Back from Derby - My View

[Kachina II]

Evening lads and ladies;

I've just got home to cold and snowy Preston having made the trip to Derby today and before reading what I suspect will mainly be doom and gloom Johnson must go posts I wanted to add my views on today.

My biggest whinge today is actually going to go at Derby and their pathetic road policy. Told by guys in yellow jackets on the roundabout outside the ground to park down this side road in a industrial estate, they forgot to tell me that the exit to the road will be closed by Full Time and having left shortly after the final whistle, I found myself sitting in my car on a closed road until 5.30 before they opened the road so myself and many other fans could exit into what was totally gridlocked traffic. To sum it up, I didn't get on the M1 (only 5 miles away) until 6pm! Absolute terrible road management. To show how poor it was, when we actually got on the roundabout, I was passed by the club bus going the other way, which wouldn't departed until after press conferences, debrief, warm down and showers for the players!

Okay less of the whinge, I want to firstly say today was the best I've seen City play all season, and the first 45 minutes we looked like a team fighting for promotion not battling relegation. In fact apart I thought most had great games.

We weren't exactly on top when we took the lead and it was a rebounded shot which Taylor tucked away, the goal came about from amazing link up play from Cotterill and Brownhill who were brilliant today. In fact Cotterill was stand out in the first half.

Our 2nd was again through amazing play from Cotterill, Bryan, and Brownhill who tore the Derby defence apart and it was a great strike from Matty Taylor which produced a great save to gift Tammy a tap in.

By now we seemed full of confidence, and despite the odd attack Derby were clearly second best. So much so, that Derby on 30 minutes made two substitutions and changed their shape.

They were still unable to deal with Brownhill and Cotterill who continued to expose Derby down the left and Bryan on the overlap made life difficult.

Again it was another chance by Taylor, which fell to Bryan and then another Tammy gift.

We were unlucky not to get a 4th shortly before half time when Taylor hooked the ball across goal and Bryan from a tight angle flashed it across the face of goal only for it to whistle past the far post.

Half time came too early for us and I have no doubt, another five minutes would have saw us grab another and Derby had no answers to us on the break and they didn't threaten once.

The half time interval was full of City fans in fine spirits but very much shocked but the sad fact was the common joke was we needed another 2 before we could feel confident.

As the second half started Derby came explosive out the blocks and put us immediately under pressure, Tom Ince forcing a fine save from Giefer. When they scored you couldn't say it wasn't deserved as they battered us for the first ten minutes of the second half and you could see it coming.

At this point however we didn't appear flustered or panicking and as Tammy struck low and hard and the keeper saved, it appeared Matty Taylor had a tap in to make it 4-1 but with an empty net in front of him he sent it over.

City frustrated at what may have been, and Derby getting on the front foot, an incisive breakaway from Derby's number 8 who was absolutely brilliant all game, saw a brilliant counter attack, with Hegeler sending Bryan clear of the defence, as he got into the area Tammy had burst into the centre of the box, completely unmarked and sure to score, however I think Bryan saw his name in lights and with the keeper trying to narrow his angle he sent his shot wide, with Tammy going mad on the penalty spot knowing he would have had a hat trick had Bryan looked up and saw him.

Derby's second came shortly after this, and it came from an unmarked Tom Ince who headed in, again from another fine cross from the number 8 whose name escapes me. Ince always seems to score against us, but quite why our defence left him unmarked was bemusing to me.

As the game went on Derby got more and more dangerous and we had no answer to each and every attack, and rarely got on the ball to go forward. For the first time this season City started doing the right thing in breaking up play giving cheap fouls away and taking a yellow or a stern telling off, noatably when a mix up between Little and Flint saw Ince about to break free, Flint tap tackled him and took his yellow with a smile.

City as too often this season tried playing the ball out the area instead of clearing their lines and like a mix up at Burnley which led to a goal, Scot Golbourne got the wrong side of Darren Bent and gave away a silly pen as Bent didn't even have a shot on and the box was full of red shirts.

Bent stepped up and scored his penalty, with Giefer getting a hand to it and nearly keeping it out.

With ten minutes left and a frustrated bunch of fans and a bouncing Derby I must admit I expected Derby to get a 4th. We clearly had no desire to win it at this point bringing on O'Dowda for Tammy.

