Derby County vs MK Dons

Derby County’s encounter with MK Dons on Saturday became one of the biggest games of the Rams season following the dismissal of Head Coach Paul Clement just five days prior. Stepping in for the remainder of the season is Academy Director Darren Wassall, who will be expected to play a more attacking and free-flowing style, contrary to the way ex-boss Clement had his team set up. With no league wins in the calendar year, chairman Mel Morris had felt that the time had come to make the change. The chairman may have shocked fans by stating that promotion is not the aim for Derby this season and that a fear of not gaining promotion played no part in Clement’s sacking. This should come as no surprise to those who heard Morris’s stance at the beginning of the season when he made his aims clear. Morris has always steadfastly reiterated time and time again that he is more concerned with “the Derby way” – a term he coined to describe many different stylistic tenets which everyone involved with the club is expected to buy into, chiefly attacking and free-flowing football.

One must infer then that Morris was at least a little disheartened by what Wassall’s men served up. There were few notable chances in the first half for either side. MK Dons were poor in possession and allowed Derby to dominate. The best chance came from a Marcus Olsson throw towards Chris Martin, who flicked the ball into the box to the feet of MK Dons defender Dean Lewington. The veteran left-back’s poor clearance fell to Ince, whose layoff to Jeff Hendrick resulted in a powerful shot from the Republic of Ireland midfielder straight at Dons ‘keeper David Martin. This was typical of the first half, the away team struggled to keep the ball but Derby could not capitalise. The visitors played with fear, something reflected in Dons manager Karl Robinson’s post-match comments when he described the 1-0 win as “one of the best results” in the club’s history. The home side did not seem nervous at all surprisingly. The failure to capitalise seemed to be more in lack of enthusiasm than lack of confidence or ability.

In the second half, it was Karl Robinson’s side who began to grow in confidence. The longer the scoreboard read 0-0, the more it seemed like the Dons who were more likely to break the deadlock. An in-swinging corner towards Derby’s box saw Darren Bent miss his defensive header and cause a scramble in the box. The result of this was the return of the ball to the attacking right-hand side and a second cross came in to be fumbled and dropped by Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson. Carson, off his line, then did well to parry the resulting attempt from Joe Walsh and left-back Olsson managed to hoof an upfield clearance to the flanks. A spark of a Derby counter attack flickered with Andreas Weimann picking up the ball and charging at speed towards the MK Dons backline, but his dribbling failed him and winger Robert Hall sprinted back to stamp out the threat. Derby’s performance in the second half can only be described as something farcical and below par.

Photo Courtesy of Twitter: @MKDonsFC

Such a farcical performance at 0-0 can only lead to one outcome in this cruel game. Jake Forster-Caskey’s curling free kick found the top-right hand corner of the net on 82 minutes to deal the final blow to the home team, who may claim an injustice but in reality have no case to argue. If Derby cannot dominate home games, especially against teams like MK Dons who, with respect, looked petrified of the talent they faced at the opening whistle, they should expect this kind of sucker punch. They soon realised they needn’t fear Derby when much like in the corresponding fixture at Stadium:MK earlier in the season, the Rams were sporting blunted horns. That is not to take anything away from the visitors however, the saying goes that you can only beat what is in front of you and the game was still there to be won. A draw would have been a fair result on the balance of play but considering the gulf in quality between the two teams, the home advantage for Derby, and the fact that the Dons simply created more clear-cut chances, nobody can possibly say they were undeserving winners.

Considering all the chatter surrounding “the Derby way”, the set of stylistic guidelines on which Mel Morris judges his Head Coaches, the style was turgid and dull. Derby set up 4-4-2, a rarity amongst any free-flowing attacking teams (and a rarity for even Clement’s apparently ‘defensive’ Derby team) and tended to play direct long balls up the field. As a result, Derby failed to create anything meaningful. It meant that the ball was more often than not in the attacking third, but up in the air where the 5’8” top scorer Chris Martin could not win the ball against just over 6ft Dons centre-half Kyle McFadzean. Martin’s lack of service meant yet another disappointing afternoon for the Scottish international.

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An equally shocking transgression Chairman Morris’s “Derby way” doctrine is the failure to include young central midfield tackler Jamie Hanson. Instead, an off-form and disinterested Bradley Johnson took the place of displaced captain Chris Baird and injured defensive midfielder George Thorne in front of the back four, helping to break up attacks. A lethargic Johnson did nothing of note in this area, nor in the attacking area. A part of “the Derby way” was supposed to be a focus on players grown and nurtured by the club, such as Hanson. Mel Morris even openly told the media that this was an area in which he felt former Head Coach Paul Clement was failing and gave Jamie Hanson as an example of a player who should be featuring more often. With Thorne injured and a former Academy Director as Head Coach, this was a game made for the 19 year old.

