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| £15 + Xmas = slightly bigger home gate than usual |
Well, back to the usual. If the usual is getting beat at home while watching Jacob Mellis traipse through the action. Wilson goes 4-5-1 in an attempt to...what? Between Mellis, McCourt, Etuhu, Dawson and Jim, you'd think we had players who can pass a ball between them. What we had, in the 1st 3, were players who could barely CONTROL a ball 1st half, let alone find their own teammate. McCourt certainly lost the ball half a dozen times. He does my f***ing head in. Then there's Jacob, who loses it easily one minute, then has a right go at a defender who didn't pass him the perfect ball 30 seconds later. (For those who've played 5 aside with Selwood, it was like when Dave gets the huff on cos the ball is played to him and he actually has to stick his leg out for it)
But the worst...the worst...was Scott Bloody Wiseman. Bloody Idiot more like. Can someone tell me what position he is these days? I often see him out at right back (when there's no-one to mark, or he's taking a short pass from the keeper), but when there IS someone to mark, he's somewhere in the middle. Yesterday was the PITS. 5 times in the 1st half (3 times in the 1st 10 minutes!) he was nowhere to be seen as the left winger collected long balls over to him. 4 times he got lucky. 2 were offside while twice more the players (for they were different) fell over the ball as they ran. The other time? 0-1 and not 8 minutes on the clock, though admittedly it still took a deflection to beat Steele. The only, the ONLY thing I can say in Wiseman's defence is that he MUST be following manager's orders, cos there's simply NO WAY a full back leaves his winger as often as Wiseman. And it wouldn't be so bad if Wiseman opened his mouth and told other players to help him out on the cover (the way a certain B. Hassell does!) but he just stands there and ignores the tide. F***ing f*** f***.
Still, we improved 2nd half - taking 4 minutes rather than 8 to concede. I do believe they scored from OUR attack, as a sweeping ball out to their right winger saw him leg it 50 yards to deliver a ball to the far post for Wiseman to clear. Oh, my mistake - Wiseman's got sucked into the middle, giving their bloke a free header. 0-2 and we've lost before we've started. So much for Steele's amazing block just before half time when their bloke looked nailed on to score. When will our keepers realise there's just no point, no point?
What to do, Danny? For a start, get Etuhu off and replace him with Polish Tom. Thank Christ for that. I'll just repeat the most oft question I've heard at Oakwell this season: How does Polish Tom not get a game in THAT team? A minute later and McCourt's dragged off for Pedersen. Are we actually going TWO up front? Bloody hell! And Cywka takes it to 'em, driving from midfield, getting the fans excited...and BANG, what a goal. Picking up the ball midway in his own half, he RUNS forward (Mellis, are you reading this?) beats one defender, carries on running (Mellis, are you reading this?), lollipops it past another defender before finding the bottom corner from 20 yards. Goal of the season, anyone?
Suddenly the game is transformed. From being outclassed and not having a sniff of their net, the pressure is all us now, with Derby resorting to the odd break. Derby weathered the storm though until injury time, when Wiseman (the very same!) cuts a ball back and O'Grady must...MUST..score...and converts the ball high over the bar for two points. Such a shame, cos O'Grady had been SUPERB all game, holding the ball up, keeping possession. Put him in midfield! Cos he gets FA service up front...till the 92nd minute.
So then, the OPTIMISTIC view is that Derby are a top drawer 2nd division team and once we made the requisite changes we really took the game to them. However, the PESSIMISTIC view is that once again we were outclassed for most of the match and are running out of games. I had the pleasure of 'Praise or Grumble' afterwards and a Washday fan rang in saying how he can't believe THEY'VE still got a chance, given how bad they are this season. Remember, there are AT LEAST 6 awful teams. 2 wins and we're...well, still in the relegation zone, probably.
*** Cywka. In half an hour changed the game. Amazing what a bit of drive and energy does. And well done to Tom for being the Hassell of Barnsley's midfield, somehow keeping his morale up despite being 6th choice at best. (7th if you put Perkins in ahead of him too). A true professional. Sponsor's MOTM.
** O'Brien. Ran around, tried to create stuff. Y'know, put some EFFORT in.
* Cabbage. I have to say, I thought Ramage was tremendous yesterday, making 2 or 3 goal-preventing challenges.
Despatches:
Kennedy. Awful, awful. If he isn't getting outpaced for the cross that should've been 0-2 before half time, he's ducking out of a header leading to their bloke being clean through. Superb control and their bloke has cut inside Steele only to be denied by Ramage, alert to the haplessness of our full back. Along with Wiseman, he starred in 3 of Praise or Grumble's 4 Barnsley callers. The jist being...well, you can probably guess!
Pedersen. A couple of callers suggested he should be given an extended run in the team. Yet he reminds me of the bloke we once got from Blackburn on loan, the Dutch under 21 who'd top scored in a summer tournament...then hit 1 goal in 10 games for us and was last seen on the bench at the bottom of the Dutch Eredivisie. What was his name? Anyway, Pedersen is weak as p*** and, if he's not scoring (which he isn't) has zero redeeming qualities in my eyes. Unless you include looking about 12 years of age and having a gorgeous girlfriend. F*** him off back to where he came from.
