Derby County v Millwall

[Animal is a Ram]

Did McClaren lose the connection to his brain in that interview?

 

I wouldn't mourn Millwall's disappearance from football, and I thought Holloway was a better person than to have played that way.

 

Still, we didn't deserve anything from the game, offered nothing upfront, how on earth Sammon got MOTM is beyond me. It's clear we need a Martin-esque player, but I don't think he would have changed anything. Bamford was anonymous after that first headed effort, Ward made little impact, Russell looks short on confidence. Dawkins was our biggest threat, so quite why Mac saw fit to take him off and not Bamford is beyond me.

 

Move on, and hope for a better perfomance on Tuesday. In Mac I trust.

[StaffsRam]

Just back - what a fooking depressing afternoon that was. 

 

Two main points;

 

1. We were sh1te. Millwall deserved the win. They had a game plan which they executed to perfection. It was incredibly frustrating but we should be easily good enough to break down teams like that. Instead, we looked toothless and clueless. 

 

Of our players I thought the only ones to come out of the game with any kind of credit were Grant (besides the goal), Buxton (a couple of late errors but was very composed and solid for the vast majority of the game), Keogh, and Forsyth. Forsyth must be a rare commodity in our side, he appears to be the only one who has a clue about crossing a ball. They should let him take the corners because other than the short ones, they were terrible. 

 

Midfield, looked good for short spells, but in between those they looked very pedestrian. Bryson didn't really do much and Hughes looked out of sorts. Hendrick was probably the pick. Dawkins had a poor first half but got better in the second. No idea why he was subbed. Bamford, has a thankless task out on that right wing. Every time he did get the ball everyone knew what he was going to do. Most of the time though, he just couldn't win the ball. 

 

Up front - Sammon - I really want him to do well, and don't fault his effort, but as a target man, no. The ball continuously bounced off him, hardly anything stuck at all. 

 

We really missed Martin and today shows what a loss he is to us. We have no one else who can play that role effectively. 

 

2. If I were a Millwall fan I'd be embarrassed if I had to rely on that kind of football to stay in the league. Time-wasting from the 5th minute, and the state of their players, well they must be on whatever the Forest lot are. Were they made out of glass and straw? You'd think so the rate at which they were going down all over the pitch. It was beyond a joke. 

 

The referee, I thought, was particularly weak. The Goalkeeper in particularly should have been carded early on to put the stop to all that. Instead, he was finally booked in the 90th minute when it was far, far too late. Equally, why when one of their players goes down literally right next to the touchline does he stop the game to allow the trainer on? Surely the player should move off the pitch given the proximity of the touchline? The game was very, VERY scrappy, just how Millwall would have wanted it. A large part of the blame for that should go down to weak officiating. 

 

All in all, a depressing performance. Millwall had their antics, but tbh, we should still be good enough to rise above that and dish them out a battering. Unfortunately, we seemed to be lacking on the creativity front today. Millwall's gameplan was obvious - keep it tight at the back and exploit the opportunities that we'd gift at the back. As I said, they executed that perfectly. 

[nfb]

Crystal Palace had an off day too...

It will happen..... and anyone who expects all performances to be 100% every game, good luck

[HeyHudson]

Bit of a write-up if anyone fancies a read...

 

http://stevebloomerswatching.com/blog/2014/03/08/match-report-derby-county-vs-millwall-sat-8th-march-2014-ipro-stadium/

[PistoldPete2]

They started time wasting after 45 seconds - you'd be happy with us doing that? It was quite frankly embarrassing, and the ref did nothing to stop it. He added nowhere near enough time in the first half (he added a minute, despite spending longer than that talking to forde for wasting time). He could easily have added 15 minutes in the second half as well. The trainer must have been on 10+ times, at over a minute each, never mind the subs and forde dawdling over goal kicks etc

And he capped off a piss poor performance by giving a free kick for the 'foul' on forde where he spilled the ball, and feigned injury despite the derby player not getting within a foot of him. And not making the decision until he saw that forde was 'injured' was pathetic.

 

Well there has to be something wrong with the officials if this sort of ridiculous time wasting goes on. He booked their goalie after 8 mins but really he could have been booked after 25 mins. Even if the injuries werent faked, ho wcome there wasnt 17 minutes of injury time not 7 mins. And if they really were so many Millwal players carrying injuries at the end of the game then maybe we really coudl hav escored in the missing last 10 mins.

