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15th August – Chances galore but just the point for Rams

16 Sunday Aug 2015

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15th August

Derby County          1          Chris Martin 68

Charlton Athletic    1          Tony Watt 48

The first home league game of the season saw the Rams create numerous chances in a game they dominated against the visiting Charlton.

There was only Chris Martin’s first goal of the season to show for it though and a single point was the outcome after the Addicks had taken the lead early in the second half by way of Tony Watt’s deflected strike.

Disappointment at the result is tempered though by the Rams performance. A little slow at the outset, the Rams controlled long periods of the game and played with the precision and skill we have become used to over the last two seasons.

Control through the midfield was down to George Thorne and Jamie Hanson who both had excellent games.

Home grown Hanson was one of three changes to the team from the one that drew at Bolton last week along with Jeff Hendrick and Craig Forsyth replacing the injured Will Hughes and Craig Bryson, Stephen Warnock stepping down to the bench.

Unlike last Saturday we lined up in the old familiar 4-3-3 and I was interested to see how Hanson would flourish in the more creative role in midfield as opposed to the holding role.

Well he shone.

This fella can really pass a ball and his repertoire of long and short passes was superb. He was also tigerish in the tackle and put himself about well.

Understandably he seemed to fade towards the end of the game, not helped by a heavy tackle he was on the receiving end of, but his assist for Chris Martin’s goal was neat and incisive and he can be well pleased with his performance.

George Thorne was even more impressive. Starts circulating in the twittersphere after the game point out that he was the only player to make more than a 100 passes in the Championship and all at a success rate of 97%.

The bare stats don’t tell the whole story though; Thorne bossed the midfield, was always available to accept the ball, set the attacking tempo with some superb passes and also snuffed out any number of Charlton moves.

He is one hell of a player and it is great to see him playing.

The only thing he should desist from are tackles like the one on the edge of the Addicks area with 15 minutes to go that left him on the turf and had most of the crowd ignoring the game and watching him gingerly get to his feet and get moving again…..we just do not need that kind of stress…

Charlton are a decent side and will do well this season. Despite our dominance they also had a couple of chances, Simon Makienok heading over from a corner when well placed and also pulling a shot wide of goal from 12 yards out.

For much of the game though they were on the back foot as the Rams probed and created, moving the ball around with ease. In the first half Chris Martin missed a decent chance after a piece of trickery from Tom Ince and Jeff Hendrick (having a busy game) shot just wide from the edge of the area.

The Rams could easily have scored twice within the first minute of the second half but then found themselves a goal down when a shot from the lively Tony Watt spiralled off Richard Keogh past a wrong footed Scott Carson.

Derby responded well and keeper Nick Pope made excellent saves from Thorne, Martin and Ince around the equaliser which Martin finished well, turning and shooting into the corner following Hanson’s precise pass.

The goal seemed to perk Martin up, he had looked a little off his normal best in the first half but was much more involved afterwards.

We could have won, would have won on other days but the performance was good.

Charlton deserve credit for a dogged defensive performance, I lost count of the number of our shots from in and around the area that they blocked.

Our defence looks so much better with Shackell, Carson and Baird; Richard Keogh had an excellent game and looks much more settled next to Shackell, reminding us of the good defender he is.

Baird and Forsyth got forward well from the full back positions and there was even time for a cameo from Cyrus Christie, providing an attacking threat when Hanson was substituted in the last five minutes.

I thought the flags in the South Stand (as promoted and organised by @DCFC1884Support) looked great and I do prefer us shooting towards the South Stand in the second half as we did in this game.

A big test next game as Middlesbrough come to town on Tuesday night. We owe them a result.

                                                        P       GD    Pts

13     Burnley                                    2       0       2

14    Cardiff City                                2       0       2

15     Derby County                          2       0       2

16     Leeds United                           1       0       1

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

12 Wednesday Aug 2015

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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.

3rd April – Shaky Rams let it slip against 10 man Hornets

04 Saturday Apr 2015

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3rd April

Derby County       2        Darren Bent (pen) 45, Tom Ince 57

Watford                2        Matej Vydra 23, Marco Motta sent off 44, Odion Ighalo 75

The Rams winless streak stretched to seven games after a frustrating night at the iPro.

Down to an opportunistic goal after another defensive error, the Rams hit back to take the lead through a Darren Bent penalty and a fine finish from Tom Ince.

Yet again though Derby failed to close the game out despite the visitors being down to ten men, Watford equalising with a quarter of an hour to go.

