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.

Photo Courtesy of Twitter: @dcfcofficial

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.

Twitter: @dcfcofficial

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.