A Derby fan's view

[old_eastender]

I have a good friend who is a Derby fan, I was not at the game.

His assessment was that we started well good energy, pressed them, quick passes and movement. He thought Derby were very complacent with 3 or 4 of the Derby players looking as though they thought they just needed to turn up to get the win. 3-0 at HT he thought game was over. Derby came out and started to play second half, got one back then came the Taylor miss and the Bryan breakaway and shot, where Tammy was apparently unmarked if Bryan had seen him. He said he couldn't believe it when we subbed Taylor, he said his movement into pockets of space was still causing them problems at the back. After Taylor went off we offered no attacking threat and just sat back deeper and deeper. Another 5 mins game time and he thought Derby would have got the winner, he also thought it was a fair penalty (although looks harsh on TV to me).

So although you can blame Taylor for his miss and Bryan for not getting his head up when we had great chances to make it 1-4, LJ has to take some of the blame for woeful game management.

 

[GJS]

Any need for another thread? You could have just added this opinion to one of the many others.

Yes Johnson has to shoulder some of the blame and so do the players. 

Think you can get the same opinions in the other threads.

[Bar BS3]

Hardly a "Derby fans view" it's exactly what has been said plenty of times already. 

If at 3-1 LJ had left 2 strikers on and we lost 3-5 he'd have been slaughtered for not shutting up shop! 

To let a 3 goal lead slip is disappointing and painful, but credit has to go towards us getting ourselves 3-0 in such a tough away game. 

Taylor's miss really was quite remarkable. That goes in and it's a different result. 

[Kingswood Robin]

20 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Hardly a "Derby fans view" it's exactly what has been said plenty of times already. 

If at 3-1 LJ had left 2 strikers on and we lost 3-5 he'd have been slaughtered for not shutting up shop! 

To let a 3 goal lead slip is disappointing and painful, but credit has to go towards us getting ourselves 3-0 in such a tough away game. 

Taylor's miss really was quite remarkable. That goes in and it's a different result. 

Yes, my guess would be 4-4. Our powers of capitulation are limitless it would seem.

[citysimmo]

OK here's another from their forum: 

"We were very poor first half but Bristol were really impressive. Their movement and passing was great and they pressed us (which we always hate) and reduced any space. I can't believe they are in relegation trouble when they can play like that. They looked like a promotion team in the first half. "

[shepton red]

1 hour ago, GJS said:

Any need for another thread? You could have just added this opinion to one of the many others.

Yes Johnson has to shoulder some of the blame and so do the players. 

Think you can get the same opinions in the other threads.

Don't read it then..............

[The Original OTIB]

Other Derby views:

 

Lee Johnson's teams will always play good football- perhaps too much so.

Their full backs are happier attacking than defending and their centre halves, whilst dominant in the air are ponderous on the ground.

They now have terrific forward options and I would back them to end the season well.

[Phileas Fogg]

This reads like an attempt to try and counteract the numerous positive accounts of our performance today. 

[The Original OTIB]

We were terrific in the first half and better than average in the second half. Our weakness is in the full back areas and not keeping to simple passing rather than unnecessarily panicked defending. I agree with the view that we now have good options up front. Taylor's sitter was a sickener; but overall, it was actually an enjoyable (long) day out.

[42nite]

4 minutes ago, Bullbag said:

we'd end up poaching Mickey Mouse from Disney Land.

 

Mmmm

 

Poached Mickey Mouse.

 

[Donkeeebles]

2 hours ago, old_eastender said:

I have a good friend who is a Derby fan, I was not at the game.

His assessment was that we started well good energy, pressed them, quick passes and movement. He thought Derby were very complacent with 3 or 4 of the Derby players looking as though they thought they just needed to turn up to get the win. 3-0 at HT he thought game was over. Derby came out and started to play second half, got one back then came the Taylor miss and the Bryan breakaway and shot, where Tammy was apparently unmarked if Bryan had seen him. He said he couldn't believe it when we subbed Taylor, he said his movement into pockets of space was still causing them problems at the back. After Taylor went off we offered no attacking threat and just sat back deeper and deeper. Another 5 mins game time and he thought Derby would have got the winner, he also thought it was a fair penalty (although looks harsh on TV to me).

