Cardiff City vs Derby County

[PodgeyRam]

That is one of the worst performances I've seen in years. At least in our freefall under McClaren we looked like everyone was in it together, cant say the same for today.  Only Olsson and Ince come out of it with any credit. The rest of this is going to sound a lot like me ranting and raving against one particular player.

Ince worked hard all match, was the only one looking to make something all match. Olsson kept getting forward and pleading for the ball time and time again where Shackell was utterly oblivious to his presence - and when he did pass it to him, the ball was more often than not behind him.

Within the first 5 minutes it was obvious that our tactic was to hoof it up to Martin, where he was beaten in the air everytime to Manga. You wouldhave thought that after this they would get Martin to move to the other side, where Manga wouldn't be ble to challenge him. But no, every ball that went long went straight in the general direction of their best CB. And people wonder why footballers have a reputation for being stupid!

For the goals, seeing as how it was obvious Manga was a threat in the air why did Shackell pass him on to Keogh? Have some balls man - you're our best defender at clearing corners and you pass on their bigget aireal threat?! Don't even get me started on putting men on the posts. How many times do you see goals from corners that are so easy to block if you put someone o the post? If this was a deliberate tactic, then someone should have broken ranks and placed themselves there after the first goal went in. Why didn't Shackell, Keogh or Carson,  the three men tasked with organizing the defence tell someone to do it?

Shackell shoould have been sent off before half time for kicking a player when he was on the floor. Sure, he'd gone over easily, but you can't kick someone when they're on the ground (or even when they're standing up).  He did this right in front of the linesman who if he'd known how to do his job would've told the ref to send Shackell off. It's just plain old bad attitude and I'm sick of it. He should've been punished in the second half for cheaply giving the ball away, but Carson bailed him out with a great save.

Carson's kicking was poor. Halfway through the first half Martin tried to moove over to the other CB (Morrison) I think and Carson kicked it straight to Manga!!!!

Hanson's distribution going forwards was very poor - needs to be shifted back into midfield. I don't understand what Christie has done to deserve dropping.

Keogh's passing was as bad as I've seen all season -  he absolutely blasted the ball at Butterfield hen he was no more than 10 yards away!

Thorne didn't look fit whatsoever.

Bryson and Butterfield tried hard but their decision making was poor.

Johnson - why did we pay £6 million for this guy? Can't pass, no great technical ability. Best thing I can say about him today is that he wasn't the worst on the pitch.

Martin - did well for the goal, the first time he isolated Morrison all match and he scored. Needed to give everyone hoofing it up to him an earful. He was never going to win all of those balls at 7 feet high. Still, didn't get involved enough.

Russell - I saw flashes when he came on. Linked up with Martin and nearly jinked his way into the area. Why isn't he startiing instead of Johnson? Move Ince over to the left on his stronger foot.

Blackman - didn't get nearly enough time to do anything.

Wassall - cut the tactic's don't matter ********. They didn't when Clough was manager but the game's different now. Why drop Christie for Hanson when our game relies on attacking full backs? Why keep playing Ince on the right where he gets doubled up on again and again and again and again. At least when he's on the left he can go outside and inside. Why wait until 75 minutes to make a  substitution when it's obvious to everyone watching that plan A (whatever that is. I couldn't see one today) isn't working. What exactly do you spend the week on the training ground doing? It can't be practicing set pieces or attacking play surely.

I'm just glad I was in Cardiff yesterday for work and didn't come down to only see the match.

[eddie]

5 minutes ago, Gritters said:

I parked near Lansdowne Road. Went to The Lansdowne pub and again was greated by friendly Welsh people who went out their way to make me feel welcome. Getting out after the game was a doddle. It took me 2.25 hours to get back to Derby. About a 15 minute walk to the ground which might not be ideal for you.

2.25 hours from Dublin? That's pretty good.

[Gritstone Ram]

2 minutes ago, eddie said:

2.25 hours from Dublin? That's pretty good.

