As birthdays go, that wasn't a bad one..

Spent with my good mates at my beloved Oakwell watching my heroes in red.

Those in red did us proud today. They were faster, sharper, harder working and more technical than their opponents. They battled hard for every ball and won more than they lost. They played with energy, verve and imagination. They showed no fear. Had they scored the two or three extra goals the performance warranted, and had they not dropped too deep for the last ten minutes of the first half, I'd have to call it a perfect display. But we'll make do with near perfect on this occasion.

Keeper was solid although had little to do. I was hugely impressed by both White and Bree as full backs, especially second half. Couple of 'moments' first half, Mawson too, but for the vast majority of the game the defence as a unit was solid. Led by Robbo, the absolute rock at the heart of it.

Derby have such an array of talent in central midfield that Johnson and Hughes were on the bench and Butterfield bizarrely on the wing. But Hourihane and Scowen would have been too much for any duo at this level, with the way they went about their business this afternoon. Josh was ratting, he hit Hendrick early on with a stellar challenge (Jeff limped off soon after), he got up and down all day and never gave an inch. Much more disciplined in his play positionally too.
Conor is just ridiculously talented. He just gets better all the time. The confidence in his own ability shines like a beacon. Just watch him, how he moves, how he talks, how he is. Ultra professional, super talented and the perfect captain. Shades of Redfearn. But I've said that for ages now. Lost count of the tackles he put in. His goal was textbook, although it had a touch of Higgy about it...
A 10 out of 10 is rare. I'd say he earned it.

Hammill was largely under-used today. Which is positive. To shine without him...

Kent was a revelation, eventually. Second half he ran Hourihane close for top performer. Quick, direct and deserved a goal for his efforts. Worked hard without the ball too. Huge performance, gives me a lot of hope.

Bradshaw probably the least effective of our players today without doing much wrong. Watkins on the other hand was a constant menace and deserved his ovation when substituted.





Superb. I don't think this group fear anyone or anything anyway, but they should still grow in belief after today.



You Beautiful Reds.

 

Agree with all that, particularly Conor, who looked Championship class and better today. He looked very very classy today.

A mystery what happened on Tuesday, but **** that; that was then, this is now.

 

Your present was him giving away the free kick

 

The only thing that worries me about Conor he could eventually go without us getting a bean which would be an absolute travesty.

 

He's not a bad lad.

Once a red and all that......

 

Forgot to say Happy birthday when i saw you earlier... Happy birthday lad, hope you had a good day and ill sithi tomorrow

 

happy birthday , would have bought you a pint in old number 7 for your birthday if i knew

 

Yes, what a splendid day.

Not read threads yet but apologise to JB for me will you for all the knobheads who were booing him - what's that all abart???

 

Even worse, be gone within a fotnit when them wi brass start to panic and splash the cash

 

See you tomorrow pal.

 

I'd rather say thanks to folk like you, and those who applauded him at the game, and the young kids who met us outside 45 minutes after the game to get photos with him etc. Jacob loved his time at Barnsley and appreciates the opportunity the club gave him. He takes any stick as a compliment and knows it's part and parcel of football.

 

I can't understand the stick he got to be honest. No boos from here towards JB. Or Shackell either for that matter. Both gave us good service, if somewhat shorter than we'd like.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

 

I said to my nipper they don't boo the bad players. The formation didn't help Derby today, 4-2-3-1 might have been ok with JB the centre of the 3 but not stuck out wide, it helped us however as he was not as involved as he usually is

 

Aside from promotion, the JPT and a solid season in the Championship. If he does go for nowt I'll be disappointed, but as an investment we've done very well out of him.

 

Superb & sublime performance.

JP is totally wasted, but once again has got back to his base in Headingley.

I think we'll be OK.

Get behind the best manager / captain combo that I can remember in 48 years of watching the reds. x