Sunderland v Derby County - Match day thread

[DEL]

3 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Looking at the squad. I'm guessing it'll be second string vs Grimsby.

Think it'll be like this for Tuesday night game.

 

                       Mitchell 

       Hanson Baird Pearce Olsson

                           ?

                   Bryson Butterfield?

     Bennett.                               Anya

                            Nugent

 

 

2 hours ago, Cam the Ram said:

Johnny Russell .... great play!

That was superb move and yet the some of the fans abused him during the game. Embarrassing. 

2 hours ago, EastHertsRam said:

Well, that's my Martin FRGS up the Swanee but who cares ? COYR ? 

Same here EHR ffs.  Tuesday night will be the day I got correct score. 

2 hours ago, 61GT said:

Huddlestone again!

He's class I'm so glad he's back for us. Up and onwards. ??

[Gypsy Ram]

1 minute ago, 1of4 said:

So you can give Bryson a score, who was on the pitch for less time than Nugent

I'm Valley Ram in disguise.

[jono]

I'd have been a lot happier with a snatched last minute equaliser but first off, new manager, still finding stuff out about his players. 3 new ones in and some old faces trying to find a role. We scored, We got an away point against proper opposition. Some bright moments from Vydra on top of that. ... For me .. Opening game of a long campaign. Can do better but wrists are blemish free. Looking forward to the next game. COYR .. Happy clappy 2017/2018 starts now 

[Ibby]

Martin really struggled tonight. Didn't seem to get the run of the green. Nugent looked more alert when he came on. Huddlestone gave us strength in midfield but Butterfield shouldn't have started. Bryson all day. Good to see Forsyth back too. Looked comfortable on the ball. 2 points dropped sadly.

[RiddingsRam]

36 minutes ago, Ninos said:

What Rowett has done well  is get huddlestone Davies and wisdom all solid and very dangerous contributors. We seem more resilient. We look lethal on attacking set pieces especially with Johnson and Davies in the box. What he hasn't done is gone with the Vydra/Nugent Bryson combo which would really menace defences. Weimann awful Butterfield is a game changer - for the other team! and Martin is either lame or doesn't fit Rowetts style, take your pick. That miss was horrendous. I think we will kick on once we either get Thorne back, settle on Vydra starting, and dumping Butterfield for Bryson or Elsnik.

A like for the 1st half of your post. 

[sage]

I think it is easy to overegg the 4231 and the impact of the subs as Sunderland didn't bring any subs on and we were way fitter the last 15 minutes.

[Kernow]

Rowett's post match comments suggest that something is likely to happen transfer wise this week. When asked if he was trying hard to bring players in, he said he "couldn't be trying any harder." Admitted he's been on the phone or the laptop for most of the day. Must be getting closer if so much work is put in on a match day.

The performance tonight will only highlight our need to strengthen even more, so although he is right by saying that we need to make sure we get the right player, that effort will surely be accelerated before we play Wolves.

[Carl Sagan]

Interesting game and a solid start, but still a work in progress. We were clearly massively fitter and totally dominated the final half-hour, which leads to a feeling of disappointment in not winning But a point away at Sunderland is a good point and you have to question a referee who doesn't give the penalty and sending off for the blatant foul on Curtis Davies. It's understandable he gave a penalty against Butterfield, but questionable because it was obviously an accidental handball while falling over. But it was criminal not to give us one at the other end, also a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity with no attempt to play the ball (automatic red card).

Carson was as good as he could have been and very unlucky not to save the penalty.

Keogh was excellent throughout and I also though Davies was pretty good. Fozzy was off the pace but that's understandable having been out for two seasons. As long as he picks up soon. There was no threat from us down the left because Weimann was ineffectual. But is Weimann a left winger? Of course not. He ran and chased plenty but to little effect.

Wisdom made a great block and I hope will grown into the season.

Huddlestone started well but faded after the first half hour. He needs to put pace on the corners too. Our midfield trio were overrun for the first half hour and we went long almost all the time. Oh for the magical ability of Hughes. Butterfield and Johnson struggled to get into the game. In the second half Butterfield picked up. Of course both made catastrophic mistakes, Butterfield with the pen and Johnson giving the ball away leading to Grabban's fierce drive against the post.

Martin did his best with the long ball stuff in the first half and his few touches were good. But he faded and missed our second best chance of the game. Vydra was a man on a mission and created that chance and always looked purposeful, skillful and dangerous. When he replaced Martin, Nugent was lucky not to be booked and missed a good opening created by late sub Bryson.

Johnny Russell his typical frustrating selff, with some good (ceating our goal) and some bad (getting in a brilliant position only to panic and play the ball to their only defender as well as the very silly foul on Grabban in a dangerous position in the first half),

Well done to the fans who made a long journey on a Friday night and comfortably out sang the opposition. I think having lost the lead before halftime it's good to see us tough it out and get the point and finish much the stronger. Who knows what the season will bring, but it was a reasonable start.

