Derby

[Turkey]

It's probably disrespectful to Derby but I think I'd prefer Wigan or QPR to win the final if we don't make it.

I'd find it much easier cheering Derby on, as they're a much more likable club than QPR or Wigan but I wouldn't mind getting rid of a side that'll surely just take one of the promotion places next season.

As I say, probably disrespectful to Derby, who could easily be up there again next season. I'd just imagine they (like us) are a bit more susceptible to losing key players than QPR/Wigan are..

 

[Crewton Ram]

You've clearly proved yourselves 100% this season and it's frustrating to be 3rd and have to play a team with significantly less points than you for a chance to get to the final. I'd be frustrated with that, but hey, that's the play-offs and nobody can say it doesn't keep the season alive until the very end.

The big question will be whether the occasion gets to your players. The pressure is very much on them. The other big question is whether or not our lot can relax. I've a feeling they'll be just as jumpy. The weight of expectation from our crowd can be ridiculous.

Anyhow, best of luck. Hope you lose and all that.

I doubt that there is a sense of frustration at finishing third, or there being allot of points between the two teams. At the start of the season, a challenge for the play-offs was the target and when McClaren took over, his stated target was for us to still be in the race for the POs with 10 games to go. Apart from, I think, the week before Christmas, we haven't been in the automatic places and two dips of results in early Jan and late Feb really put paid to any realistic chance of automatic promotion. I think the more likely risk is that we've had no great pressure for a few games so can we step up the intensity and performance levels?

I think the euphoria of your last minute winner at Forest actually gives you a big motivational boost going into the tie and it will be important for us to be resolute in the opening half hour or so tomorrow.

Other than that, I think the pressure is similar for both sets of players : a chance for promotion and nice fat PL contracts brings pressure all of it's own!

My hope for tomorrow is that we're still in the tie with all to play for in the 2nd leg - unless either side gets a lead of 3 or more goals, I can't see the 2nd leg being a 'dead rubber'.

 

[FriendlyRam]

Was thinking about this earlier. Most Rams would rather Brighton go up than Wigan who were cynical when they beat us at home. QPR, well only if they were playing Forest would any of us want them to win anything.

But like you've said, once the diving and time wasting starts... add to that the joy of one of us watching the other celebrate and boast it's not going to be all the friendly for a while.

Really though, you've got time wasters and divers I'm sure. I can tell you now that Chris Martin will either win the ball or look for a free kick. He won't give anything up without one or the other. Hughes too won't lose the ball without trying to make something of it. All teams have these players and tactics now. In places like Spain and Italy it's like a whole new little game of kidding the referee. It's an acceptable ongoing strategy. Here we like to pretend we hate it and are ashamed of it but almost every team tries it on. They're just more sly about it.

So basically I'm sure once the dust has settled the more dirty parts of the game will be forgotten and the best team over 2 legs will go through. I hope so.

If one of your lads dives to win a 90th min penalty and you win, will I back Brighton still? I'll call you all the names under the sun and back Wigan. But in a month or two I'll remember that Chris Martin would have done the exact same thing. I'll remember that QPR are the real ****s in all this and Wigan have had their glory.

So yeah, let's hope for no controversy and try to remember that what goes on between us would probably go on if it was any other teams. Probably worse if it was Eddie Howe's teams or Billy Davies'.

I won't be on here bragging if we win or throwing a a tantrum if we lose. Might take a few days to settle down but on reflection of your club and your history it'll be nicer for football to have Brighton in the PL than QPR or Wigan imo.

The boasting and goading is inevitable on the day.

 

[Machiavelli]

All about opinions I guess, Derby just sticks out in my mind, Forest were very good though and as you say took us apart. And I didn't think much of Wigan or QPR in all honesty, we totally dominated Wigan and lost due to mistake by Upson(?) and QPR just looked like a team of big time players who didn't want it enough + we won the game 2-0 so they can't be that good given some of our other results to lesser teams at home.

Middlesbrough were good as well, even if we were appallingly bad that day.

Fair enough. But I thought we played one of best home games against Wigan; they were just extremely well organised defensively and pounced on the only two chances they created -- and that to me is as efficient a performance as you can get. I thought QPR created a host of chances, missed quite a few by narrow margins, Top Kat pulled off at least two amazing saves, and were undone by one of our best bits of play all season, involving Andrews and Bruno.
Didn't think much of Middlesborough -- as you say, it wasn't one of our better days.

