It didn't take us long to forget Garcia did it!

[Stat Brother]

It's just a shame Sami isn't good enough to make some on here forget about Mr Poyet.

That's not a slight on Sami, as I doubt Greer lifting the FA Cup and League Champions trophy next season will stop this board being inundated with:-

- Oh Another loss for Poyet.
- Gus has got off to a strong start.
- I see Poyet is having another hissy fit.
- Gus wins manager of the month.
- Look, Gus is watching paint dry.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

The bonus of requiring so many players at this stage is that unlike Oscar, Sami will have more input into the players he wants brought in to suit his envisioned style of how we play.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

It's just a shame Sami isn't good enough to make some on here forget about Mr Poyet.

That's not a slight on Sami, as I doubt Greer lifting the FA Cup and League Champions trophy next season will stop this board being inundated with:-

- Oh Another loss for Poyet.
- Gus has got off to a strong start.
- I see Poyet is having another hissy fit.
- Gus wins manager of the month.
- Look, Gus is watching paint dry.

For me, as one of the "Gus-lickers", I can say that the resignation of Oscar has closed that door, and I'm very excited about moving forward with Sami. I still have a soft spot for Gus and I'll follow his career with interest but there's no need to continue comparing whats happening at Brighton now with what happened under Gus. More than anything, there's virtually none of Gus' squad left now.

 

[Gwylan]

The fact that Garcia got us into the play-offs for the second year running would have made Bloom's job of recruiting a decent replacement that much easier.

I've been disappointed with a lot of the comments recently about Oscar - he achieved the same outcome as Gus with a far less talented squad AND he gave our youngsters a chance to shine. The football wasn't easy on the eye but he kept the show on the road, and for that he deserves some credit.

Totally agree. And he did it all without whingeing and generally got on with the job. I'm actually disappointed he's gone as I'd liked to have seen what he could have done with a full squad but, hey ho, onwards and upwards.

 

[S.T.U cgull]

Dire football because he was hamstrung by the squad. Do you think he wanted to play the football he did? Of course not, but he knew the players we had weren't capable of fast, expansive counter attacking football. Therefore he set up defensively, ground out wins and got us into the top 6.

Selective memory will usually make you remember the games we should have won but didn't (e.g. Yeovil) but he was a quality manager who would have taken us up without a problem if we had the squad/financial resources of Leicester/Reading etc.

This. Given the same money to spend as Poyet had I think he would have taken us up.

 

[Icy Gull]

Totally agree. And he did it all without whingeing and generally got on with the job. I'm actually disappointed he's gone as I'd liked to have seen what he could have done with a full squad but, hey ho, onwards and upwards.

My thoughts too.

 

[British Bulldog]

We should never forget Oscar or Gus as they both joined that small group of managers who have got us into the play off's and they both deserve credit.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Out-thought? No Upson, no Greer, no Stephens, no Bruno, etc.

Erm, 2-1 down, one man up front. Midfield sitting on the back 4. It was clear that the way to beat Derby was to pressure them higher up the pitch, get in their faces. Even by their own fans admission in the build up, there least success was against teams that were physical and pushed up making them go long.

Even when Greer was on the pitch we were very deep. Of course the injuries were a factor, but at the start of the match they weren't.

Started the game with little width and we buckled badly, so yes, I would say out thought.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

First we had the Gus Bus , then the Os Car and now we're all aboard the Sam Tram.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Trouble is, I genuinely believe he was just out-thought in the away leg. The lack of urgency was astonishing...... but I suppose if he was leaving........

Out-thought? So Steve McLaren's tactics were for both of our centre halfs to be unavailable through injury with in a few minutes of the second leg match starting and forcing us to play an untred defensive line-up at such a crucial point of the season.

If so, that blokes a tactical genious and should still be England manager or managing one of the top handful of teams in the World rather than getting Derby promoted out of the English second flight!

 

[spanish flair]

Totally agree. And he did it all without whingeing and generally got on with the job. I'm actually disappointed he's gone as I'd liked to have seen what he could have done with a full squad but, hey ho, onwards and upwards.