So although you can blame Taylor for his miss and Bryan for not getting his head up when we had great chances to make it 1-4, LJ has to take some of the blame for woeful game management.

 

Apart from Joe Bryan's 1 on 1 when he put it wide, Djuric's effort from the edge of the box and Wrights free header centre of goal 3 yards out when he managed to head it over he bar 

[GJS]

36 minutes ago, shepton red said:

Don't read it then..............

Too late. Maybe next time.

[Son of Fred]

Interesting look on the Derby forum-they seem surprised we are in trouble(based on first half)and puzzled as to why Taylor was pulled off,felt this was a game changer as was our only player utilising space and stretching them...

Scored, two assists,great debut & pulling the opposition around-take him off.

Masterstroke.

[Tipps69]

Chances are that LJ believed Djuric would give us better defensive options at set pieces, seeing as he's 6'6".

Derby were applying more & more pressure plus fresh legs up top & a better chance of holding the ball up when cleared which would allow for the pressure to be taken off the rest of the team!! Perfectly acceptable tactics in my opinion.

And if the lads were pressing & closing down at every opportunity then the likelihood was that MT had run himself into the ground!!

Let's not forget that Derby are a very good team & with their fans behind them & momentum going their way it was always likely to be backs against the wall.

Why do people always see fit to try & find every negative rather than the positives?

[sodburyred]

We just need to get used to the fact that we will in all likely hood concede 3 goals. So if we just aim for 4 each game we'll be fine. 

At 0-2 yesterday I said we'd still lose, at 0-3 I said good we'll get a point out of this. Annoyed that i didn't put money on it ,instead going for the derby 4-3 bet. 

[Spike]

Having watched the goals we conceded it just looks like our defenders cannot defend against the wide attacks. Both goals the Derby strikers were all in plenty of space, the defence were totally unaware of their movement and although I love Flint as the guy is passionate and wants to win his awareness is shocking at times.

Sitting back as we do a lot doesn't help but after seeing how we conceed in the last few months it has to come down to the defenders switching off, they just can't seem to keep the opposition attacking players marked up and pressured. I mean you don't even have to win a header to do your job, just put enough pressure on the striker to make him make a mistake is a start but we're not even doing that. As soon as one goal goes in you can see the panic, the lack of composure and focus to keep the opposition marked up and contained and then it goes all to s***!

[Mr Popodopolous]

Watched the highlights this morning.

Taylor miss was awful but our performance was superb. Worth noting that Derby made a double substitution, think we were too late with our changes- can easily see players knackered after an hour or so after such a first half and fresh legs would have helped them- would have helped us sooner.

Something like 4-4-1-1 counterattack say after an hour, with Tomlin and Djuric on for both strikers- with Djuric to hold up and lay off and Tomlin to drop back into midfield as and when required. Or even better Pack to steady the ship and Djuric to hold up. O'Neil would have perfect for that ship steadying role but he wasn't in the 18.

[iamalagerdrinker]

My friends opinion on us:-

 

Class first half, sh*t second half. End.

[pillred]

2 hours ago, Tipps69 said:

Chances are that LJ believed Djuric would give us better defensive options at set pieces, seeing as he's 6'6".

Derby were applying more & more pressure plus fresh legs up top & a better chance of holding the ball up when cleared which would allow for the pressure to be taken off the rest of the team!! Perfectly acceptable tactics in my opinion.

And if the lads were pressing & closing down at every opportunity then the likelihood was that MT had run himself into the ground!!

Let's not forget that Derby are a very good team & with their fans behind them & momentum going their way it was always likely to be backs against the wall.