 

[perseus]

Grant - (top season for him working under eric steele)
Wisdom - Very solid defensively, not as potent going forward but very solid
Keogh - Captain
Buxton - Probably the most underrated player in the league, you'll soon see why we all love him
Forsyth - Massively Improved, one of the best left backs in the division now and his a wicked cross
Thorne - Completely dominant CDM, great vision, if theres a better talent outside of the prem, i'm yet to see it
Bryson - 16 goals from central midfield, and an absolute engine
Hendrick - Really found form of late, wouldnt give him space to shoot on or around the edge of your box
Ward - On his day can cause real problems
Martin - 23 goals, the focal point of our attack
Russell - Lighting quick and knows where the net is

We have a good bench also, with will hughes, patrick bamford etc.

I don't think we'll walk it, would take a draw at your place as i feel we can beat anyone at home. Paticularly wary of Ulloa (if thats how its spelt?), Buckley and Ince from what i can remember of seeing you play, and if we dont make it, make sure you lot go on and win it! couldn't stand it if moneybags QPR were to spend there way back to the prem.

No denying this is quite a good post.

How can be we beat such a talented team. What else can we say?

We ought get a multi-multi-Billionaire and sign all their players. But we can't cause their whole defence is actually too slow.

Can't really argue their midfield is a bit strong, their pace might edge it on the Ince recovery speed. Thorne is no faster than Andrews though.

What has me a little bit worried is that Russell has scored 9 goals this year and he is meant to be nearly as fast as Lualua and his sprint speed may be higher (not as high as Buckley though). I just wouldn't like to play against Lualua with a scoring record!?



Derby fans seem to think we have not got the quality to dent their defence. Maybe not, but we have the potential is there. On their day, both Lualua and Buckley are unstoppable.

 

[perseus]

Ram Here,

Not read this whole thread so apologies in advance if some of this has already been said.

Been hearing from some of the Brighton fans i know, that we are abit over confident about beating you etc. I think we have every right to be confident, we finished 3rd, with alot more points, the leagues top goal scorers and have conceded a similar amount to you since Steve Mcclaren came in.

At the minute we are dominating games and scoring for fun to be honest. We work as a team and are very attack minded, but still have enough game changes in the squad to get goals if the going gets tough.

I would have thought we'd line up:

Grant - (top season for him working under eric steele)
Wisdom - Very solid defensively, not as potent going forward but very solid
Keogh - Captain
Buxton - Probably the most underrated player in the league, you'll soon see why we all love him
Forsyth - Massively Improved, one of the best left backs in the division now and his a wicked cross
Thorne - Completely dominant CDM, great vision, if theres a better talent outside of the prem, i'm yet to see it
Bryson - 16 goals from central midfield, and an absolute engine
Hendrick - Really found form of late, wouldnt give him space to shoot on or around the edge of your box
Ward - On his day can cause real problems
Martin - 23 goals, the focal point of our attack
Russell - Lighting quick and knows where the net is

We have a good bench also, with will hughes, patrick bamford etc.

I don't think we'll walk it, would take a draw at your place as i feel we can beat anyone at home. Paticularly wary of Ulloa (if thats how its spelt?), Buckley and Ince from what i can remember of seeing you play, and if we dont make it, make sure you lot go on and win it! couldn't stand it if moneybags QPR were to spend there way back to the prem.

Grant - (top season for him working under eric steele) V Kuszczak (nothing to choose between the keepers)
Wisdom - Very solid defensively, not as potent going forward but very solid V Ward (similar style, nothing in it)
Keogh - Captain V Upson (unfortunately, Upson no longer any better, about the same)
Buxton - Probably the most underrated player in the league, you'll soon see why we all love him v Greer (nothing in it)
Forsyth - Massively Improved, one of the best left backs in the division now and his a wicked cross (v Calderon, both slow)
Thorne - Completely dominant CDM, great vision, if theres a better talent outside of the prem, i'm yet to see it V Andrews (both slow but experienced)
Bryson - 16 goals from central midfield, and an absolute engine V Forster-Caskey (Derby have a distinctive edge going forward here, but Bryson has been quiet in the away game)
Hendrick - Really found form of late, wouldnt give him space to shoot on or around the edge of your box V Ince (Unsure, but Ince might be more beastly if less experienced)
Ward - On his day can cause real problems v Orlandi (Ward can be a thorough nuisance, but Orlandi has a greater repertoire of skills without being special)
Martin - 23 goals, the focal point of our attack v Ulloa (Martin a more complete playeras Ulloa is just a goalscorer)
Russell - Lighting quick and knows where the net is V Buckley Or Lualua
(this makes the game worth going to, for a bit of flair and pace.
I bet these are the three fastest player in the Championship although I spotted some youngsters coming through for next season.
Russell with 9 goals is really an impressive record.

