Hammered in the 1st half...! At worst it was even, yes they may have had the best 2 chances but we did create at least 2-3 of our own, in all honesty we were well worth the win today, 2nd half, take away our lack of confidence derby never even looked as if they were going to score, effort and team work all over today, well done Town..! No blue tinted spcks just good old fashioned honest opinion.!
Exactly Yellowleadbitter, he may not have made it at this level, although I don't know what more he could do to prove that he can make the step up. He's scored hatfuls of goals at whatever level he's been at. Like you the thing that frustrates me is we never gave him a chance, for years we had been looking for a natural goalscorer then finally when we appear to have one on our books well sell him for a miniscule price without giving him the chance to show what he can do. But thats typical Roy Keane logic or his 'gut instinct' as he used to say, i expect if he were to be examined by a doctor they would find that he infact had no gut!!! It strikes to me that Rhodes is the type of player who would score goals at any level, especially in a team which creates alot of chances, because most of his goals aren't outstanding shots from distance or taking players on but they're great finishes or poachers goals. Good win today though, but still alot of work to do. Hopefully if we get a few more points on the board we can start building a team for the future and getting some good younger players in.
scotland and chopra looked good ( scotland the better of the two), bullard came on and ran around like a maniac and nearly scored a superb goal, i hope he gets played further up the pitch like that in future. To be honest i thought all the players did well. Weakest link has got to be Edwards, think we may need a right back quickly! I think supporters should support the players and remember the grass is not always greener on the other side. Follow the town, up or down.
Indeed Gus, looked like Bullard had a bit more energy, something he has been lacking in his second spell at the club and lets hope he will never be played in the DM position again!!!
Anyone just hear the little dig Shearer had a Keane? They were just talking about Rhodes, and saying clearly Keane didn't think he was good enough!! flies in the face of what Keane said about the reason behind fergusons success is because of having good players, well if you buy rubbish and get rid of potential quality you've got no hope!!!
Also, JWM, luck is supposed to even out over a season, I reckon you've still got some way to go to catch up with those decisions at London Road, never mind all the others!
We are still catching up on the bad luck of having blind spineless ****s officiating at Carrow Rd last season. Not that history is relevant according to the feathered vermin! As for Edwards being the weaklink, Totally agree, Until we get a Right Back bought we will leak goals. Until that time i would like to see Luke Hyam given a go there, he seems to be disciplined in his play, decent passer of the ball and strong tackling.
Was disappointed we didn't go for a few more goals, really thought Derby were there for the taking but it was clear Jewell and the players were happy to accept a scrappy 1-0 from the off. Thought Edwards had an improved game but he's still a liability, completely lost Jamie Ward on a couple of occasions and we were lucky not to pay for it. Wabara should be given a go. Worried about the effect Collins' departue will have, although I don't think we'll suffer as badly as we did without Sonko. Ingi and Sonko will make a better partnership than Ingi and Collins. Formation and selection wise I think changes are needed. Chopra was very quiet again and I thought Bullard looked lively playing further forward. I'd like to see us play a 451 / 433 with Bowyer and Andrews behind Bullard, Murphy and Martin wide and Scotland up front. Although dropping Chopra may affect his confidence and we must be careful not to cause a relapse in his addiction.
I do like the sound of that formation svendust although, I think scotland will still drop deep to hold up the ball and if the ball then gets put wide he there will more than likely be noone in the box. I still think even though Chopra can have quiet games, thats the same with all goalscorers, Bent and Rhodes have alot of quiet games but can score at any moment. The thing I like about Chopra as with alot of players similar to him is he is always a threat and defenders have to be on their guard all the time. He's always on the shoulder of the last defender which gives a different dimension which we haven't had for a few years(well Priskin does that but he stands about half a yard offside every time). I don't think I'd change the team that much for the next match only with the possibility of bringing in Bullard for Bowyer but then again that takes away a bit of tenasity from the midfield.
I'm not sure ptc, when Chopra came here I expected him to always be on the shoulder of the defender making runs and scoring a lot of poachers goals but I've not seen enough of that. Fair enough, he was stuck out on the wing for much of Saturdays game but when he has been up front he's still been dropping deep to collect the ball and that's not his strength, he needs to be getting in the box and making runs to stretch the defence. The goal at Barsnley was the first time I've seen him make a good run through the defence in a long time, he should be doing that 15 - 20 times a game. He's not even picking up the knock ons from Murphy or the flick ons from Scotland when he holds it up. Fair enough goal scorers can sometimes be quiet but he should at least be making those runs to give other players some options. I might be sounding a bit harsh on him but I think it's unfair that some players get a lot of criticism for not performing but Chopra doesn't because he has a history of scoring goals. I would like to see the formation I suggested, I think Scotland would drop deep but he can hold the ball up for others to join the attack. Chopra is not currently providing a goal threat so we wouldn't be missing this if he was dropped. I'm not overly unhappy with the current formation and selection but I think Bullard can make a bigger difference when played in an attacking role and we need to utilise him, dropping Chopra is the only way I think we can fit Bullard into the side at present.
