Did Hughton get away with it tonight?

[Bozza]

Resting Ince, that is.

Earlier in the season Hyypia started without Ince against Derby and brought him on when we were three down.

Tonight, Derby enjoyed large spells of possession and broke at will. Rohan Ince's presence would surely have been a more destructive force. As it was, we rode our luck a bit and were the surprise winners.

All the players have a whole week off after tonight - did Rohan Ince really need to be rested tonight?

(Note: I'm not being negative or looking to find fault - Hughton seems to be getting a lot more right than wrong.)

 

[Sheebo]

U didn't realise he was rested - assumed he was injured. But yes we really missed him. Holla was alright but he's quite slow and not up to ince / Kayal / Stephens ability... Never thought Id be saying that in August!

 

[Hugo Rune]

I am assuming Ince is ill? However, being pragmatic, this game was always going to be a loss so a good chance to rest some key players. . . . . but we won!!!!!

 

[Blackadder]

Blimey. Just back from the game. Thought Ince was injured (The whole bus did).

Need him back. He was missed tonight (despite the win)

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I thought we needed Ince in midfield. Yes, we had to defend as their midfield overran us time & time again, but then Hughton's substitutions also made the difference to the game.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Derby were so damn ZIPPY, don't reckon Ince would have made that much of a difference, they'd have just played the ball round him. The whole team was pinned down for long stretches of the game, can't see how Ince would have changed that. And the two subs got the goals, so yes, Hughton either got away with it - or he made his own luck. IMHO, like.

 

[Dan Aitch]

CH just lulled DCFC into a false sense of incontinence.

 

[ozzygull]

If he did I forgive him completely, I never thought for once that we would beat them and we did. Since he has come in, our form is that of a top six side. It does not look that way because of the starting possition he had. I normally pay for my season ticket out right but things are a little tight this month so signed up for direct debit. I really hope we have a normal pre season with CH in place planning for next season. We could be in for a treat.

 

[London Irish]

Napoleon liked his lucky generals so I think we can like our lucky managers. Holla is below par but Stephens added something that maybe Ince would not have. So Hughton deserves credit for that.

I think 4 times out of 5 we will lose with that weight of possession and play against us but we defended well and DS had a great game (admittedly he owes fans a decent run)

 

[London Irish]

That said although a great result tonight I did not enjoy the game as much as the Leeds game - we are virtually safe now and I'd like to see some good performances not just good results

 

[NooBHA]

There will always be games we win when we should have lost and tonight was one of them. However we lost to Forrest when we should have won and we should have beaten Blackpool and drawn with Bolton. As far as I'm concerned, he has a team now that digs in and no one convincingly beats us now.

We are much improved and the arrival of CH is the main reason for that improvement. So if he picked up points tonight against the run of play I for one care not one jot. Onwards and upwards CH and all the lads.

 

[tigertim68]

Missed Ince big time , midfield was weak without him , but was better when Stephens came on , why rest Ince he been playing so well ? I am afraid hulla is not strong enough to play centre midfield . I thought the team in the first half looked like Hyypia was still in charge

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Holla has a tendency to play two good passes followed by one appalling one. And so it proved tonight. He improved as the game went on, possibly as he had to take on more responsibility after Kayal faded slightly (is he 100% match fit yet?).

 

[forrest]

Good luck, inspirational subs, team tatics? Or a combination? At the end of the day we won and got the 3 points and that's all that matters.

 

[SweatyMexican]

Luckily their 2 tall injured strikers in Bent and Martin were replaced by 5 foot 8 Johnny Russell. Didn't need to battle too much in the air, especially with Dunk and Greer capable in that department. Derby mostly used their width, instead of high long balls into the final third.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Luckily their 2 tall injured strikers in Bent and Martin were replaced by 5 foot 8 Johnny Russell. Didn't need to battle too much in the air, especially with Dunk and Greer capable in that department. Derby mostly used their width, instead of high long balls into the final third.

That said, they have a few big lads at the back, and were always a threat from set pieces, as illustrated by Buxton's header which was superbly saved by Stockdale.

 

[London Irish]

Holla has a tendency to play two good passes followed by one appalling one. And so it proved tonight. He improved as the game went on, possibly as he had to take on more responsibility after Kayal faded slightly (is he 100% match fit yet?).

His passing is ok - the problem is he is a defensive midfielder who can't defend - due to the fact he can barely move

 

[pottert]

I thought before kick off that we would need ince's energy & strength.I hindsight after the game I don't know if he had played whether the game would have been any different.

Let's not beat around the bush.Derby are a fantastic football team who are missing at least 4 key players.
How many of the Albion fans at the Amex tonight would not have taken a point at half time.
Even when we scored our first goal I said to the man next to me I would still take a point.

 

[Easy 10]

There will always be games we win when we should have lost and tonight was one of them. However we lost to Forrest when we should have won and we should have beaten Blackpool and drawn with Bolton. As far as I'm concerned, he has a team now that digs in and no one convincingly beats us now.

We are much improved and the arrival of CH is the main reason for that improvement. So if he picked up points tonight against the run of play I for one care not one jot. Onwards and upwards CH and all the lads.

That's the thing - we've rarely been convincingly beaten all season. 13 league defeats, and only 2 of those have been by more than the odd goal (0-2 at Ipswich, and 0-3 at Derby). Hence a GD of only -3, for a team in 19th. You have to go up to 11th (blackburn) to find a better GD than ours.

Just imagine what we could do if we had a goalscorer...

 

[Meade's Ball]

Only if his gangles were each 18ft in length would he have made an enormous difference tonight. I don't see Holla as a defensive midfielder, and don't remember seeing him many times in tonight's game either, other than to whizz that Holla-range freekick quite a few yards over the bar. Derby were of high quality, and if Ince was felt to be already nearing a breaking point, then to rest him during a game when all of our players would be completely exhausted would be no bad thing.