Futball says

Acceleration:

Russell 90 Lualua 90 Buckley 82

Sprint

Russell 85 Lulua 84 Buckley 88

Skills

Mixed bag, unsure.

Shooting

Russell 63 or 72 (despite the goals) Lualua 70 or 63 (despite lack of goals) Buckley 62 or 70 (despite lack of goals)

http://www.futhead.com/14/players/5533/johnny-russell/compare/14-5060/14-5839/


http://www.futhead.com/14/players/5533/johnny-russell/compare/14-2322/14-12356/

 

[East Stand]

Grant - (top season for him working under eric steele) V Kuszczak (nothing to choose between the keepers)
Wisdom - Very solid defensively, not as potent going forward but very solid V Ward (similar style, nothing in it)
Keogh - Captain V Upson (unfortunately, Upson no longer any better, about the same)
Buxton - Probably the most underrated player in the league, you'll soon see why we all love him v Greer (nothing in it)
Forsyth - Massively Improved, one of the best left backs in the division now and his a wicked cross (v Calderon, both slow)
Thorne - Completely dominant CDM, great vision, if theres a better talent outside of the prem, i'm yet to see it V Andrews (both slow but experienced)
Bryson - 16 goals from central midfield, and an absolute engine V Forster-Caskey (Derby have a distinctive edge going forward here, but Bryson has been quiet in the away game)
Hendrick - Really found form of late, wouldnt give him space to shoot on or around the edge of your box V Ince (Unsure, but Ince might be more beastly if less experienced)
Ward - On his day can cause real problems v Orlandi (Ward can be a thorough nuisance, but Orlandi has a greater repertoire of skills without being special)
Martin - 23 goals, the focal point of our attack v Ulloa (Martin a more complete playeras Ulloa is just a goalscorer)
Russell - Lighting quick and knows where the net is V Buckley Or Lualua
(this makes the game worth going to, for a bit of flair and pace.
I bet these are the three fastest player in the Championship although I spotted some youngsters coming through for next season.
Russell with 9 goals is really an impressive record.

Futball says

Acceleration:

Russell 90 Lualua 90 Buckley 82

Sprint

Russell 85 Lulua 84 Buckley 88

Skills

Mixed bag, unsure.

Shooting

Russell 63 or 72 (despite the goals) Lualua 70 or 63 (despite lack of goals) Buckley 62 or 70 (despite lack of goals)

http://www.futhead.com/14/players/5533/johnny-russell/compare/14-5060/14-5839/


http://www.futhead.com/14/players/5533/johnny-russell/compare/14-2322/14-12356/

A a few points,

Forsyth is reasonably quick.

Keogh is the weak link, always likely to make a mistake but on his day is very good. He doesn't always have good days.

Thorne is not quick but does not need to be quick in the role he plays in the team. He is strong and has a fantastic range of passing, will be two steps ahead of the play. Absolute quality. With respect comparing him to Andrews and coming out even makes me think you don't know much about Thorne or us.

Hendrick is not experienced and that is going to our biggest problem over the two games, that aspect of the tie is definitely in your favour. However, the lad is very strong, and knows where the goal is, he can hit the ball like a cannon.

Bryson is not in the Championship team of the year because he only plays well at home.

Russell is quick, but I'm surprised he is as quick as been suggested. He has scored 9 goals this season, although he has missed most of the season through having a broken leg. He works very hard for the team and tucks in when we don't have the ball and gives us width when we are attacking.

It will be a tough game tonight and form does not count for anything at this stage, hope its a good game played in the right spirit, like yourselves we are just happy to be in it.

