v Charlton Athletic (H) - Matchday Thread

[Jourdan]

The best compliment I can give the boys is that that was a team performance!

We looked like a team again, not just 11 individuals. Everyone dug in, played their part and battled until the very end, displaying the kind of fight and character we have lacked more or less all season.

It was uplifting to see us playing with guts, desire, energy, commitment, organisation and crucially, some positive intent! 

OK, let's be honest, Charlton were beyond poor, and not everything we did was a treat for the senses ourselves. But in the circumstances, it's hard not to be encouraged after tonight.

It just makes you wonder why those kind of performances have been in such short supply this season. Marrying quality with grit, intensity and endeavour can take a team a long way in this division. Let's see more of it.

[Derby blood]

Tonight was more like it, playing with heart, keeping the ball better, and scoring twice, and the atmosphere was very good as well, stand out players for me were, Bird, a great engine and ran the midfield with Knight, Knight 2 goals, and never gave up, great engine, Wisdom keeps it simple and a great cross for the first goal, also defends better than Bogle, both centre half's very good, and Holmes great running and effort if he could play a killer pass he would be in the Premier league, can not wait for Thursday night now. 

[cosmic]

2 hours ago, Norman said:

On the back of that, I would sell Lawrence for whatever anyone is willing to pay for a drink-driving, narcistic, selfish footballer who gets more yellow cards per game than useful touches. 

It does make you wonder about the attitude the rest of the players have towards him when we play him. Him and all that crew are probably not very well liked. Maybe not a coincidence everyone played for each other and not a single member of that evening was present. 
 

Edit: oh I just saw that Tweet DarkFruits shared. Great minds!

[Marriot Ram99]

Have to say I was feeling very negative pre game hoping for the best but fearing for the worst and in my mind it was make or break time for Cocu and our season,  but I am feeling a lot more positive after that performance which is by far the best I have seen this season. It was a very bold team selection from Cocu dropping Lawrence and playing Bird and Knight in the same team and it was equally brave to no go defensive after the red card, but all things considered his bravery was rewarded with a great team performance with a lot of standouts and positives going into Thursday. Knight was exceptional and if he can keep that up he will be a star of the team for years to come,  Bird was very decent as well without being as standout . Holmes I have criticised recently and rightly so as he has been very poor at times and first 20  minutes or so I wasn't best pleased with some of his passes, but as he and the team grew into the game he was outstanding and the pass out to the wing for Knight's 2nd goal was sensational.  If he can keep it up ,him playing with Knight and Rooney with Shinnie to come back in and Bird improving a lot and suddenly we are looking fairly decent in midfield.  Marriott upfront brought an energy and threat to the team and special mentions to the fullbacks who were both brilliant, especially Wisdom considering he hasn't been playing much of late and has been out of sorts for along time ,it reminded me of the top quality powerhouse of a right back we used to have. After that performance I would say Bogle has to work his way back into the team after he returns , as Wisdom made us much more solid as a unit than Bogle does  and I have always thought Bogle has a lot of  promise but is very overrated by some fans.  Also think Lawrence is going to have his work cut out getting game time as the players who played today put his work rate and overall play to shame, and even though he has talent we look better without him.

Overall focusing on the positives, I am now looking forward to Thursday's game a lot more especially with Rooney potentially playing, as recently I have been worried about as being dragged into the relegation places but win on Thursday which is highly possible and we will be relatively comfortable in midtable again. Not sure who will drop out for Rooney as it would be especially harsh on Knight or Holmes to miss  out, trouble is going to be finding the defensive balance with so may attack minded players, I think Wisdom for Bogle does help abit in that regard.

[Grimbeard]

When we get someone sent off, is it to our advantage that Lawrence is a Derby player and so we are, therefore. used to playing with ten men?

[Ibby]

Big result..

[California Ram.]

