unsettled by an incident on 10 minutes when Lee Grant handled outside of the area while, arguably, being obstructed by Callum Wilson.

Referee Mark Clattenburg, who had a good game, made a pragmatic decision not punishing the Rams keeper but awarding the Cherries a free kick in a dangerous area. The free kick passed harmlessly but Bournemouth then scored with their first incisive attack Callum Wilson and Yann Kermogant setting up Matt Richie to score.

Bad became worse on 14 minutes when Chris Martin limped off with what looked like an ankle injury and was replaced by Darren Bent.

Of the many things that impressed me about the Rams tonight, how we coped without our talismanic No.9 was right up there.

Talk to Rams fans throughout this season and top of the list of our concerns was how the team would function without Chris Martin. Well, we were going to have to find out pretty sharpish in probably our most difficult game of the season after he limped off.

We struggled to settle in the aftermath of the goal and a weak backheader from Keogh almost gifted a second goal but Wilson could not finish.

After some heroics from Jake Buxton putting his body on the line to repel a Cherries attacks the Rams equalised thanks to the midfield maestro Hughes who tried to play in Darren Bent on the right hand side of the area.

The on loan striker robbed the Bournemouth full back Simon Francis and played a superb pass for Tom Ince and the man of the moment shimmied to dummy a defender and finished superbly for the goal.

From a high to a low within minutes though. After our equaliser we continued to pressure the hosts but then undid so much good work when just before the half time whistle Wilson was allowed to accept the ball by the Rams central defence and fire the Cherries back into the lead.

The second half started at a lesser pace than what had gone before, but no surprise there as it would have taken a superhuman effort by both sides to keep up the intensity.

The Rams slowly cranked up the pressure and control and worked a half chance for Tom Ince who got past a couple of defenders but was prevented from scoring again by a superb tackle from Tommy Elphick.

The second equaliser came from a clinical finish from Darren Bent. Good play by Craig Forsyth and Simon Dawkins (on as substitute only two minutes earlier for Jamie Ward) saw Dawkins play the ball across the area and the former England striker nipped in front of the defence for his fourth goal for the Rams – a quality finish from quality striker.

The Rams put more pressure on Cherries after the second equaliser and Bournemouth increasingly looked towards Callum Wilson for the long ball outlet as the game went on and had little else to offer by way of threat.

Even though we could not force the winner this was a performance to give us great heart for the rest of the season.

There were good performances all over the pitch tonight, Craig Forsyth having a good game, as did Omar Mascarell who is seemingly growing with every game. Tom Ince and Darren Bent provide us with a very welcome cutting edge.

Jeff Hendrick was again very good and Will Hughes has maintained a level of excellence over a number of games now that is a joy to see.

I can’t remember the last time a point felt so satisfying and positive and even seeing Middlesbrough grub their way past Blackpool 2-1 to go top could not detract from that.

 

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

02 Sunday Nov 2014

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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.