 

[perseus]

A a few points,

Forsyth is reasonably quick.

Keogh is the weak link, always likely to make a mistake but on his day is very good. He doesn't always have good days.

Thorne is not quick but does not need to be quick in the role he plays in the team. He is strong and has a fantastic range of passing, will be two steps ahead of the play. Absolute quality. With respect comparing him to Andrews and coming out even makes me think you don't know much about Thorne or us.

Hendrick is not experienced and that is going to our biggest problem over the two games, that aspect of the tie is definitely in your favour. However, the lad is very strong, and knows where the goal is, he can hit the ball like a cannon.

Bryson is not in the Championship team of the year because he only plays well at home.

Russell is quick, but I'm surprised he is as quick as been suggested. He has scored 9 goals this season, although he has missed most of the season through having a broken leg. He works very hard for the team and tucks in when we don't have the ball and gives us width when we are attacking.

It will be a tough game tonight and form does not count for anything at this stage, hope its a good game played in the right spirit, like yourselves we are just happy to be in it.

I know some players, but not Thorne, or Russell.

I have been impressed by Wisdom.

It is difficult to imagine any player in the Championship with acceleration anywhere near Lualua from a standing start, or the sprint speed of Buckley. This means we fancy our chances against almost any team, as either of these two can be difficult to stop.

As the overlapping Forsyth made the two goals at the Amex this season, we can't negate him either.

Players I know well are Hughes, Ward, Forsyth, Wisdom.

I think it will be 0-0 but if Forsyth pushes forward too much there will be gap behind him and he will not be fast enough to catch up.

I will be watching winning the second ball in midfield. We had a hell of a struggle against Derby in this respect.

Not worried about an interceptor in front of the back four as we try (on a good day) to pass around him. Ideally, we should force the opposing defence to play wide. But most of the time the opposing defence just ignores our wide man on the opposite flank with success by default. Our passes do not find the man: Buckley running into space. With Crofts missing we do have anyone who can switch play and make a telling pass.

Despite what Derby say, against the Albion, Hughes and Ward seem to play the same role. Ward is more effective because he tends to be ignored.

 

[SomeDerbyFan]

Hi guys, unlucky with the result last night; Schteve did a bit of a number on Garcia IMO. Few questions

1. Did we play how you expected us to?
2. Any surprise packages in our team (Forsyth, Grant, Russell)
3. Were we better than you expected or do you think you just didn't fulfil your potential?

 

[BobbySmith]

1. Not sure what I expected, as seen you twice before this year and was not impressed, but you were obviously better given your position in the league
2.Thought the right back was superb, did not really notice any others apart from they seemed to be very fast, to be fair Martin was in Greer's pocket most of the game and managed to score 2, sign of a good forward.
3.Thought you were a bit lucky to be honest, helped by a very poor ref, but we have nothing to fear on Sunday, apart your pace.

Sorry if that sounded sour grapes, just was not impressed by Derby at all this year and amazed that we have not taken points off you.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Hi guys, unlucky with the result last night; Schteve did a bit of a number on Garcia IMO. Few questions

1. Did we play how you expected us to?
2. Any surprise packages in our team (Forsyth, Grant, Russell)
3. Were we better than you expected or do you think you just didn't fulfil your potential?

I thought you were excellent on the break, very threatening, although curiously as it turned out, you created few clear cut chances and got the rub of the green with the second goal.

No huge surprises for me, I felt the players billed as the danger men (Bryson, Martin- despite his goal) weren't all that effective, perhaps it was a night for the lesser players. Thought Wisdom defended excellently throughout, and was bloody quick, as LuaLua tends to leave defenders for dead. Before smashing a cross or shot into row Z. Grant has always seemed an erratic keeper to me, but he absolutely nailed it last night. Caught every cross, stopped every shot (and when our shot hit the woodwork, the ball didn't bounce on to his back, so clearly he has the luck too ).

Derby have been a curiosity for me this season, as stats suggest you're the highest goalscorers with eighty something goals, and yet I don't imagine many football fans would think of them as a high scoring team. Maybe it's the absence of a thirty goal big name player that's deceptive. But I thought you looked a good side, well organised by McLaren, and breaking with pace I've not seen in any other team this year.

