v Huddersfield (H) Match Thread

[Sheff Ram]

10 hours ago, DavesaRam said:

Some great observations on here, thank you. The most common one is that it is good to be back!

It was a fair score, with the Rams producing far more than could honestly be expected, especially given that no-one knew who would be playing until midday Friday! And that our central defenders had never played together!

I must commend Tom Lawrence. Not for his going deep to pick up the ball, or for his hard work, but that although he got loads of good tackles in, there wasn't any sign of his hot headedness or petulance. Absolutely superb, especially as this ref seemed to book any Derby player that moved! Maybe Tom had got the ref sussed, which is why he didn't go down in the area. A friend in the North Stand who is a qualified ref (not sure if that is anything to boast about given what we have to put up with at Pride Park!) said both penalties were good shouts, especially the foul on Louie Watson.

Some are having a go at people on this forum for singling out players for criticism, meaning Joswiack. I think the reason is that it was clearly his weakness all of last season, and despite a good showing in the Euros he is still making the same gash mistakes in front of goal. It seems that there is no sign of having learned anything, or made any progress. Shame, as he holds the ball well, and works well in midfield, .............. until that final decision.

The issue of Sibley and how he is being used at Derby remains. His "game-changing" performance has been questioned because he didn't score and change the game. Really? We had just had 50 minutes with no clue as to who was going to even try to score, while Sibbers managed three really good shots. Maybe he should have done better, but actually he did much better than any of the other players whose job it is to shoot at goal.

I am furiosu about the yellow card he was given, because it was his first, and possibly only foul, almost as if the ref had been charge with carding Sibley. The same applies to Louie Watson, who was also carded for his first offence. He had been targetted, because he was clattered heavily three times in the opening 15 minutes or so, plus the penalty incident, with little done to cut out the heavy handed tactics by our opponents. As most said, he got it wrong in virtually all the 50/50 challenges, and allowed Huddersfield's strong arm tactics to go without restraint. One of the reasons CKR didn't produce very much is that he was being bear-hugged every time the ball got near him. That he did some good things is credit to him. 

So - we weren't anything special, but everyone seemed committed to the cause, and battled hard, producing more than we could have expected. And it is clear that the summer break has meant that the refs hadn't lost their edge - they are still crap. I reckon there is reason for hope, at least some hope, which is way better than I had thought.

The main thing is that it is good to be amongst fans again, even though the Rams administration (can I use that word now?) made a mess of the ticketing. They promised to keep our seats available for season ticket holders, but had actually sold our seats from under our backsides, so we hardly knew anyone around us. The upside is that we now get to know even more Rams fans than we did before!

 

Was going to write my take on the match on Saturday but don't need to now as you've pretty much said everything I was going to say, other than what an immense re-signing Cutis Davies was.

[Premier ram]

16 hours ago, Animal is a Ram said:

TLDR; Enough to be positive about, but the same old problems remain.

I wasn't expecting much from this game. I was just glad to be back, in my second home, with my Dad.

Given the circumstances, the performance yesterday was one deserving of praise. The defence looked largely untroubled. Impressed by Stearman, who I wasn't confident about. It showed a little that he and Curtis Davies hadn't played together, or even trained that much together, and didn't even know if they'd be playing until the day before, but otherwise they showed promise. Thought the full backs kept getting caught out, especially Foz as he was pushing so far up the pitch.

Shinnie was excellent, he was everywhere. Bird did okay, but needed to get on the ball more - need more of those razor sharp passes that set Watson and Sibley away. Thought the former was unlucky not to get a penalty. Lawrence was busy, work rate excellent, shame he wasn't that productive, but again unlucky not to get a penalty.

Definitely need another striker. A typical Colin performance, but sometimes you need something a little different. Jozwiak, I dunno. Feel like he just needs the confidence. One to go in off his backside or something. Went on a great run, but just kept... well... running, where there needed to be a shot or a final pass.

Such a Derby goal to concede though. But again, when the 2 CBs have barely been playing together, or weren't even sure if they were going to be playing... how do you work on set pieces?

A point was a fair result to me.

But none of that matters to me now. For sadly, my Dad passed away suddenly Sunday morning. A lifelong Ram who saw Derby win championships, beat European giants, drop to the third tier, nearly go out of business under Maxwell, and rise back again to the Premier League. I'm just so glad that, even with Derby in the situation they find themselves in, he managed to see one last game with me, one last goal. What happened on the pitch wasn't especially memorable, but the day definitely will be.

Up the Rams. Be kind. x

Just read this mate , so sorry for your loss , glad you got to spend Saturday with your Dad , cherish this memory and stay strong, all the best mate