It will be interesting to see who gets a runout against Grimsby. I expect half a dozen changes.

[brady1993]

9 minutes ago, Ibby said:

Martin really struggled tonight. Didn't seem to get the run of the green. Nugent looked more alert when he came on. Huddlestone gave us strength in midfield but Butterfield shouldn't have started. Bryson all day. Good to see Forsyth back too. Looked comfortable on the ball. 2 points dropped sadly.

Martin is always going to struggle if we play hoof ball, it blatantly doesn't suit his strengths.  Nugent looked more alert because Sunderland tired and we made a vague effort at playing football after 70 mins.

[brady1993]

6 minutes ago, sage said:

I think it is easy to overegg the 4231 and the impact of the subs as Sunderland didn't bring any subs on and we were way fitter the last 15 minutes.

I actually didn't realise that until you just said, it's a good point and perhaps a contributing factor why started to look a little better as the game wore on. However I would say there was a noticeable change when Vydra came on, we looked to actually get midfielders on the ball more and vydra really did provide a spark.

[Inglorius]

43 minutes ago, Gypsy Ram said:

Johnson, 3, apart from the goal he was awful

Bit harsh giving a player 3 out of 10 when he did more than his other team mates 

[Fraser_23]

1 hour ago, brady1993 said:

Yeah I noticed that as well, I think was a symptom of general bigger problem in that we were trying to force the play too much when we had the ball.

If he'd controlled it, looked around, made a pass, then that could've potentially been a goal scoring oppurtunity

[uttoxram75]

I thought we controlled the game despite Sunderland huffing and puffing. daft slips for Butterfield's penalty and Martin's shot otherwise would have been a comfortable away win.

We have a problem that Butters and Johnson are not as good as Hughes or Hendrick with the ball at their feet or indeed with their quickness of thought and ability to read a game so they will always be judged as not quite as good as the players they have replaced - not much anyone can do about that. 

Overall, i liked the energy and commitment and but for a tendency to over hit balls we would have been in on goal a few more times and walked away with 3 points.

Reasonable start and i think we can improve.

[DEL]

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2017/08/rowetts-sunderland-a-reaction

 

 

[DavesaRam]

You can tell that the footy is back, because I have just remembered that I hate referees. He was almost as biased as the Sky pundits. 

Martin wrestled off the ball twice, nothing given. Ball hits the hand of a Sunderland defender from Johnson's back-heel, nothing given, although it would have been harsh. Butterfield pushed from behind on his way through the area and in on goal, nothing given. Butterfield tripped going for a through ball in the area, nothing given. Butterfield looses his balance and catches the ball with his upper arm, which he is trying to move out of the way, PENALTY!!!! Keogh shoved off the ball at a corner, nothing given. Davies wrestled off balance during the same incident, no penalty. A Sunderland player goes flying in on Vydra, studs up and off the floor, no red card- why the hell not? Vaughn diving in the penalty area, no yellow card. They are supposed to be cracking down on diving this year.

We were pretty poor tonight for much of the match, and what is supposed to be our new found strength, our defence, was very wobbly, especially at corners and free- kicks. Our passing was poor first half, and it seems that only virtually all the other teams in the world can head a defensive ball to their own team-mates. Not us and we rarely have. Just head it somewhere, usually to the opposition.

I was glad when Vydra came on, and he livened the game up, as I expected, because he can control the ball when he gets it, and then do something with it, and we seemed to be able to spot some of his off-the-ball runs, which bodes well for the future.

I was well impressed with Wisdom, who was probably the best player on the pitch, and is probably the best right-back in the league.

I am wondering if Fletcher's revelations about the disarray was in fact a smokescreen to lull us into expecting a stroll in the park. It turned into a Gary Rowett summer workout, and for much of the match, Sunderland were the better team. On another day they could have had a couple more goals, but then four out of the five penalty shouts were pretty valid. Especially if the Sunderland penalty was justifiable, there should have been at least two for us.

I hope this was just a case of needing to blow the cobwebs away in a proper match situation, and Gary will get us clicking sooner rather than later. Otherwise it is going to be a long season.

At lest the Sky pundits got one thing right - "if you are watching a scary movie, you don't want him (Richard Keogh) looking through the window!

[Inglorius]

For a little balance this is what the Sunderland Chronicle gave for our player ratings:-

DERBY COUNTY: Carson 6, Wisdom 6, Keogh 6, Davies 6, Forsyth 6, Butterfield 6, Huddlestone 6, Johnson 6, Russell 7 (Bryson 89, 6), Martin 5 (Nugent 78, 6), Weimann 5 (Vydra 66, 6). Not used: Mitchell, Baird, Pearce, Bennett

Russell MofM 

[DEL]

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2017/08/goalscorer-says-sunderland-draw-represents-a-good-start

 

[uttoxram75]

3 minutes ago, DavesaRam said:

You can tell that the footy is back, because I have just remembered that I hate referees. He was almost as biased as the Sky pundits. 

