Derby County v Watford

[PistoldPete2]

 

The prolific nature of Ward and Dawkins over the cumbersome and lazy Russell and Ince. Definitely. (Although I think Lingard deserves to start though)

[-JW-]

Can someone tell me why Albentosa didn't play tonight?

[EastKentRam]

Keogh was the best Derby player tonight. Which IMO says a lot. 

We have been very very poor for a very long time, and lets be honest, if you can't turn up in a must win game, in front of a full house, live on sky, against 10 men... then you really deserve everything you get. 

To a man we were dreadful, and blind loyalty aside, without that red card, we would have gone down 3 or 4 nil IMO. 

Can't see us getting anything at Wigan, and with our defence up against a free scoring Brentford, I can't see us getting much there either. 

A finish out of the playoffs would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago, and now it is looking more like a certainty. 

Can't see Newcastle having Macca if that happens, but then I can't see us having him either. 

[EastKentRam]

Keogh was the best Derby player tonight. Which IMO says a lot. 

We have been very very poor for a very long time, and lets be honest, if you can't turn up in a must win game, in front of a full house, live on sky, against 10 men... then you really deserve everything you get. 

To a man we were dreadful, and blind loyalty aside, without that red card, we would have gone down 3 or 4 nil IMO. 

Can't see us getting anything at Wigan, and with our defence up against a free scoring Brentford, I can't see us getting much there either. 

A finish out of the playoffs would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago, and now it is looking more like a certainty. 

Can't see Newcastle having Macca if that happens, but then I can't see us having him either. 

[Ovis aries]

McClaren has to shoulder some of the blame , when Lingard came on we had only three recognised defenders , and no D/M , we were open to what happened .

[lukedcfc]

Not going to lie I was still optimistic about automatics but that's well and truly gone now. I think the reaction of the players said it all to be honest. Overall we played well but as always we gifted the opposition goals. I said after the Rotherham game that the defence will cost us and it is doing. its unreal to think that at the end of february we were 5 points clear. and now we find ourselves clinging on for a play-off place.

 

Grant 7 - Didn't have much to do other than watch his defence crumble again.

 

Christie 0 - His confidence is shot, should not play again this season for his own good imo. 

 

Keogh - Outstanding tonight

 

Shotton - Caught out for there second. Albentosa may not have pace but he has a lot more awareness. 

 

Forsyth - Again could have done more for there second. He's error prone and Warnock needs to come in, I've had enough.

 

Ince - Quality player and if we don't go up I doubt he will sign, which will be a shame.

 

Hughes - Quiet game but kept us ticking and nearly scored.

 

Thorne - such bad luck, I don't know what to say.

 

Bryson - Doesn't seem up for the fight. Lack of interest.

 

Russell - couple of decent runs, won us the penalty.

 

Bent - Scored but really should have scored more, especially the one towards the end.

 

 

Martin - No time to make an impact, should have come on earlier.

 

Lingard - Looked lively and should have started after his performance at Wolves.

 

Hendrick - Square pegs in round holes again. Pains me to see Wisdom sitting on the bench at West Brom. 

 

Time to concentrate on the play-offs, we had our chance and we threw it away. The constant changing of the back four from Mcclaren has not helped. 

[Jourdan]

It's unbelievable to think we were top less than six weeks ago. It's even more unbelievable to think we had breathing space too. We were two points clear of Middlesbrough, five points clear of Ipswich, six points clear of Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich, seven points clear of Brentford and 11 points clear of Wolves. Now all of them bar Ipswich and Wolves have left us trailing in the dust. Short of something extraordinary, automatic promotion has gone. Time is running out and we have left ourselves with too much to do.

The frightening thing is that now we face a dogfight to simply get into the play-offs. Have we got the bottle? Have we got the steel? Have we got the fight? Have we got the courage? Have we got the composure? Because that's what it's about at the end of the day. 

Place the blame on what you will - injuries, refereeing decisions, mismanagement or rotten luck. But let's be honest, to go seven games without a win at this pivotal stage of the season, we simply haven't been good enough and we haven't helped ourselves. We have lost our quality and our nerve when it matters most. From the players to the management to the boardroom, we've been waiting weeks for a response that simply hasn't come.

The season is far from over. We could still be promoted in May but at the same time, we could quite easily finish 8th now too. We're very much in danger of grasping the wooden spoon from a drawer full of silverware. I fear for us, I really do.

McClaren has done a good job, of that there is no doubt. We've come a long way in a short time and naturally Premier League clubs are watching with interest and deservedly so. But it's managing situations like this  - the first real test of his time here - that will be more telling than any success he has had thus far and why clubs will wait until the summer to make their move.

This is where he earns his corn.

[lukedcfc]

Not going to lie I was still optimistic about automatics but that's well and truly gone now. I think the reaction of the players said it all to be honest. Overall we played well but as always we gifted the opposition goals. I said after the Rotherham game that the defence will cost us and it is doing. its unreal to think that at the end of february we were 5 points clear. and now we find ourselves clinging on for a play-off place.