Why do people always see fit to try & find every negative rather than the positives?

and vice versa.

[Tipps69]

3 minutes ago, pillred said:

and vice versa.

What, why do some people always try to find the positives within the club?

If that's what you're pointing at, then that's because I support my club & always find that positive support is more likely to help the club in the long run instead of being negative which doesn't help anyone!!

[Strictly Obi]

And there was me thinking we lost because one of there players cheated and dived!!! 

[pillred]

9 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

What, why do some people always try to find the positives within the club?

If that's what you're pointing at, then that's because I support my club & always find that positive support is more likely to help the club in the long run instead of being negative which doesn't help anyone!!

and some people ONLY ever see the positives, there are two sides to every argument there is nothing wrong in being positive, but sometimes its hard to be, just because some people are negative that does not mean they want the club to fail they are just saying it as they see it.

[TV Tom]

3 hours ago, The Original OTIB said:

Other Derby views:

 

Lee Johnson's teams will always play good football- perhaps too much so.

Their full backs are happier attacking than defending and their centre halves, whilst dominant in the air are ponderous on the ground.

They now have terrific forward options and I would back them to end the season well.

Hit the nail on the head with our centre halfs being ponderous on the ground, our full backs get plenty of stick, and rightly so at times while our central defenders seem almost blameless

[Tipps69]

15 minutes ago, pillred said:

and some people ONLY ever see the positives, there are two sides to every argument there is nothing wrong in being positive, but sometimes its hard to be, just because some people are negative that does not mean they want the club to fail they are just saying it as they see it.

But some people only want to see the negatives & are seemingly only happy if they have something to moan about & it gets very boring!!

I'll tell you what, literally two years ago I broke my back, fractured my sternum & damaged nerves in my right shoulder which means even to this day I can't lift my right arm above shoulder height & I have suffered from chronic back pain ever since, I'm now 44 years old, I lost everything that meant something to me & I now suffer from depression yet I can still see the positives in the football club I decide to SUPPORT!! It's really not hard to see the positives, just look how far the club has developed in the last 2 to 3 years for starters, we are progressing, maybe not as fast as some people would like but we are better than we were even a year ago.

I can see more positives in my football club than I can in my own life, it's a weird way to live. Maybe that's why I can see the positives in my club, who knows?

[stephenkibby.]

48 minutes ago, john from high littleton said:

And there was me thinking we lost because one of there players cheated and dived!!! 

Blimey they must have got a real late winner!!

[pillred]

2 hours ago, Tipps69 said:

But some people only want to see the negatives & are seemingly only happy if they have something to moan about & it gets very boring!!

I'll tell you what, literally two years ago I broke my back, fractured my sternum & damaged nerves in my right shoulder which means even to this day I can't lift my right arm above shoulder height & I have suffered from chronic back pain ever since, I'm now 44 years old, I lost everything that meant something to me & I now suffer from depression yet I can still see the positives in the football club I decide to SUPPORT!! It's really not hard to see the positives, just look how far the club has developed in the last 2 to 3 years for starters, we are progressing, maybe not as fast as some people would like but we are better than we were even a year ago.

I can see more positives in my football club than I can in my own life, it's a weird way to live. Maybe that's why I can see the positives in my club, who knows?

sorry to hear that, lets hope we all have a lot more reasons to be happy in the future with this club, and can post more positive things.

[Tipps69]

So Taylor has a slight hamstring problem!! So that'll explain why LJ took him off on Saturday.

But nothing like blaming someone before knowing the whole story hey?!?

We as SUPPORTERS don't know everything that goes on during training or even during matches, even if we think we've seen everything & know everything, we don't!!

The trouble is there needs to be an element of trust especially with regards to what LJ does but some "supporters" don't trust him & that is causing a problem within the supporter network.

[Alessandro]

39 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

So Taylor has a slight hamstring problem!! So that'll explain why LJ took him off on Saturday.

