Derby County vs Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers were the visitors to Derby’s iPro Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a hotly-anticipated clash between the two Midlands clubs. Derby fans had been eager to get this one underway ever since the last game showed Derby back to their best at home to Brentford. The Rams won 2-0 on that day and blew away the opposition with strong attacking intent and desire to extend their good run of form. Unfortunately for those of a black and white persuasion, a two week wait due to the International Break was on the cards. 

Derby fans who tuned into the International fixtures may have taken some joy seeing three Rams players start for the Republic of Ireland as they recorded a historic 1-0 win against world champions Germany in their European Championship Qualifying Group. Cyrus Christie, Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh all played a part in the win and many Derby supporters professed their happiness to see those three players do so well for their country, expressing their hopes that the players might take confidence from the victory and bring their good form back to Derby with them. Confidence is without a doubt something that fluctuates wildly with Derby County in recent years. When they’re up, they’re up - a confident Derby often appears to be unstoppable, notching up large unbeaten runs and blowing away teams home and away. But when they’re down, they’re down, as evidenced by Derby’s poor form at the tail end of the 2014/15 season.

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At the start of this season, Derby could not seem to find a way to win and massively lacked confidence. Since losing to Leeds United in August things seem to have changed. Derby are now unbeaten in six after Sunday’s win against Wolves, with five of those being wins. Confidence is now abundant at Derby County and it showed in this game. Derby were in control from the first minute and only took three minutes to find the opener when Jeff Hendrick teed up Chris Martin for the talismanic striker to curl one in from 20 yards out. This was followed up with a George Thorne long range effort that could have made it 2-0 after receiving the ball from a cleared Derby corner. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez got a hand to the shot to tip it wide.

Complacency seeped into Derby’s defence after this positive start however and Wolves took advantage on 19 minutes with a well-rehearsed corner routine that caught Derby napping. The corner came in and the near post runner simply dummied the ball, leaving it for Benik Afobe who only needed to apply a simple finish. This was followed by a strong Derby attack in response, and it was just nine minutes later when Bradley Johnson floated a measured left foot cross that Derby pulled themselves back into the lead through Chris Martin again after the Scotland International battled with the ‘keeper and the defender to head home. Martin had a chance to make it a hattrick when Tom Ince was impeded by Danny Batth in the area and a penalty was given, but a nervous Martin fired it straight at the goalkeeper. The corner kick that followed proved the deflating blow for Wolves as the set piece found the boot of Bradley Johnson to make it 3-1 and regain Derby’s two-goal cushion.

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The second half was just as frantic and high-tempo as the first and Derby continued to dominate. Shortly before the hour mark Johnny Russell’s quick feet composed him in spite of the chaotic 18-yard box to stab in a toe-poke shot to make it 4-1, compounding the misery of the travelling Wolves fans. Credit to the visitors however as the Wolves fans continued their vocal support and inspired the players to start a fight back. They pressed Derby up the pitch and played with pace, getting a reward in the form of an Adam Le Fondre headed goal. Le Fondre towered above Richard Keogh and steered his header to Scott Carson’s left, in the corner out of reach of the Derby stopper. Derby reacted by shutting up shop and finishing the game 4-2.

The result was enjoyable enough but it was also particularly pleasing to see the fans vocally sound their appreciation for new Derby chairman and owner Mel Morris. Morris provided all season ticket holders with a free black and white scarf, of decidedly good quality according to the general consensus of the season ticket holders, and urged them to bring the scarf with them to the game. The scarves were the catalyst for some moments of noisy and active support from the Derby fans, particularly in the South Stand. The work of the 1884 group appears to be helping with this and the atmosphere in the ground is improving game on game, but at a slower pace than some might have hoped.

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One major thing that encourages vocal support is a good entertaining performance by their team, something which Derby delivered on the day. The second half especially was almost like an exhibition of slick passing and exuberant skill and even when Wolves pushed, Derby looked in control. Both Wolves goals were avoidable and were the result of complacency and poor focus, which makes it regrettable that Derby could not make a real statement with a bigger, cleaner win on Sunday. Despite the sloppiness however, Derby seemed to have an essence of control. There was no slackness when the game was 0-0 or 1-1, or even 2-1. The lax attitude was a direct result of the dominant performance for so much of the game and if Derby had been in trouble at any point, it’s likely they would have dealt with it. Derby took the lead early on and never looked like losing from there. The result leaves the Rams in 6th place, the first time they have entered the playoff places this season. Head Coach Paul Clement has told his team that in the coming six games they are to attempt to beat the points total they accumulated in the six games prior to the International Break. Those six games saw Clement’s men pick up 13 points, and this win against a strong Wolves side is a big sign that the players are going to be capable of meeting that target.

