AndyB Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Very good and balanced article on Derby missing a trick in January on thisisderbyshire.co.uk. Sorry I can't link or copy as on mobile but well worth a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Tibbs Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Opportunity missed by Derby County in January - but don't put all the blame on the manager MIDDLESBROUGH arrived at Pride Park on New Year's Day as the third-best team in the Championship, according to the table. Ninety-plus minutes later they had been dismantled 3-1 by Derby County. Michael Jacobs and Jeff Hendrick scored in the first half before Conor Sammon finished off some excellent work by Will Hughes and Jacobs to make it 3-0 after 65 minutes. As Sammon's finish ripped high into the net, delight and optimism swept around the stadium. Victory left Derby 10th, only three points adrift of the top six. Only a couple of blips result-wise against Burnley and Hull City had scarred their eye-catching home form. Middlesbrough joined Watford, Blackpool, Birmingham City and Leeds United on a list of teams dispatched thanks to high-energy displays. And the display against Boro was up there with the best of them. Not a boo nor chunter was heard. The only sound was the standing ovation on the final whistle. Was that only 10 weeks ago? Derby have won only one of their 11 League games since and that was against struggling Huddersfield Town at home. The Rams have gone eight matches without a victory, the current longest winless run in the division. Eight points from 33 have seen them slip to 15th and the gap between themselves and the top six, once three points, is now 12. Nottingham Forest and Brighton sat alongside Derby on 37 points after the round of fixtures on January 1. Forest are now sixth on 57 points and Brighton a point behind in seventh. Derby have 45 points. Plenty has changed in football down the years but there is an old adage that says a team should strengthen from a position of strength. Opportunity stared Derby in the face after the Middlesbrough victory. It was an opportunity that should have been spotted and acted on – but the opportunity was missed. Derby needed to bolster the squad in January. They needed to inject more experience, a couple of players in key central positions with the know-how to help the younger, less experienced players when things get tough, as they did after an hour at Birmingham on Saturday. In that moment, Derby needed more players on the pitch who could steady the ship as the Birmingham storm gathered strength. When the storm blew at its fiercest, they had only three players on the field older than 26. This is not a case of being wise after the event. On January 8, I wrote: "Nigel Clough's young team is developing nicely. They are within touching distance of the top six and a good bet to record the club's highest-placed finish since 2007. "Rather than losing a player or two, the small squad would actually benefit from the addition of a new face or two. "An awful lot is being asked of such a young squad. The players are giving their all and to be 10th and in a position of promise is an excellent effort in a demanding environment such as the Championship." January is not the best time to bring in new faces but the reasons Derby needed them were clear when you analysed the size of the squad and the shortage of experience, know-how, call it what you want, within the team. A small group of players, many of them young in age and the number of games they have played, have carried the burden of a relentless season on their shoulders. They have done so with great credit but the demands have caught up with them, as was always likely. The stresses and strains of playing 35 consecutive first-team games at 17 have sidelined Will Hughes. John Brayford had not missed a minute of 38 games when his hamstring went and he has joined Hughes on the sidelines. Jeff Hendrick and Paul Coutts, neither of them seasoned campaigners at Championship level, have had peaks and troughs of form. Jamie Ward has suffered with hamstring problems, Conor Sammon is tasting football in this division for the first time, as are Adam Legzdins and Michael Jacobs, while first-team football is still very new to Kieron Freeman, Michael Hoganson, Mason Bennett and Conor Doyle. Craig Bryson and Mark O'Brien have had to play at times when not fully fit and the impact of being without the club's best defender, Shaun Barker, has been felt with each passing month. A squad's frailties start to show up more and more as a season unfolds. Scratch the surface and Derby's squad looks thin. There have been a number of impressive performances and extremely close matches in the current run of poor results and luck has been in short supply. A couple of crucial decisions went against the Rams when they met leaders Cardiff in South Wales last week and they could easily have returned with three points and not one. Derby's first-choice 11, when fully fit and firing on all cylinders, are capable of going toe-to-toe with any team in the division, as we have seen, but that could never last for the whole nine months. Clough has said many times that Derby need to be at their best to get results. This is not a gripe because Derby are absent from the top six and not challenging for promotion because a realistic aim this season was a top-10 finish. This is more about a missed opportunity to remain competitive in the top 10. There is still time for that to change. There are 27 points to play for but the first task for Derby is to collect enough to keep clear of the battle below them. The manager is taking flak from some supporters, as happens in football. All managers are under pressure and the amount of pressure is dictated by results but much of the criticism of Clough is harsh. He has had to work within a tight budget when compared with the spending of other clubs in terms of signing and wages. Like it or not, money talks. There are one or two examples to the contrary but, generally speaking, and certainly over 46 matches, investment in the squad is a huge factor. The table shows this. Cardiff, Hull, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest occupy play-off places, while Brighton, Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Leeds have eyes on the top six. All have invested more heavily in their squads than Derby. Watford's case is different. They have mounted their challenge by taking advantage of a loophole. Good luck to them. But the Championship is not a level playing field and Clough's team seems to be kicking uphill. Derby's ownership group continues to bankroll the club significantly to meet shortfalls year on year, as the balance sheet shows, but are they willing to push the boat out further when it comes to investment in the squad? The squad contains a number of talented young players who should improve and become stronger with the experience gained this season. The squad does, however, need to be supplemented by a number of good, solid Championship players who know the division. This is where investment comes in. The patience of some Derby supporters is wearing thin. In some cases it has snapped, as we have read and heard in recent days. Fans are pointing the finger of blame and flak is being aimed at Clough but it is grossly unfair to lay the blame solely at the manager's door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
networker1884 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 It's not really missing a trick is it? More 'cocking up'. It was obvious we needed to strengthen but it wasn't done for whatever reason and now it will cost the club dearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeponacid Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Just about sums things up nicely I think... Lets hope the board start to listen sooner, rather than later, instead of just concentrating their efforts on horny DNA spin.... Perhaps one day they will start to act in a positive manner with regard to recruitment, & give Nigel the opportunity to fight a season on relatively even ground, for once... If not, there may be some dark clouds around the club, with only the youth set up providing a silver lining...damn I've depressed myself now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaddesdenRam Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 One other silver lining is that our squad is very young. Youngest in the league if i am not mistaken. The benefit of this is that we could accumulate large sums of money from transfer sales. The other benefit is that the players will only get better. Hendrick, Hughes, Brayford, Jacobs, Obrien, Bennett should all improve a lot. (Obrien immensely, never had a pre season before) Players that should retain their levels of performance are Coutts (early season form), Keogh, Bryson, Ward The players that might be worse Buxton and Roberts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheron85 Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 But i blame the manager the buck stops with him. Really? Funny you haven't mentioned that before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asanovic Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Great article that summarises where we are very well. This season more than any other shows that we need investment to go for it at the top. All of the clubs from 1st down to 9th in the current table will spend in the summer if they don't get promoted, and the current bottom 4 in the PL all have strong squads, or money to spend if they go down. For one moment, just forget the manager - it almost becomes irrelevant. Without us seeing some money spent on both retaining the current squad and adding to it, we could slip even further down the table by 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I don't know how the manager cannot be blamed for it. He knew the squad was weak. He knew the defence needed strengthening but he did absalutly nothing about it. He put young and inexperienced players in when we had a shot of pushing for the play offs. Then said we lost because we have a young squad. Instead of getting Martin and Forsyth in we needed DEFENDERS. It's his poor management and stubborness why we have slipped up so bad. Then to come out and say we are just trying to survive is an embarrasment and made us look stupid. Yes we don't have money to spend but he wouldn't spend it in january even if he did because his stuborn. We need a manager with experience in the champ liker a errrm Billy Davies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffield Ram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Agree with you completely Asanovic, superb article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asanovic Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 I don't know how the manager cannot be blamed for it. He knew the squad was weak. He knew the defence needed strengthening but he did absalutly nothing about it. He put young and inexperienced players in when we had a shot of pushing for the play offs. Then said we lost because we have a young squad. Instead of getting Martin and Forsyth in we needed DEFENDERS. It's his poor management and stubborness why we have slipped up so bad. Then to come out and say we are just trying to survive is an embarrasment and made us look stupid.Yes we don't have money to spend but he wouldn't spend it in january even if he did because his stuborn. Maybe, just maybe, he was told there was no money spend. Or maybe he's been sat on £5m for years and just decided to field a depleted squad! It makes me laugh, the amount of people on this forum that have said we need a creative midfielder and striker. He gets both on loan, and now we never needed them - we needed a defender! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Maybe, just maybe, he was told there was no money spend. Or maybe he's been sat on £5m for years and just decided to field a depleted squad! It makes me laugh, the amount of people on this forum that have said we need a creative midfielder and striker. He gets both on loan, and now we never needed them - we needed a defender! You could look back through every single post ive put and i can guarantee you that i have said we need defenders. 1. In Bryson, Hendrick and Hughes, i think we have one of the best central midfields in the league. 