I would have liked to have seen the same, but I would have liked to been convinced any players we brought to the club were truly players he wanted. Then and only then could we have judged him properly.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I think he did an excellent job given trying circumstances and I was disappointed when he left as i would have liked to see a full season with his signings. However, that has now been tempered by his move back to Maccabi as i think it shows a lack of ambition and makes me think his leaving was for the best.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Out-thought? So Steve McLaren's tactics were for both of our centre halfs to be unavailable through injury with in a few minutes of the second leg match starting and forcing us to play an untred defensive line-up at such a crucial point of the season.

If so, that blokes a tactical genious and should still be England manager or managing one of the top handful of teams in the World rather than getting Derby promoted out of the English second flight!

Erm, 2-1 down, one man up front. Midfield sitting on the back 4. It was clear that the way to beat Derby was to pressure them higher up the pitch, get in their faces. Even by their own fans admission in the build up, there least success was against teams that were physical and pushed up making them go long.

Even when Greer was on the pitch we were very deep. Of course the injuries were a factor, but at the start of the match they weren't.

Started the game with little width and we buckled badly, so yes, I would say out thought.

 

[Meade's Ball]

By half-season, i didn't have a lot of feeling for Oscar. At least not as much as i might have done, or as much as i wished i had. That could be not his fault at all and perhaps about the simple heartbreak and disconnection from an era that gave so much. It's perfectly possible that we wanted in charge someone less explosive, but with that wish we instead got something of a damp squib and the team appeared too characterless to really have that same admiration for. Of course various factors influenced our play in slight, but overall it was largely a season, for me at least, without moments of the sparkle i may have grown wrongly to expect. I find it easy to move on, and i trust Hyypia to know what he's doing and how to be involved in, and strengthen, what we are.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Erm, 2-1 down, one man up front. Midfield sitting on the back 4. It was clear that the way to beat Derby was to pressure them higher up the pitch, get in their faces. Even by their own fans admission in the build up, there least success was against teams that were physical and pushed up making them go long.

Even when Greer was on the pitch we were very deep. Of course the injuries were a factor, but at the start of the match they weren't.

Started the game with little width and we buckled badly, so yes, I would say out thought.

And had we Upson and Greer been available for all of the 2nd leg, do you think we would have adopted Mark McGhee tactics and played to defend a 1 goal deficit as you are implying? or would we do what we did at Forest, keep it tight to start with and then as the game goes on, push forward more.

Had we been very attacking from the outset, we would be more likely to conceed, especially on the counter (something we had been prone to during the season) and you have to remember we were only at half time at the begining of the 2nd leg, far too earlly to start throwing the kitchen sink forward too.

Maybe also our forward thinking players weren't good enough (whether due to lack of form, fitness or carrying injuries) to be able to pressure Derby higher up the pitch. Had we put more into midfield (we were set up as 4-3-3) it would have meant even less up front. Playing the same way we did as a 4-3-3 certainly worked for Derby, but thats to be expected against a seriously weakened opposition due to injuries, especially in an area we had been strongest throughout the whole season.

Sounds like you wanted us to play square pegs in round holes and wonder why they didn't work.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

And had we Upson and Greer been available for all of the 2nd leg, do you think we would have adopted Mark McGhee tactics and played to defend a 1 goal deficit as you are implying? or would we do what we did at Forest, keep it tight to start with and then as the game goes on, push forward more.

Had we been very attacking from the outset, we would be more likely to conceed, especially on the counter (something we had been prone to during the season) and you have to remember we were only at half time at the begining of the 2nd leg, far too earlly to start throwing the kitchen sink forward too.

Maybe also our forward thinking players weren't good enough (whether due to lack of form, fitness or carrying injuries) to be able to pressure Derby higher up the pitch. Had we put more into midfield (we were set up as 4-3-3) it would have meant even less up front. Playing the same way we did as a 4-3-3 certainly worked for Derby, but thats to be expected against a seriously weakened opposition due to injuries, especially in an area we had been strongest throughout the whole season.

