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These 31 comments are related to an article called:

For Those who Could not Attend

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posted on 14/12/19

Thanks for your report ramdini.

Did you notice Mel and Wally chatting as they walked off the pitch after the Jim Smith tribute? Makes you wonder.

It was a shocking performance from the team and I would like to see some leadership from our captain as well as our manager. Disgusting the way things are going and I can't see any progression at all. Not one player is better than last season.

And where the hell is Marriott? How can he be injured? I think we should be told what is going on.

posted on 14/12/19

Thanks Ramdini

I always thought that Keogh was a leader. Right up to the point he really wasn't.

posted on 14/12/19

We could have beaten them easily if someone was prepared to run at the millwall defence rather than keep putting in the high cross. Croci brings on Dowell and zoom. Two players who couldn’t beat an egg.

posted on 14/12/19

Oh dear, morale must be low........

posted on 14/12/19

I love that bit of predictive texting for Cocu. "Croci". The main difference is that unlike Croci, Cocu wont be around in the spring.

posted on 14/12/19

No thinking, no reaction to the situation, no brains to realise after 20 high crosses into the box that it wasn't going to work, no idea or nous to suggest that maybe running at their centre backs could produce panic, I hate calling people 'thick' but surely there MUST be a modicum of thought that says "Hey, this isn't working, lets try something else" instead of the same old same old repetitive excruciating routine that produces nowt.

Thanks for the synopsis Ramdini

posted on 15/12/19

There is something wrong in the PP dressing room. Several players were guilty of simple lack of effort yesterday. They seemed not to care and just couldn't be bothered to fight for the team.

To counter this for the next game, my pick would be:-

Hamer, Wisdom, Forsyth, Davies, Lowe.
Bielic, Holmes, Bogle (in midfield), Knight.
Martin, Hector-Ingram.

Like everyone, I do not understand the Marriott situation and that is why he is not in my XI If there is nothing wrong other than Cocu doesn't like him He would be on and he and Hector Ingram would split the duty of scoring goals.

And, if possible, I would get rid of Josefzoon, Dowell, and other dead wood I cannot be bothered to recall.

posted on 15/12/19

After another anonymous performance for the majority of the game, I would like to know why Tom Lawrence seems untouchable in the team? He isn’t the only one by a long shot but seems to be the only one who is getting away with it week in week out

posted on 15/12/19

I saw no lack of effort from the Derby players. I did see lack of making sensible decisions though. Millwall's defence was full of big lumbering defenders with very little ball control so instead of running at them to either pass them or win the free kick we just tossed the ball in the air for them to head out.

How much heading tennis did we see in the game when players could have controlled the ball and played it on the ground. Only clear cut chance we made was when a hard and low cross went to Waghorn who naturally missed it, the anti Mo Salah of the Championship. Every high cross was cleared with out a problem. 9 corners and not one short one tried. I thought Cocu was supposed to be an imaginative coach, not a Tony Pulis clone.

posted on 15/12/19

I agree with Spart. The delivery from our corners was good but with Millwall’s giants the chance of one of our players getting on the end of it was slim. They only sent out a single player to cover the chance of a short corner so with a two against one situation we should have tried to work the ball to create something different.

In the second half our full backs pushed up twenty yards and we looked a lot more threatening. Why not do this from the start? With Bogle, Lowe and Evans playing very deep Millwall could get all of their men behind the ball and there was no chance of a goal for us.

I didn’t see lack of effort at all but there does seem to be a lack of a pattern of play. Millwall are yet another crap team but they have a certain style and organisation that their players are comfortable with. They have very little talent so most weeks they will struggle but they will nick wins here and there like they did yesterday. In the second half when Holmes, Bogle and occasionally Lowe and Lawrence ran at them we looked better and had we done that from the start we would probably have had a scrappy one-nil win and been relatively happy. Cocu has got to let the shackles off a bit. Bogle was getting some stick in the first half from fans near me for not getting forward more but it was clear he was playing to instructions.

posted on 15/12/19

comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 2 hours, 1 minute ago
I saw no lack of effort from the Derby players. I did see lack of making sensible decisions though. Millwall's defence was full of big lumbering defenders with very little ball control so instead of running at them to either pass them or win the free kick we just tossed the ball in the air for them to head out.

