Ellafella

Great win Derby. Showed maturity & belief.

Either brilliant motivational coaching or a car-crash of coaching prescience 🤷‍♂️?! To be fair, I remember talking with Daren Wasssel about Will Hughes who said “At 15 years old, I wouldn’t have predicted that Will would be the lad making his first team debut at 16!”. I suspect a great many players fall through the net who would otherwise become future seasoned professionals.

John Lewis Shop in Nott’m:

Hear! Hear! @angieram. Whatever our personal views you can’t help but be aware of just how incredibly hard PW et al work for Derby County. They are totally absorbed & dedicated to the job. They so deserve success and I really want them to get the job done.

When he has played Right FB his attacking has been stilted by (usually Ward) the teammate played above him on the wing. I thought the idea would to interchange with Ward, but the problem is that Ward is a penalty-giver looking for an opportunity to mis-time a tackle on an opponent in our box. His success on that count is legendary at P'boro

Vickers: 6 Distribution for the first 20 minutes was Sunday League-esque (skyscraper kicks or hospital passes vaguely in the direction of a defender in a white shirt). Settled down thereafter and made 3 good saves. No fault for the goal. Nelson: 6 Individually good for the most-part but part of a collective-defence that looked like keystone Kops.com especially during the opening minutes when the ball kept coming back to our box. The presence/absence of Nyambe is a key variable here. Wilson: 6.5 Some promising moments but disappointed to see him going to ground unconvincingly looking for a FK, which is not acceptable for me. John-Jules: 6.5 Also some promising moments but still quite raw and a bit of a lone shark who doesn't seek to link up with teammates; needs a lot more game time and I now feel he isn't going to click anytime soon; certainly not in the timeframe we need so suspect he'll remain bit-part or return to London. Bradley 6: Headed and cleared adequately but not always a reader of the situation and sometimes not in the right place. Barkhuizen: 5.5 Didn't show enough certainly not commensurate with his talent/experience. Not helped by being part of an ever-changing side/formation; he looked "seasick" after te final whistle. Collins: 5.5 Felt for Collo as he attempted to control Vickers's skyscraper kicks for the first 20 mins. He needs to be careful when challenging headers as he now seems to be all elbows - refs will take action. Thompson: 6.0 Energy and covered the turf but 50% of a headless chicken midfield. Mendez-Laing: 7.0 Brought much-needed injection of pace and power and possession for the 2nd 45 but toiled tout seul. Sibley: 5.0 Why does he have these "no shows"? Lots of talent but where is his "on" switch? Bird 🦅 6.5 Along with NML he brought some control and possession and threat but couldn't influence a losing battle sufficiently. Elder 4.0 Failed to have an impact and was responsible for not "snuffing out" their scorer Stubbs. Cashin 7.5 Looked like the only footballer on the pitch after his introduction. Fornah 5.0 Has faded since his promising start and struggled to keep possession/control and was the other 50% of the headless chicken midfield. Hourihane 6.5 Exacted some control on his introduction and kept the ball moving. Ward: 4.0 Several unforced errors - misplaced pass straight to a rugby-shirted opponent, a couple of overhit crosses and co-calamity with Elder in failing to challenge Stubbs for the headed goal. He wouldn't make my squad selection on Monday, even without Nyambe. The performance was not acceptable and I suspect/hope that the cold night, bumpy pitch, lack of a crowd, and a "Groupthink" borne of complacency accounts for that ie that we have got it out of the system and won't approach the next match and fall into the same collective malaise. If those factors don't account for what we witnessed, I'm concerned because we will fall short if it stems from other factors such as our shape and tactics. Let's hope it's the former and that we have some talent entering via the open window. Last night burst a bubble. Bradford beat us without really breaking much of a sweat.

Half-marks allowed; please rate all subs. Closes Thursday @ 18:00. Results by Thursday 22:00. Average is 6.00. Therefore, when a sub steps on the pitch he is on 6 -that'sthe baseline. Also indicate ATG (at the game) Or Tv. Vickers Nelson Wilson John-Jules Bradley Barkhuizen Collins Thompson Mendez-Laing Sibley Bird 🦅 Elder Cashin Fornah Hourihane Ward

...but worryingly a strong Derby side for most of the game. Very little individual or collective quality; no chances of note created against a largely second string Bratfut XI.

6 mins added time.

Indeed.

pinball in the Bratfut area...but final shot cleared. Derby staring down the barrel of defeat ...

Absolutely zilch contact by JJ on their defender ...but asst flags frantically and ref gives it...

He makes regular unforced errors it has to be said.

Bratfut with a spring in their step now...almost add a 2nd but for Vickers's save

Ward's crossing has been poor tonight.

Oh dear...free header...Ward & Elder with lead in their boots...

Derby already injecting more energy. Disappointing to see Wilson falling down a bit too obviously...

Based on the 1st half, it's anybody's game. Suspect Warne will deploy Bird very soon ...we need to effect more control

Bratfut will be very encouraged by our mess of a game in the first half.

Collo when he challenges for a header...

Our pitch has got that same awkward bobble that Fleetwood's had last Saturday.

Bradford's shape already looks better than ours...they're finding gaps through the lines...

Midfield need to stamp authority and get the ball down.

Sloppy opening 5 from Derby. Ball being hoofed high and long.

Just noticed that no Rams players tuck their shirts in ...Sir Brian would not like that... "Tek yer 'ands out of yer pockets, get yer 'air cut and tuck yer shirt in yunnng man".