Nottingham Forest v Derby County

[Bris Vegas]

Thought Dawkins had an excellent second half, I'm with the opinion that fans are just going to slate certain players no matter how poor or good they are playing, I saw someone on twitter moaning about Dawkins staying on but Russell getting subbed when Dawkins was having the much better game, sad times we live in to be honest.

 

He does all the footballing side well, that's the pity. He has neat footwork, good ball control, nice layoffs, silky movement.

 

Trouble is the moment he enters the final third he's an absolute duffer. I've seen League 2 players with a bigger goal threat than him. He's just not going to create, and when we needed an outlet this afternoon or a player to charge at their defence like Ward does Dawkins is arguably the last player you'd want doing it.

 

I'm not being harsh, but when your left-back (Forsyth) has more of an attacking threat than one of your three forwards then it kind of spells it out.

 

I honestly think Dawkins could play a role in central midfield - he seemed to knock it about with Hughes and Russell with ease and Forest's midfield couldn't get near him. 

 

Similar to my beloved Iniesta - wasted outwide in an attacking role as he has little goals/attacking threat in him but beautiful to watch in the middle of the park.

[AmericanRam]

Has anyone seen the sky highlights? I was out for the day and didn't hear or see the game. From them Derby had no chances from open play and it was all Forest and yet the stats say otherwise. Is this just crap highlights from Sky.....?

Forest had some good chances no question.However,we were better team I think and had our chances also.They do love Forest on Sky if you watched the match live as I did with the Sky commentators.

[Anag Ram]

Simon Dawkins is Theo Robinson and I Claim my

[Highgate]

I think Iniesta might be a just a tiny bit better !   But you are right Dawkins has nice control and some ability, but somehow seems to lack a genuine threat going forward.  Plus is he really giving 100% all the time..?   Just asking...

[BondJovi]

Good point.

 

Buxton getting red totally ruined out momentum. I can see what he was doing, had he not been on a yellow, fine...but otherwise totally stupid from one of our senior players. Ibe and Calero never really had a chance to do much once we were down 10. I honestly thought with how attacking we had gone the game was ours to take in the last 10.

 

Keogh had one moment of madness for their goal but otherwise I thought he did well. Dawkins I thought did fine, he does need that final ball but he is fantastic at keeping the ball and keeping the play moving. If he had that final ball he would not be with us.

 

I do though think Eustace is too slow for how the team wants to play, would like Omar to get more of a run out but this was not the match for him.

[Bris Vegas]

I think Iniesta might be a just a tiny bit better !   But you are right Dawkins has nice control and some ability, but somehow seems to lack a genuine threat going forward.  Plus is he really giving 100% all the time..?   Just asking...

 

He's one of our hardest workers, tracked back a lot and helped out in defence.

 

If he had an end product he would be a Premier League player. Unfortunately for us, he's about as useful going forward as Pablo Mills on the wing.

[uttoxram75]

Has anyone seen the sky highlights? I was out for the day and didn't hear or see the game. From them Derby had no chances from open play and it was all Forest and yet the stats say otherwise. Is this just crap highlights from Sky.....?

All the neutrals in the pub said a draw was a fair result.

[CheltenhamRam]

Draw fair move on. **** game to have to play given our slowish start.

[Ramsam]

Spot on been saying for ages. The other midfielders suffer as Eustace does not supply the creativity so they drop deeper to supply that.

When Thorne plays, it frees them up and we start to feed off Martins lay offs.

Our success last year was midfielder getting beyond the front man.

Eustace is obviously our number 2 choice but to be honest i thought we were the better team today with Eustace playing a key role. He is slower than Thorne, no doubt but i think he is the best option we have in that role. All others have failed miserably in that role and Eustace has held his own.

[Ramsam]

Keogh seems to be getting the stick for their goal but it was Buxtons positioning that forced him into making a decision he never should have had to make imo. I like buxton but today was a very bad day in a season that had so far been poor. Positionally he was terrible, he got bullied, was very lucky not to give away two or three penalties with all the shirt pulling and he capped it off by getting sent off when we were in the ascendancy. I am looking forward to a different centre partnership as i think we will be better for it.

[Ramsam]

Overall i thought we did well today. Forest will be challenging this season and whilst they will feel they should have got something against 10 men, up until that point we were the superior team and over the course of a season are likely to pick up more points.

I thought today was very reassuring for what to expect this season.

[Gary Teale]

He does all the footballing side well, that's the pity. He has neat footwork, good ball control, nice layoffs, silky movement.

 

Trouble is the moment he enters the final third he's an absolute duffer. I've seen League 2 players with a bigger goal threat than him. He's just not going to create, and when we needed an outlet this afternoon or a player to charge at their defence like Ward does Dawkins is arguably the last player you'd want doing it.

