Derby County vs Bolton Wanderers

[Stroker Ace]

I’d written us off but now it still in our own hands. We win our next 5 and we are in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter what any one else does.

 

[Day]

38 minutes ago, Orphanram said:

If we go back to the start of the season we would have taken where we are now based on high number of fans saying this would be a season of transition. If you look at the teams above us they have either spent more money than us (West Brom, Villa), have managers who have been through their own transition of bringing their own identity to their teams  (Norwich & Bristol City)  and managers who have promotion nous with teams with decent squads(Middlesbrough and Sheffield United). If we could take a step back and think we have a rookie manager that has a had to cut its cloth to adhere to financial regulations, blooding academy youngsters and trying (but not always succeeding) to play decent football following a majority of supporters criticising the playing style from the prior seasons  then we should at least acknowledge that this  has been a decent season so far. I get the frustration with team selections, formations and tactics  at times but we haven’t got the luxury of having the best squad in the championship and if a few poor results occur in the short term to build a longer term plan for the club we should  at least try to be supportive of that. The communications coming out of recent forums tell us we are not going to be splashing cash around like some other teams will and in my mind that means we have to take the  Norwich and Bristol City approach and build a longer term philosophy. There are echos of this happening in the past (BC’s first and second season) and it working. On my part I’m going to look forward to the next five games and if we don’t get in the play offs but build some momentum that will be alright with me.

I don’t want to poke the hornets nest after a 4-0 win, but fans change their demands as the season progresses.

You’re right though, back in the summer many would have seen this is a decent season, but having spent a large chunk inside the top 6 expectations become somewhat skewed and Lampard has come under fire as we’ve dropped out.

Managers will always face criticism, part of the game, I just think some of it has been over the top, and the calls to get rid were just mind boggling.

It’s been a good day though, dominate performance with some great football at times, whatever happens in the next 5 games, for me this will still have been a largely positive season and a quick one, I swear they go quicker the older you get. 

[DcFc Dyycheee]

"Morris, start the bounce" 

[Jourdan]

40 minutes ago, Orphanram said:

If we go back to the start of the season we would have taken where we are now based on high number of fans saying this would be a season of transition. If you look at the teams above us they have either spent more money than us (West Brom, Villa), have managers who have been through their own transition of bringing their own identity to their teams  (Norwich & Bristol City)  and managers who have promotion nous with teams with decent squads(Middlesbrough and Sheffield United). If we could take a step back and think we have a rookie manager that has a had to cut its cloth to adhere to financial regulations, blooding academy youngsters and trying (but not always succeeding) to play decent football following a majority of supporters criticising the playing style from the prior seasons  then we should at least acknowledge that this  has been a decent season so far. I get the frustration with team selections, formations and tactics  at times but we haven’t got the luxury of having the best squad in the championship and if a few poor results occur in the short term to build a longer term plan for the club we should  at least try to be supportive of that. The communications coming out of recent forums tell us we are not going to be splashing cash around like some other teams will and in my mind that means we have to take the  Norwich and Bristol City approach and build a longer term philosophy. There are echos of this happening in the past (BC’s first and second season) and it working. On my part I’m going to look forward to the next five games and if we don’t get in the play offs but build some momentum that will be alright with me.

Definitely agree that we have to think long term and that next season will be more important in the grand scheme of things. I’ve been saying that for a while.

But also I’d say I don’t think it’s the results that are frustrating some of our fans. It’s the performances.

I don’t think anyone would be upset at losing games and falling at the last hurdle if we seemed like we were going down in a blaze of glory and going out on our shield.

But think back to recent losses - in how many of those games have people come away saying ‘played well, just unlucky’? 

Usually we’ve produced a performance to match the result - all typified by a lack of hunger, a lack of fight, a lack of nous, a lack of cutting edge, and a lack of steel.

Let’s hope on Friday that it all changes.

[angieram]

Duane Holmes has a thigh injury, apparently, for whoever asked. Steve Nicholson posted on twitter about it.

[valleyram]

43 minutes ago, angieram said:

I disagree. I'd already said Bryson was playing much better than Tuesday before he scored. He played well when he came on at Brentford, poorly on Tuesday, then well again today.

Like our team, a bit inconsistent at the moment but @valleyram, I  don't think any of us think he's not a good player. 