Thanks to wins for Wolves and Brentford earlier in the day we kicked off in eighth place and out of the playoffs for the first time since September.

The only real consolation for me as I left the ground last night was that the point we gained lifted us back up into the top six but that feels like scant consolation indeed.

Uncertainty over the team sheet added hung over this game – it was great to see George Thorne back in the starting eleven the presence of Chris Martin on the bench raised a few more questions – fit enough to play part of the game but not the 90 minutes ??.

The boost of seeing our midfield linchpin back in the side only lasted half an hour though as he was replaced by Jeff Hendrick and left the field a downcast figure.

As I write this there is no update as to the nature of any injury for Thorne but I did see him gingerly stretch his right thigh barely five minutes into the game so it would be no surprise were this to be a reoccurrence of his most recent injury.

Along with Thorne’s reintroduction into the team (with Jesse Lingard dropping to the bench) Raul Albentosa was replaced in central defence by Ryan Shotton in what looked like the regular “horses for courses” approach we seem to take to our defence with Shotton’s greater pace being preferred to negate Watford’s attacking threat presumably.

We started brightly keeping possession well as Watford seemed content to sit back. Will Hughes had another good game and seemed to be trying to push the team over the line through sheer force of will at times with Johnny Russell being as energetic as ever and proving a potential threat throughout, though his control was sometimes a little lacking. Richard Keogh also had a good game, looking to drive us forward regularly as well as keeping tabs on the dangerous Watford strikers.

We could (and should?) have been 2-0 up before Watford’s sucker punch of a goal Darren Bent having two decent chances both of which he did not quite connect with – one being created by a superbly worked short corner involving Tom Ince and George Thorne that Heurelho Gomes in the Hornets goal managed to keep out with his legs.

Another in a long sequence of avoidable defensive mistakes handed Watford a chance which Vydra took clinically on 23 minutes.

Cyrus Christie was heading away from goal with the ball but turned back towards our area and lost the ball. Even then we had a chance to deal with the threat but two weak tackles saw the ball at the dangerous Vydra’s feet and the ball was past Lee Grant in a heartbeat.

Will Hughes flashed a shot just wide in response but just before half time a superb ball from Tom Ince gave the Rams a chance to square the game finding Johnny Russell in the Hornets area.

Russell was brought down by Marco Motta and it was no surprise to see a penalty awarded and the Italian defender sent off.

Darren Bent’s penalty was emphatic and we were going in at the break with a great chance to give our season some renewed impetus.

The substitution of Cyrus Christie at half time saw the introduction of Jesse Lingard as well as giving Jeff Hendrick a chance to brush up on his right wing back experience.

The Rams started at pace and forced a number of corners. A lovely piece of skill from Tom Ince put us ahead just before the hour, finding space in the area and curling in a sweet left foot shot.

The Rams were ahead, the large crowd was loud and boisterous and the game was there for the taking but as has so often been the case we seemed to stop pressing forward, stop taking the initiative and increasingly Watford had more of the ball and did not necessarily look like they were one player down.

Troy Deeney was a constant threat throughout keeping our defenders busy but it was from the flanks again that we conceded the deflating equaliser. We did not clear our lines and the ball came back enabling Odion Ighalo to finish from a Guediora pass with a quarter of an hour to go.

This was the signal for the return of Chris Martin as we desperately pushed for a winner. In his limited time on the pitch it was clear to see how much we had missed our centre forward, his link up play immediately giving us momentum. He also played a superb ball that released Darren Bent into the area but he was unable to finish Gomes again saving his strike.

There was no lack of effort from the Rams in the search for a winner but apart from that saved Darren Bent effort, a Richard Keogh header clawed away by Gomes and a last gasp scramble in the area we could not regain the lead. Another winning position at the iPro had been let slip.

We play with a lack of confidence that leaks off the players and our defence is unrecognisable from that which kept six consecutive clean sheets earlier in the season.

We must get a win, any kind of win from our visit to Wigan on Monday to halt this damaging run of form and start rebuilding the fragile confidence of the team.

Played GD Pts
1. Middlesbrough 40 +30 75
2. AFC Bournemouth 40 +42 74
3. Norwich City 40 +34 73
4. Watford 40 +32 73
5. Brentford 40 +15 69
6. Derby County 40 +26 68

27th January – Rams up to 2nd as Bent double downs Blackburn

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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27th January

Derby County                         2                 Darren Bent 68, 90+2      

Blackburn Rovers                 0

This day may, in retrospect, turn out to be a pivotal one for the Rams in this important season.