How much heading tennis did we see in the game when players could have controlled the ball and played it on the ground. Only clear cut chance we made was when a hard and low cross went to Waghorn who naturally missed it, the anti Mo Salah of the Championship. Every high cross was cleared with out a problem. 9 corners and not one short one tried. I thought Cocu was supposed to be an imaginative coach, not a Tony Pulis clone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cocu said he recognised that this was the case in his post-game interview and said that his players were not courageous enough to play their football, rather than the pointless direct game.
Unfortunately though, he seemed completely powerless to influence their decisions and change things. Sad times indeed

posted on 15/12/19

Cocu said he recognised that this was the case in his post-game interview and said that his players were not courageous enough to play their football, rather than the pointless direct game.
Unfortunately though, he seemed completely powerless to influence their decisions and change things. Sad times indeed

-----------------------------------------------------

If he is completely powerless to influence their decisions what is he doing as manager? I always thought that getting the players to play how you want them to play was part of the job. He seems to writing his own resignation letter.

Just looked at the highlights. It shows our three decent chances were all from low crosses in to the box. It is hardly as if we didn't know how Millwall were going to play, so why weren't the players encouraged to do more low crosses? We even went the Tony Pulis route at throw ins.

comment by Scouse (U9675)

posted on 15/12/19

We must have a dressing room full of mard ar5es.

posted on 15/12/19

"be writing"

comment by Scouse (U9675)

posted on 15/12/19

comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 1 minute ago
"be writing"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
?

posted on 15/12/19

comment by 🏁 AngVanDerRaam 🏁 (U17428)
posted 44 minutes ago
comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 2 hours, 1 minute ago
I saw no lack of effort from the Derby players. I did see lack of making sensible decisions though. Millwall's defence was full of big lumbering defenders with very little ball control so instead of running at them to either pass them or win the free kick we just tossed the ball in the air for them to head out.

How much heading tennis did we see in the game when players could have controlled the ball and played it on the ground. Only clear cut chance we made was when a hard and low cross went to Waghorn who naturally missed it, the anti Mo Salah of the Championship. Every high cross was cleared with out a problem. 9 corners and not one short one tried. I thought Cocu was supposed to be an imaginative coach, not a Tony Pulis clone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cocu said he recognised that this was the case in his post-game interview and said that his players were not courageous enough to play their football, rather than the pointless direct game.
Unfortunately though, he seemed completely powerless to influence their decisions and change things. Sad times indeed
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes! To paraphrase the great man " if you are not interfering with play" - what are you doing as a manager!

posted on 15/12/19

comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 2 hours, 34 minutes ago
I agree with Spart. The delivery from our corners was good but with Millwall’s giants the chance of one of our players getting on the end of it was slim. They only sent out a single player to cover the chance of a short corner so with a two against one situation we should have tried to work the ball to create something different.

In the second half our full backs pushed up twenty yards and we looked a lot more threatening. Why not do this from the start? With Bogle, Lowe and Evans playing very deep Millwall could get all of their men behind the ball and there was no chance of a goal for us.

I didn’t see lack of effort at all but there does seem to be a lack of a pattern of play. Millwall are yet another crap team but they have a certain style and organisation that their players are comfortable with. They have very little talent so most weeks they will struggle but they will nick wins here and there like they did yesterday. In the second half when Holmes, Bogle and occasionally Lowe and Lawrence ran at them we looked better and had we done that from the start we would probably have had a scrappy one-nil win and been relatively happy. Cocu has got to let the shackles off a bit. Bogle was getting some stick in the first half from fans near me for not getting forward more but it was clear he was playing to instructions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Compared with Millwall, our players didn't seem to want the ball as much as GR's men did. Especially first half. And there was nobody to guide the youngsters into sensible play.

comment by Scouse (U9675)

posted on 15/12/19

We have a very unhappy dressing room.