But no getting away from it every single player had a mare except for Bucko and he nearly gifted them a goal.

We really have no reliable sub for Chris martin.

 

[ivo_knoflicek]

v Bolton...               

 

                  Grant

 

Wisdom Keogh Buxton Forsyth

 

                 Thorne

 

         Bryson        Hughes

 

Ward         Martin           Dawkins

Would pretty much agree with that, except that I'm not sure what Eustace has done wrong. Need to see Thorne to form a decent judgement thought - it's probably time to give him a start as he's not exactly an "impact sub".

[Gritstone Ram]

Sometimes football (Derby) really pisses me off. Today is one of them times.

[North_Stand_Ram]

Few points from my view

- Full backs lethargic. Wisdom doesn't look interested anymore. Both of them repeatedly stopped with the ball and slow down counter attacks, very annoying!

- Millwall were shocking today. The one lad who rolled onto the pitch was pathetic. Blatant cheating and it was right next to the linesman! Should of surely been booked for CHEATING

- Bamford not good enough out wide. Not enough pace or good enough with the ball at his feet, wasted there

- Corners and free kicks. Did we beat the first man all afternoon? Very poor. Same with crosses. We played all out wide yet failed to add the quality. Not just one of the wingers, all of them

- Hughes wasted in the holding role. Missed his creativity, what does Thorne have to do to get a game in that role? Bryson and Hendrick both off it and added very little.

- Sammon is an impact player, no more. He can't lead the line. He hasn't got the technical ability. He's like a bull in a China shop, he should be used to cause mania off the bench. Martins quality was missed massively.

Long way to go yet, but I feel autos is gone now. I can see Qpr going on a run now and snatching second, tomorrow is huge for Burnley. Win and it's probably there's, lose and the confidence goes. Qpr have the game in hand and if it all clicks, an unbeatable squad.

[Aidan DCFC]

Come on for god sake. Ok it was a poor peformance but look at our position in the league. If i told you at the beginning of the season we would be 3rd, 9 points clear of 7th at this point of the season. I would of been kidnapped and stoned to death. Its football results like this happen. COYR

[Anag Ram]

I quite like Holloway. I think he's a good bloke. Check out his family history.

One thing's for sure. Millwall will be battling for their lives today. If we start well we might get three or four. However, with a couple of enforced changes I wouldn't be surprised if we have to settle for a draw.

1-1 Sammon with one that bounces off him.

So we didn't get the equaliser - sorry. I really cannot understand why each time we play a side lower than ourselves, we think we are going to beat them by a hatful. We really aren't that good. It's been great fun and we should still have the play-offs to look forward to but we don't have anyone in midfield who can tackle and our central defenders aren't top class.

We play our best football when we ping it around at pace. Hendrick, Sammon and Bamford aren't capable of that, 

Don't think Tuesday will be easy. Bolton have found their mojo.

[VulcanRam]

To add to my frustration I just spent 20 mins typing a post on the iPad then the pad did something odd and I lost it all. Really can't be arsed re typing it, but it only darkens my mood!

[Jacko1983]

everyone keeps going on about we had an off day, well to be honest we have looked a bit lethargic for a while now. we drew to birmingham, and save a few last gasp goals between bamford and martin and we look nothing like the team that got us into this position in the first place.

 

back to the drawing board for me to be honest...

[sage]

Lots of poor decisions today.

 

Starting Bamford ahead of Ward and Russell.

 

Thinking the system will work the same without Martin. 

 

Taking Dawkins off instead of Bamford. Bamford is a liability. He has a great shot, but beyond that he is a boy in a man's game. Worse than Doyle, Taking Sammon off instead of Bamford then playing long balls to him. 

 

Bringing Bennett on to play on the wing and putting Ward in the middle.

 

Playing left footed players on the right and vice versa works in a 433 but not in a 442 when you are trying to get crosses in.

 

Today warranted playing Dawkins behind Sammon and Bamford/Russell playing little balls through to them.

 

Lazy thought process all round.

[SSD]

Really underestimated these today. I just don't get the changes that Steve made. Hendrick, Hughes and Bryson again does not work in midfield. Far too lightweight for the battles. Should have had Eustace or maybe given Thorne a go. 