Wilsonwatch: wrong players, wrong tactics. But he'll learn. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Hassell in for The Idiot? Nyatanga in for The Hapless? Cywka in for Mellis? Perkins in for McCourt? (I thought I'd drop the last one in just to wind some of you up).
Onwards and upwards!
A
Away: 5821 (capacity crowd in North Stand).
But the worst...the worst...was Scott Bloody Wiseman. Bloody Idiot more like. Can someone tell me what position he is these days? I often see him out at right back (when there's no-one to mark, or he's taking a short pass from the keeper), but when there IS someone to mark, he's somewhere in the middle. Yesterday was the PITS. 5 times in the 1st half (3 times in the 1st 10 minutes!) he was nowhere to be seen as the left winger collected long balls over to him. 4 times he got lucky. 2 were offside while twice more the players (for they were different) fell over the ball as they ran. The other time? 0-1 and not 8 minutes on the clock, though admittedly it still took a deflection to beat Steele. The only, the ONLY thing I can say in Wiseman's defence is that he MUST be following manager's orders, cos there's simply NO WAY a full back leaves his winger as often as Wiseman. And it wouldn't be so bad if Wiseman opened his mouth and told other players to help him out on the cover (the way a certain B. Hassell does!) but he just stands there and ignores the tide. F***ing f*** f***.
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| The ref has a word with O'Brien |
Still, we improved 2nd half - taking 4 minutes rather than 8 to concede. I do believe they scored from OUR attack, as a sweeping ball out to their right winger saw him leg it 50 yards to deliver a ball to the far post for Wiseman to clear. Oh, my mistake - Wiseman's got sucked into the middle, giving their bloke a free header. 0-2 and we've lost before we've started. So much for Steele's amazing block just before half time when their bloke looked nailed on to score. When will our keepers realise there's just no point, no point?
What to do, Danny? For a start, get Etuhu off and replace him with Polish Tom. Thank Christ for that. I'll just repeat the most oft question I've heard at Oakwell this season: How does Polish Tom not get a game in THAT team? A minute later and McCourt's dragged off for Pedersen. Are we actually going TWO up front? Bloody hell! And Cywka takes it to 'em, driving from midfield, getting the fans excited...and BANG, what a goal. Picking up the ball midway in his own half, he RUNS forward (Mellis, are you reading this?) beats one defender, carries on running (Mellis, are you reading this?), lollipops it past another defender before finding the bottom corner from 20 yards. Goal of the season, anyone?
Suddenly the game is transformed. From being outclassed and not having a sniff of their net, the pressure is all us now, with Derby resorting to the odd break. Derby weathered the storm though until injury time, when Wiseman (the very same!) cuts a ball back and O'Grady must...MUST..score...and converts the ball high over the bar for two points. Such a shame, cos O'Grady had been SUPERB all game, holding the ball up, keeping possession. Put him in midfield! Cos he gets FA service up front...till the 92nd minute.
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| We'll not be playing these next season... |
So then, the OPTIMISTIC view is that Derby are a top drawer 2nd division team and once we made the requisite changes we really took the game to them. However, the PESSIMISTIC view is that once again we were outclassed for most of the match and are running out of games. I had the pleasure of 'Praise or Grumble' afterwards and a Washday fan rang in saying how he can't believe THEY'VE still got a chance, given how bad they are this season. Remember, there are AT LEAST 6 awful teams. 2 wins and we're...well, still in the relegation zone, probably.
*** Cywka. In half an hour changed the game. Amazing what a bit of drive and energy does. And well done to Tom for being the Hassell of Barnsley's midfield, somehow keeping his morale up despite being 6th choice at best. (7th if you put Perkins in ahead of him too). A true professional. Sponsor's MOTM.
** O'Brien. Ran around, tried to create stuff. Y'know, put some EFFORT in.
* Cabbage. I have to say, I thought Ramage was tremendous yesterday, making 2 or 3 goal-preventing challenges.
Despatches:
Kennedy. Awful, awful. If he isn't getting outpaced for the cross that should've been 0-2 before half time, he's ducking out of a header leading to their bloke being clean through. Superb control and their bloke has cut inside Steele only to be denied by Ramage, alert to the haplessness of our full back. Along with Wiseman, he starred in 3 of Praise or Grumble's 4 Barnsley callers. The jist being...well, you can probably guess!
Pedersen. A couple of callers suggested he should be given an extended run in the team. Yet he reminds me of the bloke we once got from Blackburn on loan, the Dutch under 21 who'd top scored in a summer tournament...then hit 1 goal in 10 games for us and was last seen on the bench at the bottom of the Dutch Eredivisie. What was his name? Anyway, Pedersen is weak as p*** and, if he's not scoring (which he isn't) has zero redeeming qualities in my eyes. Unless you include looking about 12 years of age and having a gorgeous girlfriend. F*** him off back to where he came from.
Wilsonwatch: wrong players, wrong tactics. But he'll learn. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Hassell in for The Idiot? Nyatanga in for The Hapless? Cywka in for Mellis? Perkins in for McCourt? (I thought I'd drop the last one in just to wind some of you up).
Onwards and upwards!
A
Away: 5821 (capacity crowd in North Stand).
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| Well done Derby - biggest away crowd this season. |
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