Tag Archives: Jake Buxton

31st January – On song Rams give Cardiff the blues

01 Sunday Feb 2015

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31st January

Cardiff City                    0           

Derby County                2         Scott Malone (o.g.) 23, Chris Martin 45 

      

Having seen both Bournemouth and Middlesbrough win before we kicked off this was an important three points for the Rams to bring home from the Welsh capital.

Remembering back to the summer the Bluebirds were seen as being one of our key competitors for promotion this season. Despite the Premier League parachute payment though, the Welsh team have struggled back in the second tier and in this game looked like the mid table team that they are.

Games still need to be won, however, and this was a pleasing performance by Derby to do so, backed by a loud and raucous following of travelling fans. 

No changes were made to the team that beat Blackburn though a hamstring injury suffered by Raul Albentosa in training kept him off the bench being replaced by his countryman Ivan Calero.

The Rams started brightly, keeping the ball well and moving it around quickly which is always an obvious sign of the mood and confidence of the team.

We got the benefit of an early penalty as Martin went down during a corner for the Rams when the ball was pinging around the Cardiff area – as penalties went it was on the soft side, had it gone against us I would not have been happy.

Chris Martin missed the spot kick though putting his attempt too close to the keeper allowing Simon Moore to push it away. 

This team of ours has resilience though, evidenced by the response to that disappointing (to say the least) Forest defeat – two wins and two clean sheets coming in to this game – and also overcoming the missed penalty.

Both Simon Dawkins and Jamie Ward were playing well , both probably benefitting from more match time and it was Ward that received the ball in the 22nd minute following a lovely intricate move involving Hughes ,Hendrick and Martin, and his beautifully judged ball led to Scott Malone diverting past his own keeper for an own goal.

The home team were not offering much by way of a threat at all though Lee Grant and Jake Buxton gave the loud and bouncing Rams contingent a fright on 35 minutes by almost leaving a ball to each other as it was played through.

That was one of the last acts in this game for our rugged centre half as Buxton turned his ankle shortly afterwards and the normally indestructible Buckobauer was forced off after trying to run it off.

A shuffle of the defence ensued with Cyrus Christie coming on and Ryan Shotton moving across and Christie was instrumental in a perfectly timed second goal just before the break.

Another sweet passing move involving Jeff Hendrick, Chris Martin, Craig Forsyth & Will Hughes freed up Christie on the flank and he put in a superb deep cross that Martin connected with, thundering a header in to the top of the net to make it 2-0.

It had been an excellent first half performance, that second goal importantly emphasising our dominance and putting Cardiff in a very difficult position.

The second half started steadily with few opportunities at either end. After a sprightly first half Dawkins limped off on the hour to be replaced by Mason Bennett and it is to be hoped that his comeback to the team is not to be interrupted again, particularly considering our shortage of options in the wide areas of the team.

Cardiff bought on Kenwyn Jones just after the hour and he had barely been on the pitch a couple of minutes before his header brought out a great save from Lee Grant. Our keeper is having an excellent season and in the last couple of weeks alone he has made superb saves in games where he has not had much to do, always a good sign of keeping focus.

The closest we came to a third goal was when a characteristic pass from Hughes released Bennett in the area but a poor bounce held the ball up allowing keeper to make a save.

Three important points then with a comfortable win though it was interesting to hear Steve McClaren’s expressing his disappointment that we did not kick on in the second half – high standards in our coaching staff bodes well for the rest of the season.

The end of January sees us 2nd with 54 points from 28 games played.

This time last year Leicester City were at the top of the table with 66 points from one more game – QPR second with 56pts from 28 games.

With no team as far ahead as Leicester this year it is a fair bet that 90pts will secure automatic promotion – 36 more points then in our last 18 games.

Those games will start count down before we know it so wins like today are crucial and very welcome.

 

30th December – Bucko’s back as Rams roll over Leeds

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

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30th December

Derby County              2                  Leeds United                     0

Alex Mowatt (o.g.) 41

Jake Buxton 48

Rarely will the Rams have won a game as easily as this post Christmas affair and the fact that it was against old rivals Leeds United made it all the more satisfying.

Finding ourselves on TV again this match came at the end of the latest round of Championship games that had seen Bournemouth continue their winning streak but Middlesbrough and Brentford drop points making this both an opportunity for us to ease away from them a little but also a requirement to keep pace with the Cherries.

One change for the Rams saw the free from suspension Jake Buxton replace Ryan Shotton and I was not alone in greeting that news with a smile. As well as his comfort on the left side of the central defensive partnership (a position that the very right footed Shots does seem to struggle with) Bucko brings to the team a determination and will to win that we do miss when he is absent.

I am hard pressed to think of a more improved footballer in recent times to have passed through Derby – consider this is a player that did not make it at Mansfield Town but is now a more than competent Championship defender who seems to have stepped up another notch since the arrival of Steve McClaren et.al

A 31,000 plus crowd saw us control this game from start to finish and while we did not carve out chance after chance we created enough to have won a second consecutive game 4-0 had our finishing been sharper.

Leeds looked what they are – a poor team struggling to find an identity in the face of constant change and upheaval and the only negative from me in this game was the frustration at having lost to this mob at the end of November and how those extra three points would have us joint top with Bournemouth today.

Will Hughes had an excellent game, prompting and looking to create. His dangerous cross across the face of the Leeds goal panicked Leeds’s Alex Mowatt into putting the ball into his own net just before half time and then just after the break the returning Bucko freed himself to plant a header home from Jeff Hendrick’s free kick….and it was game over already.

We did carve out a number of half chances after the second goal with Leeds’ keeper Marco Silvestri making a couple of smart saves.

Johnny Russell yet again gave a tireless performance of both attack and supporting the defence and it was a feature of our play that both wide men snuffed out any potential Leeds attacking ploys very effectively.

Jordan Ibe looked dangerous and worried the Yorkshire rearguard regularly and the balance of the team seemed much better than in the recent past. Whether this is completely down to the re-introduction of John Eustace and Bucko is open to question but I think they have made a difference in these last two games.

One of the things I admire about our management set up is their willingness to change things when necessary.

The reintroduction of Eustace after it seemed that Omar Mascarell would be given more time to adapt to the challenge of playing the pivotal DM position and the return of Bucko for this game after it seemed that Ryan Shotton was the favoured player both show a flexibility that will serve us well.

While we were seeing off the old enemy the Tractor Boys were trundling to a 3-0 win over Charlton to keep themselves two points ahead of us in 2nd. Our next league game is against Mick McCarthy’s well drilled troops and while that 10th January game in Suffolk is too early to be season defining it would be a hell of a statement from us if we were to win it.

The January transfer window creaks open this week and there are rumours swirling around about the imminent arrival of Darren Bent at the iPro for the rest of the season, possibly to replace the returning Leon Best.

If true this surprises me for a number of reasons (wages, his fit into the way we play to name but two) – he does seem very much a “play on the last defender’s shoulder” type of striker, very different to what we have.

But…. he is an experienced, still pacey front man who scores goals so could give us those different options that we lack, something different to what we have (and without being unkind he cannot give us less than Leon Best)

So Southport on Saturday and despite my years I have never seen the Rams playing them, so am looking forward to that. The Sandgrounders are bringing nigh on 3,000 fans to Derby so there is a proper cup tie atmosphere to look forward to.

A very Happy New Year to fellow Rams – COYR !

 

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

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

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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.