Derby County vs Brentford

Derby’s form going into the October international break is a far cry from the kind of form the Rams were in prior to the last international break. Fans despaired after losing 2-1 to historic rivals Leeds United last time and feared that their poor start was symptomatic of a hangover from the previous season. The 2014/15 season saw the Rams take a dramatic fall from the top of the table down to 8th. Some fans called for more money to be spent. Some fans called for the team to be given time. Some fans even called for Head Coach Paul Clement to be given the sack, just five games into the season. The feeling amongst DCFC supporters, and almost certainly amongst DCFC players and staff, is that the team is starting to show more and more glimpses of their quality.

Derby have only lost once in ten games this season, picking up four wins in their last five, and sit in 7th in the table just a point from the playoff places. Obviously at this point in the season the table is still labile, but the current placements offer some reassurance to those despairing fans who worried about the lack of wins in the first five games. It carries the message that despite that poor start, the team have not fallen too far from their promotion rivals. The more effective reassurance however came in the form of a comfortable 2-0 win in front of the iPro crowd on Saturday afternoon. From the first whistle Derby looked to control and dominate their visitors just as they did against Burnley in the last home game. Early on, Derby found chances via their usual conduit in frontline talisman Chris Martin. Jeff Hendrick’s dispossessing tackle fed Martin and the Scottish international ran at the Brentford defence before slipping the ball back across to Hendrick. The Irish midfielder attempted a backheel pass to put Tom Ince through one-on-one but Hendrick’s marker blocked the pass and cleared the danger.

It didn’t take much longer for Derby to get their breakthrough though, with the Rams scoring through Chris Martin on 20 minutes. Bradley Johnson put the ball down the right for Tom Ince. Ince found Cyrus Christie and the Republic of Ireland international drilled a cross to Martin at the back post. Martin’s strike wasn’t the cleanest but the striker only had to make the slightest contact with the ball to find the net. It was an incredibly well worked team goal regardless of who got on the end of it, but Martin finding the net for the fifth time this season puts him joint-third in the top scorers list in the Championship.

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Just before half time, the Rams doubled their lead thanks to Tom Ince. The move began with a turnover in possession courtesy of a George Thorne tackle. The defensive midfielder ran with the ball to spark a quick counter, then feeding Jeff Hendrick. Hendrick’s perfectly weighted pass to Ince meant Ince only had the keeper to beat. Ince took a moment to compose himself, measured his shot, and placed the ball into the net with a precise strike. When the referee blew the whistle for half time Derby had much to be proud of, whereas Brentford had much to think about.

No surprise then that Brentford came out more determined and focused in the second half to create some chances of their own. The 2015 playoff semi-finalists didn’t really get solid chances though, not until they found their best chance on 67 minutes. A direct ball over to winger Sergi Canos led to the Spaniard, on loan from Liverpool, to cross the ball for Philipp Hofmann. Hofmann made contact with the ball but the weak shot fell into the arms of the diving Derby ‘keeper, Scott Carson. Brentford followed this up with another chance soon after, with Marco Djuricin jumping on Ryan Shotton’s poor backpass but failing to properly get around the goalkeeper. The ball stayed in Brentford possession though and when it came to Hofmann, he wrong footed the defensive line and fooled the keeper with his shot. Luckily for Derby, Cyrus Christie managed to clear the shot off the line and maintain the clean sheet.

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Immediately from this clearance however, Chris Martin produced a neat flick-on for Tom Ince, who was running through on goal. Ince struggled to shake off the defenders tracking back however and when the Brentford backline recovered Ince continued to take them on inside the box, where he appealed for a penalty for after he felt he was impeded illegally. No penalty was given and Ince managed to recover quickly to find Andreas Weimann arriving at the back post, but the Austrian’s open goal chance only concluded with a slight touch – not enough to find the net for Derby’s third goal.

The game finished 2-0 to the home side. A relieving result for Rams fans who had yet to see their team win at home this season. Getting the first home win will be vital going forward, especially considering the strong talk from the club about making the iPro stadium a ‘fortress’. The efforts of fan groups like The 1884 Group, who aim to improve matchday atmosphere, can only bear fruit when performances and results are good at home. Relying on away form is always a difficult ask when most teams fancy their chances in front of their own fans and every home team has extra motivation to shut out their visitors. Good away form is a blessing, but good home form is something most clubs make their priority; every fan expects to see their team dominate in their own ground. Home form is the bread and butter of a successful season and the Rams will hope to have more home games like this one.

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In his post-match interview, Paul Clement talked about ‘pushing for a third’, something which will be music to the ears of Derby supporters. Rams fans have expressed their desire for the team to play attacking football. The idea that even with a comfortable two-goal lead they have a Head Coach in charge who will smell the blood in the water and go for the jugular when the Derby are dominating fits the bill for that kind of offensive style. It’s clear that Derby have the kind of playing staff that could potentially blow away weaker teams on their day, so to have a positive attacking mentality at the club means Rams fans could see some big scorelines in future. Arguably, it could have been a big scoreline on Saturday had a few chances fallen differently, but undebatable fact is that Derby deserved to win this game no matter how the scoreline read. It is good to see a winning performance and a winning scoreline in tandem because it’s an unpredictable game and those two don’t necessarily always go hand-in-hand.