Watched in the pub on Sky, so happy to be shot down by the long suffering fans that made the trip Green - nearly a howler as the ball dribbled under his foot from a back pass - and this after his poor punch led to the goal (5.5) Hughes - decent debut - nearly scored with a header - looks a decent replacement for Simpson at RB (6) Assou-Ekotto - nearly caught pissing about instead of despatching it to row Z like against Burnley (6) Barton tried hard, had a decent effort in the 2nd half - silly booking (6.5) Dunne never a booking, he and Hill look out of sorts (6) Hill - have he he and Dunne had a tiff? Communication sees poor(6) O'Neil (Hoilett - 45' ) - fouled for the goal, but arguably could have been more robust - couple of decent crosses but nothing to set the world alight (6) Carroll (Jenas - 79' ) pretty much invisible to my eye - too lightweight (5.5) Johnson (Maiga - 45' ) not much of a sniff - put himself about but looks short of pace (6) Doyle - not much in the way of chances, he and Maiga spent too much time out on the left (6) Kranjcar looks overweight to me - still hoping for miracles (6) Subs 03 Traore 15 Onuoha 16 Jenas had little chance to do anything, but ost the ball a couple of times in the last few minutes when we were pressing (5) 20 Henry 23 Hoilett - can't go round his man, poor control, is he the new SWP? Had a great shooting chance but went near post (5) 26 Murphy 40 Maiga - hardly got a touch - looks like he was finding it hard to get into the game(6) All in all an average performance with all to few attacking positives - dominated play in the 2nd half but looked vulnerable to their swift counter attacks. BBC stats say 10/3 shots on target, but we really didn't look like scoring - that said we probably deserved a point since their goal was a blatant foul.
Simplified rating system: Green - okay Hughes - waste of space Assou-Ekotto - okay Barton - liability Dunne - okay Hill - okay O'Neil - waste of space Carroll - biggest waste of space Johnson - waste of space Doyle - waste of space Kranjcar - waste of space Hoilett - okay Maiga - waste of space
I thought BAE was our best player last night the only one who pushed back at the bully boy derby players, Christ even the milky bar kid pushed some rangers players over, we were bossed and bullied all night, Barton seemed to concentrate on afters all the time but agree with what qpraargh wrote. I think derby must of watched Ireland v wales on Saturday as there scrum, rock and maul tactics worked against us, we didn't help ourselves by whinging to the ref all night either, he didn't help the situation and had no help from his lino's particularly the ginger idiot who looked liked he had never watched a game of football let alone officiated at one. Must mention the derby support, the best home support I have seen, heard for a while.
Thought Derby had a game plan overall but they look solid and can score goals ... All the credit to them Thought our defence was good and our play from 35 minutes onwards strong but as everyone said no teeth and predictable play through Derby up to the danger areas where they doubled up on our supply players Kranky and Hoilett snuffed out but that's a tactic ... Take out the supply Barton was workmanlike but craft less as usual he has a limited game If Harold wanted a draw then credit to him we were close Can't see how we can mark up players too badly as the team did flow from 35 minutes The game was a blocking game and IMO we played by far the more dominate game overall Somehow the team has never looked like a flair team this year but we are in a great position to get the result the club needs promotion QPR are set up like Flyer says no to lose but that don't mean we won't lose I would have put Henry in without question if available as he is the best at our club at breaking down attacks We were not overrun but they got the goal and platform to build on Have confidence that Derby and Forest will play Burnley We are amongst the strongest currently ... Ride the storm We of course have to dispatch Reading not easy as they will also do damage to others up there Wigan also We still have the tools to do the job And remain the danger Foxes will be caught and overtaken by us
No width, no urgency, no injection of pace. Agreed we were setup not to lose. Don't know why he didn't replace Carroll and bring Traore and move Kran to the centre /shrug. I thought neither team deserved a win but that's what happens in football. Means can't afford another slip up but still in the mix for automatic. Best bit of the game for me, was old school Dunne's revenge on Martin for taking out Barton in the box, Martin was less aggressive after that. Used to happen all the time, the "enforcer" in the team would look after the other players in the team.