Angie the stick him and keogh get on forums is laughable , two guys who have gave everything for the club for a long long time and if keogh wins player of the year again which he should imo that’s about 5 out of last 8 seasons they have shared it between them 

[Ellafella]

1 hour ago, Orphanram said:

He made a great run prior to his goal that was reminiscent of vintage Bryson where Waggy laid it off and the keeper saved it. He should have scored but it was really good to see him running in behind the striker (and for his goal). I don’t think he haas ever been a great on the ball player but when you have your striker playing like Waghorn did today then Bryson can be very effective. He got in the right positions today and could have had a hatrick as well as mount. 

Indeed. Waghorn played like the wardrobe today and good to see Bryson striding into the box again. 

[Zag zig]

6 hours ago, Zag zig said:

Same camp, takes a lot to deflate me too. However, Bolton are there for the taking, we couldn’t wish for a better fixture after Blackburn, so it will go some distance to banishing Tuesday and renewing confidence.

Plus American Ram deserves a win coming all this way! 

C.O.Y.R’s

Well I posted this before the game and I’m sticking to it now. They were there for the taking and exactly what we needed after Tuesday. Once we scored, was only a case of one winner, could easily been more than 4 in the end. 

Confidence of the players will be boosted, particularly Mount, maybe restored hope of some if not all fans. Back on the rollercoaster Friday, it’s still all to play for.

[Sexydadbod]

Very proud of Mount and Bryson because it can’t have been an easy couple of months for them.

I’d have loved to have seen Thorne, Hughes and Mount play together, that has everything you’d need in a championship midfield trio and would easily have been good enough to make the step up into the premier league.

Like Bryson and Hendrick in the past, Mount is a far better player when he  doesn’t have to try being creative in midfield but as the midfield runner, who makes late runs into the box. He’s probably more creative than Bryson and Hendrick were but he’s the most effective when he focuses on getting into dangerous, goalscoring positions.

Finally, well done to the Bolton fans who travelled or followed the game today , players and coaching staff despite everything that’s going on off the pitch. It would be nice if EFL clubs and premier league clubs gave a small donation to help Bolton with their financial problems. People will say that Bolton got themselves into their own mess but the players, fans and coaching staff are blameless. Premier league clubs especially, who can afford to give tens of thousands of pounds as a gift to the departing Richard Scudimore but not to help their fellow football club. 

[Millenniumram]

Fair play to Lampard, team selection seemed ludicrous at the start of the game but it got the job done and comfortably so with a much more controlled performance so it was fully justified. Plenty of comments could be made as I’m still not convinced by him and there’s still major questions about our consistency/motivation but that’s for other threads, feel this should be focused on this game in isolation so we don’t take away from the performance in this single game.

And what a game it was. I mean, it has to be said first of all that Bolton were very poor, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and we did that in properly convincing fashion as you would expect a team of our quality to be doing, avoided any potential embarrassment cooly and never really looked under much Threat. Job done which Is always important this time of the year when the jitters can start to come in. Another spectacular, almost faultless game by mount at home showing his importance as the linchpin of this team, and Waghorn back to his best as well. After a slowish start struggling to break them down and lacking a little urgency, we took full control after the first goal and never looked back, playing some of the quick pass and move football that we all want to see as fans and we’ve lacked in games when we’ve looked more complacent. Proper focus today and couldn’t name you a bad performer really, all solid other than maybe Wilson who was slightly below par.

 

[Ellafella]

11 minutes ago, Zag zig said:

Well I posted this before the game and I’m sticking to it now. They were there for the taking and exactly what we needed after Tuesday. Once we scored, was only a case of one winner, could easily been more than 4 in the end. 

Confidence of the players will be boosted, particularly Mount, maybe restored hope of some if not all fans. Back on the rollercoaster Friday, it’s still all to play for.

...yes but I did say only a 5-0 win would restore my faith. 4 is just so not 5. ?

[Van der MoodHoover]

2 hours ago, David said:

I’m not. But I look at the table, remaining fixtures, win 5 games, we’re in. Doesn’t matter what anyone else does.

Can we? Yes

Will we? Who knows. I’m feeling confident though. 

On what basis? If you don't mind me asking.

[RadioactiveWaste]

At what point do I remind everyone bryson always takes time to get up to speed (and usually just as he does he gers injured or dropped)?

Good goal from him today and hopefully he can have final swansong as a DCFC cult figure over the newx few games.

[Day]

Just now, HantsRam said:

On what basis? If you don't mind me asking.

I don’t mind you asking, I just like the look of the fixtures we have remaining, believe we have enough talent in this team to get the results we need.

Mason Mount is huge for us, just as big of a player as Grealish is for Villa, both losses were noticeable. Now he’s back and in form, hopefully full of confidence after his hat trick today is capable of being the difference. 

