Tag Archives: Jason Shackell

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.

8th August – Injuries overshadow opening day point for Rams

08 Saturday Aug 2015

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8th August

Bolton Wanderers    0          Jay Spearing sent off 86

Derby County 0

An away point in Paul Clement’s first league game in charge was overshadowed by injuries to Craig Bryson & Will Hughes – both potentially serious knee injuries, particularly for Hughes who had to be stretchered off on the half hour.

After a very busy summer; a new head coach and coaches – seven new players and a promising pre-season there was always going to be interest in Paul Clement’s first team selection – five of the team that started that awful last game against Reading started this game – Richard Keogh, Stephen Warnock, Will Hughes, Tom Ince & Johnny Russell.

In for debuts came new signings Scott Carson and new captain Chris Baird while Jason Shackell started his second stint as a Ram.

Terrific to see George Thorne and Chris Martin back after injury and also interesting to see Craig Bryson straight into the team after an injury hit pre-season being preferred to Jeff Hendrick as part of the midfield diamond though he got little chance to impress with his early injury.

Getting used to a new manager is always an interesting process and pre-match a couple of things caught my attention.

The preferring of Johnny Russell to new signing Andreas Wiemann was one. It became apparent through pre-season that these two players were likely to be competing for a place and both had a good pre-season but to see Johnny given the nod was an interesting one.

The selection of Stephen Warnock over Craig Forsyth at left back in an experienced defence was another selection of note after the former Leeds man had struggled to make an impact at the end of last season.

Although Bolton hit the woodwork three times late on, the defence as a whole looked better with Jason Shackell at its heart, his excellent game sense and positioning, his powerful aerial presence and his leadership at the back will be such a boost for us this season.

The substitution that saw Ryan Shotton take over at right back as Chris Baird moved into midfield weakened us at the back and Shotton looked vulnerable at times as well as lacking in confidence going forward.

We held the diamond formation throughout but with a middle two of Baird and Hendrick rather than Bryson and Hughes we lacked creativity and the full backs did not do a great job of providing width in support of our attack.

Chris Martin was somewhat isolated because of this and so was Johnny Russell despite his huge work rate (as ever)

The home team started in energetic fashion and won the first corner of the game after a slip from Warnock but the Rams eased into the game from the ten minute mark and had a good five to ten minute period showing some good understanding and fluidity in moving the ball around and forward.

Craig Bryson’s injury occurred first after 20 minutes Jeff Hendrick replacing him.

Hendrick created a great chance for the Rams just before the half hour spinning the ball into the area for Johnny Russell who hit the bar with his rising shot.

The very serious looking injury to Will Hughes just after the half hour extinguished the encouraging signs from the new look Rams; Hughes went down in a heap and needed assistance immediately being carried off on a stretcher.

He did appear on the bench towards the end of the game but the severity of the injury is yet to be confirmed – we can only hope for the best as far as that is concerned.

The injuries to our midfield seemed to (understandably) take the momentum out of our play and the first half dwindled to a close, though the Trotter’s Gary Madine still had time to catch both Jason Shackell and Stephen Warnock with a flying elbow before half time.

The second half started in a disjointed and scrappy manner as the Rams struggled to put moves together. Bolton were always snapping at the Rams players and we were predictable when looking to probe their defence.

When we could create we looked good, George Thorne, Tom Ince and Chris Baird combining well to create a chance that went via Johnny Russell to Chris Martin who couldn’t keep his shot down.

Just as Bolton looked to be tiring and expectation was rising for a Rams winner the home team found a new impetus and hit the Rams woodwork three times through Heskey and Madine.

Referee Andy Madley did not have a great game and allowed Bolton’s physical approach to cross the line at times.

His best decision of the day though was to book Jay Spearing for a dive when the home team were looking for a penalty with just four minutes to go.

The midfielder’s second booking of the day saw him sent off and took the steam out of the home team’s charge.

In the dying embers of the game the Rams had a chance to win it, Ince breaking away but unable to fashion a shot and the ball not falling for either Martin or Hendrick in support.

Paul Clement sounded disappointed after the game but an away point is never to be scorned especially after the injury setbacks we experienced. Jason Shackell looked good, Richard Keogh benefited from having him alongside and Scott Carson was solid in goal.

The season is underway and we have a point on the board – next up Pompey.