Derby County v Birmingham City Match Thread.

[Marriot Ram99]

My preferred team line up:

        Carson

Bogle Davies Tomori Malone

           Huddlestone

     Mount    Johnson

  Waghorn Marriot Wilson

The fact that they have an absolute unit upfront in Jutkiewicz  who is a beast in the air means this would be a good game for davies to come in. I reckon we will be unchanged, hopefully we are not leggy as we will have to be 100% on  our game.

       

[Ghost of Clough]

11 minutes ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

How the duck was Keogh one of our best players last night?!!, I guarantee  Davies wouldn't have scored such a clumsy own goal and wouldn't have been bullied in the Air as much. Don't get me wrong he did do some decent defending and I don't think he is bad but Davies > Keogh , every time Keogh makes a mistake everyone is like that was unlucky or  most of the game he was alright so I will give him an 9 out of 10 match rating . Davies was far better than Keogh last season and is our captain for a reason, Keogh  is not a leader and is nowhere near as solid and reliable. Yes he is better on the ball, but the main job of a defender is to defend and we have Tomori and bogle who are good on the a ball so it's hardly a necessity to have a ball playing defender next to Tomori.

Do you have any idea how Lampard wants his team to play? It doesn't seem like you do...

[Mountain Ram]

Really looking forward to this match, just 1 or two changes to keep things fresh, but not disturbing the core of the team.

Only one downer for me is the £38 it’s cost me for a ticket... £38!!! Come on Derby, we’re playing Birmingham City, not Bayern Munich - save these prices for a couple of seasons time when we’re in the Champs League! Surely we want to get as many people in the ground as possible to push the lads on, but at these prices there’s going to be a fair few empty seats; I know it’s making me think about when I’ll be able to go again next.

[Marriot Ram99]

3 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Do you have any idea how Lampard wants his team to play? It doesn't seem like you do...

Its not like Keogh is Baresi though is it , a big % of his passes are to Carson I'm sure Davies will manage to make simple passes .

[Marriot Ram99]

2 minutes ago, Mountain Ram said:

Really looking forward to this match, just 1 or two changes to keep things fresh, but not disturbing the core of the team.

Only one downer for me is the £38 it’s cost me for a ticket... £38!!! Come on Derby, we’re playing Birmingham City, not Bayern Munich - save these prices for a couple of seasons time when we’re in the Champs League! Surely we want to get as many people in the ground as possible to push the lads on, but at these prices there’s going to be a fair few empty seats; I know it’s making me think about when I’ll be able to go again next.

I agree £38 for Birmingham city is a disgrace , it's not like the Club needs the revenue badly with all the games we have on Sky our attendances this season have been quite poor considering how well we have been playing in most of our home games , the prices should be lower so we can try and get 29000 + for pretty much every game.

[G STAR RAM]

27 minutes ago, RiddingsRam said:

Why not ? Think Huddlestone s been immense the last few games but was starting to look leggy last night , more of a rest than a replacement plus what did Johnson do in the first place to warrant getting dropped ? 

Leggy? He's started 4 games! Not sure what match you was watching but it was a different one to me. Huddlestone controlled the midfield pretty much start to finish.

Agree that Johnson was unlucky to find himself out of the team but the performances since the change vindicate the decision.

[G STAR RAM]

30 minutes ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

How the duck was Keogh one of our best players last night?!!, I guarantee  Davies wouldn't have scored such a clumsy own goal and wouldn't have been bullied in the Air as much. Don't get me wrong he did do some decent defending and I don't think he is bad but Davies > Keogh , every time Keogh makes a mistake everyone is like that was unlucky or  most of the game he was alright so I will give him an 9 out of 10 match rating . Davies was far better than Keogh last season and is our captain for a reason, Keogh  is not a leader and is nowhere near as solid and reliable. Yes he is better on the ball, but the main job of a defender is to defend and we have Tomori and bogle who are good on the a ball so it's hardly a necessity to have a ball playing defender next to Tomori.

Keogh played well for 89 minutes last night.

Covered Bogle, who was having a torrid time, on numerous occasions.

The own goal was comical though, really should not have been going for that with his right foot.

Agree that Davies is a better defender but think Keogh suits FLs style of play better.

The only way I see Davies getting back in the starting line up is if we go 3 at the back.

[deanoakaram4life]

Looking forward to this fixture, don't mind rotation, but don't want Lamps messing with the midfield. Ever since Wilson and Mount have played together in the centre, our play has been nothing short of phenomenal. Rotate Lawrence, or Waghorn, but leave the midfield Frank! 

[i-Ram]

It all comes down to what Frank feels is left in the tank.  Plenty of rest time for Villa where he surely will pick his favoured 11, but this weekend he might be more pragmatic.

l would give Davies a runout personally, putting Tomori into Bogle’s position for a game. Can also see a case for giving Forsyth a game ahead of Malone too, but l personally have a preference for Malone. Tom (rather than Brad) would have to sit in front of Keogh/Davies, but perhaps Brad or Bryson might get a role alongside Mount (can’t see Mount being rested). In terms of the front 3 l would be reluctant to change, but hopefully this is where our bench can give some quality relief around the hour mark.

