Haven't been on here much recently due to uni work (yes, some uni students do work hard, especially my course!) THE GAME Overall it was a scrap at times, Derby fought hard and were a tough nut to crack. Thankfully we got an early goal which helped to settle us into the game, but really we should have capitalised and got a second soon after. Derby equalised in fortunate circumstances when it looked like their player climbed over our defender from a free kick and an unmarked attacker volleyed it home. Really should have been given a free kick to us, but the ref had a poor game imo. I knew what to expect from that ref as he always has a shocker. He cannot seem to see when a player actually wins the ball in a good tackle. The rest of the first half was a scrap and neither team did enough to get the crucial third goal of the game. Second half we were strong from the start and looked like we wanted the goal more - and it duly arrived - not sure who scored but it went in! Possibly Hill, but to me it looked more of an own goal - nice headed finish though! We had numerous chances to put daylight between the two teams, Austin had a great one, but we took none of them. A few lapses in defensive areas also let Derby in and they were unlucky not to score with one chance. Overall we deserved the win I thought, but we had to work very hard for it. THE RATINGS GREEN - 7 - not a huge amount to do - but made a great save in the second half to deny them. Couldn't do anything about the goal. Did make one poor punch out which led to a bit of panic in the defence! ASSOU-EKOTTO - 8 - has been a great signing for me and looks a class act. He is calm on the ball and not scared to run forwards. Defended well throughout. HILL - 8 - dealt well with their big striker Martin (who tried a dive but got booked for it!) who caused problems. Hopefully the goal is given to him - but other than that he was a rock as usual. DUNNE - 8 - solid as ever, bar one moment when he tried a bit of skill to move away from the forward and lost the ball. Also made a few back passes to Green which i didn't think were required and put him under pressure needlessly. BARTON - 8.5 - a great influence in the centre of the park, not afraid to get stuck in when the big challenges started flying in during the second half. made some great cross field passes and was assured throughout. FAURLIN - 9 - MOM - was superb imo. never stopped running and wasn't scared to get stuck in either. was calm on the ball and always chased their players into mistakes. a few nice set piece deliveries as well, including our 2nd goal. absolutely gutted for him that he has done his knee again, just as he gets back into the side. such a shame for the guy, wish him a speedy recovery. JENAS - 7.5 - same as the two above, but a mark knocked off as he wasted several chances to shoot, and instead passed the ball into poor areas. looked like he was scared to shoot! but got our crucial 1st goal. HOILETT - 7.5 - made lots of runs forward but the final ball wasn't brilliant, and he did slow down at times to allow defenders to rush back. always looking for the ball though. PHILLIPS - 7.5 - redknapp said he was excellent but I disagree! i thought he struggled to finish off potential chances (bar a great delivery for our 1st goal) and he lost the ball when it looked easier not to. to me he seemed to struggle. however, he did improve during the game and had one hell of a shot that hit the bar. that was a great run - hopefully we will see more of that. AUSTIN - 8 - hard worker as usual and did well to bring others into play. had one great chance that he should have buried but he missed the ball. chased all day though. SUBS: HENRY - slotted into the midfield well and did the simple passes. replaced the injured faurlin, and whilst more defensive minded i think we needed that to close the game out. TRAORE - came on for the tiring hoilett and almost immediately put a brilliant cross in which almost got our 3rd. FINAL WORD As I said, we deserved to win I thought, and it was a great response to the Burnley and Wigan games. We looked solid, and whilst Derby did have chances we defended very well and coped with most of their attack play. Not sure who lost their guy for the goal, despite a clear foul on our defender beforehand.
Cheers Judo. Tony Cottee, who was there for Sky, also disagreed with you about Phillips, describing him as our best player.
Agree with everything Judo except your estimation of Phillips who I think grew into the game, becoming more and more menacing, culminating in the great shot against the inside of the bar. But really really gutted for Ale. He was becoming a main main man...could see him and Barton easing us back to the Premiership with no problem Anyone heard yet....but really suspect it is cruciates again and so a career ending injury...so sorry Other hero...... BAE...he is a menace
Oh yes, how could I forget our reliable right back! He had a great game as usual - got forward well, and was solid as ever in defence. Although one poor moment when he tried something stupid with the ball on the edge of our area almost led to a goal.
I stayed up in Shepherds Bush for a curry after the match and bumped into Ian Taylor. Ale is in for a scan on Monday, they fear the worst.
That is so sad....I had followed the Wigan match on the link and heard how he was playing like the old Ale. I saw myself how he was well worth his place on Saturday. I said to the person next to me...that Barton and Ale were a formidable combination. I was mildly optimistic that we had a championship winning heart to our midfield at last. I loved how we were singing his name....and then that happened. That boy is cursed, it is really unfair. I think we all already know it is the worst by the way he was pummeling the ground, how he desperately tried to walk off and how every player went over to touch him as he left the pitch. Even Henry as he came on gave him a squeeze. Sometimes life is not fair
If Ale's injury is indeed his cruciate ligament again, is there any way that the "not606 board" could send a best wishes message to him via the club?
That is a good idea Col. If Ale's injury is as serious as is feared we can put up a thread for everyone to post their best wished on and then forward it.
Hopefully it won't come to that but I may be able to help out by sending a link to his family if we have a thread for him.
Danny Simpson wins the "Who is the least talked about first team player this season...." thread hands down after even missing out on your report Judo Good read, thanks Have you mods thought about creating an official twitter account for our N606 QPR forum? Ale is on twitter, a good way of getting in contact with him.
Apologies Judo and thanks for pointing out my mistake the Billionth & Col. Simpson is of course our right back. For some reason, I thought we were talking about BAE.
I think it was Simpson who was along side their goal scorer. He probably should have done more to prevent the goal since their player wrapped his leg around our's to leave Green rooted to the spot (possibly un-sighted too). Good report Judo. Phillips will improve week on week. Soon we will all be singing his praises.
As said some where else, from my vantage point in upper loft...for their goal we stopped, thinking it was a foul on Dunne. There was a split second indecision...Did someone call or was there a whistle or something???....but there was a moment when we all thought a foul was given (or perhaps we thought it should have been given) we stopped playing, they scored. I assumed a flag had gone up....
