Wistaston Ram

Yes loved it just a bit and was very very early to Derby today!! 

Wildsmith  6   - nearly gifted Marriot a goal, but otherwise fairly solid
Knight  8  -  Energy, drive and desire, third time lucky with his header
Forsyth 7 - Some decent crosses
Roberts  6 
Korey Smith  6
 Cashin  7
Stearman  6.5
Dobbin  6.5
McGoldrick  7  Made a difference and a very composed finish
Sibley  7  good performance unlucky not to score
Hourihane  6 Mixed bag
Bird ?  5.5 started well, but uncharacteristically poor second half
Collins  6.0 Keeps plugging away and the firstgoal will come
Barkhuizen  6.5 

Last para sums that up. Went all dizzy when we equalised. What an end. Just debating whether to go down a1 home instead of m1 to feel smug

A message to all those who could have gone tonight but chose not to - mistake - that was extremely enjoyable 

Thank goodness for the comma

Spooky!

The question is, where does Knight actually want to play? This matters because he's far too good a player to be playing in League One. He's Championship at a minimum and would probably do a good job for someone in the Prem too. Does he welcome the experience of temporarily playing in a different position to further his development or is he frustrated and exasperated at, yet again, not being able to play as a central midfielder despite being our best box-to-box midfielder?
He may feel that been played out of position is detrimental to his development in general and his international career in particular. If he does feel like that it's going to significantly increase the chances of him leaving either before the end of the transfer window or in January. His agent may well already be telling him he needs a move for the sake of his career because he's not playing in his best position.
I want us to build a team around the remaining academy graduates - Knight, Bird, Cashin and Sibley etc. So personally I'd like to see LR do everything within his power to keep Knight at Derby and strongly suspect that will mean playing him in his preferred position and therefore signing another right back.
 
 
 
 

I am just thankful, I managed to get to the game today, it is so much easier to cope with the frustration of not winning, watching live rather than having to listen to Radio Derby or follow on-line.  Another good trip (one of the easiest places to park and get to and away from) It was great to see a terrace full of Derby fans - I could almost imagine it was the mid 80s again, If only Bobby was on the pitch today.
Now to try and get a ticket for Morecombe - I want to be there when that first goal goes in.

I watched the game today, and I'd argue it was very entertaining creating so much pressure and chances away from home.
Frustrating that we didn't score, but I was encouraged by the performance, not downbeat. 

Wildsmith  7
Knight  8
Stearman 7
Cashin  7
Forsyth 6
Bird 8
Hourihane  7.5
Mendez-Laing  7.5
Barkhuizen  6
Collins  6.5
Dobbin  7.5
Subs from:
Sibley  7
McGoldrick 7

I am just thankful, I managed to get to the game today, it is so much easier to cope with the frustration of not winning, watching live rather than having to listen to Radio Derby or follow on-line.  Another good trip (one of the easiest places to park and get to and away from) It was great to see a terrace full of Derby fans - I could almost imagine it was the mid 80s again, If only Bobby was on the pitch today.
Now to try and get a ticket for Morecombe - I want to be there when that first goal goes in.

Good to read. 
It's nice to get a reward for doing the right thing, not the easy thing.

There have been more ticket returns today, so I am now sorted. 
 

There have been more ticket returns today, so I am now sorted. 
 

There have been more ticket returns today, so I am now sorted. 
 

There have been more ticket returns today, so I am now sorted. 
 

I would love to take you up on your offer, but it feel it might be fairer if you returned it to the club as there is a waiting list (which I am on).

I would love to take you up on your offer, but it feel it might be fairer if you returned it to the club as there is a waiting list (which I am on).

Lots of interesting stuff in this matchday thread. 
I agree with those who say the midfield balance isn't right. There may be three individually gifted players there but they are just too similar to work effectively as a unit. One of Sibley or Knight should always be part of that mix, otherwise Collins is going to continue to be isolated at centre forward and his head is going to drop soon. You can see it in his body language already.
I also noticed that Dobbin and Sibley drew fouls and bookings out of Shrewsbury defenders within minutes of coming on, just by turning and running with the ball. Do that in the first half and you've two nervous defenders on a booking making life easier for us. We need someone who doesn't play it safe on the pitch from the start, imo.
Other than that, I'll take the draw against a well-organised defensive unit who fought hard for each other.
Uninspiring football, but a point on the road is better than none.

They certainly were not garbage. Well organised, played as a team and defended for their lives. Yes, most of their players do not individually match up to our team, but they make the most of their limited resources and in my opinion deserved their point.

They certainly were not garbage. Well organised, played as a team and defended for their lives. Yes, most of their players do not individually match up to our team, but they make the most of their limited resources and in my opinion deserved their point.

We did “batter” Charlton and to an extent Shrewsbury. The two things in common at those times are that both those teams let us have the ball, didn’t press. Some of our slow passes still reached our players, mis-control was forgiven as opposing players sit off. However, in both games, second half increases in tempo and tenacity by the opposition have resulted in us not being able to get out of our own tempo embedded the first half. 
 
I can understand the slow build up and keep ball in our half but the speed needs to significantly improve once in the the last third. We have to have a proper go in the first half. 

They certainly were not garbage. Well organised, played as a team and defended for their lives. Yes, most of their players do not individually match up to our team, but they make the most of their limited resources and in my opinion deserved their point.

Just back, frustrating especially second half and it felt a little like Charlton, awaiting the sucker punch which nearly came in injury time, but thankfully they were as bad as we were at shooting.  Thought they defended well, but we just seemed to lack that bit of invention to open them up. Their fans really got behind their team (I was sat amongst them with quite a few other Derby fans) and apart from the actual football match I enjoyed the trip.

Just back, frustrating especially second half and it felt a little like Charlton, awaiting the sucker punch which nearly came in injury time, but thankfully they were as bad as we were at shooting.  Thought they defended well, but we just seemed to lack that bit of invention to open them up. Their fans really got behind their team (I was sat amongst them with quite a few other Derby fans) and apart from the actual football match I enjoyed the trip.