We had brief attacks after this but it was mainly Derby who pressed but we defended well when it was too late, Duric a presence at the back on every attack, and Bailey Wright hard as nails. Near the end O'Dowda and Cotterill linked up well, before Cotterill's shot went wide of the goal and as the full time whistle went you couldn't help but feel gutted it ended 3-3.

Lee Johnson for me was let down by a couple of poor defensive errors today, and I don't think we came out second half and shut up shot as numerous chances showed at 3-1, the difference was Derby outplayed us and were stronger and more physical, much like a boxing match, we had them on the ropes in the first half but as the game went on quality, strength, fitness and ability shone through.

Had Taylor scored his open goal or Bryan found the key pass to Tammy at 3-1, I think 4-1 would have killed it, but the game felt very much like Sheffield Wednesday away or even Reading at home, where on the ball going forward we looked one of the best teams in the league, but defensively we were poor and we didn't do the simple things.

For it to take 70+ minutes for us to give away our first cynical foul said something to me. We need to learn when to foul clubs and with them using all three subs by 65 minutes, and none of our defence on yellows we should at 3-1 have gone dirty, roughed them up, tried to injure them. I know this isn't pretty football but they were running at us and mindset of a midfielder will always be if its a soft team you keep running, if you knew everytime you ran you would probably get whacked and battered, you start to limit your play, this is something we don't do but loads of other teams in this league do, we need to be more physical and make it harder for teams to attack us.

However I am also not going to take anything away from Derby, their 2nd half performance showed exactly why they are flirting with the playoffs and they had 4/5 real quality players who would walk into any club in this league. They were better than us in the second half by a mile, but I wouldn't say we were disgraced.

If someone offered me a point pre game I would have taken it, it was just cruel the way it came about.

However this was the first time this season I went away thinking this team might be good enough, for me Wright, Cotterill, Hegeler, Brownhill, Tammy and Taylor were outstanding, the first touch of Matty Taylor and pass on him is very very good, and he has good vision, he will only get better. Wright was as solid as a rock in defence, Hegeler and Brownhill in the centre was as good a pairing I've seen all season, and Cotterill switched wings and played central all game, we was fantastic. Little had an OK game, as did Golbourne bar the penalty incident, whilst Bryan, Flint, and Giefer done nothing wrong without being stand out.

What today showed me is, we are lacking 2 full backs and possibly a leader at the back to be a top 6 team in this league, and I think there was a lot of positives today.

Johnson done nothing wrong and you could see him really angry at Full Time, for the first time this season he felt he was let down rather than tactics letting him down.

I personally think on today we wont go down, and if we play like that against Leeds and Newcastle, I could see us getting a minimum of 2 pts. On a day we gained 1 point on Wigan, Burton and Forest, and maintained ground with Balckburn, and Rotherham for me it was a pleasing result only soured by losing a 3-0 lead.

For those who didn't go today, don't lose heart, don't blame Lee and get behind this team. They will come good and I think next season with a couple of the right additions, we could be looking firmly at the other end of the table.

To those who did go, I have a feeling a number of fans will agree with me.

In Johnson I trust, and whilst it was frustrating, I feel the team will learn from today and this was not a confidence dent today, on to Tuesday and more of the same first half and stick it out, our young squad is getting there, very few teams have gone to Derby this season and bossed them for 65 minutes, and got something out the game and genuinely looked the better side for most of the game, that says a lot about our performance today.

I for one was proud of the team today.

[Kodjias Wrist]

Johnson out!

Joking....Scoring three goals away is good no matter who against. I have calmed down a bit now and see it as a point gained. 

Still have some issues late on and we seem to collapse but we can only hope it will get better.

Another point at leeds would be great

[MrBibs]

Agree with pretty much all of that lancsred. Think Taylor was offisde anyway when he hit it over from 1 yard.

I thought the support was fantastic today. Was as proud of the fans as I was of the team. First half felt like some sort of weird dream.

[Donkeeebles]

I thought it was a fantastic game of football and as bad an advert for the championship last week's game was this was the complete opposite. 

First half we were simply immense. Tammy and Taylor pulled their back 4 all over the place and Heggler,Brownhill and Cotterill ran the show. 