Yeah strange having a road named that in Cardiff.

[irobinson]

6 hours ago, PodgeyRam said:

That is one of the worst performances I've seen in years. At least in our freefall under McClaren we looked like everyone was in it together, cant say the same for today.  Only Olsson and Ince come out of it with any credit. The rest of this is going to sound a lot like me ranting and raving against one particular player.

Ince worked hard all match, was the only one looking to make something all match. Olsson kept getting forward and pleading for the ball time and time again where Shackell was utterly oblivious to his presence - and when he did pass it to him, the ball was more often than not behind him.

Within the first 5 minutes it was obvious that our tactic was to hoof it up to Martin, where he was beaten in the air everytime to Manga. You wouldhave thought that after this they would get Martin to move to the other side, where Manga wouldn't be ble to challenge him. But no, every ball that went long went straight in the general direction of their best CB. And people wonder why footballers have a reputation for being stupid!

For the goals, seeing as how it was obvious Manga was a threat in the air why did Shackell pass him on to Keogh? Have some balls man - you're our best defender at clearing corners and you pass on their bigget aireal threat?! Don't even get me started on putting men on the posts. How many times do you see goals from corners that are so easy to block if you put someone o the post? If this was a deliberate tactic, then someone should have broken ranks and placed themselves there after the first goal went in. Why didn't Shackell, Keogh or Carson,  the three men tasked with organizing the defence tell someone to do it?

Shackell shoould have been sent off before half time for kicking a player when he was on the floor. Sure, he'd gone over easily, but you can't kick someone when they're on the ground (or even when they're standing up).  He did this right in front of the linesman who if he'd known how to do his job would've told the ref to send Shackell off. It's just plain old bad attitude and I'm sick of it. He should've been punished in the second half for cheaply giving the ball away, but Carson bailed him out with a great save.

Carson's kicking was poor. Halfway through the first half Martin tried to moove over to the other CB (Morrison) I think and Carson kicked it straight to Manga!!!!

Hanson's distribution going forwards was very poor - needs to be shifted back into midfield. I don't understand what Christie has done to deserve dropping.

Keogh's passing was as bad as I've seen all season -  he absolutely blasted the ball at Butterfield hen he was no more than 10 yards away!

Thorne didn't look fit whatsoever.

Bryson and Butterfield tried hard but their decision making was poor.

Johnson - why did we pay £6 million for this guy? Can't pass, no great technical ability. Best thing I can say about him today is that he wasn't the worst on the pitch.

Martin - did well for the goal, the first time he isolated Morrison all match and he scored. Needed to give everyone hoofing it up to him an earful. He was never going to win all of those balls at 7 feet high. Still, didn't get involved enough.

Russell - I saw flashes when he came on. Linked up with Martin and nearly jinked his way into the area. Why isn't he startiing instead of Johnson? Move Ince over to the left on his stronger foot.

Blackman - didn't get nearly enough time to do anything.

Wassall - cut the tactic's don't matter ********. They didn't when Clough was manager but the game's different now. Why drop Christie for Hanson when our game relies on attacking full backs? Why keep playing Ince on the right where he gets doubled up on again and again and again and again. At least when he's on the left he can go outside and inside. Why wait until 75 minutes to make a  substitution when it's obvious to everyone watching that plan A (whatever that is. I couldn't see one today) isn't working. What exactly do you spend the week on the training ground doing? It can't be practicing set pieces or attacking play surely.

I'm just glad I was in Cardiff yesterday for work and didn't come down to only see the match.

Great points. I am at a loss on where we are - and how we got there. Its a bit painful - and i was only listening to it on RD, but you can tell from the commentary  / reaction..... . It just sounded so poor. After my reflection on this - probably best  - like last season - is not to make the play-offs - if we keep this form  - we won't get in there anyway. we would be an embarrassment. Burnley, Brighton, Boro and probably Hull are streets ahead - on performance, guts, and want it more.