As normal at Derby, we need a good clear out.

posted on 15/12/19

How do you measure wanting the ball Ramdini? That is purely a subjective judgment much loved by TV pundits. As we had more possession it indicates we did want the ball more.

Bradshaw got a favourable bounce for his goal. It is always dangerous to allow the ball to bounce as where it falls again is unpredictable. Unfortunately for us it fell nicely on the head of Bradshaw. I feel certain that the Derby defender wanted to clear the ball just as much as Bradshaw wanted to score.

There were plenty of stops in the game, especially after Millwall scored, they seemed to have a major injury every 5 minutes, so plenty of chances for Cocu to rally the troops and give out new instructions.

How do you know the dressing room is unhappy Scouse? I hope they are unhappy because they lost but can't see how you know about the state of mind of the players or are you just spouting standard fan clichés.

comment by Scouse (U9675)

posted on 15/12/19

comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 8 minutes ago
How do you measure wanting the ball Ramdini? That is purely a subjective judgment much loved by TV pundits. As we had more possession it indicates we did want the ball more.

Bradshaw got a favourable bounce for his goal. It is always dangerous to allow the ball to bounce as where it falls again is unpredictable. Unfortunately for us it fell nicely on the head of Bradshaw. I feel certain that the Derby defender wanted to clear the ball just as much as Bradshaw wanted to score.

There were plenty of stops in the game, especially after Millwall scored, they seemed to have a major injury every 5 minutes, so plenty of chances for Cocu to rally the troops and give out new instructions.

How do you know the dressing room is unhappy Scouse? I hope they are unhappy because they lost but can't see how you know about the state of mind of the players or are you just spouting standard fan clichés.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't disclose my sources Spart.

posted on 15/12/19

comment by Scouse (U9675)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted 8 minutes ago
How do you measure wanting the ball Ramdini? That is purely a subjective judgment much loved by TV pundits. As we had more possession it indicates we did want the ball more.

Bradshaw got a favourable bounce for his goal. It is always dangerous to allow the ball to bounce as where it falls again is unpredictable. Unfortunately for us it fell nicely on the head of Bradshaw. I feel certain that the Derby defender wanted to clear the ball just as much as Bradshaw wanted to score.

There were plenty of stops in the game, especially after Millwall scored, they seemed to have a major injury every 5 minutes, so plenty of chances for Cocu to rally the troops and give out new instructions.

How do you know the dressing room is unhappy Scouse? I hope they are unhappy because they lost but can't see how you know about the state of mind of the players or are you just spouting standard fan clichés.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't disclose my sources Spart.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Doesn't matter. If we have a happy dressing room we really do have a problem...........

posted on 15/12/19

Scouse, I don't know how to measure wanting the ball other than seeing them make just that bit more effort to win it. And at times Derby looked just a touch lethargic. I thought they did even more so against Sheffield Wed.


I also concede that I was feeling pretty downbeat as well and I concede it is possible to be a bit too critical just as when things are going well I can think we are better than we are. It was just my impression they didn't put in as much effort as Millwall.

posted on 15/12/19

Ramdini! For goodness sake.

Whatever our player/formation/tactical shortcomings - and there are clearly many.......the very leat we can expect is "effort".

The lack of which is inexcusable.

posted on 15/12/19

I feel the centre halves are key to how Cocu wants to play. He wants them to be ball players. Clearly he didn’t rate Davies initially as he left him completely out of the squad at the start of the season. Now it’s a case of needs must but Davies, though competent enough at the basics of heading and kicking it, hates having it at his feet. We can see it, the opposition knows it and it spreads nervousness. Forsyth has done OK considering everything but is also less than comfortable.

So does Cocu abandon his preferred style and play pragmatic football or does he keep faith with his ideals and hope we can muddle through until he gets in players who are better suited to it? At the moment he seems stuck between the two. I think he’ll be desperate for a footballing centre half in January who can link better with Bielik and maybe Huddlestone when he gets fit. The target is rumoured to be Rob Dickie at Oxford about whom I know nothing.

posted on 15/12/19

Rob Dickie. Hope he's no descendant of one of our maths teachers. Nasty old fascist, hope he died in agony.

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