2nd half I don't think we were anywhere near as bad as the scoreline suggests. Derby came at us as you'd expect but I thought we continued to play football and created several great chances to finish them off (Taylors was easier to score) 

Derby worked the ball down our left twice and scored 2 good goals and I have no idea about the pen as there were too many bodies in the way. I will also have to give our boys credit trying to get the winner at 3-3 when at the point when the equalised there only looked like 1 winner. 

I can see why people are going to be critical of losing a lead like that but I simply cannot criticise those players who left absolutely everything out there. 

I was proud of our team today. 

[Esmond Million's Bung]

38 minutes ago, lancsred said:

Evening lads and ladies;

I've just got home to cold and snowy Preston having made the trip to Derby today and before reading what I suspect will mainly be doom and gloom Johnson must go posts I wanted to add my views on today.

My biggest whinge today is actually going to go at Derby and their pathetic road policy. Told by guys in yellow jackets on the roundabout outside the ground to park down this side road in a industrial estate, they forgot to tell me that the exit to the road will be closed by Full Time and having left shortly after the final whistle, I found myself sitting in my car on a closed road until 5.30 before they opened the road so myself and many other fans could exit into what was totally gridlocked traffic. To sum it up, I didn't get on the M1 (only 5 miles away) until 6pm! Absolute terrible road management. To show how poor it was, when we actually got on the roundabout, I was passed by the club bus going the other way, which wouldn't departed until after press conferences, debrief, warm down and showers for the players!

Okay less of the whinge, I want to firstly say today was the best I've seen City play all season, and the first 45 minutes we looked like a team fighting for promotion not battling relegation. In fact apart I thought most had great games.

We weren't exactly on top when we took the lead and it was a rebounded shot which Taylor tucked away, the goal came about from amazing link up play from Cotterill and Brownhill who were brilliant today. In fact Cotterill was stand out in the first half.

Our 2nd was again through amazing play from Cotterill, Bryan, and Brownhill who tore the Derby defence apart and it was a great strike from Matty Taylor which produced a great save to gift Tammy a tap in.

By now we seemed full of confidence, and despite the odd attack Derby were clearly second best. So much so, that Derby on 30 minutes made two substitutions and changed their shape.

They were still unable to deal with Brownhill and Cotterill who continued to expose Derby down the left and Bryan on the overlap made life difficult.

Again it was another chance by Taylor, which fell to Bryan and then another Tammy gift.

We were unlucky not to get a 4th shortly before half time when Taylor hooked the ball across goal and Bryan from a tight angle flashed it across the face of goal only for it to whistle past the far post.

Half time came too early for us and I have no doubt, another five minutes would have saw us grab another and Derby had no answers to us on the break and they didn't threaten once.

The half time interval was full of City fans in fine spirits but very much shocked but the sad fact was the common joke was we needed another 2 before we could feel confident.

As the second half started Derby came explosive out the blocks and put us immediately under pressure, Tom Ince forcing a fine save from Giefer. When they scored you couldn't say it wasn't deserved as they battered us for the first ten minutes of the second half and you could see it coming.

At this point however we didn't appear flustered or panicking and as Tammy struck low and hard and the keeper saved, it appeared Matty Taylor had a tap in to make it 4-1 but with an empty net in front of him he sent it over.

City frustrated at what may have been, and Derby getting on the front foot, an incisive breakaway from Derby's number 8 who was absolutely brilliant all game, saw a brilliant counter attack, with Hegeler sending Bryan clear of the defence, as he got into the area Tammy had burst into the centre of the box, completely unmarked and sure to score, however I think Bryan saw his name in lights and with the keeper trying to narrow his angle he sent his shot wide, with Tammy going mad on the penalty spot knowing he would have had a hat trick had Bryan looked up and saw him.

Derby's second came shortly after this, and it came from an unmarked Tom Ince who headed in, again from another fine cross from the number 8 whose name escapes me. Ince always seems to score against us, but quite why our defence left him unmarked was bemusing to me.

As the game went on Derby got more and more dangerous and we had no answer to each and every attack, and rarely got on the ball to go forward. For the first time this season City started doing the right thing in breaking up play giving cheap fouls away and taking a yellow or a stern telling off, noatably when a mix up between Little and Flint saw Ince about to break free, Flint tap tackled him and took his yellow with a smile.

City as too often this season tried playing the ball out the area instead of clearing their lines and like a mix up at Burnley which led to a goal, Scot Golbourne got the wrong side of Darren Bent and gave away a silly pen as Bent didn't even have a shot on and the box was full of red shirts.