 

I'm not being harsh, but when your left-back (Forsyth) has more of an attacking threat than one of your three forwards then it kind of spells it out.

 

I honestly think Dawkins could play a role in central midfield - he seemed to knock it about with Hughes and Russell with ease and Forest's midfield couldn't get near him. 

 

Similar to my beloved Iniesta - wasted outwide in an attacking role as he has little goals/attacking threat in him but beautiful to watch in the middle of the park.

 

 

I agree, Dawkins plays much better when he plays centrally or drfts into the centre. Basically he isnt a winger.

[TigerTedd]

Also Cohen with another nasty looking injury, never nice too see, made me squirm watching the replay. I wanted to have a go at the forest fans about it after the abuse some of them gave with Thorne but gotta be the better set of fans.

Sad, yes. But I would have loved it if we'd have scored then. They were crying for us to stop again, but we were on the edge if their area. Play to the whistle idiots. Would have been hilarious if we scored at that moment. Just imagine how much the gumps on here would be moaning.

[Papahet]

The game needed Jamie Ward.

He always seems pumped for the fixture and puts in a shift.

[Ayupmiduck]

If you go onto the Sky website and watch their version of the highlights we only had one shot the whole game and were played off the park,what a joke complete bias

[climbon]

Shottons shot crossed the line so the goal is his but for me Best is to thank for the point...he was the one who put it into the net, if he hadn't the ref probably wouldn't have given the goal as it wasn't obvious the ball had crossed the line. All academic I guess.

[McMuffin]

Shottons shot crossed the line so the goal is his but for me Best is to thank for the point...he was the one who put it into the net, if he hadn't the ref probably wouldn't have given the goal as it wasn't obvious the ball had crossed the line. All academic I guess.

Good point agree Besty's the man!

[bcnram]

Keogh seems to be getting the stick for their goal but it was Buxtons positioning that forced him into making a decision he never should have had to make imo. I like Buxton but today was a very bad day in a season that had so far been poor. Positionally he was terrible, he got bullied, was very lucky not to give away two or three penalties with all the shirt pulling and he capped it off by getting sent off when we were in the ascendancy. I am looking forward to a different centre partnership as i think we will be better for it.

Keogh is getting stick for the goal because he once again chased the ball leaving a man completely open on the edge of our area. It was completely unnecessary and went a long way to costing us the goal. Other than that he had a decent game but he has got to stop these schoolboy errors. 

[Ambitious]

Right, my take on today's match.

 

The Team News - I was a bit disappointed with the team news to be honest, because I thought it flew in the face of every decision McClaren had made previously. How long did it take Thorne to break into the Derby team over Eustace? And when Bryson missed the play-off semi final that we romped, who was on the bench for the final? Yet, today he dropped the player the majority agree was our best player through August for a more reputable name. I didn't like that, I think it's soils his transparency somewhat. 

 

The Game - It wasn't a classic, but I thought it was a good game for both sides who had a good number of ups and downs. The atmosphere was dour when the game was being played but that's usually a sign that there is something worth your full attention happening on the field. We could have played better and I thought the occasion got to us a certain key times, but overall we were able to keep our head above water and get the ball down. We didn't control the tempo, like we very regularly do, and was dragged into their 1000mph down the wings chasing balls kind of style. 

 

Their goal - I actually got a really good view of how their goal came about, and it was nothing to do with Shotton, Buxton, Keogh or whoever. Forsyth made a run down the left hand side of the pitch but saw it come to nothing, he slowly went to move back into position but the Forest players caught him out. Bryson, ideally, should have covered but had a moment of laziness and Eustace ran out of position to attend to the vacant left-back position. When the ball moved towards the centre of the pitch (where Eustace should have been), the defence and players were all over the place and our system was effectively undone by that initial left-back run. 

 

The Players - I think there have been some harsh things said about the players, I thought individually they were fine. I do agree the team could have been better and we didn't get to control the tempo like we usually do - nevermind, here what my ratings were. 

 

Lee Grant - 6 - He hasn't had much to do, and from what I saw, he probably should have had a better go at stopping their goal. He's a great professional though, being closer to the pitch than usual really emphasised that. 

 

Ryan Shotton - 6 - He took some breaking in, and it looked as if he had never seen Antonio play before, but he warmed into the game. Antonio is a player, like a dog, that is better when chasing after a ball than he is with the ball at his feet. Wisdom had the same problem with him. Shotton and Wisdom are used to dribblers trying to get around them, but Antonio isn't a dribbler, he's a freight train. He will go in a straight line as quick as he can to the byline and then hit a ball into the box without much thought. Christie, I think, would have matched him for pace and really took him out the game. Shotton was good when standing up his man and he could really take the ball off his opponents foot, but that's simply not Antonio. 