Hull will beat us Tues night for sure - if we come up with a performance like that

Whole mess needs sorting - and i am not sure - after MM's performance this year - whether he knows what to do - and how to sort it.

How depressing.

 

 

 

[G STAR RAM]

9 hours ago, top 6 finish said:

Leeds Ram,why do you persist in wasting your time with the Troll who calls himself "G-Star" ? He isn't worth it,he isn't even a Derby supporter.All he does is pick on certain people and tries to wind them up. He tried it on me,till I sussed him out and ignored him,try it. He is pathetic and sad and knows nothing about football. My guess is that he is probably a Tory supporting Accountant,lonely and boring ,he depends on winding people up,what could be worse? forget him,he is a tosser.

Not a Derby supporter? Not sure how you work that out when my whole exchange with Leeds Ram was about people not supporting the club now things are going wrong.

I am an accountant actually.

Not lonely, I have a family.

Boring, probably. But coming from someone posting on a football forum at 11pm on a Saturday night well...

[ketteringram]

7 hours ago, Gritters said:

Yeah strange having a road named that in Cardiff.

There is a Cardiff Lane in Dublin. 

[G-Ram]

We're a shambles uttely pathetic performance 

i dont rate shackell when he was last here he was best of a bad bunch & looked better than what he was, we've moved on from the days he was last here

[irobinson]

6 minutes ago, G-Ram said:

We're a shambles uttely pathetic performance 

i dont rate shackell when he was last here he was best of a bad bunch & looked better than what he was, we've moved on from the days he was last here

our second choice was Dunk from Brighton - he looked a lot better yesterday..he can defend corners!! also trod on Barton

[Gone]

10 hours ago, DRBee said:

On what basis was the starting 11 today " the right one " ? It didn't work that well against Forest. 

We didn't change it sooner cos Wassall ain't got a clue.

I'm old school you don't change a winning team IMO so on that basis it was the right one. Out of curiosity what 11 would you have picked ?

Agree with your second point, but wasn't Arry brought in to help because of that. Surely one of the two could see it needed changing 

[DRBee]

2 minutes ago, TexasRam said:

I'm old school you don't change a winning team IMO so on that basis it was the right one. Out of curiosity what 11 would you have picked ?

Agree with your second point, but wasn't Arry brought in to help because of that. Surely one of the two could see it needed changing 

We only played well against Forest AFTER the original team selection was changed with substitution of Johnson with Russell.

On the pre-match radio interview Wassall had converted a 'good in the end' performance against Forest into a 'great' performance.

Why does Johnson get selected match and match? he seems to be undroppable unless injured.

[valleyram]

It's probably no rocket science but can we play a right back at right back and a wide left player wide left , it just might help , I said in January when Blackman and camara signed it was a complete waste of money and was lambasted on here , can someone tell me why they were signed ? Anyway it's the Derby way but right now although we are playing poor I would be happy playing Brighton in the play offs , only thing is they will get there will we ? 

[Half fan]

11 hours ago, eddie said:

It took as long for us to get from the away car park at the ground to the roundabout near ASDA as it took to get from there to Keynsham, over 50 miles away. What an armpit of a ground it is to get away from - nearly as bad as iPro.

At least thanks to the late Horace Batchelor, you know how to spell K e y n s h a m !

[eddie]

19 minutes ago, Half fan said:

At least thanks to the late Horace Batchelor, you know how to spell K e y n s h a m !

I get all my information from album covers

[top 6 finish]

4 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

Not a Derby supporter? Not sure how you work that out when my whole exchange with Leeds Ram was about people not supporting the club now things are going wrong.

I am an accountant actually.

Not lonely, I have a family.

Boring, probably. But coming from someone posting on a football forum at 11pm on a Saturday night well...

Been poorly,was pissed,though.

[G STAR RAM]

1 minute ago, top 6 finish said:

Been poorly,was pissed,though.

Sorry to hear that, hope you feel better soon.