Bent stepped up and scored his penalty, with Giefer getting a hand to it and nearly keeping it out.

With ten minutes left and a frustrated bunch of fans and a bouncing Derby I must admit I expected Derby to get a 4th. We clearly had no desire to win it at this point bringing on O'Dowda for Tammy.

We had brief attacks after this but it was mainly Derby who pressed but we defended well when it was too late, Duric a presence at the back on every attack, and Bailey Wright hard as nails. Near the end O'Dowda and Cotterill linked up well, before Cotterill's shot went wide of the goal and as the full time whistle went you couldn't help but feel gutted it ended 3-3.

Lee Johnson for me was let down by a couple of poor defensive errors today, and I don't think we came out second half and shut up shot as numerous chances showed at 3-1, the difference was Derby outplayed us and were stronger and more physical, much like a boxing match, we had them on the ropes in the first half but as the game went on quality, strength, fitness and ability shone through.

Had Taylor scored his open goal or Bryan found the key pass to Tammy at 3-1, I think 4-1 would have killed it, but the game felt very much like Sheffield Wednesday away or even Reading at home, where on the ball going forward we looked one of the best teams in the league, but defensively we were poor and we didn't do the simple things.

For it to take 70+ minutes for us to give away our first cynical foul said something to me. We need to learn when to foul clubs and with them using all three subs by 65 minutes, and none of our defence on yellows we should at 3-1 have gone dirty, roughed them up, tried to injure them. I know this isn't pretty football but they were running at us and mindset of a midfielder will always be if its a soft team you keep running, if you knew everytime you ran you would probably get whacked and battered, you start to limit your play, this is something we don't do but loads of other teams in this league do, we need to be more physical and make it harder for teams to attack us.

However I am also not going to take anything away from Derby, their 2nd half performance showed exactly why they are flirting with the playoffs and they had 4/5 real quality players who would walk into any club in this league. They were better than us in the second half by a mile, but I wouldn't say we were disgraced.

If someone offered me a point pre game I would have taken it, it was just cruel the way it came about.

However this was the first time this season I went away thinking this team might be good enough, for me Wright, Cotterill, Hegeler, Brownhill, Tammy and Taylor were outstanding, the first touch of Matty Taylor and pass on him is very very good, and he has good vision, he will only get better. Wright was as solid as a rock in defence, Hegeler and Brownhill in the centre was as good a pairing I've seen all season, and Cotterill switched wings and played central all game, we was fantastic. Little had an OK game, as did Golbourne bar the penalty incident, whilst Bryan, Flint, and Giefer done nothing wrong without being stand out.

What today showed me is, we are lacking 2 full backs and possibly a leader at the back to be a top 6 team in this league, and I think there was a lot of positives today.

Johnson done nothing wrong and you could see him really angry at Full Time, for the first time this season he felt he was let down rather than tactics letting him down.

I personally think on today we wont go down, and if we play like that against Leeds and Newcastle, I could see us getting a minimum of 2 pts. On a day we gained 1 point on Wigan, Burton and Forest, and maintained ground with Balckburn, and Rotherham for me it was a pleasing result only soured by losing a 3-0 lead.

For those who didn't go today, don't lose heart, don't blame Lee and get behind this team. They will come good and I think next season with a couple of the right additions, we could be looking firmly at the other end of the table.

To those who did go, I have a feeling a number of fans will agree with me.

In Johnson I trust, and whilst it was frustrating, I feel the team will learn from today and this was not a confidence dent today, on to Tuesday and more of the same first half and stick it out, our young squad is getting there, very few teams have gone to Derby this season and bossed them for 65 minutes, and got something out the game and genuinely looked the better side for most of the game, that says a lot about our performance today.

I for one was proud of the team today.

Thanks a great read, it sounds like a great game and more enjoyable if we were mid table with no relegation fears, my only comment is the highlighted portion it's been the mantra for over 4 months now but when will that day arrive?.

[Garland-sweden]

50 minutes ago, lancsred said:

Evening lads and ladies;

I've just got home to cold and snowy Preston having made the trip to Derby today and before reading what I suspect will mainly be doom and gloom Johnson must go posts I wanted to add my views on today.