In Frank we trust.

[Comrade 86]

Christ on a bike! So thus far, off the back of wins against the Blades, the Baggies and a sparkling performance against Chelsea, we've now had folk suggest we drop Keogh, Huddz, Lawrence and Bogle! I'm all for discussing stuff, this is a forum after all, but folk suggesting changes just for the bloomin sake of it seems a tad daft to me. Seems to me the guys best able and qualified to assess our needs and the relative fitness / freshness of the squad are Frank and Jody who appear to be doing ok so far, or have I missed something? 

[Derbyram1]

Same team, why change anything! 

[Comrade 86]

10 minutes ago, Derbyram1 said:

Same team, why change anything! 

Hallelujah! I think Frank has made it pretty clear that as long as the incumbents are playing well, they will retain their starter's slot and rightly so IMO. What message does it send to drop a player who is giving 100% every time they step out onto the pitch anyway? Chopping and changing a team in form makes no sense unless players are clearly in need of a rest. As and when players are so leggy that a rest is enforced I'm sure it will not go unnoticed. Until such time, let's continue to reward those doing well. Anything else would be madness.  

[RamLad1884]

Don't understand the calls for any changes other than possibly due to fatigue. Leave it as it is, if they struggle against Birmingham change it from there. 

[Derbyram1]

Fatigue shouldn’t be an issue, rest today and maybe tomorrow as FL mentioned then go again Saturday.

1 week between Brum and Villa so plenty of rest again then, our current front 5 are gelling nicely, long may it continue.

[Boycie]

Go Rams!

Win the dang soccer match!

yeaaah! Whoop!

[Angry Ram]

1 hour ago, 86 points said:

Hallelujah! I think Frank has made it pretty clear that as long as the incumbents are playing well, they will retain their starter's slot and rightly so IMO. What message does it send to drop a player who is giving 100% every time they step out onto the pitch anyway? Chopping and changing a team in form makes no sense unless players are clearly in need of a rest. As and when players are so leggy that a rest is enforced I'm sure it will not go unnoticed. Until such time, let's continue to reward those doing well. Anything else would be madness.  

Too many people playing Championship Manager.. The need to meddle is just too much for some.

Let the manager manage I say. If someone is carrying a knock, I am sure they won't be played and someone will come in to take their place. They will then have to wait for an opportunity once returning from injury if the current incumbant is playing well. Ala Curtis. He must be chomping at the bit to get a start and when Lampard deems it is the time, Curtis will hopefully rise to the occasion and have a blinder.

It seems now that armchair managers can decide someone is 'leggy' and needs to be rotated.

[Eatonram]

2 hours ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

How the duck was Keogh one of our best players last night?!!, I guarantee  Davies wouldn't have scored such a clumsy own goal and wouldn't have been bullied in the Air as much. Don't get me wrong he did do some decent defending and I don't think he is bad but Davies > Keogh , every time Keogh makes a mistake everyone is like that was unlucky or  most of the game he was alright so I will give him an 9 out of 10 match rating . Davies was far better than Keogh last season and is our captain for a reason, Keogh  is not a leader and is nowhere near as solid and reliable. Yes he is better on the ball, but the main job of a defender is to defend and we have Tomori and bogle who are good on the a ball so it's hardly a necessity to have a ball playing defender next to Tomori.

I think I will go with Frank on this one, who said last night Keogh has been tremendous this season.

Of course you may know more than Frank, see more of Keogh in training or every game he plays. It's possible I guess.

[Wolfie20]

2 hours ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

How the duck was Keogh one of our best players last night?!!, I guarantee  Davies wouldn't have scored such a clumsy own goal and wouldn't have been bullied in the Air as much. Don't get me wrong he did do some decent defending and I don't think he is bad but Davies > Keogh , every time Keogh makes a mistake everyone is like that was unlucky or  most of the game he was alright so I will give him an 9 out of 10 match rating . Davies was far better than Keogh last season and is our captain for a reason, Keogh  is not a leader and is nowhere near as solid and reliable. Yes he is better on the ball, but the main job of a defender is to defend and we have Tomori and bogle who are good on the a ball so it's hardly a necessity to have a ball playing defender next to Tomori.

Yet another clueless post from you. You keep sticking the knife into Keogh at every opportunity - doesn't the fact that successive managers keep picking him suggest your criticism of him is totally loopy?

[GenBr]

Is that opening post supposed to be predicting what position we will be in after the game?

I would keep exactly the same team as we have for the past few games. Doesn't matter if they get tired later on if we score 5 in the first 20 minutes.

[Zag zig]

3 hours ago, RamLad1884 said:

Don't understand the calls for any changes other than possibly due to fatigue. Leave it as it is, if they struggle against Birmingham change it from there. 

At the risk of being ever so slightly controversial I thought exactly the same after the Man Utd game; a few players against Bolton did look a bit running on empty though.

Would fully understand if Frank made the odd change, without specifically calling anyone out as needing to be dropped. Be interesting if he does, some might say he’s learning too and understanding when to change a winning team, after some really competitive games is part of that process.

Either way, we still have enough to beat Brum without being complacent.