Just got to London post game - what a great night ! 

little things to add to the forum’s wave of happiness.

a) interplay between Lowe and Knight - keep them together on the left. 

b) Cocu’s bravery to bring on Whittaker to chase around at the end - hope his faith in our youngsters is not temporary (and Dowell is returned to sender), and the 2 up front experiment (ended with the sending off) returns again on Thurs (With Rooney/Waghorn alongside Marriott ?). 

c) Wisdom is the strong man we need in the defence - outstanding tonight. A Bogle transfer might just have moved closer ? 

d) Holmes was on fire when he went central after Bielik’s departure - seemed to enjoy being the main man in midfield. 

e) Bird’s accurate free kicks were a big improvement 

F) what a difference having an energised (wronged ?) crowd getting behind the team. 

 

 

 

[rynny]

2 hours ago, SuperDerbySuperRams said:

Anyone know why that lad was chucked out the South Stand after Knight’s second? 

Looked like a steward got knocked into the advertising boards, which then fell on to Waggy. 

Seen some fan footage on twitter (@DerbyCountyFTV) and can't see a lot wrong. Stewards go rushing in when not really needed, bit of typical crowd surge to the players. 

As they dragged him up, it looks he is calm with them and trying to appease them from being too rough. Not sure why they needed as many as they did to eacort him away. 

[Rev]

2 minutes ago, rynny said:

Looked like a steward got knocked into the advertising boards, which then fell on to Waggy. 

Seen some fan footage on twitter (@DerbyCountyFTV) and can't see a lot wrong. Stewards go rushing in when not really needed, bit of typical crowd surge to the players. 

As they dragged him up, it looks he is calm with them and trying to appease them from being too rough. Not sure why they needed as many as they did to eacort him away. 

From my perch in the East Stand, it looked like the steward who fell over didn't take it too well, and reacted pretty strongly, when it looked to me like another steward had knocked him over.

[rynny]

12 minutes ago, reverendo de duivel said:

From my perch in the East Stand, it looked like the steward who fell over didn't take it too well, and reacted pretty strongly, when it looked to me like another steward had knocked him over.

That's certainly what I thought from the footage on the big screen and the footage on twitter

[RamNut]

58 minutes ago, Marriott Ram99 said:

It was a very bold team selection from Cocu dropping Lawrence and playing Bird and Knight in the same team

Pssst....Lawrence was suspended 

[RamNut]

1 hour ago, dcfcfan1 said:

big miss ffs

Not at all.

(Bielik)

[Seaside Ram]

But no goals . Very handy for a CF ! ?

[Archied]

7 hours ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Thought you didn't have an axe to grind archied?

Letting yourself down with some of the above comments fella,poor form.

Again kash , no axe to grind as I’ve been very clear that in terms of all round game and what they bring to the team plus what they lack Martin ,waggy and Marriott have been pretty much similar this season , my response is aimed at those who for some reason see Martin so far ahead of the others that cocu is a know nothing idiot if he can’t see it like they do , my own view is that the last few times Martin has played he’s been off it and slipped a bit into the Martin that’s been out on loan for the last few years and certainly if down to ten men waggy and Marriott are my pick but if cocu put Martin in i certainly couldn’t argue with his choice 

[Ram8]

Strange how only RoyMac, Kash, Goldstar and Tuffluff can see what was glaringly obvious from Waghorn’s (usual) performance last night, albeit obscured by an excellent performance from the other ten ! 

The result and much improved performance by (nine of the) ten men should not hide the fact that Waghorn is contributing nothing to this team, other than pointless running around (like David Nugent before him) and the worst ‘first touch’ of anyone at the club.

If Cocu picks Waghorn ahead of Chris Martin on Thursday a great opportunity for a ‘double act’ of supreme quality first touch football from Rooney and Martin will be lost, and yet another manager will have completely missed the true value of CM’s contribution to this team ! 

 

[Mazzaram]

6 hours ago, rynny said:

That's certainly what I thought from the footage on the big screen and the footage on twitter

Happened just a bit in front of me and my son in the South Stand. No need for the fan to be kicked out. Happened just as has been described. Some billy big bolox of a steward got the arse on. 

[ramboy63]

Massive result last night for us and we should of scored in the first 30 seconds to be honest,at the time i thought the sending off would cost us dear but for the first time this season every single player rolled his sleeves up and played as a team member that worked for each other,lets not kid ourselves Charlton was really poor but we just did not give them a minute and we looked the more likely in the second half to score

Well done to the team and hello Wayne Rooney see you Thursday for more of the same please

[Ellafella]

7 hours ago, Jourdan said:

The best compliment I can give the boys is that that was a team performance!