My biggest whinge today is actually going to go at Derby and their pathetic road policy. Told by guys in yellow jackets on the roundabout outside the ground to park down this side road in a industrial estate, they forgot to tell me that the exit to the road will be closed by Full Time and having left shortly after the final whistle, I found myself sitting in my car on a closed road until 5.30 before they opened the road so myself and many other fans could exit into what was totally gridlocked traffic. To sum it up, I didn't get on the M1 (only 5 miles away) until 6pm! Absolute terrible road management. To show how poor it was, when we actually got on the roundabout, I was passed by the club bus going the other way, which wouldn't departed until after press conferences, debrief, warm down and showers for the players!

Okay less of the whinge, I want to firstly say today was the best I've seen City play all season, and the first 45 minutes we looked like a team fighting for promotion not battling relegation. In fact apart I thought most had great games.

We weren't exactly on top when we took the lead and it was a rebounded shot which Taylor tucked away, the goal came about from amazing link up play from Cotterill and Brownhill who were brilliant today. In fact Cotterill was stand out in the first half.

Our 2nd was again through amazing play from Cotterill, Bryan, and Brownhill who tore the Derby defence apart and it was a great strike from Matty Taylor which produced a great save to gift Tammy a tap in.

By now we seemed full of confidence, and despite the odd attack Derby were clearly second best. So much so, that Derby on 30 minutes made two substitutions and changed their shape.

They were still unable to deal with Brownhill and Cotterill who continued to expose Derby down the left and Bryan on the overlap made life difficult.

Again it was another chance by Taylor, which fell to Bryan and then another Tammy gift.

We were unlucky not to get a 4th shortly before half time when Taylor hooked the ball across goal and Bryan from a tight angle flashed it across the face of goal only for it to whistle past the far post.

Half time came too early for us and I have no doubt, another five minutes would have saw us grab another and Derby had no answers to us on the break and they didn't threaten once.

The half time interval was full of City fans in fine spirits but very much shocked but the sad fact was the common joke was we needed another 2 before we could feel confident.

As the second half started Derby came explosive out the blocks and put us immediately under pressure, Tom Ince forcing a fine save from Giefer. When they scored you couldn't say it wasn't deserved as they battered us for the first ten minutes of the second half and you could see it coming.

At this point however we didn't appear flustered or panicking and as Tammy struck low and hard and the keeper saved, it appeared Matty Taylor had a tap in to make it 4-1 but with an empty net in front of him he sent it over.

City frustrated at what may have been, and Derby getting on the front foot, an incisive breakaway from Derby's number 8 who was absolutely brilliant all game, saw a brilliant counter attack, with Hegeler sending Bryan clear of the defence, as he got into the area Tammy had burst into the centre of the box, completely unmarked and sure to score, however I think Bryan saw his name in lights and with the keeper trying to narrow his angle he sent his shot wide, with Tammy going mad on the penalty spot knowing he would have had a hat trick had Bryan looked up and saw him.

Derby's second came shortly after this, and it came from an unmarked Tom Ince who headed in, again from another fine cross from the number 8 whose name escapes me. Ince always seems to score against us, but quite why our defence left him unmarked was bemusing to me.

As the game went on Derby got more and more dangerous and we had no answer to each and every attack, and rarely got on the ball to go forward. For the first time this season City started doing the right thing in breaking up play giving cheap fouls away and taking a yellow or a stern telling off, noatably when a mix up between Little and Flint saw Ince about to break free, Flint tap tackled him and took his yellow with a smile.

City as too often this season tried playing the ball out the area instead of clearing their lines and like a mix up at Burnley which led to a goal, Scot Golbourne got the wrong side of Darren Bent and gave away a silly pen as Bent didn't even have a shot on and the box was full of red shirts.

Bent stepped up and scored his penalty, with Giefer getting a hand to it and nearly keeping it out.

With ten minutes left and a frustrated bunch of fans and a bouncing Derby I must admit I expected Derby to get a 4th. We clearly had no desire to win it at this point bringing on O'Dowda for Tammy.

We had brief attacks after this but it was mainly Derby who pressed but we defended well when it was too late, Duric a presence at the back on every attack, and Bailey Wright hard as nails. Near the end O'Dowda and Cotterill linked up well, before Cotterill's shot went wide of the goal and as the full time whistle went you couldn't help but feel gutted it ended 3-3.