 

Bamford is an impact sub, he doesn't want to compete. Russell should have started. Wisdom needs to stop being lazy as well.

 

Wake up call for Tuesday night. Bolton battered Weeds.

[Alph]

People were calling for Sammon. Like they forgot the last god knows how many appearances. How come in fans eyes players who aren't playing (usually because they aren't good enough) start getting better than the lads starting?

Sammon is superb substitute. And that's where he should stay. That's what he's good at.

Martin builds a base. Sammon can't.

People were looking for problems that didnt exist and solutions that have been tried and tested.

People have called for Mac to rip his team sheet up. Today it had a new(ish) look. We know our best team/players. There's some flexibility on the wings but essentially down the middle the team is picked. The system is sound

Martin is your striker. Don't keep looking for problems with him.

I don't know why anyone wants things tinkering with all the time. Worrying about not keeping a clean sheet when we're winning every week. When we're playing great people want to change this or that.

Tightening up after Birmingham and Yeovil was a mistake. Showing just a touch more discipline and caution was just a touch too much imo.

The teams picked, the system picked, the 424 suicide approach to go for the win is fine. We don't need a Plan D, E and F. We don't need perfection. We just need to be better than our opponents. And we were. Now we're looking more respectful and more rocky.

[Cisse]

This thread should be closed. It is depressing as hell.

[Alph]

Wow. suicide watch tonight in Derby

Got to admit that it looks like we've lost our goalscoring touch a bit.

Three goals in the last five games isn't good at all. Glad our defence hasn't been that bad or we could have been in big trouble.

Autos are still possible, of course they are. But playoffs were always going to be the more realistic option and we should easily make them.

I think I liked it better when our defence was exposed and most of the action was at the other end!!

I hate it when you don't get what you deserve. We deserved to beat Rovers and Brum by being the far better footballing side creating chances. Then we beat Wednesday and such but played meh.

In the back of minds that must send the wrong signal.

[Alph]

Sammon not good enough to lead the line at this level.

Players who play always get faulted and ones that sit in the reserves get better the longer they're there.

Sammon probably did work for this chance. And he's at no more fault than anyone else. But he's just not Martin. Diver or no.

Bamford is 95% useless though. Casual, lazy and weak

[RamNut]

We will all debate and agree / disagree.

For me......

Bamford is so lightweight that he can't play the lone striker role.

Therefore we had to play sammon.

If ward is available then i'd pick him even if he can't last 90 mins.

The midfield trio didn't unduly bother me, altho i feel hughes is wasted playing deep.

But eustace sometimes contributes to the Wisdom-like reluctance to attack.

With a bit more quality we might have gone 2-0 up.

But after 30 minutes we seemed to have run out of fizz

The lack of pace to get in behind their back four was apparent.

I half expected and hoped for a change at half time.

The subs came too late and added nothing.

I thought keogh deserved credit for trying to drive us forward.

But he should be bolloking wisdom and kicking a few backsides.

I fear that a slight lack of quality is now becoming apparent.

We've done well, but it feels like things might just fizzle out.

[Gary Teale]

Few points from my view

- Full backs lethargic. Wisdom doesn't look interested anymore. Both of them repeatedly stopped with the ball and slow down counter attacks, very annoying!

- Millwall were shocking today. The one lad who rolled onto the pitch was pathetic. Blatant cheating and it was right next to the linesman! Should of surely been booked for CHEATING

- Bamford not good enough out wide. Not enough pace or good enough with the ball at his feet, wasted there

- Corners and free kicks. Did we beat the first man all afternoon? Very poor. Same with crosses. We played all out wide yet failed to add the quality. Not just one of the wingers, all of them

- Hughes wasted in the holding role. Missed his creativity, what does Thorne have to do to get a game in that role? Bryson and Hendrick both off it and added very little.

- Sammon is an impact player, no more. He can't lead the line. He hasn't got the technical ability. He's like a bull in a China shop, he should be used to cause mania off the bench. Martins quality was missed massively.

Long way to go yet, but I feel autos is gone now. I can see Qpr going on a run now and snatching second, tomorrow is huge for Burnley. Win and it's probably there's, lose and the confidence goes. Qpr have the game in hand and if it all clicks, an unbeatable squad.

 

 

Where should Bamford play as he went through he middle today and offered nothing, he loses the ball to often and I dont think ive seen him win a header