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The defeat to MK Dons was far worse than anything Clement served up for the Rams. Contrary to what people have said about Clement’s style, it was not as negative and rigid as this. Players were at least encouraged to pass and move instead of taking the direct option with the ball and blasting it upfield in hope and desperation. The time of Clement is over and fans will give Wassall a fair chance - that much is certain. But patience runs thin when fans hear talk of “lots of positives”, and appraisal of players’ “commitment” and “application” in Wassall’s post-match comments. These were the exact things that were missing. In Derby’s more recent failures, fans often took solace in the fact that the players gave their all. For the first time in years, it no longer looks that way with this current crop. Some players in Derby County’s squad look like they are simply infatuated by Mel Morris’s money rather than his “Derby way” vision. It must take a huge heap of naivety for the chairman to be blind to this.

Derby County vs Birmingham City

On the back of a disappointing performance against Reading on Tuesday night, the stakes were high for Derby ahead of the visit of Birmingham City. Much had been said in the media and amongst fans about the display against the Royals and the resulting decision to cancel a training camp in Dubai by club chairman Mel Morris. Morris also attracted criticism for his entrance into the home changing room after the game to talk to the players, something which some have deemed a step over the boundaries of trust and delegation that are set when a chairman appoints a head coach to do the job of looking after the first team squad. In the midst of this, the club were unified in calling for calm from players, staff, executives and fans at a time when it may be natural to panic. Not only this, they also called for a reaction on the pitch against Birmingham.

Eager to please, a majority of the Derby players began brightly. Where sharpness lacked, enthusiasm and effort was in abundance for players such as Thomas Ince and Johnny Russell. There was no shortage of commitment on the whole in the first half, but there was not a lot to get excited about. Birmingham got the first shot on target when Ince's poor decision opting not to clear the ball out of defence with more haste led to Maikel Kieftenbeld finding himself in possession in enemy territory. The Blues midfielder worked with left-back Jonathan Grounds to find Jon Toral, whose poor shot was straight at Lee Grant. Derby too got themselves a shot on target when good midfield play through George Thorne and Bradley Johnson gave Jeff Hendrick a sight on goal, but his effort was similarly weak and didn't trouble Birmingham 'keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

The first half was even and 0-0 at the break was fair at that point. The lack of shots on target may have worried both sets of fans but generally there was a feeling that there was still plenty of time and that the football on display had been much improved from Tuesday night.

For Derby fans, this reserved, quiet optimism was short-lived. City set the pace in the second half and stated their intentions early in the half to dominate the game with a series of good chances. The best of these early chances was from the left foot of Jon Toral who curled a shot from outside the box, only for Lee Grant to push it over the bar with a fingertip save. The Blues then broke the deadlock from the resulting corner kick as Maghoma's near post set-piece found the head of Michael Morrison, who steered his header toward the unmarked Paul Robinson at the back post, allowing him to apply the final finish. Dejection was clear on the faces of the Rams players who seemed to be looking at one another trying to work out who was supposed to be marking Robinson. Both left-back Stephen Warnock and midfielder Bradley Johnson seemed to switch off and failed to spot the veteran centre-back's run into space.

Photo courtesy of Twitter: @BCFC

Birmingham found the net again to make it 2-0 shortly after through Stephen Gleeson, the same player who opened the scoring in the corresponding fixture at St. Andrew's earlier in the season with a long range wondergoal. The move began with Toral's quick feet in midfield evading the challenges from white shirts and threading a pass through to Gleeson. The Irish midfielder found support in David Davis, who returned the pass to his teammate in space. Gleeson curled a shot disguised as a cross towards the goal, deceiving Lee Grant who swung a hand in vain as Birmingham went 2-0 up. Derby showed signs of fight moments after kick off after Nick Blackman smashed a shot at Tomasz Kuszczak, but this proved to be the final significant chance the Rams would have. Birmingham completed the rout on 80 minutes as Kieftenbeld smashed home a spectacular volley after Cyrus Christie's attempted headed clearance to make it 3-0.

Twitter: @BCFC

Once again Derby fans made their distaste with the result abundantly clear at the final whistle and unlike on Tuesday night, it’s hard to fault them this time. The fans had been vocal for much of the game and the players had not found themselves short of vocal support. Not to mention that the fans had turned out in droves; the attendance at the iPro Stadium was announced at 32,895. After Tuesday’s performance, it would have been easy for some fans to lose enthusiasm and stay at home. They didn’t stay at home and the performance they paid to see proved to be another disappointment. 