 

Richard Keogh - 8 - I thought he was outstanding today, really did well. Won his personal battles, did his duties and marshalled the rest of the defence. Very good performance.

 

Jake Buxton - 6 - A few things with Bucko today: The first, who is in our medical team? After THREE minutes - yes THREE minutes - Buxton was holding his left hip. It's just plain insanity, why is he still playing when he clearly isn't 100%. Yes, he is an important player, but that's 6 games into the season now where he hasn't been fit, if he was rested it may have half of that. The second is obviously the sending off, again, I saw it like someone else on here - it looked as if there player went to carry on and he swung his leg at the ball which rebounded off the player. Other than that, he did well, he wasn't massively stretched, but just needs to use this suspension as a reason to find full fitness! 

 

Craig Forsyth - 7 - Forsyth defended well - goal aside, but that's hindsight talking - and offered an outlet down the left hand side. I don't get why he doesn't take more set-piece plays. The ball for our equaliser was a manager's dream, hit exactly where and how he would have wanted it. 

 

John Eustace - 6 - I didn't whether to give Eustace a 6 or 7 because the things he did well today wasn't the things he was brought into the team for, in my opinion. He let play pass him by slightly and forward runners - which he was meant to stop - seemed to coast past him. However, when it came to spreading the ball and opening the play, I thought he was good. Mascarell deserves a try though, surely? We miss Thorne 

 

Will Hughes - 8 MOTM - The most talented player on the pitch today by a country mile, he showed a real good awareness and touch in tough situations and had two or three players at a time trying to stand on his ankles. He made Lansbury look bang average and it showed when he went through Hughes because he was frustrated. Great performance from Will, he put in a real mature showing today. 

 

Craig Bryson - 6 - I think it will click for him in the end, but he just seems to be half an inch too far or too short. He isn't being spotted for those forward runs and the balls aren't falling to him. He is making the right decision, I feel, but those around him need to utilise him better. 

 

Simon Dawkins - 7 - Ran his socks off today, deserves a seven for that alone. Technically, he is a Premier League player (as Bris said) but where I differ is that I don't think he is a lost cause on the wing. He needs fine tuning, sure, but I think in the small glimpses I've seen that his shooting has been a lot better lately, so it's all about his decision making from this point onwards.

 

Johnny Russell - 6 - I saw a bit of sharpness in him today that was reminiscent of last season, I just hope that forms around the corner. He's a very good player, but undoubtedly a slow starter.

 

Chris Martin - 6 - He did some very good things today, but was well marshalled out of the game. The link up play between Martin, Bryson and Forsyth which was excellent last season has been fairly non existent this season. We need Bryson running behind Martin, and we need Martin brining other players into the game with his back to goal.

 

Best - 6 - Tried his hardest, a bit more luck and he may have scored the winner today but his balance seemed to undo him just as he was trying to compose himself - shame.

 

Calero - 5 - Hard to give him anything other. It wasn't the correct occasion for him, it was rabbit in the headlights kind of stuff. 20 minutes at Blackburn or whatever would have been much more useful.

 

Ibe - 6 - Extremely talented player, it's a shame he was put on during a hectic last period. However, you saw when he run at their defence how much their full-back was filling himself - just a shame we didn't make better use of the final product.

 

Lot's of solid performances, peppered with one or two good performances, but after everything that happened, the players can be happy with a point well won. We also get to retain the only trophy in football that matters   

[FunkyRam]

My ratings for the match

Grant 7

Shotton 7 - got roasted a fews time but who wouldn't? need Usain Bolt to catch Antonio. Thought he was dominamt in the air for us in the last 15.

Keogh 8 - Good performance from our captain, one of his better games

Bukko 3 - He really p1ssed me off today. One of the worst game ive seen him play. Couldn't pass, stood on the ball too long in the build up to thier goal and got sent off. on another day could of conceded 5 pens with his grabbing in the box from set pieces.

Fozzy 7 - back to his best, and did I see him take an attacking FK in the second half..? Maccas got to sort this out lol

Eustace 7 Solid, shame hes not 25

Hughes 8 joint MOM with Keogh. The guy ran the whole midfield today.

Bryson 6 just didn't fall for him today. Excellent work rate. Makes me feel tired just watching him

Dawkins 1st half- 2

Dawkins Twin 2nd half 7 - The Dawkins we know

Russell 7 - solid game, worked hard tracking back to help Shotton. would like to see him have all the free kicks around the box

Martin 5 - what did he do?

subs 6

McClaren 10 - genius substitutions today

Ref - I didnt see a ref today, very strange...

also a special mention to the **** wits who came on to the pitch second half, you absolutely killed the momentum for us. Forest couldn't cope for the first 15 mins and you gave them the chance to recoup and get organised.

well done you CUN ....TS!