Us aside, you are by some distance the team I'd prefer to get promoted out of the three play off contenders.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Martin was in Greer's pocket most of the game and managed to score 2, sign of a good forward.

No he didn't.

 

[BobbySmith]

Ok, fair enough, pig Oggy

 

[perseus]

Same ole Derby

Hi guys, unlucky with the result last night; Schteve did a bit of a number on Garcia IMO. Few questions

1. Did we play how you expected us to?
2. Any surprise packages in our team (Forsyth, Grant, Russell)
3. Were we better than you expected or do you think you just didn't fulfil your potential?

Same old Derby. Additions of Wisdom, Russell and Martin improved the team considerably (worth +12 pts in a season + I said this before.). Ward was the same nuisance, more so than usual. Forsyth caused all the trouble with his foray forward (unexpected) but we got around the back of him as expected. I thought you basic shape was 4-4-2 when under Clough it was 4-3-3. Absence of Will Hughes showed as Bryson was quiet as a mouse. Grant was excellent and produced a save from Ulloa that Kuszczak would not have stopped.

About as expected. We had more ball possession and this I did not expect. I thought it would be even. This latter bit is the only encouraging bit for the second leg. Because, we had a makeshift midfield, I thought you might edge the midfield. This was my biggest worry. It didn't happen. (Correction to my previous post: it was Hull that gave us the trouble in midfield, and the game was similar except Hull were more aggressive in midfield.)

We started off like a train on fire with Buckley the instigator. Buckley getting injured was always about 50/50. I expected Derby to show resilience to come back as they have done every other time. But we lost the game through a clumsy foul. That was just plain suicide. Our ball winning is back up to scratch but the rest of our play was about average and both Ulloa and Upson had poor games. Eleven corners were all rubbish and I would have expected one to be dangerous and a second one to cause trouble with that number, but they weren't good enough.

I thought it would be a draw and apart from the clumsy tackle and the strike with a touch of fortune, a draw it would have been. Penalty claims not worth a mention. Ulloa should not complain so much.

 

[Leighgull]

Hi guys, unlucky with the result last night; Schteve did a bit of a number on Garcia IMO. Few questions

1. Did we play how you expected us to?
2. Any surprise packages in our team (Forsyth, Grant, Russell)
3. Were we better than you expected or do you think you just didn't fulfil your potential?

1. Yes. Searing counter attacking play
2. Thought Wisdom was outstanding
3. We were about as good as we ever are..which isn't enough to get to the PL.

I still think we will spring a surprise tomorrow though. And I think well go up. But we don't deserve to and we sure ain't ready.

 

[perseus]

Hyped-up Derby

1. Yes. Searing counter attacking play
2. Thought Wisdom was outstanding
3. We were about as good as we ever are..which isn't enough to get to the PL.

I still think we will spring a surprise tomorrow though. And I think well go up. But we don't deserve to and we sure ain't ready.

1) is over the top. Hardly, searing attacking play from Derby. We were just paranoid because we were pushing up too much and have known to get caught on the break. When Ward and Russell got tired, the Derby threat evaporated.

Still our midfield was deficient at stopping the runs of Ward when previously even Lopez had been able to cope. Russell ran into some dangerous positions and I thought Lualua ought to be able to do that.

I put our average display down to being deficient in players sold and injured. But when it came down to it it was the first choice players of Upson and Ulloa who lets us down. Martin was more of an all round forward than Ulloa but he still needs the service. I wish I could say we have been playing any better but we haven't. Just average all the time.

I did think that Derby had two shots though. Someone said the other one was a cross.

I don't think Derby are as good as QPR who will win the play-offs.

Resilience when going behind was the Derby strong point. But the equaliser was gift wrapped.

We really have made things difficult for ourselves now. Like we did not want to go up. I'm sure that most of the players really want a pay rise. But the season has been like that. Especially at home where we cannot score, and the other teams pinch the game on the break.

Alas, I'm sure that Derby could play better with Will Hughes in the team. I think Lopez could even get past Forsyth on the right. Anyone of our right side players: Solly March, Mackail-Smith, could run him ragged and even David Rodríguez, David López, would give him problems. But it still needs a decent cross/pass. Something Derby could do but we couldn't despite our possession.

