SJC Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 The final whistle yesterday was one of mixed reactions. The first half performance was comfortably one of the best City have produced for quite some time. The passing was slick and incisive; off the ball movement was good and most unsung of it all, the team defended outstandingly as a unit as Derby were time and again pressed backwards until forced into a difficult pass that gave away possession. And yet for as good as the first half performance was, the second half was at the other end of the scale with a late Derby winner only avoided by a fantastic back tracking Weale save. Having been previously slow starters it came as great relief to come out of the blocks firing. The first 20 minutes saw us tear apart an opposing 11 players who, although not yet settled as a team, will surely have the individual abilities to ensure a promotion threat is inevitable. The much debated Lee Johnson played some fantastic balls in the opening period only for a costly second half mistake to render any good he had previously done forgotten. A couple of these passes demonstrated an element of vision that none other in the team can rival. The treatment of Johnson is totally un-acceptable and I am afraid there can be little debate that some 'fans' are now entering games with a pre-determined agenda that any mistake he makes shall be instantly leapt upon. The shame of it all is that there is no need for pigeon holing, a fan should neither be an optimist or a pessimist, like or dislike any given player. Players should be judged on their performance on the pitch, every game should be viewed as 90 minutes when dissecting performance. Unfortunately it is clear that some find this a challenge too great and carry with them preconceived opinions before a player has kicked a ball. This opinion need no further evidence than the moment in the second half where Johnson received the ball amid a cluster of Derby players, attempted to wriggle his way free but on the unavoidable tackle a call of 'Johnson you ####' echoed from the Dolman. One word, pathetic. Lee Johnson had a very good first half and a disappointing second one. His mistake for the goal has cast a shadow over what was, over the course of the two halves an ok performance. If he had made the mistake early in the first half and then played as he did in the first second time around he would have been praised, that is the epitome of the short sightedness of all those who choose to condemn every erron pass of our playmaker. Lee Johnson aside the team collapsed on itself in the second half. Far from the confident passing unit of the first, the second half saw a hurried lack of composure which allowed Derby back into a game that they should have been out of by half time. Chris Weale, although rightly disappointed with the goal made a couple of fine saves to keep it at 1-1. Cole Skuse produced his best performance in a City shirt for some time, demonstrating a willingness to break down play and hustle the opisition into mistake. Louis Carey may well have done better with a close range header and Jamie McAlister made a crucial tackle to reinforce another decent performance, albeit bar the farcical defending up to and including the Derby goal. Brian Wilson for the second time in five days came off the bench in worrying circumstances to produce a fine display. Adebola and Maynard were largely anonymous in attack, in frequently linking up the play nicely. McIndoe and Williams failed to inspire however are not due any criticism. It is interesting to note the very quick progression of Gavin Williams who arrived in the cloud of the Carle departure. Cast aside as Injury prone on arrival his sudden movement to LJ's ready made replacement in the eyes of some is more testament to underlying prejudice than the players successes. A word for Bradley Orr who performed admirably when switched to central defence. The centre of the park is clearly not foreign to him as he was a central midfielder on arrival, but he contested and carried the ball out of defence with great assurance and can be proud of the job he performed in an unfamiliar environment. All in all yesterday was very much a game of two halves. Totally dominant in the first, perhaps the presence of a pat on the back rather than a dressing down at the interval allowed complacency to creep in. It was perhaps fitting that the game ended with the ball at Johnson's feet when he made his second big error of the game, inexcusably failing to deliver an early first time cross with players waiting in the middle. Whatever conclusions may be drawn we are as yet unbeaten having won two of three in all competitions, and as with many draws, if a positive result is gained at the rejuvenated Coventry next week it may essentially be a point gained rather than two dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terjon Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 I agree a game of two halves, but feel it is 2 pionts dropped, however we cannot dwell on the result as the games come thick and fast. My only concern having watched all the games this season so far is the service to maynard, we are not passing the ball down the channels enough for him to spin the defenders which his is strenght. We are at times playing to much football and losing possession when a simple pass from the centre of midfield through there defence would see maynard getting more of the ball. At this moment in time all maynad is doing is chasing down defenders, I know its part of the job upfront, but if you watch just maynard for a couple of minutes in the next game you will see him playing on the shoulder of a defender making movements hoping to recieve the ball down the channel, unfortunatley we don't delivery this for him, cutting down his opportunity to score. I know it takes time to gel but we need to stop being so predictable, Derby pressed us higher up the field in the 2nd half and we gave the ball away under