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The Chris Baird thread.


Stripperg-ram

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Come on.

Lets square things up here a bit. 

Fairs fair.

When he first came, there was barely anyone who said anything good about him.  And that was probably because he was useless. (although we did have him playing in more positions than's in the karma sutra!)

But props where props is due, he's been really good of late. Strong in the tackle, along with Pearce has made our back 4 much stronger, and yes 'he's not as good as Christie going forward', but he's currently making the full back position his own.

So I just wanted to say, Well done Chris, it's not easy having a season of poor games and cameos and then to come back and play well and consistently. 

Fair dooz!!

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Challenge and ball in for Russell deserved a goal, so so close. 

For an old man who's legs have gone still gets himself up and down that right side.

Not knocking Christie but he can be massively frustrating at times trying to turn one too many defenders inside out or running straight into them, no frills Baird just gets the ball in the box. 

A player playing well after a run of games in his natural position, who would have thought it.

 

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He is a much better defender than Christie and he actually puts some pretty good passes together every now and again. Baird might struggle with pacy opponents, but in my eyes he has earned his place in the starting 11 over "run into a blind alley and don't bother trying to tackle anyone" Christie.

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I don't completely buy the 'not as good as Christie going forward'. Granted, you don't see Baird rampaging down the wing a la Cyrus but if Baird crosses the ball it is normally a good ball into a dangerous area. With Cyrus it is often 5 feet above everyone's heads. If it was a question of effectiveness going forward then I think Baird edges it.

I was very worried when Cyrus went off at Wolves but Chris Baird has been magnificent, particularly once he got 3 /4 games under his belt.

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Baird was excellent again last night - he uses his know how & experience in defending, is rarely panicked into mistakes, has shown he can make good judgement on when to get forward and often delivers  threatening balls into the box. He's got the shirt at the moment and Cyrus may have to be patient. 

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2 hours ago, Donnyram said:

Baird was excellent again last night - he uses his know how & experience in defending, is rarely panicked into mistakes, has shown he can make good judgement on when to get forward and often delivers  threatening balls into the box. He's got the shirt at the moment and Cyrus may have to be patient. 

Could there be a role for Christie further up the pitch? I like his energy and pace....

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I don't think think he's ever been useless. It seems he played in a game where the whole team was poor and then crowd was getting on the team's back - he bit back, and with Derby fans being proper mardy creatures when they want to be, that was him done as far as many were concerned.

He looks more comfortable than he used to, but I don't see this night-and-day difference between how he played when he first started and now. I think it's just taken a run in the side for fans to notice what he's good at.

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Completely irrelevant but Brede Haangeland rated him in the laziest 11 players, in training, that he has played with.

Was excellent last night. Nicking the ball off Gray and putting in a near perfect cross was a moment of brilliance.

 

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There won't be much debate that he's a better defender than Christie..mainly because he is positionally much more disciplined & savvy (better in the air too). Christie has the physical advantage over him in terms of strength & speed but defending is as much a mental/tactical art as a physical endeavour.

What does constantly surprise me though is the quality of Baird's delivery in the final 3rd...its superb (rarely delayed & whipped in with pace) & has been over a number of games. Christie offers more dynamism & energy up the right flank but moves do tend to break down because he always looks to beat a man, which allows a defence to regroup. It also dilutes Ince's impact, who has to be mindful of cover when Christie gets forward. No coincidence in my eyes that Ince's recent fantastic form has been with a more defensively inclined RB. Be interesting to see who McClaren goes with once Christie returns from injury.

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56 minutes ago, cosmic said:

Was he really "useless" when he first arrived, or was it typical Derby fan mob mentality needing someone to take their frustrations out on?

No, he was just scapegoated after his first game

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1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

Completely irrelevant but Brede Haangeland rated him in the laziest 11 players, in training, that he has played with.

Was excellent last night. Nicking the ball off Gray and putting in a near perfect cross was a moment of brilliance.

 

Wilf Zaha has also come out and called him a liar for the things he has said.

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54 minutes ago, Dimmu said:

There was a poll how successful signing he would be...Would be interesting to see the results now. I rated him as defensive midfielder for N.Ireland, didn't know how good he is as a RB.

Think b4 always rated him

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