One of the better players on the pitch aerially. Got a lot of work to do on the floor but he’ll get there.
I thought Pines played well and certainly made our back three look more solid. One bad pass in the first half but in no way is he to blame for their goal, it came from the 2nd corner after his misplaced pass. Williams was back to his best position and even moved to the left to shore up the defence when Cadden went off after being far too easily beaten by Derby's no 2 on several occasions.
Just shared the pics in the match day thread, but Phillips was marking Bradley at the corner, Pines stuck with his man so not sure how he was at fault for the goal. Even if he gave the corner away, he wasn't marking the man who scored.
Looked nervous in first 20 wouldn't think he's played in a atmosphere like that before or as big a crowd but not an expert msl. Grew into the game wins them first balls and if we keep that back 3 fit I think we will go very close to autos.
Hey I've only just watched this video of Donny Pines first coming to Oakwell, and his introduction to the club, and his training routines etc. And I'm wanting to like the bloke already lol. And credit to the club for doing vids like this, about inside Oakwell, the training room and dressing room areas etc.
I did question our pressing. Their big CB didn't know what to do with the ball and could not clearly pass or control it but instead of putting Laing on him to harass him into making errors we just kept off him until someone eventually broke our marking and he had an easy 5 yard pass on. It was quite infuriating to see this pattern in the second half. We ran out of steam around the 70-minute mark and it showed From the Derby forum. I said they were standing off him qt the tine.
I think I agree with that. One of the things that has impressed me with MDG is a) his passing and b) his ability to carry the ball at speed if he sees a gap. With Pines, I think the crowd getting agitated was that he seemed a bit uncertain as to what to do. BUT, that was his full debut; nerves and uncertainty were a given and I'm sure with more coaching, match analysis and game time he will have more of an idea how to play it out. Totally agree with the poster in that seeing his initial nerves I was surprised they didn't hassle him more. He was solid in the air; has a commanding presence (a la Van Dyke) and a character to complement that. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow. Almost a mirror of Dike's first one and a half games. The rest is history. An admirable 7/10 from me.