Not only did we gather a crucial three points from this hard fought win over Blackburn to lift ourselves back up to 2nd, but George Thorne made his competitive comeback with 45 minutes for the U-21 side who thrashed Stoke City 7-1.

The continued return to fitness of the midfielder, who is so important to the way we play, is a boost to everyone involved with the club and while there is some way to go before he is orchestrating our play it is a relief to see him playing again after the crushing blow of that pre-season injury.

Compared to the team that started against Forest Ryan Shotton replaced Cyrus Christie, Simon Dawkins replaced the injured Johnny Russell and Jeff Hendrick replaced Craig Bryson.

After the experimentation against Chesterfield in the FA Cup it was back to plan A formation wise with the 4-3-3 facing up to Blackburn’s well organised and drilled two banks of four with Tom Cairney playing behind the nippy Josh King.

It was a surprise, though not a disappointment, to see Rovers lining up without either Jordan Rhodes or Rudy Gestede, both of them on the bench. Was this a bit of asset protection in advance of a sale by the Venky’s – difficult to say and unsuccessful, if so, as Gestede appeared before half time to replace the injured Tom Cairney but he himself had to be replaced when injured in the second half.

This was a gritty win for the Rams featuring some good performances from a number of players. Will Hughes was again excellent, always looking for the ball, always providing a threat with his skill and there were two particularly impressive examples of twinkle toed skill from him in the first half as he manoeuvred the ball away from defenders snapping around his heels.

Omar Mascarell had his best game of the season combining his usual ease on the ball with more bite and disruption of Blackburn’s play and looking the part as the defensive midfield pivot.

Richard Keogh was closer to his best than has been the case for a while, some excellent positioning and interceptions allied to a number of shuddering blocks with a few barnstorming charges forward thrown in for good measure. It has been suggested that he was benefitting from a more disciplined right back performance from Ryan Shotton and I think there is merit in that. Shotts was composed on his return to the team and exhibited more positional awareness than Cyrus Christie has done in recent games. And that long throw of his is quite an option for us.

We held the ball well in the first half without ever really carving out a clear chance. The good work of that first half was nearly lost when a misplaced pass from Jeff Hendrick just before the break almost led to a goal with Josh King, fortunately, blazing over.

While never in the brutal class of the Mark Hughes era Blackeye Rovers this generation of Rovers were physical and, more than any team I have seen for a while, looked to hit the long ball to try and exploit their pace up front.

The second half was proving to be more of the same, Jamie Ward and Simon Dawkins labouring on the flanks, both appearing to lack some sharpness and inevitably generating a few what might have beens were it not for the absence of Johnny Russell and Jordan Ibe.

The signing of Darren Bent, though, has given us another option and he had only been on the pitch for five minutes before bundling the ball into the net after another of Ryan Shotton’s long throws

The win was not seen out with ease. Blackburn threw Jordan Rhodes on and started launching the ball into our box and one superb tackle from Omar Mascarell and one even more superb save from Lee Grant were needed to keep us in front.

 It was good to see Mason Bennett appearing as a substitute late on and he was instrumental in the second goal that took the pressure off – breaking down the left wing and putting in an excellent cross for Chris Martin who saw his shot well saved by Jason Steele but there in the right place, at the right time was our new penalty area predator Darren Bent to put the game away.

 This was such an important three points against a good Championship side.

To be back up to second with 19 games to go means our fate is in our hands and if we can ensure that remains the case as the number of games dwindle away this season may yet have a very happy ending.

29th November – Unlucky 13 for the Rams as Leeds knock us off our stride…but not top

30 Sunday Nov 2014

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Leeds United               2       Derby County      0

Mirco Antenucci 43,50

A very 1970’s fixture as the Rams travelled to Elland Road to take on Leeds United, a game that despite the passing of the years, still has a resonance for Rams and Leeds fans of a certain age (i.e. not spring chickens)

The Rams welcomed back fit again Lee Grant in goal in the only change to the starting eleven that won so importantly at Watford. Additionally an illness that kept Leon Best off the bench meant that the highly rated Kwame Thomas took his place.

As the game got underway Leeds seemed to be channelling their 1970’s cynical predecessors in the first five minutes as Chris Martin, Will Hughes and Craig Forsyth were all on the receiving end of fouls.

