Current Form.

[TroyDyer]

A week or two ago, some one posted a thread about looking over our shoulders. Now they were shot down massively, and I must admit, even I didn't consider it a possibility either. 

 

Now with our current form, I think a relegation battle is a very real situation. When we were 7 points off 6th place we were all, myself included, looking up at the playoff places thinking a couple of wins and we'd be really in the mix. 

 

Now, we're 7 points off the drop, with a form guide that puts us in the final relegation place. 

 

It's all well and good saying we played well, and we were unlucky, and I'd be more inclinded to believe that, had it not happened every year that Clough has been in charge. Can a club all of a sudden become 'unlucky' for FOUR years on the trott? 

 

With our current form, we won't be getting wins out of Leicester, Birmingham, or Leeds, and therefore, unbelievably, Bristol City is a MUST WIN. If we don't, we're in big trouble. 

 

Will the 'Clough is doing a great job' brigade still be singing his praises if we finish in 20th? 

 

I said a few weeks ago, to very intelligent 'Go support Forest then' responses that we would fall apart and the Fat Jock would take Forest into the Playoffs. That's not because I'm mystic meg, but because we ALWAYS fall away every year, and Billy is an organised manager. 

 

Could you imagine conceding all these goals from corners if Billy was in charge? No. 

 

A decent manager can make the World of difference. Unfortunately, we don't have one. 

 

5 subs fielded with players out on loan is poor. 

 

I'll put my tin hat on now. 

 

 

[WilkoRam]

If you need a tin hat then get two of them. I completely agree.

[WilkoRam]

Although I would add. Will the "Clough out brigade" be admitting he is doing alright if we finish above 10th?

[TroyDyer]

If we finish above 10th, I'll take my tin hat off to him. :-)

[cheron85]

Could you imagine conceding all these goals from corners if Billy was in charge? No. 

 

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

 

When the mad angry scottish twunt was around we played THE worst football I've seen a Derby team play...

 

 

And in the last 7 games (winless streak) we've played all of the top 4 (3 of them away) and 2 teams who are properly in the relegation fight (so scrapping for every point) PLUS the other side left over (and one of the relegation fighters) are last years Prem teams...

 

I DO know we need a win, and soon, and our results desperately need to improve... But I think we've been relatively unlucky not to have more points from this run, and the form of the team isn;t as bad as the results...

[TroyDyer]

I don't know why that made you throw up. I didn't say Billy played good football. I said he was organised. That's something our defence badly needs. We're conceding from corners and set plays every weeks and they are costing up points week in week out. 

[Stive Pesley]

I take your point, but the fact is that by this point in the season, very few teams make a late surge up the table. If you look  at the history books the table in March is generally much the same as the table at the end of the season.

 

To bust into the play-offs you have to rely on at least 6 teams who have spent all season in promotion form hitting relegation form. And vice versa. The 6 teams in relegation form ALL need to start winning all their games – it just doesn't happen. Yes we may have hit relegation form for a spell and yes there is nothing to say that it won't continue until May, but the chances of almost all the teams below us faring better are slim to none.

 

So on that basis I'm poo-pooing (snigger) your talk of a relegation battle.

 

However, I do agree that we will struggle to finish higher than we did last season, and I look forward to that goatee idiot trying to tell us that we have improved "despite what the table tells us". I think we all get the overwhelming feeling that for all the improvements we see, there is still a feeling of complete inertia around the club.

 

As the seasons go by we see the same manager, the same core of players, the same level of signings, even the same level of financial losses. How they can portray us as a club that is "going places" does baffle me

[cheron85]

I don't know why that made you throw up. I didn't say Billy played good football. I said he was organised. That's something our defence badly needs. We're conceding from corners and set plays every weeks and they are costing up points week in week out. 

 

Just any reminder of he-who-must-not-be-named makes me feel queasy... especially reminders of how badly he messed us up long term...

 

Maybe I'm being a little bit simple but don't you think the problem with set peices is to do with the size of our team? We don't have many big players...

 

(I do btw totally agree with you about organisation, but less about it being Nigel's fault... we don't have an organiser on the pitch... Keogh is a great defender but not an organiser... he needs someone like Barker next to him to position him properly...)

[midtableforever]

 Keogh is a great defender but not an organiser... he needs someone like Barker next to him to position him properly...)

It's very funny. Thank you. I would not even bother to count how many times we conceded from the player who was "marked" by Keogh at set pieces. 

[Gary Teale]

I wouldn't say someone is a great defender of they need someone next to them to position them properly. He is a professional football who is a defender, that's his job, he isn't a young kid who needs help.

[t'oldu]

no but the centre backs he has been playing with for much of the season are in need of his directive. Lack of an intuitive combination in the middle at the back is what has hampered us all season

[TroyDyer]

And there comes the problem. We sell Shackell and replace him with someone who can't organise himself, let alone the defence, yet Nige thinks he's captain material? 

[ShermanCardenas]

And there comes the problem. We sell Shackell and replace him with someone who can't organise himself, let alone the defence, yet Nige thinks he's captain material? 

have you been drinking?

[eddie]

As far as 'current form' is concerned, Derby County are playing as well as I have seen us play in a number of years across 90% of the pitch for 90% of the time. It's the bits at each end where we are found wanting, especially in defence, and given the chronic injury crisis, I'm not surprised.

[WilkoRam]

So organising the defence isn't the coaches fault, the results aren't, poor transfers aren't, a drop in form isn't, a lack of cutting edge in the final 3rd isn't. I'm starting to wonder what they do if they're not responsible for any of the above.

[cheron85]

And there comes the problem. We sell Shackell and replace him with someone who can't organise himself, let alone the defence, yet Nige thinks he's captain material? 

 

I totally agree that this is a problem... However I would suggest that the idea would be that Barker would come back into the side (eventually) to marshall the defence, and Keogh was a younger/faster CB than the Shack...

 

Also, can't rule out that Keogh is maybe trying to cover for his defensive partner more than he should be? Not sure as I'll have to watch out for it specifically, but if he's trying to mark EVERYONE on his own then he's bound to get caught out... He's as good as the Shack individually (last gasp tackles, blocks, most of his marking) but sometimes seems to be trying to anticipate other people's mistakes... I think the Shack just assumed everyone else was gonna do their job and got on with his own...

[cheron85]

So organising the defence isn't the coaches fault, the results aren't, poor transfers aren't, a drop in form isn't, a lack of cutting edge in the final 3rd isn't. I'm starting to wonder what they do if they're not responsible for any of the above.

 

Half time oranges...

[gcdcfc28]

Give me the three points over good football anyday of the week.

[Stive Pesley]

I genuinely think that Clough's biggest mistake has not been getting in a decent experienced centre-back to partner Keogh. The second we knew Barker was out long term we should have been looking to replace him. Barker's year out is now likely to be at least a year and a half according to Radio Derby. It was madness to expect young and/or decidely average centre-backs patch up the position.

 

We went from having Shackell/Barker to having Keogh and a second choice CB. Then we wonder why this season hasn't panned out?

 

Like I said earlier, for every positive improvement we've made this season, the lack of a solid CB pairing has negated it.

 

Exam question – if we had Keogh/Barker (or even Shackell/Keogh) this season would we be in the play-off spots? I think the answer has to be yes

[Boycie]

I don't know why that made you throw up. I didn't say Billy played good football. I said he was organised.

Yes, he had 2 weeks off when he should have been recruiting players for our prem season, then moaned about having two weeks less time because of the play off final.

Some people have short memories.

As short as that haggis munching gnome.