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Fans were subjected to many speculative shots on goal that didn’t come close at all. In some ways, it shows a lot of confidence, which is what fans want to see from players. However, in the context of head coach Paul Clement blaming a lack of confidence for the result in his post-match comments, his excuse just does not make sense to those fans who saw the game. In other ways, the long-range attempts on goal from Bradley Johnson and Jeff Hendrick, amongst other culprits, shows a degree of laziness and selfishness. Some players did not want to work hard for each other to create better, more clear-cut chances and preferred to opt for luck and individual skill alone to find a goal. It is hard not to feel sympathy for Nick Blackman, who on Saturday was asked to play up front alone in the position normally filled by Chris Martin. He rarely touched the ball as the supply to him was almost non-existent. It’s no small wonder that the aforementioned Martin has not scored from open play since late October and has cut a frustrated figure for the last few months.

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Much like on Tuesday, the blame for this result falls squarely on the shoulders of the playing staff. Nonetheless, there are question marks over the team selection, and later the substitutions, made by Paul Clement. The out-of-form Bradley Johnson got the nod over in-form Jacob Butterfield and new signing Nick Blackman was asked to play a position of vital stylistic importance despite still settling into the club. Blackman was selected over Darren Bent, who not only knows the team and the style at the club better, but also netted twelve times in his loan spell at the end of last season. Clement made all three substitutions at once on 67 minutes, shortly after going a goal down. He took off a leader from defensive midfield in George Thorne, but left the repeatedly poor Johnson on the pitch for another full 90 minutes. Arguably, Thorne’s recent return from injury was behind the substitution but his departure meant all shape in defensive midfield was lost and Derby went on to concede twice more following this. The lively Tom Ince was substituted for Chris Martin, yet the frustrated and downhearted Blackman remained on the field and remained ineffectual for the full 90 minutes.

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A lot of credit has to go to Birmingham for this result. They applied pressure to Derby and showed an alertness that the Rams lacked. This was impressive and is rooted in manager Gary Rowett’s adeptness in tactical planning. Derby did not seem to be expecting Birmingham to take the game to them and it seemed that Rowett identified this and set his team up to challenge Derby’s talented players. Where many teams have arrived at the iPro with the intention of not taking any risks, Rowett’s side called Derby’s bluff. The bluff in this case is that Derby are a team that will match the effort of a team that works hard against them, but in actual fact it is starting to look like many players simply will not rise to the challenge and will allow the opposition to outplay them decisively all over the pitch. Some may apply the adage ‘fortune favours the brave’ to this result but fortune had nothing to do with it, Birmingham were simply the better team and deserved winners for the same reasons Reading were the better team and deserved more on Tuesday night.

A nervous and shell-shocked Paul Clement faced the questions of the post-match interviewers, a stark contrast to the angry and frustrated head coach that came out to face the cameras on Tuesday. It is forgivable that the shock result would have him incredulous as he faced the post-match questions; it was surprising to say the least that this is the way it has turned out. However, Clement is an intelligent man and with enough time to digest the result, he will be able to find an alternative plan of action. Whether or not the new ideas are successful is a different question, but it is certain that there will be changes. His claim that he ‘knows what needs to be done’ reflects all that Derby fans know about the man.

Derby County vs Reading

Following on from a drab 2-1 away win against Hartlepool in the FA Cup on Saturday, Derby County sought a home win against Reading on Tuesday night to keep up with league leaders Middlebrough. Ten days before the Reading encounter, Boro stretched their lead at the top of the table to four points with a 2-0 victory over the Rams, courtesy of two late goals. The need for a response against the Royals as a result of the disappointment at the Riverside Stadium did not seem to be enough to inspire Paul Clement’s men on the night as they put in a poor performance, drawing 1-1. Derby escaped with a point from a game in which they deserved to lose – and on their own turf. The impatient home crowd at the iPro Stadium were visibly and audibly displeased at the full time whistle, with some jeers ringing out through the stadium.

It was an end-to-end encounter early on and both sides had good chances. The away side seemed to have the higher quantity of chances but the best opportunity of the early exchanges fell to Derby’s new signing Nick Blackman, who arrived from none other than the Rams’ visitors, Reading FC, just six days before this match. The chance was created by Tom Ince, who drove down the left hand side of the box, then floated a cross over the heads of the Reading defenders to find the feet of Blackman who was one-on-one with Reading ‘keeper Ali Al-Habsi. Al-Habsi reacted quickly to deny his former teammate and turn the shot around the post.

