'Andy Gray converted to score his third in three games'

Aye - w@nk.

 

Walking away from the ground on Tuesday I overheard someone saying "I don't know where our goals are going to come from".......err....excuse me, we just scored 3!

 

What bait tha using? shouldn't need much on't hook.

 

Championship quality, always has been.

 

We have plenty of players that can score goals. All types of goals. That's not a problem.

The problem is creating the chances. The problem is the tactics and the mentality. The mentality and the tactics for 45 minutes on Tuesday night were fantastic and we were virtually unplayable at times. We created and scored 3 very good goals. The second half saw us sit back and allow Derby to control the tempo of the game, which is all well and good if you are confident you can hold the lead. We just about managed it...just. I just can't fathom why we didn't just continue to play like we were doing, creating the chances and passing the ball around with ease.

I hope that we continue to play like the first half for the rest of the season.

 

Because we did that at Peterborough and got found out!

 

We just about managed it after they scored from a direct free kick and after Steele had an epileptic mind spasm in the last 30 seconds.

We're always gonna score goals. Chill art.

 

The thing is - we allowed them to get into those positions. It's frustrating seeing us totally dominate a team, go 3-0 up and seeing them create very little, to the polar opposite of us chasing around the pitch and allowing them back into the game.

As for your comment Wellsie - we conceded those three goals at Peterborough through absolutely retard like defending. A quartet of blind monkeys could've done a better job down there.

 

There needs to be some context about Tuesday, though. 2 out of our 3 midfielders had played no football in 4 months. Same goes for the two they were replaced with. Derby are a good side, to expect us to dominate them for 90 minutes isn't realistic.

I still think we defended well - yeah, they had plenty of the ball but i don't remember many chances for 'em. Did Steele make a save?

We've been burned twice this year - Peterborough and Ipswich - so i think they deserve credit for holding the game out.

Football's boring me nar.

 

Scoring em isn't the problem, it's defending the lead once we've scored.

 

I'm not talking about dominating for 90 minutes. I'm talking about retaining posession, like we did very easily in the first half. What differs? It's a helluva lot harder to chase the ball around for 45 minutes, than it is to pass it around for 45 minutes. Derby had plenty of chances in the second half, and if not for some last ditch defending and some good refereeing decisions on our part, we'd have drawn or probably lost. Sure, Derby will have had a kick up the backside and we may have been tired in the middle of the park, but surely, surely a team does not go from playing fancyful, free-flowing football to chasing the game and holding on to a lead when being on top by so much before half time. Like you mentioned, it happened against Peterborough and it happened against Ipswich. Straight from the kickoff in the second half, we were on the back foot against Ipswich, and the same against Derby. That wasn't the players being tired, that was the players sitting back and letting Derby come at us. In hindsight, great - we won, but what I am saying is, why not put the pressure back on the opposition. Why not keep employing the positives and going forward and making them do all the hard work. That first half on Tuesday was a joy to watch - we looked like Brazil. Derby looked like Ryhill - they looked appalling. We made them look like that. They were knackered - chasing and harrying and watching frustratedly as we knocked the ball about for fun. The second half - it was a role reversal, and we looked terrible at times. Knocking the ball long for poor old Gray and Davies to continually get knocked about and knackered, running around, just like their strikers were doing in the first half.

Why? Why not just continue doing the positives; the basics, well.

Like you touched on - their goals were a free kick and an error. That's all it takes. It doesn't always necessarily take a flash of brilliance to open a team up. We let Derby back into the game straight away and we nearly, nearly paid the price.

 

Straight away? It was 20 minutes into the second half.

I've not read the rest.

 

So, you don't think Derby were on top straight from the kick off? Hmm, are you sure you actually attended the game?

 

Never said they weren't on top - of course they were. But they were so on top they didn't score from open play until the 93rd minute after Steele fainted, re-awoke believing he was Matty Appleby and played that pass out.

Just because they had the ball doesn't mean they created anything.

 

That's not the issue here. The Chinaman is the issue dude!

No, seriously - we let them play. They did create chances and did pull two back. They should've had a penalty and if not for some last gasp defending, would've taken something away from a game in which we should've given them no right to do so. I was always taught to do what you do well, and if its working, stick to it. Our gameplan was working on Tuesday - beautifully. Why change that? Why throw all that good work into potential jeopardy? That's what I don't understand. From the ball rolling to start the second half, we never, ever, ever got going, and never came close to doing anything that resembled the first half - save rolling the ball back to Steele. We resorted to trying to soak up the Derby pressure, and just lumping the ball forward to the (I imagine) dismay of Davies and Gray, who were getting pwned by Shackell and Barker. We did defend well but surely, if we've learnt anything this season, it's that we truly are schoolboy at the back more times than not and that is what I'm saying - why not continue to play to our strengths and put the pressure right back on the opposition?

Anyways, we won - why are we debating this again? I've forgotten what the thread was even about...

 

I dunno but your paragraphs are that long my tiny attention span only lets me read the first and last sentences.

Let's just agree I was right and we're good.

 

I think that is debateable.

 

Dude

 

Because you are making an assumption that the opposition don't change how they are playing. We knew they were going to come at us, nothing to lose. I felt the key thing was to survive the the first 10 mins of second half and they'd get frustrated. What we didn't do was break quickly enough and keep hold of the ball when we had it. But I think as much credit needs to be given to Derby for the 2nd half as criticism towards us.

 

I'm speaking from experience. It's no fun running around, getting more and more exhausted and frustrated as the opposition passes the ball around you...