He will play for England one day, and that day will be a lot sooner than Will Hughes. 

Don't get me wrong, it won’t be easy by any stretch, Bristol City are a good team themselves, it’s them who we are competing with now, but I’m not fearing that game. For every poor performance, games where points were dropped, I could point you to one which they have done the same. 

It’s almost a play off final to get into the play offs, I think we’ll be in the top 6 by the end of the month.

[RoyMac5]

2 minutes ago, David said:

He will play for England one day, and that day will be a lot sooner than Will Hughes. 

One player was ours, the other isn't. I know who I prefer.

[Day]

Just now, RoyMac5 said:

One player was ours, the other isn't. I know who I prefer.

Neither will be ours come May, I would prefer the one which I think would be best for this England team, and that is Mason Mount.

Expect he will be playing at a higher level next season with or without us and that will see him called up to the squad on a regular basis.

[RoyMac5]

1 minute ago, David said:

Neither will be ours come May, I would prefer the one which I think would be best for this England team, and that is Mason Mount.

One we could have kept the other we'd never get - again I know which I prefer.  We're just warming Mount up for Chelsea to either play or make a huge profit on, feels good.

[therealhantsram]

9 minutes ago, David said:

I don’t mind you asking, I just like the look of the fixtures we have remaining, believe we have enough talent in this team to get the results we need.

Mason Mount is huge for us, just as big of a player as Grealish is for Villa, both losses were noticeable. Now he’s back and in form, hopefully full of confidence after his hat trick today is capable of being the difference. 

He will play for England one day, and that day will be a lot sooner than Will Hughes. 

Don't get me wrong, it won’t be easy by any stretch, Bristol City are a good team themselves, it’s them who we are competing with now, but I’m not fearing that game. For every poor performance, games where points were dropped, I could point you to one which they have done the same. 

It’s almost a play off final to get into the play offs, I think we’ll be in the top 6 by the end of the month.

All this focus on Brizzle.  I think we're dismissing Boro too soon.  Have you seen their run-in?

Stoke, Reading, Rotheram and Forest.  I can see them winning all four of those.

[Day]

Just now, RoyMac5 said:

One we could have kept the other we'd never get - again I know which I prefer.  We're just warming Mount up for Chelsea to either play or make a huge profit on, feels good.

Maybe we could, but we didn’t, we and Will have moved on. 

Like loans or not, many Championship clubs utilise the loan market, we have had some great loans this season, it feels good to watch a young talent in a Derby shirt even if it is for a season. Come May will thank and wish them well on their careers, then look forward to see who else Frank can bring in.

[Millenniumram]

Also, ratings for me:

Roos 6- Bit flappy and almost cost us with a bizzare bit of distribution second half, but there when needed

Bogle 8- Looking less raw and more accomplished by the game, really coming to his own and coming to the fore as a consistent top right back in this division. Another controlled performance, and remains one of our main outlets.

Keogh 8- Dealt with the physicality of Donaldson surprisingly well as he sometimes struggles, distributed well.

Tomori 7- Normal quality distribution but untested at the back

Cole 7- Saw a lot of praise for him today that I’m not sure I was watching the same game for, he was solid and assured but didn’t do anything of huge note to me bar the assist for mount. Still looked a little flat footed too- I don’t know maybe I’m too harsh, as I say he was composed and solid which is all I expect tbf, hence the 7 from me.

Johnson 8- Bar the stupid booking was a generally very good game by Johnson, won the ball and started attacks, passing generally solid and was in the right place when needed. Not pretty but what was needed.

Mount 10 MOM-Hattrick, controlled everything and dictated the game, need I say more?

Bryson 7- Scored with arguably his hardest chance, buzzed around but still didn’t really Stamp as much authority on the game as I like from a midfield, just sort of went with the flow. No huge issues or anything, did his job and was solid but nothing more.

Wilson 5- Not his day, touch was sammonesque. Tried but nothing went his way, only real player below par for me.

Waghorn 9- Perfect number 9 performance. Held up everything and most chances came about from his layoffs. Only thing missing was a goal. A world better than he was Tuesday.

Lawrence 7- Struggled a bit like Wilson first half, came into it more second. Worked hard to create chances but quality in final third needs to be more consistently good.

All in all a much better performance, much quicker and much more energy to avoid any banana skin. Need it back this up now, no use putting in the odd performance then turning up the next game complacent. I want to see energy and desire from the minute go in all our remaining matches, and hopefully we’ll bring our away form up to scratch.