Martin wrestled off the ball twice, nothing given. Ball hits the hand of a Sunderland defender from Johnson's back-heel, nothing given, although it would have been harsh. Butterfield pushed from behind on his way through the area and in on goal, nothing given. Butterfield tripped going for a through ball in the area, nothing given. Butterfield looses his balance and catches the ball with his upper arm, which he is trying to move out of the way, PENALTY!!!! Keogh shoved off the ball at a corner, nothing given. Davies wrestled off balance during the same incident, no penalty. A Sunderland player goes flying in on Vydra, studs up and off the floor, no red card- why the hell not? Vaughn diving in the penalty area, no yellow card. They are supposed to be cracking down on diving this year.

We were pretty poor tonight for much of the match, and what is supposed to be our new found strength, our defence, was very wobbly, especially at corners and free- kicks. Our passing was poor first half, and it seems that only virtually all the other teams in the world can head a defensive ball to their own team-mates. Not us and we rarely have. Just head it somewhere, usually to the opposition.

I was glad when Vydra came on, and he livened the game up, as I expected, because he can control the ball when he gets it, and then do something with it, and we seemed to be able to spot some of his off-the-ball runs, which bodes well for the future.

I was well impressed with Wisdom, who was probably the best player on the pitch, and is probably the best right-back in the league.

I am wondering if Fletcher's revelations about the disarray was in fact a smokescreen to lull us into expecting a stroll in the park. It turned into a Gary Rowett summer workout, and for much of the match, Sunderland were the better team. On another day they could have had a couple more goals, but then four out of the five penalty shouts were pretty valid. Especially if the Sunderland penalty was justifiable, there should have been at least two for us.

I hope this was just a case of needing to blow the cobwebs away in a proper match situation, and Gary will get us clicking sooner rather than later. Otherwise it is going to be a long season.

At lest the Sky pundits got one thing right - "if you are watching a scary movie, you don't want him (Richard Keogh) looking through the window!

Agree with most of that. Thought Keogh was excellent throughout and snuffed out many dangerous situations with his ability to read the game and cover his fellow defenders.

Tommy was majestic early doors but then over hit passes in the second half.

You are absolutely right with the penalty shouts, we are already in credit with pisspoor refereeing decisions after one game  - whether we get them back later in the season is a different matter.

Thought Johnny Russell's assist was exceptional, first touch and lay off across the box was top class.

[Ninos]

1 hour ago, philmycock said:

Elsnik for Butterfield. Bennett for Weimann.

Elsnik is such a good player it's a shame he can't get a chance with the mediocre bloat in front of him 

[DerbyRam17]

Carson: 8. Made some great saves, he was silly with the penalty mind games, but if that had worked and grabban missed, we would have been calling him a hero. Very assured and experienced head.

Wisdom: 6. Shaky first half, lost out on a few 50/50s. Much better in second half, adapted to the pace of the game. Supported attackers as well. 

Keogh: 9. Stand out player by an absolute mile. Won everything, every block, actually dealed with grabban's and Vaughan's pace which davies struggled with. Won most of his headers too, and almost scored.

Davies: 6. Very similar to wisdom. Davies won the first ball a lot but then the second ball (and second bounce) caused him problems. Sunderland had a lot of their opportunities due to us not dealing with the second ball properly.

Forsyth: 6.5. Got done a few times, but i thought he was one of our most dangerous players in the attacking third. Looked really quick and his left foot is dangerous. Wasted a few crosses mind you. A match fit forsyth would be perfect.

Huddlestone: 7. Nothing special tonight, some lovely passes and looked our most confident player on the ball. Actually seemed a little slow in 50/50 challenges and slightly off the pace.

Butterfield: 5. He shows glimpses of real quality on the ball. Was just unfortunate and i dont think the way we set up tonight complemented  his style. Conceded the peno, albeit in bizarre fashion.

Johnson:6. Similar to Butts; shows glimpses and he looks dangerous on set pieces and in the attacking third. Scored, decent low finish. Actually thought he did less good work than butts this game, but the goal pushes him ahead on ratings.

Weimann: 5.5. Off the ball he is fantastic, but he's an attacking player, and he is made by his on the ball impact. Not good enough when he gained possession, didnt get close enough to martin.

Russell: 5.5. Cannot fault his enthusiasm, and assisted for jonno. But he has to be the most frustrating player in this team.

Martin: 6.  Fell over a lot, sometimes taking the pressure off our team but then on other occasions it was to our detriment. He was very isolated, russell and weimann were not utilising his style of play. Some good touches, could have got a peno in first half? Missed a great chance, at least hit it on target.

Subs: 

Vydra: 7.5. Really was a bright spark when he came on, very unlucky not to have a goalscoring chance near the end.

Nuge: 6. Should have scored, but like Vydra, offered an alternative model to our forward play.

Overall we just about deserved the draw (just!). Onto the next game!