 

Grant 7 - Didn't have much to do other than watch his defence crumble again.

 

Christie 0 - His confidence is shot, should not play again this season for his own good imo. 

 

Keogh - Outstanding tonight

 

Shotton - Caught out for there second. Albentosa may not have pace but he has a lot more awareness. 

 

Forsyth - Again could have done more for there second. He's error prone and Warnock needs to come in, I've had enough.

 

Ince - Quality player and if we don't go up I doubt he will sign, which will be a shame.

 

Hughes - Quiet game but kept us ticking and nearly scored.

 

Thorne - such bad luck, I don't know what to say.

 

Bryson - Doesn't seem up for the fight. Lack of interest.

 

Russell - couple of decent runs, won us the penalty.

 

Bent - Scored but really should have scored more, especially the one towards the end.

 

 

Martin - No time to make an impact, should have come on earlier.

 

Lingard - Looked lively and should have started after his performance at Wolves.

 

Hendrick - Square pegs in round holes again. Pains me to see Wisdom sitting on the bench at West Brom. 

 

Time to concentrate on the play-offs, we had our chance and we threw it away. The constant changing of the back four from Mcclaren has not helped. 

[Chris Mills]

I best not go again still have not seen Derby win for 7 years! leave it till the play offs

[rammieib]

I think Shotton was in there for pace.

[Gritstone Ram]

I thought Watfords no.5 was good i think he was a from forest. Looked good on the right.      do you know what i'm saying scteve..

 

 

 

 

 

[RamNut]

Grant 5

christie 5

forsyth 5

shotton 5

keogh 7.5

bryson 5

thorne 5

hughes 6

russell 6

bent 6

ince 6

[Ambitious]

A draw is a bad result, but the conditions the draw have come under have made it even worse.

I haven't seen the game yet, but I'm none too surprised.

Christie should be given an extended leave from the first-team now. The unbelievable start he made has been long forgotten and he hasn't performed well for a good number of months now.

Without a defensive midfielder, though, we've got nothing to build off. Hanson will ultimately come in, I'd imagine. However, it just isn't enough at this stage of the season. 

I'm almost 99% certain it will be Championship football again for us next season - and  everyone in the side expect for probably Hughes. 

If McClaren doesn't make the play-offs, at the end of the season he could drive up to Newcastle with a bow and a 'free for a good home' sign around his neck and they'd send him back. As nice as the press have been to him since he came here, not finishing in the play-offs would be a huge, huge blow to his reputation. 

I guess we've just got to enjoy the ride now. I'm expecting little to nothing. I just hope we don't embarrass ourselves too much between now and the end of the season. Blackpool beating us at home would be the icing on the cake, of course. 

[Tombo]

The result is only a bad one in context. If we'd played Watford at home earlier in the season, I'd have taken a point easy. But we knew what was at stake going into it and knew we needed the win. And whichever way you cut it, we didn't get that. We've been looking devoid of a bit of fire in our bellies for a while now, I hope McClaren really did lay into them as much as they're saying he did. I'm not one to normally advocate 'the hairdryer' all the time because it can kill confidence. But as this stage we need the passion and the reaction for Monday.

All 6 games are very winnable, lets win them and nick the autos... Well you've got to keep your chin up haven't ya? 

[RamNut]

McClaren has to shoulder some of the blame , when Lingard came on we had only three recognised defenders , and no D/M , we were open to what happened .

[Pearl Ram]

Just watched the game without finding out the final score which is no mean feat when you're working out of the print site of a national newspaper in Watford wearing a hat with a ram on it.

And frankly I feel deflated. The swagger and confidence is gone and it's only my opinion mind but we've gone from "the entertainers" to the "scared to deathers" The cohesion ain't there, we were running like a well oiled machine not too long ago, what the chuff's happened ?

I was a bit "not on your life" when the Toon's supposed interest in McClaren surfaced but this morning I'm a bit meh, I'm not wrist-slashing, but he's had quite a while to sort out that defence so whatever he's telling them it ain't sinking in.

Alright, you can't legislate for Christie's howler(s) but I though Shotton could have tried a sliding interception for their second.

Not too long ago I would have been confident we'd have got a third after that but I found myself wondering if we'd hang on or not.

Hope the chaps rediscover their mojo because some of the stuff they've produced in the last 18 months has been a joy to behold, fingers crossed they make the play offs, they don't deserve to miss out on them.

[Bridgford Ram]

Can someone tell me why Albentosa didn't play tonight?

[TroyDyer]

​Alright negative Nancy, it really isn't that bad. I can remember three Watford chances, all from really poor mistakes. They didn't do much from general play

[TroyDyer]

​Alright negative Nancy, it really isn't that bad. I can remember three Watford chances, all from really poor mistakes. They didn't do much from general play

[TopRam]

Only thing I have agaisnt macca is how does Christie still get in this team?? He looks the dogs bo**ocks when he first arrived but he's been awful recently so he deserves to be dropped Shotton is a much better defender christie just runs forward then turns backwards