2. We were scoring plenty of goals up to jan. Strengthening up front was not a priority. The defence was getting weaker every time we played through injury and suspension yet nothing was getting done about it. So weather that was aimed at me or not i dont know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 One other silver lining is that our squad is very young. Youngest in the league if i am not mistaken. The benefit of this is that we could accumulate large sums of money from transfer sales. The other benefit is that the players will only get better. Hendrick, Hughes, Brayford, Jacobs, Obrien, Bennett should all improve a lot. (Obrien immensely, never had a pre season before) Players that should retain their levels of performance are Coutts (early season form), Keogh, Bryson, Ward The players that might be worse Buxton and Roberts. We will the younger players get better? Did naytanga, holmes, mills, Addison, Murray, marvin Robinson, Elliot, etc some do many don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Clough plays 4-5-1 at home leaving Sammon isolated. Against Boro Jacobs was up front with Sammon and we won 3-1. Hey ho Jacobs doesn't play there next game. TACTICS! didn't Ward play there instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbiean Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Decent article but don't agree that Leeds invested heavier than us, they seemed to be in the same boat as us, lets face it they took Varney and Green off us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 . You could be right. I'm going to say I don't want to be bashing Cloughie I get fed up of it to be honest but I also get fed up of people supporting his every move. Nigel should be expected to spot good players as all managers should I mean look at Gary Rowett. Steve Bruce goes to Hull and yes he's had money to spend but he's also got tactical know how. Ultimately Cloughie will judged on results. I'm going to Pride Park to watch the Rams against the Foxes but was tempted to watch England vs Wales rugby. I hope we bear Leicester we need a win. so it might not gave been his tactics to blame? Just checking because it seemed like pointless Clough bashing. in thinking if staying home to watch the rugby too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaddesdenRam Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 We will the younger players get better? Did naytanga, holmes, mills, Addison, Murray, marvin Robinson, Elliot, etc some do many don't. You have a valid point. However all I would say is that under the current regime it is likely that these players will be better next season. You said that Addison didn't get better but that was only because of his injury, he lost all his mobility and couldnt keep up with the pace. Fair enough injuries could ruin any of the players progression but you cant account for that as you dont know whether a player will get injured or not (unless there name is nathan tyson) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthebeast Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Good read that, thanks for sharing. I kinda agree with it but equally there are several things about 'our Nigel' that frustrate the hell out of me. Still I think he should be given some proper money to spend in the summer and if we don't improve then.....well its probably time to move on. Speaking of giving the manager some money to spend, don't know how many of you read the Derby County blog but the fella who writes it wrote a interesting article.... http://www.derbycountyblog.com/will-hughes-a-conspiracy-theory/ Will Hughes – a conspiracy theory Posted on March 14, 2013 by lazerock Will has been out for a while now and our results have suffered without him. Nigel Clough has recently taken to using his absence, along with the injuries to three more of our best players (Ward, Brayford, Bryson) as a fairly reasonable excuse for the complete collapse of our form. We know that Brayford and Ward have succumbed to hamstring injuries and that although Bryson is out with a groin problem, he will be rushed back as quickly as possible. Ward, Clough has said, might also be ‘risked’ for the Leicester City game, given that a televised pummeling at the hands of the Foxes would be a bad business all round. However, unlike the other injury victims, there has been no word on a return to action for Hughes, who has missed the last five matches after being subbed off against Wolves. Clough has explained that it’s simply been too much for a 17-year old to play so many games in a short space of time – especially with opponents targeting him for close and at times brutish attention – and so he will not be rushed back or pressured to return until he is ready, even if that means him missing the rest of the season. Hughes wasn’t expected to play so many matches this season, or to become such an integral member of the team. And his star has not burned as brightly this year as it did earlier in the season, when his barnstorming performance against Leeds United confirmed him as one of the best midfield prospects in English football. But take a walk along Paranoia Lane with me and let’s look for a hidden agenda, which in all likelihood does not exist… What if, just what if, the injury was not really as bad as all that? What if Hughes could actually come back and play, if not the Leicester game, the Bristol City home game on 29 March – a good six weeks on from Wolves – but a decision has made that he will not be risked regardless? Not because he is cream-crackered or still struggling with his groin, but because an understanding has been reached with a Premier League behemoth for his transfer in summer? Poppycock! I hear you cry. Indeed. I’m 99% sure that this is just me spinning webs and spouting nonsense. I should get out more, as one Twitter troll informed me recently. But it’s not totally implausible. Let’s say that Global Brand FC have decided to invest in the rarest thing since the Unicorn – an English midfielder who can pass properly – and have had words with Mr Rush to the effect that a certain sum of money might be forthcoming in the summer, if we could bear to part with his services. That