But nothing like blaming someone before knowing the whole story hey?!?

We as SUPPORTERS don't know everything that goes on during training or even during matches, even if we think we've seen everything & know everything, we don't!!

The trouble is there needs to be an element of trust especially with regards to what LJ does but some "supporters" don't trust him & that is causing a problem within the supporter network.

I think this hits the nail on the head Tipps. 

The reality is the fans have no idea of half of the things that are going on, on or off the pitch, leaving people to fill in the blanks, depending on your persuasion. Both sides are guilty of this.

There have been some classic examples recently - the 'Wade Elliott Johnson's lost the dressing room' and this very weekend 'Magnusson getting his Birthday off'. People will believe what they want to believe.

Regardless of what happens now, with LJ taking us up the league or not, too many people have now drawn their line in the sand as it were and every single thing will be scrutinised and criticised by some now until he is gone, be it in three months or 3 years time.

[finbarr_in_z]

I've had loads of opinions on this from many, many Derby fans.

General consensus:

• Derby players thought it was going to be a walkover - backfired & half time b0110cking meant they played 2nd half in their usual way
• City can play some excellent stuff when confidence is up

How did I get all this info?

<- look where I live.

[BCFC Rich]

Here are a load of quotes about the game from their forum. Interesting to see what they thought:

"first half was hard to take but bristol city deserved a lot of credit for the efort they put in, there movement and pace was too much for derby to cope with, i think any team in this league would have struggled against it it was just a team playing out of their skins. glass is half full we move on and up!"

 

"Let's face it, it wouldn't be a season without a 3-3 result against a team we should really be beating."

 

"I don't get this thing that we were lucky to draw. We had two near misses at the end. Their keeper made two top quality saves in the first half. They missed a sitter in the second half. Hard to see that a draw wasn't a fair result."

 

"Disastrous first half performance, but important to note that Bristol played really well. Overloaded us on the wings and seemed to be constantly getting dangerous low crosses in. They've got a couple of decent strikers and were clinical, even if it was three tap ins. David Cotterill was absolutely fantastic, which is a bizarre sentence in itself."

 

"For me today showed why we are not good enough for the playoffs we have no clear pattern of play and lack rhythm and understanding of each other's game. I thought 3-3 flattered us and it would have been a completely different story without the miss of the season by their lad when it was 3-1"

 

"Don't know what to think. What a dreadful 1st half, but what a comeback (although a tad lucky they didn't get a 4th). Thought Nugent was a breath of fresh air for the team, with Keogh driving everyone forward. A bit confused with the changes and subsequent formation, but who cares in the end a well earned point."

 

"We were very poor first half but Bristol were really impressive. Their movement and passing was great and they pressed us (which we always hate) and reduced any space. I can't believe they are in relegation trouble when they can play like that. They looked like a promotion team in the first half." 

 

"Lee Johnson's teams will always play good football- perhaps too much so. Their full backs are happier attacking than defending and their centre halves, whilst dominant in the air are ponderous on the ground. They now have terrific forward options and I would back them to end the season well."

"Credit to Bristol though, they look a better side than their league position suggests. Liked Cotterill and the tall lad in midfield, Brownhill was it?"

 "

Thats the best halve's performance from an away team I have seen this season - they played great football, knocked it about superbly in midfield and were a real handful up front. They played as a team."

"Cotteril was fantastic. You do wonder that we will continue to struggle to get up  until we have midfielders showing his level of desire, commitment and drive, mixed with a strong physicality. Like we had before from Carsley/Van der Laan/Powell et al in the good old days."

 "

Cotterill had a cracking first half to be fair, he kept them ticking over nicely and no-one did anything to try and stop him. Bristol first half were everything that we weren't, first to the loose ball, intelligent running off the ball, crisp accurate passes, midfielders running with the ball and constantly threatening the defence with surging runs, and putting the ball where they knew their team mate would be, not just lumping it forward in the hope that someone would get it."