Lee Johnson for me was let down by a couple of poor defensive errors today, and I don't think we came out second half and shut up shot as numerous chances showed at 3-1, the difference was Derby outplayed us and were stronger and more physical, much like a boxing match, we had them on the ropes in the first half but as the game went on quality, strength, fitness and ability shone through.

Had Taylor scored his open goal or Bryan found the key pass to Tammy at 3-1, I think 4-1 would have killed it, but the game felt very much like Sheffield Wednesday away or even Reading at home, where on the ball going forward we looked one of the best teams in the league, but defensively we were poor and we didn't do the simple things.

For it to take 70+ minutes for us to give away our first cynical foul said something to me. We need to learn when to foul clubs and with them using all three subs by 65 minutes, and none of our defence on yellows we should at 3-1 have gone dirty, roughed them up, tried to injure them. I know this isn't pretty football but they were running at us and mindset of a midfielder will always be if its a soft team you keep running, if you knew everytime you ran you would probably get whacked and battered, you start to limit your play, this is something we don't do but loads of other teams in this league do, we need to be more physical and make it harder for teams to attack us.

However I am also not going to take anything away from Derby, their 2nd half performance showed exactly why they are flirting with the playoffs and they had 4/5 real quality players who would walk into any club in this league. They were better than us in the second half by a mile, but I wouldn't say we were disgraced.

If someone offered me a point pre game I would have taken it, it was just cruel the way it came about.

However this was the first time this season I went away thinking this team might be good enough, for me Wright, Cotterill, Hegeler, Brownhill, Tammy and Taylor were outstanding, the first touch of Matty Taylor and pass on him is very very good, and he has good vision, he will only get better. Wright was as solid as a rock in defence, Hegeler and Brownhill in the centre was as good a pairing I've seen all season, and Cotterill switched wings and played central all game, we was fantastic. Little had an OK game, as did Golbourne bar the penalty incident, whilst Bryan, Flint, and Giefer done nothing wrong without being stand out.

What today showed me is, we are lacking 2 full backs and possibly a leader at the back to be a top 6 team in this league, and I think there was a lot of positives today.

Johnson done nothing wrong and you could see him really angry at Full Time, for the first time this season he felt he was let down rather than tactics letting him down.

I personally think on today we wont go down, and if we play like that against Leeds and Newcastle, I could see us getting a minimum of 2 pts. On a day we gained 1 point on Wigan, Burton and Forest, and maintained ground with Balckburn, and Rotherham for me it was a pleasing result only soured by losing a 3-0 lead.

For those who didn't go today, don't lose heart, don't blame Lee and get behind this team. They will come good and I think next season with a couple of the right additions, we could be looking firmly at the other end of the table.

To those who did go, I have a feeling a number of fans will agree with me.

In Johnson I trust, and whilst it was frustrating, I feel the team will learn from today and this was not a confidence dent today, on to Tuesday and more of the same first half and stick it out, our young squad is getting there, very few teams have gone to Derby this season and bossed them for 65 minutes, and got something out the game and genuinely looked the better side for most of the game, that says a lot about our performance today.

I for one was proud of the team today.

Thanks for the report, it give us hope. Coyr.

[AppyDAZE]

43 minutes ago, Kodjias Wrist said:

Johnson out!

Joking....Scoring three goals away is good no matter who against. I have calmed down a bit now and see it as a point gained. 

Still have some issues late on and we seem to collapse but we can only hope it will get better.

Another point at leeds would be great

you say Still have some issues late on... like this is a minor thing . That last half hour of any game is key. He got that right last Saturday and didnt get the credit which I thought was wrong .. Today I see no justification for praising what was literally the throwing away of a golden opportunity to get the maximum points when the upcoming fixtures look so tough

[RedM]

Good grief @lancsred, that's probably about the best and most detailed account I have ever read on here. Please tell me you write for a living , if not you are wasted. 

[mozo]

Golbourne has a lot to answer for 

[Wrongagain]

Agree with most of the above 3-0 up at the break shows that the promise of quality is coming good - BUT 

LJ has to shoulder some of the blame, the lead had to be protected, so why were the substitutions and formation not defensive?  if he does not have them available for the the bench, why is Moore out on loan?

