steele 8 </p> foster 7 </p> souza 8 (mom) </p> moore 6 </p> kozluk 8 </p> devaney 7 </p> howard 6 </p> leon 4 </p> el haimour 6 </p> macken 6 </p> hume 7 </p> subs odejayi 8 </p> hassell 7 </p> mossto ? </p> Views: A very poor game from both sides. i know for a fact that if the score was 0-0 then i would be coming home moaning like f**k. On the positive side we looked like we can mix it up with the strong long ball outfits. In the past i think we have struggled against the teams that hoof it like burnley, QPR etc. and we matched the teams that play pretty football and win ie. west brom, wolves, watford. </p> The back four looked solid today and never looked like conceding. The midfield is our weak point at the moment. Diego Leon cant defend. I said it against coventry and i still strongly stand by it today. He is ideal playmaker when we play the teams that come to play football on the deck but against the teams like derby, he was a spectator for 90% of the gameas he doesnt want to tackle or track back. One prime example was when he backed out of a challenge in 2nd half and Howard came in and did what Leon should have done and did a great tackle.</p> A lot of people moan about Hassell in midfield but today when he came on, he did nothing amazing but the shape of the midfield was better. When we get Colace and de silva back then we will be a lot lot better. El haimour did a lot of running and his tracking back was excellent. Didnt seem to get in the game much though. Howard was average but lacked the help from his central midfield team mate. Back four were solid as i have seen for a while. Souza was excellent and so was Rob Kozluk. Foster was solid and so was Darren Moore. Ok he made 1 or 2 mistakes in first half and a lot of barnsley fans dont want him in the side. I too think that he lacks pace and could have done better with the mistakes in 1st half, but................ i also think that it is 100% wrong to boo the guy and take the piss out of when he wears the shirt of our club. I for one was really pleased that he didnt let it affect his 2nd half performance and he was solid. Last season we were crying out for a big bulky bruising centre half, now we have one and we are moaning that now we dont want one. I agree that foster and souza should play there and he should be back up, but while he starts and is wearing the shirt of my club then i will get behind him 100%.</p> Macken was ok upfront but couldnt hold of the drby centre backs and make space for himself. Hume was ok but came alive on the left and scored a beauty worthy of winning any game. Thats what you get for 1.2 million. If he can be anonymous for 75 mins and create something like that, think of whats to come when he really settles in. </p> Steele was fantastic. Some pillock was moaning behind me but today his kicking was a lot lot better and he made a cruicial double save in the 2nd half. For me, Muller is no1 but steele will take some shifting by playing like that and should only lose his place if he deserves to. And Odejayi, he changed the game up front. He made things happen and gave us the lift we needed. I like Odejayi in games like that as he is a handful and was the only forward today who caused them problems. Well Done Kayode.</p> Summery: I am really looking forward to when we get our remaining players 100% fit. Campbell Ryce will bring excitement to the right hand side, De silva will bring class and shape to the midfield, Colace will bring stability to the back four in his holding role and Muller will be like he was before, The best goalkeeper in the championship. It will be like having 4 new signings again. Things were good today but the future looks more brighter tomorrow than it did yesterday.</p>
RE: fair review of a poor match. nt cheers longfella, hopefully we will play better at blacky and win
Thanks Royston Tyke an excellent summary of the game today Agree with all. I too thought OJ was excellent when he came on - like it or not he causes all kinds of problems for the defences and all well and good for us.
Johnny's take on it all....... steele 8 (mom) foster 6 souza 6 moore 6 kozluk 8 devaney 7 howard 6 leon 6 el haimour 6 macken 6 hume 7 subs odejayi 7 hassell 7 mossto ? Overall it was a very poor game. Both sides were clearly low on comfidence. Both side gave away possession to easily and had no end product. We seemed to be playing to direct, constantly punting the ball up to the strikers problem being without Stan we have no target man. Macken & Hume had no service and were beaten in the air for nearly every ball. I thought we were bullied in central midfield, both Howard and Leon are attack minded players and it was clear that a defensive minded player was need. I thought when both Hassell and KO came on they had an immediate impact. It pains me to say it but I felt game was crying out for Bobby Hassell to come one and play that role. The same could be said for KO as the forwards were losing out in the air, and with Derbys frail defence I felt KO's could have bullied them with his poer and pace. Couple of good saves by Steele and derserved MOTM, Kozzy also did well, Devaney had a few good runs, apart from wonder strike Hume did little else, KO & Hassell did well when they came on apart from that we were pretty average. Just want to make a comment about big Darren Moore. I thought treatment of big Daz was very harsh! Mooro didn't have the greatest start to the game (infact it was pretty awful) but it doesn't do much for his comfidence when the home fans are jerring him from the off. Every time he went near the ball a large section of Reds near me were slagging him, even if he won a header or made a clearance. It seems what ever he did was wrong. After shaky first 20mins he settled down and did ok. He never has been the quickest, agile or skill full on the ball. But he is big powerful and a valuable member of the squad. He hasn't played tope flight football for as long as he has for nothing. I feel he will be key this season in both defending setpieces and scoring from them. I also feel he played a key role in Fosters goal I'm sure many of his critics will disagree, but if you noticed Derby's defence were fearful of him and evry set peice he was marked by at least two players. Even if he himself doesn't win the header his presence alone helps to create holes in defences. You may have also noted that he was organising defence getting players talking in the in the second half, and defence was much improved. My verdict of him yesterday, a very nervous start but gradually thought the game he improved. I still feel he will play a key role for us this season. Get behind him, and Davey. COME ON YOU REDS!!!! we were crying out for defenswas clear that defensive midfielder our midfield was bullied and we lacked much as it pains me to say we may have been better with Hassell in Leon looked as if he may be the player to unlock Derby's defence and until the last 15mins no one looked like scoring.
RE: Johnny's take on it all....... I know Kozluk had a good game but the best defender I dont think so, he made a couple of bad mistakes that other players would have been slated for!