 

[SomeDerbyFan]

A fair bit of criticism of Forsyth, much more than I expected, especially as his contribution basically changed the game into a Derby success story. He was very exposed early on, you rightly targeted him as the weak spot of our team and had a lot of joy down your right wing. But he also provided one of the games moments of quality, that break and his run was truly excellent. I wouldn't have expected Upson to make that mistake, he was a man who was playing for England 4 years ago but made a pretty stupid tackle seeing as Fozzy was basically running into a bunch of your players. In that respect you did throw it away with that mistake, because it really changed the momentum of the game. We never looked great because we simply didn't have to, we've seen the team make the step-up when they need to and I'm confident if you'd equalised we'd have thrown something at you. But for all the 'play-offs are a lottery, form doesn't matter' talk there's been, I feel both teams retreated back into doing what they've done all season; you lacked penetration and we countered effectively.

Grant and Wisdom were superb, which is odd because Wisdom's come under a lot of criticism recently from our (more fickle) fans. Think Russell did a job too. Lingard was decent, he's a good prospect and you'd do well to get him back. Calderon was also a strength for you IMO, but I thought Bruno was fantastic at our place; best RB bar De Laet I've seen this year. Buckley also played up to his potential too, he was a massive miss when he got a knock. Will he be back in for the 2nd leg?

 

[perseus]

A fair bit of criticism of Forsyth, much more than I expected, especially as his contribution basically changed the game into a Derby success story. He was very exposed early on, you rightly targeted him as the weak spot of our team and had a lot of joy down your right wing. But he also provided one of the games moments of quality, that break and his run was truly excellent. I wouldn't have expected Upson to make that mistake, he was a man who was playing for England 4 years ago but made a pretty stupid tackle seeing as Fozzy was basically running into a bunch of your players. In that respect you did throw it away with that mistake, because it really changed the momentum of the game. We never looked great because we simply didn't have to, we've seen the team make the step-up when they need to and I'm confident if you'd equalised we'd have thrown something at you. But for all the 'play-offs are a lottery, form doesn't matter' talk there's been, I feel both teams retreated back into doing what they've done all season; you lacked penetration and we countered effectively.

Grant and Wisdom were superb, which is odd because Wisdom's come under a lot of criticism recently from our (more fickle) fans. Think Russell did a job too. Lingard was decent, he's a good prospect and you'd do well to get him back. Calderon was also a strength for you IMO, but I thought Bruno was fantastic at our place; best RB bar De Laet I've seen this year. Buckley also played up to his potential too, he was a massive miss when he got a knock. Will he be back in for the 2nd leg?

Fair comments.
Nothing wrong with the way Forsyth played. It is just that getting around the right back is pitting our strengths against your supposed weaknesses. In the day to day Championship football Forsyth would be OK because he would not come up against Bruno and Buckley every week. But both will be out injured for the second leg. Calderon is very much the same, a good enough player but just lacking that little bit of pace.

full backs need pace for two reasons
1) to intercept the ball before it gets to the wide man
2) recovery speed after the winger goes past or tries to go past him.

There is that other kind of tenacious full back (not so good). The tenacious blocker who does not so much dispossess the winger but holds him up so the when the cross comes in the rest of the defence is ready for the cross. Wisdom did the job well. Lualua tried to get the crosses in early but Wisdom did enough to put him off on all but one occasion.

Now that we are a goal down there is no need for the Derby full backs to get forward so we can get behind them. So that makes life doubly difficult (trebly difficult for Lualua at times). I would have been happy with a home draw and to pinch an away win chance as our away record is about as good as our home record.

Ward was a through nuisance as we do not seem to be able to stop playings playing on the wrong side (e.g. right footed Ward on the left) running at our defence when we lose the ball unexpectedly. It only has to happen once in a match.

 

[RM-Taylor]

Derby fans, how gutted are you that 'Just Eat' have been announced as your new shirt sponsors. That would look awful in the top flight.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

With Buckley out tomorrow, plus Stephens and crofts injured too, we just have too many of our likely scorers out.

I see 6th as an overachievement, considering we have had so many injuries this year. Add in the fact that we sold Bridcutt in January and didn't replace him, and I think Garcia has done pretty well.

I'd take 0 0 at half time tomorrow, and the throw the kitchen sink in the form of Lua Lua and CMS at Derby in the last half hour.