[top 6 finish]

3 hours ago, irobinson said:

our second choice was Dunk from Brighton - he looked a lot better yesterday..he can defend corners!! also trod on Barton

When you want to exact retribution best to do it in a safe place,the free kick lead to a corner,where they equalised.

[DCFCArmy]

As I keep saying Tom Ince is a top player and in the right set up would be the best player in the league no problem, show him some love and get him in a team playing well and he's a 20 goal a season winger ffs, as proved at Blackpool and with us last season. I feel sorry for him because he's now been a part of 2 absolute meltdowns and deserved so much better, and I wouldn't blame him if he wanted out in the summer. 

[top 6 finish]

2 hours ago, valleyram said:

It's probably no rocket science but can we play a right back at right back and a wide left player wide left , it just might help , I said in January when Blackman and camara signed it was a complete waste of money and was lambasted on here , can someone tell me why they were signed ? Anyway it's the Derby way but right now although we are playing poor I would be happy playing Brighton in the play offs , only thing is they will get there will we ? 

I can't comment on the Cardiff game,didn't see it. I watched the Brighton game,thought they looked good enough to make autos let alone play-offs.

[PistoldPete2]

One of the many things I don't understand is how Wassall brings on three subs against Rotherham when we are winning 3-0 but then doesn't use all his subs when we are playing as poorly as people say we did yesterday. And the twothat were used came on too late. Also we seem to have gone from one extreme to another ... Four attackers on the bench when you can only use three. 

[SSD]

I've sobered up enough now to gather my thoughts on the game.

 

That performance reminded of when Nigel Clough was still in the process of rebuilding the club, spending peanuts and hoping we'd get a draw away from home. Maybe nick a goal and hope for the best. Fair enough I can accept that. However when I watch a team that has had £25 million spent on and created absolutely nothing for 90 mins, how is that acceptable? Our goal came from a poor piece of misjudgment from their goalkeeper. Apart from that we were hopeless. Crossing was awful, passing the ball forward felt awkward and slow, no creativity, no pace, no effort to work hard. Awful tactics yet again by a novice who needs to taken out of the firing line and back into the academy before the poor bloke loses anymore credibility. I don't want to listen to anymore of Darren Wassall's drivel, it upsets me how he thinks our team played. Stop trying to protect these overpaid piles of crap. Controlling the game? What planet are you on Darren? Cardiff were far better than us, more desire and created more opportunities. A one on one chance that they should have buried and a couple of crosses into the box that went close to going in. Wassall has no idea how to set a team up, we beat Forest a couple of weeks ago purely because they were horrendous. We've only got results under Wassall because we've got more quality on paper due to the crazy spending this season. As soon as we started playing teams in and around us we'd get found out very easily because unfortunately we haven't got a manager in place who knows who to deal with big games and his inexperience has cost us yet again when in the second half he decided to make changes things too late in the game.

 

The player's attitudes were pathetic, no desire to want to grab a hold of the game and beat a team who weren't great but we couldn't be bothered to take a risk going forward, more sideways and backwards passing than having Lee Johnson and Robbie Savage in midfield together. Hanson will be a good player eventually but to keep him in the side over Christie is wrong. Bradley Johnson is a central midfielder and we're trying to put him as an inside forward because Mr Morris has told our manager that's his best position. He might have scored 15+ goals playing him on the left last season but his style doesn't suit how we play. Our attacking wide men need to be quick and agile on the ball, Johnson's got the pace of a horse and cart. Shackell making a mistake and yet again decides the best way to claim it wasn't his fault is to argue with the opposition players. Grow a pair and take some responsibility! 

 

Hopefully in the summer we get rid of these expensive flops and go back to the core side that wasn't about earning a bigger contract, it was about winning and playing good football. Sell these overpaid piles of rubbish because as a fan I'd rather watch a mix of seniors and youth who actually want to impress and want to play football and want to try hard. This team can't be bothered and it upsets me to watch a team that on paper should be ripping this league apart but instead choose to be lazy, half arsed and bone idol. I never boo at matches, ever. But come one lads, start putting in a shift!