sum of money, while pretty much loose change for the Sky-fuelled Premier League aristocracy, would be eye-watering for a club stuck in a stagnant Championship rut, faced with mounting fan pressure to actually do something, looming Financial Fair Play constraints and a parsimonious business model that is starting to resemble the stance of King Canute in its obstinacy. Let’s have a wild stab in the dark and say that this entirely hypothetical figure is £10,000,000 (plus add-ons when he makes a certain amount of appearances and more when he makes his debut for England.) With a chunk of that money, Nigel Clough could finally go out and sign a proper centre forward – the kind of striker that he has been dying to sign every since he joined Derby. Hell, he could even bolster the defence as well, maybe even bring in an extra midfielder. In other words, by sacrificing Hughes, who would go with everybody’s best wishes, the promotion push that fans are demanding as payback for their hard-earned season ticket money could finally be financed. The positive press attention that the club would generate from having produced a potential England international for one of the top clubs would be huge. Derby would be roundly praised for its outstanding commitment to youth development and everyone would pat us approvingly on the head, holding us up as a shining example for other Football League clubs to follow. But hang on. Let’s say that Leicester beat Derby on Saturday, in the 5:20 televised kick-off. Earlier on the same day, Barnsley improbably beat Watford, just as they improbably beat Brighton in midweek. Peterborough win at Blackpool (who have had a pretty ordinary season themselves) and Wolves lurch back towards safety by finally getting their act together and thrashing Bristol City at Molineux. Suddenly, Derby, on 45 points, are just three points ahead of the Posh in 22nd and seemingly staring League One-related meltdown in the face. Disaster! But don’t panic – the likes of Ward, Bryson and Hughes, risen like Lazarus from his groin strain, are all passed fit to turn out against bottom-of-the-league Bristol City at Pride Park in the next game. Making light of the mounting pressure, Derby storm into a 2-0 lead thanks to a Chris Martin brace and all looks well, with Hughes conducting proceedings from the centre. But then, suddenly, as Hughes pops off another accurate pass, a lumbering Robins midfielder, already committed to a lunging ’50-50′ tackle, goes straight through the young maestro. The offender is red-carded, but unfortunately, that’s the least of anybody’s worries. Hughes is badly hurt. He is stretchered from the field and a horrified hush settles over the ground. Derby go on to play out a devalued win, taking them to 48 points and, with the traditional 50-point target in view and three more home games to come, the verge of safety. With Peterborough losing heavily to Cardiff and Barnsley defeated at Sheffield Wednesday, the Rams are to all intents and purposes, safe. But Hughes’ leg is broken. Global Brand FC get in touch with Mr Rush on the Monday. They are very sympathetic, of course. But obviously, the deal is off the table until the player can come back from his injury. They will maintain an interest and will be watching him, as soon as he is back to fitness, they will be on the phone… Summertime rolls around after a mildly depressing end to the season and Derby’s Plan A to progress in 2013/4 is out of the window. With Hughes embarking on a long-term rehab programme, the rest of the squad prepare for the new season, as Clough goes back into the bargain basement market that he has become habituated to trawling. Uninspired by the calibre of signings coming in and reasoning that they can pick up cheap tickets for most games thanks to Digonex’s Deal of the Week, many season ticket holders decide to bin their renewal packs. Derby start the season in pretty much the same way they flailed through the second half of this season and, with Barker and Hughes watching from the sidelines, the calls for Clough’s head intensify… All because Hughes was risked in what turned out to be a meaningless game against Bristol City. Can you see what I’m driving at now? Realistically, with home matches against Bristol, Ipswich, Peterborough and Millwall coming up, we should be absolutely fine. And we certainly aren’t worrying the top six. We will be going neither up nor down. So if there’s an opportunity to transform Derby’s short-term future by doing a lucrative deal for a genius player who has been serendipitously bestowed upon a club in dire need of funds, why jeopardise that by asking him to play? Of course, this is all ******** and here’s the real reason for Hughes’ absence, as told by Clough to the Currant Bun…. “He’s already played 30-odd games and he’s physically not fully developed. He could have played 30 games this season, but to play them over six months puts too much strain on his body.” That is the official line and there is no need to doubt it… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaddesdenRam Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Conspiracies are great. But this is complete rubbish Hughes is injured. However I do agree with one part of the article, that maybe Clough is less inclined to put Hughes back in the team to see what it would be like without him. If Bryson and Hendrick who will both be fit for Bristol touch wood, strike up a good partnership again. Or ward's addition to the squad means that the central midfielders start playing better. Then this would show the people with the power that Hughes isnt indispensable and a bid with 00,000,000 after the number would start to look very enticing indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Are we trying to develop our own experienced championship players on the cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthebeast Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Conspiracies are great. But this is complete rubbish Hughes is injured. Oh yeah I agree....still its fun to put it out there and see what the reaction is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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