Derby County v Middlesbrough

[JAT]

From the commentary I listened to and the reports read it suggests that we were lucky to get anything out of the game?

However it did seem like Middlesborough were very negative after getting their lucky goal and with the reshuffle of players following two more injuries, surely that has to go down as a decent result.

We may have performed better last season under similar circumstances but probably wouldn't have got a result.

Really happy that the team do seem to be adopting different ways to grind out results, even if it's not pretty.

A team is due for an absolute pasting from us soon though!

[EastKentRam]

You already know the answer there. I'd be lying if I didn't answer the way you expect.

I'd swap a Guardiola/Mourinho dream team double act for Nigel. I love the way he tries to buil a club from the bottom up and doesn't spend his way to short term success.

I'm aware I'm in a very small minority of maybe a dozen people in the world, Nigel, Nigel's wife, Bing, Simon and Matt Brown being at least five of the other 11 :-)

 

That's fair enough, but I hope you realise this is why nobody can take you very seriously.

 

[BBG83]

I put Radio Derby on as soon as I got back to the car. Within a minute I wanted to pull my radio out of the dash and throw it across the traffic jam.

Ramage and the so called fans who messaged in are so negative its unreal. If the commentry was anything like that then we won't be filling any empty seats fast.

Yes the football isn't the same as the free flowing glory games of the previous two seasons under McClaren, but its a new team working under a new manager, who are improving with every game and learning about each other. Shackell looked better again last night now he's aware of where people are.

Lets not forget that McClaren inherited a good team from Clough and barely had to do anything to get the playing, but when things went pair shaped he couldn't react - he basically rode a wave for a season. Clement however has inherited a squad of players lacking a bit of confidence and the mess McClaren left behind.

Three games in, two points behind another so called promotion favourite, no defeats, key injuries in two out of the three games in the same position and still there's impatience from the so called supporters.

How about you wait and see if we improve on that magic position of 8th that the amazing McClaren football and togetherness got us last season before throwing your negativity at us. Its boring and you just sound uneducated.

[sage]

Did anyone have a good view of the penalty claim we had around 70-75 minutes? The players carried the argument on for a few minutes which suggests it was a decent shout.

[Maestro]

With me being an armchair fan and living up near Manchester, I only get glimpses of Derby games from the Highlights posted on YouTube and from what the die-hard Rams fans say on here but it seemed we played decent football last and were extremely unlucky not to win the game; coming close with Ince's first half free kick and the glancing near post header in the second. The passing seemed really slick with all players knowing where they are from the neat little flicks to each other they were doing. Cannot grumble with the draw last night but we definitely need to win against Birmingham on Friday without a shadow of a doubt.

[sage]

With me being an armchair fan and living up near Manchester, I only get glimpses of Derby games from the Highlights posted on YouTube and from what the die-hard Rams fans say on here but it seemed we played decent football last and were extremely unlucky not to win the game; coming close with Ince's first half free kick and the glancing near post header in the second. The passing seemed really slick with all players knowing where they are from the neat little flicks to each other they were doing. Cannot grumble with the draw last night but we definitely need to win against Birmingham on Friday without a shadow of a doubt.

Hmm i would take a draw v Brum and a win v Leeds. 

[WharfedaleRam]

I'm a bit late with my views on last nights' game as I've just got back from staying with my Boro supporting pal in Cheshire. Can't believe what many are saying on here. It's true Boro seemed to be set up for a point, but for 75 minutes, they were set for a win. Last season, albeit with no forwards in our line up, we huffed and puffed and could have played all week without scoring. Last night, we actually had two very close calls before JR popped up with the equaliser. Boro seemed to have one shot and scored from it. Where were their flying wingers? Where was the former Premiership and England player? The answer is we (our poor, badly-performing team) passed them off the park, closed them down and prevented them from doing what THEY wanted to do. Sure, we played the same side to side pattern repeatedly and there was a lack of forward-thinking on the part of our fullbacks, but generally, our defence was solid (I thought Keogh was excellent last night), our depleted midfield passed it accurately and our forwards put in a lot of effort without much reward. It was nothing more than we deserved to get that late equaliser. Poor performance? Boll***s! Get real people! Onwards and upwards. COYR!

[Shang]

Highlights are up. We had a lot of chances and I think when we have a bit of match sharpness we'll be putting those chances away. The radio made it seem really dire, but from the highlights (and hopefully the full 90) it looked like we controlled the majority of the game, and they REALLY packed their defence, and broke on the counter attack.

[ronnieronalde]

That's fair enough, but I hope you realise this is why nobody can take you very seriously.

 

I can't control whether they take me seriously or not and NOBODY? That's a huge claim. My mam takes me very seriously indeed so that's at least somebody.

I'd like to think if people read what I write then I come across as quite a decent and knowledgeable fan.

