Day Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 NEW strikers Johnny Russell and Chris Martin look to be in pole position to lead Derby County’s attack when the Championship kicks off in less than two weeks. The pairing has impressed in the pre-season friendlies. They started together in the 6-1 win against Irish club Bohemians and the 2-0 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium on Friday night. Russell has scored four goals in the three games and all of his goals have come when Martin has been on the pitch. There is competition for places in attack but Clough was pleased with what he saw from the pair against Bristol Rovers. “The lovely thing is seeing Johnny Russell linking up with Chris Martin, as well as midfielders (Craig) Bryson, (Jamie) Ward (Will) Hughes and (Paul) Coutts,” he said. “Then the full-backs joined in as well and the centre-halves saw a lot of the ball – our football was all over the pitch.” Martin has signed from Norwich City following his loan spell at Derby last season. He has yet to find the net in pre-season but Clough sees plenty of value in his play. “Chris was the focal point for a lot of our play at Bristol and he deserved a goal,” said the manager. “We were finding him around the edge of the area and he held it up. He does that well and you can’t deal with that as a centre-half. “Wardy and Johnny Russell got our goals at Bristol but Chris could have had one, easily.” Clough is delighted with the start made by Russell following his move from Dundee United but the manager has warned against expecting too much too soon from the striker, who is new to the Championship. “He has done well so far but it is early days,” said Clough. “We don’t want to put him under too much pressure or go overboard about him. “We are just delighted with the start he has made. “The lovely thing is he seems to be on the same wavelength as the lads. When you have players like Will Hughes and Wardy playing the ball around the corner to him, he knows it’s coming to him. That is a very good sign. “He’s alive and that’s why he gets his goals. “At Bristol, Wardy had a shot that was deflected a bit fortunately into Johnny’s path but if he’s not alive and he’s standing behind the defender, he doesn’t get the goal. He’s on the move and that’s where he’ll get goals.”http://m.derbytelegraph.co.uk/#!/articles/news/article/19551261 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester Ram Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I love dolls me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimmu Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I love dolls me Agreed. You filthy swine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostyn6 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Would people really like to see three up front? That would be the most boring thing I've ever seen! It's bad enough seeing one isolated up front, but to have three just stood around doing nowt whilst the other 7 outfield players battle bravely to keep a defeat down to one goal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stive Pesley Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 What a silly set of poll options. Of course people will vote for 3 up front as it saves them having to make an informed decision! Like saying Q. You are really really hungry. Do you want Fish & Chips Chips & Peas Fish Chips & Peas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Would people really like to see three up front? That would be the most boring thing I've ever seen! It's bad enough seeing one isolated up front, but to have three just stood around doing nowt whilst the other 7 outfield players battle bravely to keep a defeat down to one goal! Big Sam always plays 3 forwards and it's not the best football is it? Spain actually don't play with any yet are one of the best teams to watch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 What a silly set of poll options. Of course people will vote for 3 up front as it saves them having to make an informed decision! Like saying Q. You are really really hungry. Do you wantFish & ChipsChips & PeasFish Chips & Peas Not everyone has, it's actually pretty even apart from Sammon and Martin. Had I only listed pairings the 4-3-3 boys will be out with pitchforks demanding a 3 up top option. I'd go with just fish and chips by the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stive Pesley Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Sammon and Chips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Ridiculous. At Bohs we scored 4 goals in the second half when neither Martin nor Russell were on the pitch, so majestic was Sammon. BCO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needles Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Like Cisse said in the Hendrick thread, there's plenty of games and we'll rotate up to a point. We've actually got options in the front 6 without losing genuine Champ level players. Not having to be quite so quick with the kids and bit part players might be the difference between 10th and 6th this season. If only we had that centre half... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anag Ram Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I still don't see what Martin brings to the team. He is slow and not a prolific goal scorer. He has reasonable ball control and can pass the ball but only if given time and space - neither of which is likely in the championship. He is a big lad yet is poor in the air and gets brushed off the ball too easily. When he tries to use his body, he does so clumsily and gives away free kicks. Sammon is a bull in a china shop but his all action style creates mayhem. I think Clough will start the season with Martin, but I bet Sammon's sub performances will get him back in favour. Coutts is a game trier but lacks the poise on the ball his position requires. He can be a particularly sloppy passer. I like that he doesn't give up and he is a good squad player but technically Bryson, Hendrick, Hughes and Ward are ahead of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal is a Ram Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 We seem to have (imo) a greater strength in depth than previous seasons, especially up front. Like needles said - that centrehalf will be a giant piece of the jigsaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSheep Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I'd want a rotation to see which players work well together. If I had to choose one, it would be: Ward-russell-martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostyn6 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I still don't see what Martin brings to the team. He is slow and not a prolific goal scorer. He has reasonable ball control and can pass the ball but only if given time and space - neither of which is likely in the championship. He is a big lad yet is poor in the air and gets brushed off the ball too easily. When he tries to use his body, he does so clumsily and gives away free kicks. Sammon is a bull in a china shop but his all action style creates mayhem. I think Clough will start the season with Martin, but I bet Sammon's sub performances will get him back in favour. Coutts is a game trier but lacks the poise on the ball his position requires. He can be a particularly sloppy passer. I like that he doesn't give up and he is a good squad player but technically Bryson, Hendrick, Hughes and Ward are ahead of him. Sorry AnagRam, you're watching a different player to me, or perhaps you've been starved of seeing a player with technical ability for so long that you cannot interpret what he's doing. God help you if you'd ever been around when we had Asanovic, Baiano and Kinkladze, none of which worked any harder than Martin. I think if you look long and hard enough at any player at this level, you can find many errors or examples of poor play, give me ten minutes and I could tear Hendrick, Brayford and Hughes apart for poor control, misplaced passes, being out-paced and missing the target, IF i was so inclined. Perhaps you should pay attention to what Martin CAN do well, you'll probably be enlightened. He's actually one of our better players and I look forward to seeing your opinion on him by Christmas. The amusing thing is I can remember people saying similar things about Kris Commons. Then he had his decent spell and was our bestest player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIMBAUD Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 i agree with mostyn and to be fair, if these players were perfect - they'd not be at DCFC. martin, for example would still be at norwich, scoring in the PL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srg Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Well isn't that the obvious statement of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 i agree with mostyn and to be fair, if these players were perfect - they'd not be at DCFC. martin, for example would still be at norwich, scoring in the PL. So do I. Now where's my happy pills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrivateDerby Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Attack, Attack, Attack Attack Attack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CornwallRam Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I still don't see what Martin brings to the team. He is slow and not a prolific goal scorer. He has reasonable ball control and can pass the ball but only if given time and space - neither of which is likely in the championship. He is a big lad yet is poor in the air and gets brushed off the ball too easily. When he tries to use his body, he does so clumsily and gives away free kicks. Sammon is a bull in a china shop but his all action style creates mayhem. I think Clough will start the season with Martin, but I bet Sammon's sub performances will get him back in favour. Coutts is a game trier but lacks the poise on the ball his position requires. He can be a particularly sloppy passer. I like that he doesn't give up and he is a good squad player but technically Bryson, Hendrick, Hughes and Ward are ahead of him. I would say that he's good in the air and holds the ball up far better than Sammon. Sammon loses the ball 95% of the time which causes mayhem for our team, not the opposition. Martin will feed Russell and we'll gain far more from that than we will from Sammon pressurising defenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalley Ram Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Attack, Attack, Attack Attack Attack? an hammer, an hammer, anham anham an hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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