after today all we really cared about was what the lead was cut to. well it wasnt cut at all, its still 5 points with a game in hand. we didnt play well today but put in a shift, campbell embodied this with tireless running, and though it must be said derby are a limited team, you cant win them all and after going 1-0 down, anything is a bonus. the teams beneath us, in my opinion, are very unlikely to go on winning streaks, hull lost and though watford won, they havent done as well as us over the course of the season. in the last 10 they have been outstanding and i think they will take the other promotion spot. 36 played and we are top, get hudson back in there ASAP and the title is ours
Top 4 between us, Watford, Hull and Palace who have now started a good run with a certain Kevin Phillips notching for fun. The other 2 places are between Leicester, Brighton, Middlesboro and possibly Forest. 6 home games left for us, a minimum 5 wins needed plus 4 or 5 points from 5 aways and that's us up. Home form is the key but we must do an awful lot better than tonight.
Derby bullied us and with no help from the Ref got away with a lot of dodgy challenges. Very disappointed with the hoofball Derby played.
8 points from the last 6 games suggests a bit of a wobble but as the chasing pack are not capable of "doing a Reading" you should still have enough to cross the line, certainly in one of the Auto spots but I still expect the Championship title to go to South Wales
I thought MM picked the wrong starting line up tonight, Conway had a stinker and incapable of beating a man for pace, we looked a bit wobbly at the back, and Derby are not the best in attack, but in all honesty they should have gone away with all 3 points last night. We didnt really start to cause them problems until Joe, Noone and Rudy came on. HH looked tired but won everything in the air, we didnt get the ball into the box enough, yet again, Whitts looked tired, however i still maintain the poor bugger is being played out of position. Young Nugent did ok but he is no Hudson at the moment and we lacked leadership on the field. It can only get better. Hope Bellers enjoys his holiday in Dubai and he comes back with all guns blazing against Lesta next tuesday, in my book a draw will be of no use against them, we need to be on our game and get at them from the start. Come on we can do it.
I agree with pretty much all of that. Why on earth did Conway stay on and TS get subbed for Noone. I know Tommy had been wasteful but he really looked as likely as anyone to much something happen. In contrast Conway was very quiet despite having more space to work in than there seemd to be on the right.
Smith has the same problem as Conway with a lack of pace. His ball retention and vision is better though. Our problem stemmed from midfield. Whits' confidence is shattered and other teams know they have to close him down and muscle him out. His passing and ball control was the worst I have seen from him in years. As a result Gunnar was willingly doing the work of two but his own ball control is not good and we got over run as a result, thus putting more pressure on the back four who generally were okay once they got Sammon under control. Connolly should make much better use of the space he has going forward. Helguson won plenty in the air but it took Campbell until just before half time to get on the end of his knock ons. We know HH's limitations on the ground and they showed again last night. If only Rudi could perform from the start as he does when coming off the bench. Another frustrating night but it could have been a lot worse. On to Leicester with Hiudson and Bellers returning. I feel a bit better with that thought.
Agree with pretty much everything said, particularly Conway staying on. What frustrated me, was their right back got booked early on, but we didn't target the left flank as a point of weakness. Whitts captain ? I'd prefer Gunnar in MH's and Bellamy's absence
I'd go............ Marshall Connolly.......Hudson.......Turner......Taylor Kimbo.........Gunner Noone.....Whitts..........Bellers FC
100% agree. I was screaming this from the Bob Bank but Conway ignored me...rude! Conway had the beating of the RB and once he was booked I thought it would be a matter of time before we saw a red... not to be. Strange atmosphere last night. First time in a while you could feel the tension. Equally strange to hear the criticism of Whitts all around me although justified recently...especially last night. A poor overall performance but nothing lost and still the same gap as Saturday... slightly bigger gap to third though so there is a positive. With Huds and CB hopefully back next week, we'll soon get back to winning ways.... no time to panic.... well, not just yet anyway