We looked like a team again, not just 11 individuals. Everyone dug in, played their part and battled until the very end, displaying the kind of fight and character we have lacked more or less all season.

It was uplifting to see us playing with guts, desire, energy, commitment, organisation and crucially, some positive intent! 

OK, let's be honest, Charlton were beyond poor, and not everything we did was a treat for the senses ourselves. But in the circumstances, it's hard not to be encouraged after tonight.

It just makes you wonder why those kind of performances have been in such short supply this season. Marrying quality with grit, intensity and endeavour can take a team a long way in this division. Let's see more of it.

Spot on @Jourdan. That performance reveals a few myths that have been voiced this season:

1. “Cocu has inherited a squad who are not good enough”. “Holmes is at best League 1”. “Wisdom is not the player he was and should not play”. “Lowe is not good enough for the Championship”. These myths are touted as a way of explaining our poor showing this year yet clearly they lack validity in light of what they showed last night.

2. “Jack Marriott is an impact player and can only play from the bench”. Had his constant running been picked up more frequently and some passes given earlier he’d have also been on the scoresheet last night. So why hasn’t he been selected more often this year? He understandably showed moments of frustration last night when his demand for a pass wasn’t answered so the team need to take note. He gave Charlton defenders a lot to do last night as a lone striker. He needs to play as a 2 up front though. 
 

3. The answer is not to blame the quality of the opposition. We should have been 1-0 within 5 seconds last night. {Perhaps 1 of our 6 coaches can find some time to show Waghorn how to “draw” the keeper when 1 on 1 because he clearly makes the wrong decision each time he’s put through. His technique is wrong }. Charlton were not very good but so good were we that we beat them with 10 men. And it clearly wasn’t a penalty - Curtis Davies clearly pulled out of any contact so the attacker clearly cheated on that one and the replay showed it. 

So where did that performance come from? We looked a completely different Club let alone team: very good atmosphere, energy, desire, speed & adrenaline and attacking intent. Why has this been largely absent this season? 
 

I suspect that given the very short turnaround before Thursday there’s a real danger that legs will be heavy v Barnsley and we’ll revert to type; I certainly can’t see Knight re-producing that level of performance so soon { he was nothing short of brilliant last night} and Bird finally showed a performance to justify what others have said he’s capable of...

And did we miss Lawrence? I do wonder why we persist with a player who wantonly squanders so much good possessions in advanced positions. It’s really time to grab that particular nettle. Do we have the courage to do without that particular luxury item? 

So, was it just the “backs to the wall” situation that triggered that or did Cocu and his cast of coaches just get the preparation, formation and approach right? No easy answer but let’s hope we don’t see any more “tinkering” and we learn from those positives - Wisdom can play, Lowe can play, Marriott can play from the start, and we can attack teams and try and win the game, especially when we’re at home. Well done Derby County!

[Ellafella]

26 minutes ago, Ram8 said:

Strange how only RoyMac, Kash, Goldstar and Tuffluff can see what was glaringly obvious from Waghorn’s (usual) performance last night, albeit obscured by an excellent performance from the other ten ! 

The result and much improved performance by (nine of the) ten men should not hide the fact that Waghorn is contributing nothing to this team, other than pointless running around (like David Nugent before him) and the worst ‘first touch’ of anyone at the club.

If Cocu picks Waghorn ahead of Chris Martin on Thursday a great opportunity for a ‘double act’ of supreme quality first touch football from Rooney and Martin will be lost, and yet another manager will have completely missed the true value of CM’s contribution to this team ! 

 

Well said. 

[RoyMac5]

8 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

So, was it just the “backs to the wall” situation that triggered that or did Cocu and his cast of coaches just get the preparation, formation and approach right? No easy answer but let’s hope we don’t see any more “tinkering” and we learn from those positives - Wisdom can play, Lowe can play, Marriott can play from the start, and we can attack teams and try and win the game, especially when we’re at home. Well done Derby County!

Will we start with two DMs on Thurs?