I do appreciate some people struggle to read past the first line due to their attention spans and I do realise that some posters prefer to shout, swear and insult everyone.

Me? I prefer to speak my mind and tell the truth.

I must admit I got it badly wrong with Steve McClaren, his signings, his bottling it when things don't go smoothly and his jump ship personality didn't I?

I've got to stop getting things right otherwise people won't take me seriously.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Highlights are up. We had a lot of chances and I think when we have a bit of match sharpness we'll be putting those chances away. The radio made it seem really dire, but from the highlights (and hopefully the full 90) it looked like we controlled the majority of the game, and they REALLY packed their defence, and broke on the counter attack.

Yep. Radio commentary was misleading big time.

[DerbyPride]

I thought a point was a fair result and probably one I would've settled for before the game. Overall I was fairly pleased with the performance. The passing along the back line was infuriating at times but we were too static further up the field so I'd rather us do that than attempt a Hollywood pass or a hoof and lose possession. I thought we lacked width in the first half with our fullbacks playing too deep. We improved upon this slightly in the second half and hence caused a few more problems. Chastised as they often are, I thought Warnock and Shotton came out of this game with some credit. Weimann struggled to get into the game and Thorne struggled to find his range for the entire game. Boro were very well organised but clearly came for the point or smash-and-grab victory. If we couldn't pass through them or round them then we should maybe have tried to dribble past them a few more times. Russell and Keogh(!) seemed the only ones who tried this and they seemed to get some degree of success. But we are still undefeated and a win on Friday means our start will look much better.

[ronnieronalde]

can you show me in that text where it has to be manager and captain? I.E doesn't mean it has to be them...

 

On an aside... You'll probably find officials quite relaxed as to who would bring it in....

If Mark Halsey knows his stuff, and I've got to assume he does.

You are right and I'm wrong on who MUST deliver the team sheet to the Ref, Mr Halsey says it doesn't need to be the manager.

Hats doffed in your direction and apologies from me for doubting your knowledge.

Any way of finding out who delivered this one and who wrote it out.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

I think you're whistling in the wind on this one Ronnie!

[top 6 finish]

Getting back to serious football issueswe do have a problem that needs sorting

asap.The season before last when Mac took over we shot up the league playing

fast possession keep-it -on-the-ground football.I can remember the Sky presenters

and sports jounalists drooling.My memories are of the interplay between Thorne, 

Hughes and Martin.Last season we lost Thorne all season and Martin for quite a few

games and our season went down.This season its Hughes,and the fluency is missing.

Lesson seems to be Hughes needs replacing with a like player,now,he is the key. 

[ronnieronalde]

I think you're whistling in the wind on this one Ronnie!

I'm genuinely tempted to tweet Owen Bradley and ask him, that's how much I've got a bee in my bonnet over such a non-issue :-)

I'm like Vic an Bob, I just wouldn't let it lie :-)

I asked Mark Halsey how often that had happened to him as ref. He's never seen it.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Wonder if the Ref spotted it

[Guest]

We do have some  problems but I refuse to panic until we've gone 10 games without improving. Only then will I start hitting the bottle and consuming mogadon 

[Stive Pesley]

 

I was at the game, I’m not surprised the commentary was negative, as it was so frustrating to watch, having so much possession, but the ball never really getting into the final third.

I had to keep reminding myself that despite the frustration, we were actually playing OK and that, actually we were up against  big spending promotion favourites Middlesborough who had yet to concede a goal this season, and how many efforts on goal did they have? For long periods Carson barely had to move from the edge of his area. Not to mention that we lost two central midfielders within the first 30 mins, so our hand was very much forced when it came to tactics.

That said, it was clear to me that we needed to be a little bit quicker with our movement when we got to the final third. It was only when that happened that we got close to scoring.

The other thing that frustrated me was watching Ince, Weimann and Martin constantly trying to make runs, but the midfield/defenders opting to take the cautious approach and going sideways. I’m sure this must have been deliberate/under instruction to be patient. I think under McClaren we got used to being a bit more kamikaze up front – a tactic that came back to hurt us with the amount of mistakes being made by the exposed defence.

Can’t have been much fun being a Boro fan watching that last night, or going forward if they intend to grind their way out of the league in such a negative fashion.

 

[robglosta]

Carson looks very assured, and the back four look very solid.  If we can just sharpen up offensively, this team could be excellent.  I am trying to ponder which style I might prefer - the gung-ho style which Mac used or this more cautious, build from the back approach which Clement seems to have adopted in the early stages. If we become less error prone over the course of the season and our attacking players can start to find some fluency, we could see momentum gather over the second half of the season and finish very strongly. 

Early days yet folks, and we are yet to lose.  Win on Friday, and things will be looking far rosier. 

[Tombo]

http://aramseyeview.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/derby-county-vs-middlesbrough-fc.html

My thoughts. Read if you like.