pressure. Thats why sometimes we need to play direct football aswell has a passing game. See you all in coventry, PS, poor crowd yesterday, where are all the wembley merchants, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockin-robin Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Sounds like a lot of our performances last season at home. How often did we play well in the first half, then spend the majority of the second half with our backs against the wall and defending for our lives? We must learn how to kill teams off when we can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockin-robin Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 I agree a game of two halves, but feel it is 2 pionts dropped, however we cannot dwell on the result as the games come thick and fast. My only concern having watched all the games this season so far is the service to maynard, we are not passing the ball down the channels enough for him to spin the defenders which his is strenght. We are at times playing to much football and losing possession when a simple pass from the centre of midfield through there defence would see maynard getting more of the ball. At this moment in time all maynad is doing is chasing down defenders, I know its part of the job upfront, but if you watch just maynard for a couple of minutes in the next game you will see him playing on the shoulder of a defender making movements hoping to recieve the ball down the channel, unfortunatley we don't delivery this for him, cutting down his opportunity to score. I know it takes time to gel but we need to stop being so predictable, Derby pressed us higher up the field in the 2nd half and we gave the ball away under pressure. Thats why sometimes we need to play direct football aswell has a passing game. See you all in coventry, PS, poor crowd yesterday, where are all the wembley merchants, Probably watching Liverpool....the muppets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtyeoRed Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Yes I agree, yesterday was a game of to halves, what we needed to do was kick on after Maynards goal and take advantage of Derby's lack of mid field, like so many times we lacked the killer instinct. we needed a second goal before half time. Derby must have had a good kick up the Backside by Jewell as they Put their selve about more second half, and our mid field needs to toughen up a bit and show more agression and give back as good as the are given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinapig Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Sounds like a lot of our performances last season at home. How often did we play well in the first half, then spend the majority of the second half with our backs against the wall and defending for our lives? We must learn how to kill teams off when we can! Went through my mind as well. We go in ahead at half time then when the second half starts the midfield is suddenly 20 yards deeper, we are allowing teams to come on and trying to play on the break. It has happened so often now I wonder if it is a coincidence or in fact GJ is using it as a tactic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_BCFC Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Sounds like a lot of our performances last season at home. How often did we play well in the first half, then spend the majority of the second half with our backs against the wall and defending for our lives? We must learn how to kill teams off when we can! Last season we were sometimes lucky and sometimes defended well to win those games. This season I think the league is stronger and it is why I would say we are a couple of players away from making a challenge for the top 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dezgimed Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 don't agree with all of it. But well written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DanC Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 Seems that we are a 45 mins side. Same as last season. We just can't seem to produce the goods in both half's. Derby are a decent side though and it's a good point really. We have 4 points(2 points a game will take us up) and we haven't even really hit 3rd gear yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJC Posted August 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Have just watched the highlights for the first time and I have to say that I had forgotten a couple of occasions where bar a Brian Wilson intervention we could have easily fallen behind. The clearence at the back post when he got infront of his attacker was superb defending. Weale plucking the ball out from under his bar against their late header was excellent goalkeeping, although he made it look very simple. If we can perform as we did in the first half of that game for pro-longed periods of this season then we should easily achieve a play-off place, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Really seemed to lose our shape in the 2nd half. May have been due to derby closing us down loads and not allowing us time with the ball. Whatever Jewell said to them at half time really worked they seemed like a different team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbcfc Posted August 18, 2008 Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Having seen all three games this season I come up with the same conclusions as last season. 1. We still need a right winger - personally i'ld like to see williams in the middle 2. When Marv is out we lack midfield drive 3. We still need a decent ball winning center-half 4. The team as a whole lacks pace - (addressed up top with Maynard) I think four points is a decent return but i'm sure everyone else will agree that derby were there for the taking. It'll be a good test on Sat to see how we react to an attacking football playing team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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