The Rams struck first and broke the deadlock as Ince’s corner found Jason Shackell, who escaped his marker on the penalty spot and volleyed the ball into the roof of the net. There was a clear relief to be noted in the celebrations of both Rams fans and players. It had been a nervy game up until that point and for Derby to get their noses in front seemed to cool some nerves.

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However it cannot be said that this feeling of relief lasted long as the away side began to push Derby further and eventually found their equaliser through Danny Williams’ powerful header from Hal Robson-Kanu’s measured cross. From a Derby perspective, fans will be disappointed that Bradley Johnson's botched tackle, swinging a leg attempting to dispossess Lucas Piazon whilst already grounded from his sliding tackle on Williams, led to a great deal of space opening up causing panic in Derby's defensive line. The home team’s defensive line had lost all shape by the time the cross came in and nobody seemed to know who they were supposed to be marking. From a Reading perspective, it has to be said that the quick feet of Williams and Lucas Piazon, along with the latter's good vision to find Robson-Kanu out wide and the former's clever movement to power a header past Lee Grant, deservedly will receive the majority of the credit for a well-worked goal.

Twitter: @ReadingFC

The half time whistle blew and the chatter amongst many Rams fans in the south stand was that a change was needed. Many were expressing their disappointment not only with the shape of the team, in a 4-2-3-1 formation that differs from the usual 4-3-3, but also with the apparent lack of work rate to make such an attacking formation work.

In the second half, there was even less for Derby fans to enjoy. Reading dominated the encounter from this point and created many good chances. The pick of the lot was Hal Robson-Kanu’s long range low drive which Derby stopper Lee Grant fortunately turned onto the post and wide with a fingertip save. Derby’s gameplan in the 4-2-3-1 formation appeared to be to take the express route to the attacking third of the pitch with long balls and a more direct style. With three attacking forwards behind a central striker, there was plenty of talent to put the ball in the back of the net so on paper this was not necessarily a bad idea. Unfortunately for those of a black and white persuasion, a lack of effort and desire in the final third seemed to allow Reading’s brilliance on the counter attack to flourish as Derby’s attackers seemed to lose the ball frequently.

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Not only this, but it was clear that with just two midfielders, Derby were losing the battles in the middle of the park. Bradley Johnson and Jacob Butterfield could not handle the task alone, which means one could only scratch their head in bemusement when the 4-2-3-1 formation survived the whole 90 minutes. Paul Clement made a midfield change bringing on Jeff Hendrick, but he replaced one of Derby’s better midfield bruisers in Bradley Johnson at a time when midfield battles were where Reading were finding all their joy. Clement could have opted to change back to 4-3-3, bringing off an attacker and replacing them with the energetic Hendrick, to revert to a formation that the players know best.

In addition to all of this, it has been clear for several weeks that top scorer Chris Martin is struggling with his form. A lethargic performance from him on Tuesday night will have done him no favours in regards to future team selection, yet he also survived 90 minutes. What the 4-2-3-1 formation did give Derby is plenty of players who could take the ball and drive towards the goal with attacking intent. If Martin was not doing his job as a frontline talisman linking all of this attacking intent together, perhaps a chance should have been given to former England striker Darren Bent who not only scored three days earlier against Hartlepool in the FA Cup, but is also a more deadly finisher than Martin. Chris Martin plays with his back to goal, seeking to support the players behind him. There was no shortage of support for the three men behind him, who in spells linked up with each other well. What was missing was someone like Darren Bent who does not play with his back to the goal. Bent tends to face the goal and makes clever runs to get on the end of good through balls, finishing with style. There were ball carriers aplenty in attacking midfield, Derby just needed someone at the end of the play to finish.

Twitter: @DerbyTelegraph

In the context of the difficulty of the Hartlepool game three days before, the lacklustre performance against Middlebrough before that, and the fortunate draw away at Leeds just before the turn of the year, this sets a worrying run of form. Paul Clement did not hold back in his criticism of the players in his post-match comments. Angrier than Rams fans have seen him before, Clement blasted the “poor application of the tactical plan” and even went as far as to say “we won’t be moving out of this division if we continue to play like that”. Strong words from the Derby boss and it is pleasing to see that he is aware of the seriousness of the situation where some managers and head coaches would opt to downplay the severity of such a poor performance. Clement has become popular with fans for his honesty but in this situation he perhaps ought to have taken some of the flak for his own tactical decisions in the way that he did following the loss to Middlesbrough. His likely reasoning for this is that he probably did not want to detract from the biggest factor in the Rams’ poor performance on the night– the lack of effort from his players.

Nonetheless, such a strong sentiment is a message to his players. If they want promotion, they’ve got to work harder for it than that.