We needed Karl Henry is that game more than any other we face this season ... He is a nasty sod on the pitch ... but does it all very quietly ... If you wanted a scrap and Harold must have known that is was very probably with Derby then Its Barton and Henry first on the sheet. For those who doubt Henry watch him without the ball he is usually in the right place and knows exactly where to sit. He is no muppet
My view on Henry - he's got a decent shot on him, but in general play, his ball control lets him down. Wouldn't be first on my team list
I agree about Hughes. He ran across to save a goal in the first few minutes, and nearly scored with a header later. Carroll and Johnson looked completely ineffectual. O'Neil not much better. Doyle and Maiga were largely invisible in front of goal but they're reliant on decent service and didn't get it
Niko Kranjcar infuriated me last night I wouldn't even consider him anymore unless he loses a stone. Completely unprofessional. Thought Doyle ran his socks off and battled for everything, likewise with Barton Don't know why Onouha was on the bench quite frankly
Having praised him recently, I have to say that Green's "punch" was a howler. We weren't helped by Martin looking for O'Neill defending on the line and deliberately crashing into him. I have also supported Carroll on here and he let me down last night: completely invisible. I can't understand why we didn't start with Hoilett, who had a good game last time out, and Traore (ditto) so that we had some pace out wide. Both can do their share of defending and who can say that Krancjar, O'Neill and Carroll are any better defensively? I've said before that Krancjar is overweight and, generally, ineffective. If we were offered him at the end of the season, on this form I'd say you were having a laugh. There were a lot of very average performances from us last night yet we nearly got a result. Hence, I'm not very impressed with Derby and, if they carry on like that, we may be able to hold them off.
Must have been watching a different game mate. I thought Hughes had a very good debut to be fair to him.
I wasn't impressed. Looked slow and wasn't getting tight enough to prevent crosses from coming in. Not a patch on Simpson if his first game is anything to go by. I would prefer to see Onuoha as RB.
I guess he may have fallen foul of my over-simplification bourne of frustration but I did think he looked painfully slow at times when faced with runners. He looked like he would be sound in the centre of defence but we need a right back.
I agree, great covering run early on, to stop Bamford having a clear shot, no one else was close to catching him. Got to every run down his wing, ok, you cant stop every cross, but he put them under decent pressure. Which is considerably more than Onuoha did. Accept Simpson is better, but we dont have that option, is a choice between Onuoha and Hughes for RB, you would never see Onuoha that far forward to make a header on goal in open play.
Now that's a bit mad Ted. Burnley's 2nd goal??? Fair enough boys, we all see games differently I suppose. He is a center-half by trade actually. I've lost count the amount of center-halves we've signed the last few years only to play them as full-backs. I'd make up a list.................if I was arsed
I made the long trip to derby last night and stayed with my cousin who is a derby fan. Firstly I was very confused about 2 up front but with no wingers. If your game plan is to play 4 central midfielders then the team will never have any width hence the confusion to play 2 up. the full backs never had anyone in front of them until Junior came on. I thought Green looked very stiff and awkward. I thought hughes was quite poor really. Granted it was a fine block but then it was him who played them onside anyway. Carrol I am yet to see what future this kid has. Personally i think if hes a future star then the future looks pretty bleak. Doyles work rate was half of last weeks debut. Barton was lucky to stay on the pitch. Kranjkar was very poor. I would say our best player on the night was ???? I dont really know. What I do think is this, Henry for Carroll could have made the formation much more effective. The derby team was young, hungry and passionate. We were old, slow and lack lustre. We always seem never to be able to hold possesion in the final 3rd which is very frustrating. I think all this talk of experienced players is great but sometimes you cant ignore the raw enthusiasm of the younger players. Carroll is a spurs player and his heart isnt in it and hes not good enough.
Don't agree with everything there mate, but I always take note of your observations. Hope you and the family are coping ok.