[Kachina II]

7 hours ago, dave36 said:

Agree with most of the above 3-0 up at the break shows that the promise of quality is coming good - BUT 

LJ has to shoulder some of the blame, the lead had to be protected, so why were the substitutions and formation not defensive?  if he does not have them available for the the bench, why is Moore out on loan?

You raise some good points, but had we come out backs to the wall and lost, he would have been slated for doing so. Derby saw our full backs as our weakness and exploited that, everything went through the number 8, had we had their number 8 and Cotterill on each wing I think we would have been in double figures by half time.

Even when it went 3-1 we went for a 4th, we didn't sit back, but the pressure and constant onslaught when it went 3-2 saw us getting deeper and deeper. I don't think we meant to end up that way.

I think everyone expected them to get a fourth with 10 plus minutes remaining but our defence came alive then.

I don't dislike Aiden Flint, but for me he needs to be rougher and tougher, he wastes the ball a lot. Two Bailey Wrights is what we need. I sure as hell wouldn't want him to come clattering into me.

This summer priority is an established keeper at this level, Two Full Backs and a quality centre back, unless Mags steps up to the fold.

The midfield today was the best I've seen today, and having Paterson, O'Dowda and O'Neill as back up and that's before Smith, Pack and Tomlin, I think we are more than good enough.

I can't began to praise just how good Matty Taylor is on the ball, and off it, to give those who wasn't there an idea, he was Mezut Ozil good, his first touch is not one I've seen in a long time. Tammy done what Tammy does best, right man right place. If he isn't back next season can Gustav fill his boots? If not raid the war chest and bring in someone in the same ilk.

One thing I'm confident on is we aren't going down, and I also think Lee Johnson is the right man for the job, this is his team playing his style of football, for 70 minutes today we were the best team I've seen this season, not Newcastle, Huddersfield or Brighton, we were brilliant, we had the look of a top 6 team all day long.

Knackered after 75 minutes, yes. But that will come with time for our young squad, Gutted absolutely, the players were deflated when the penalty came, but if any fan wants to rip that team or the way they played yesterday then that fan has no place in the crowd, for 75 minutes today I witnessed football you normally see at the Emirates, and Derby simply had no answer to it, one of the best and most established and experienced teams in the league, were completely being torn a new one. Sadly we should have been out of sight before they got their 2nd, if those youngsters improve just 5-10% in the summer we won't be pegged back when they are stronger and more technically aware.

For me Vyner has to come in Tuesday for Little, this is nothing against Little, he payed well but for me Vyner at Burnley was outstanding and was the full back we've been crying out for all season, why he hasn't had a look in since I just don't know, but he is the only change I would make for Leeds.

Giefer is a good keeper but he is not a huge upgrade on Frankie. We need a commanding keeper in the summer, someone with experience and respect. On the other hand I'm glad we don't have Scott Carson in goal, he is absolutely gone, slow, unsure, awful distribution, nervy, if he was in our net the second half Derby would have won 10-3.

Regards to Red M, you're most kind. I actuallly sing Michael Buble songs in pubs and bars, and write songs of my own. I can't write music, just a lyricist. Claim to fame is I have done lyrics for James Blunt!

I also help out children with unsupportive families at a junior drama class, giving them confidence and showing them how to express themselves and understand self worth. I would love to write more than anything and it was my passion growing up and all I ever wanted, but you have to be lucky to get those breaks in life. I don't regret the path my life has taken me on however, it just wasn't meant to be.

[Phileas Fogg]

Great read and good to hear so many positives despite the result. Echoes what a few others have said.

ps - please can people stop quoting long posts like the OP to reply, it's obvious which post you are referring to and just causes loads of annoying scrolling especially if you're reading on mobile!

[Tom Fleuriot]

8 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

Great read and good to hear so many positives despite the result. Echoes what a few others have said.

ps - please can people stop quoting long posts like the OP to reply, it's obvious which post you are referring to and just causes loads of annoying scrolling especially if you're reading on mobile!

Click on the arrow at the top of the quote box. 

[RobArnold10]

I cannot agree more with the OP having been there as well, find it funny that the LJ out brigade have steered clear of this topic, must be because there's actual facts and reasoned thought!*

*would like to point out that this doesn't make me a super fan or happy clapper but somebody who actually was there yesterday and, like the OP thought there was as much positive as well as negative. Found it disgraceful how people have gone in on LJ today, for me his only mistake was not using sub three to freshen some tired legs in midfield.