The Rams did start well though with Johnny Russell in particular looking in lively form but Leeds stepped up after ten minutes and put us under some pressure winning a couple of corners without creating any clear chances

Leeds continuing the aggressive approach they opened with had three players in the book by the half hour mark. The Rams were proving much more efficient, committing only one foul in the first 30 minutes but that also attracting a yellow for Cyrus Christie from referee Mick Russell much to the consternation of the Rams players.

We didn’t cope well with the hectic bustling game that Leeds were determined to create and Omar Mascarell particularly in the first half was struggling to get into the game and was added to the list of bookings when he hacked at a Leeds player.

A regular worry amongst Rams fans, and one repeated after this game is whether we have a weakness against teams that try to rough us up. We have so many skilful touch players but needed a bit more steel in this game to earn the right to play the skilful football we excel at.

Considering the position he plays in much of this kind of thought is expressed with young Omar in mind. He is clearly learning the English game rapidly coming on in leaps and bounds from the start of the season and it may well be that Steve McClaren sees the longer term benefit for us this season in allowing Mascarell to develop further in that crucial defensive midfielder role.

The loss of George Thorne to injury in pre season was a big loss for us and I think we sometimes forget that we are having a good season without, arguably, one of our most influential players of the back end of last season who showed how he could control a game as well as creating chances for us with his excellent passing. If he does end up playing at all for us this season that will be a big bonus.

Leeds won this game with goals either side of half time, their striker Mirco Antenucci being one of three unmarked Leeds players when the ball fell to his feet in the box on 43 minutes and half time optimism was extinguished with a kick in the guts early in the second half as Stephen Warnock’s gallop down the left and cut back from found an again unmarked Antenucci who put away his second of the game on 50 minutes

Derby had more of the ball after Leeds inevitably sat back after the second goal and particularly so after a triple substitution replacing Jordan Ibe, Johnny Russell and Omar Mascarell with Craig Bryson, Simon Dawkins and Kwame Thomas for his debut.

For all of the possession though we did not create a clear cut chance until 82 minutes when Bryson broke free the ball falling eventually to Kwame Thomas who fired over from close range.

This was a well below par Rams performance when despite having more than our share of possession we could not control the game and our precise and pacy passing was not to the fore. It looked like Richard Keogh picked up a hamstring injury towards the end of the game though no word as yet on that.

So our long glorious unbeaten run against Leeds comes to an end after 12 games. As the game ended we found that we were still top despite the result – mainly due to two late goals from Milwall at Bournemouth to peg back the Cherries from 2-0 to 2-2. Football eh?

George on the mend….

26 Sunday Oct 2014

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8th Ocober 2014

George on the mend….

During the League Cup ( I find it difficult to call it anything else , mainly because of the bewildering turnover of sponsors….Milk Cup, Rumbelows Cup, Carling Cup, Coca Cola Cup…..) win over Reading I was chatting to the chap next to me about George Thorne.

 He had happened to bump into the injured midfielder in the car park at the iPro and was recounting with a smile the news that Thorne was hoping to be back in training by the New Year.

 These darkening evenings of October seem an age away from the summer time when us Rams, smarting from that mugging at Wembley, sought to “take the positives” (as that awful phrase goes) by trying to do our bit to ensure that George Thorne signed up permanently from the Baggies.

 That was an unusual and fevered time as twitter accounts of all and sundry, the player himself, Brett Wilson, John Vicars were bombarded with tweets encouraging the deal to be done.

 For a while it looked as if the Rams were getting into a battle of wills with the Baggies and this was a concern remembering how they responded to Peter Odimwinge wanting to join QPR. Holding him to his contract and forcing him to cool his heels at the club until eventually selling him to Cardiff City in the next transfer window did not bode well.

 However the Rams managed it, and at a guess money had quite a bit to do with sealing the deal, this was a crucial transfer for Derby not withstanding the shock of hearing about George’s cruciate knee ligament injury sustained against Zenit St.Petersburg four days after signing.

Considering how important he is to the structure of the team the Rams have coped well without him to reach this international break in 4th place with 20pts from 11 games. His ability to pick a pass from the base of midfield as well as breaking up opposition play was key to our push to Wembley last year and he also proved he had an eye for goal as well scoring against both Doncaster & Brighton.

 If we are to see George Thorne back in the team at some point during 2014-15 it will feel like a new signing again….again. As admirably that John Eustace has covered for his absence thus far and as promising as Omar Mascarell is, the prospect of seeing Thorne back in action is both hugely encouraging and would be a boost to our hopes of promotion.

 Get well soon now George….