Sounds like you wanted us to play square pegs in round holes and wonder why they didn't work.

Greer started of course and it made no difference, though of course he did go off early granted, even the positional change of Ward to CB was slightly strange, would have thought Calderon was the obvious solution, as he also talks a better game than Ward and had filled in there previously. Chicksen could have gone to RB, where he had also played for MK.

In terms of the tactics, yes, I do believe he got them wrong, and yes, I would have pushed higher up earlier. CMS should have started, and to see him come on and start pressuring the defence near the end, then turn round to look at his midfield colleagues, who are still loitering just in front of the defence beggars belief.

We should have also started with 2 wingers in order to protect the left and right backs.

The only point I would agree with you on, is perhaps some of the forward were carrying an injury.

In terms of 'when to pressure', if that was Oscar's tactic, I would prefer to go down fighting, rather than 'hope' we don't concede and pile it on in the last 15 minutes. Remember we were already 3-1 down at half-time, and we still didn't pressure the ball.

Hardly square pegs in round holes.

 

[symyjym]

Erm, 2-1 down, one man up front. Midfield sitting on the back 4. It was clear that the way to beat Derby was to pressure them higher up the pitch, get in their faces. Even by their own fans admission in the build up, there least success was against teams that were physical and pushed up making them go long.

Even when Greer was on the pitch we were very deep. Of course the injuries were a factor, but at the start of the match they weren't.

Started the game with little width and we buckled badly, so yes, I would say out thought.

We started the game with the same team that gave Derby the run around in the first leg, minus Upson. Even Derby fans thought we out played them.

Buckley was the star of the show in the first half of the first game but carried his injury into the second, and Orlandi wasn't fit to play 90 mins so I don't get your "we should have put pressure on them" mantra.

Oscars plan would have been to use Buckley and Orlandi, as in the first game, then chuck on March, KLL and CMS later. But for the fact that Greer got injured after 15 we had to make a defensive substitution instead of an attacking one.

If you can provide a list of your prefered starting eleven and bench players? we can debate the scenario, rather than your simplistic version of just putting more pressure on them.

 

[kevtherev]

To be honest he was quite forgettable.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Greer started of course and it made no difference, though of course he did go off early granted, even the positional change of Ward to CB was slightly strange, would have thought Calderon was the obvious solution, as he also talks a better game than Ward and had filled in there previously. Chicksen could have gone to RB, where he had also played for MK.

In terms of the tactics, yes, I do believe he got them wrong, and yes, I would have pushed higher up earlier. CMS should have started, and to see him come on and start pressuring the defence near the end, then turn round to look at his midfield colleagues, who are still loitering just in front of the defence beggars belief.

We should have also started with 2 wingers in order to protect the left and right backs.

The only point I would agree with you on, is perhaps some of the forward were carrying an injury.

In terms of 'when to pressure', if that was Oscar's tactic, I would prefer to go down fighting, rather than 'hope' we don't concede and pile it on in the last 15 minutes. Remember we were already 3-1 down at half-time, and we still didn't pressure the ball.

Hardly square pegs in round holes.

But we weren't 3-1 down when Greer picked up his injury and which therefore threw all the match planning out of the window.

If we put Calde into centre half, who would have played RB?
How many games has Chicksen played for our first team?
How often did the defence that ended the game play as a unit together?

No you say the reason we lost hadn't anything to do with any of the above, but just because Oscar decided we shouldn't pressure them high up the field (which is odd as that is what we had been trying to do to teams all season (more sucessfully in some games than others)

You rip the heart out of the defence of any team, handicap the attacking options due to players being not completely fit and on form (but there is little else in alternatives due to the depleted squad available) and you'd still expect them to turn over a very good, highly motivated team like Derby? - Losing key players in Greer and Upson was pretty much always going to cost us the game, and there is little any manager could have done to counter it.

 

[Mowgli37]

Totally agree. And he did it all without whingeing and generally got on with the job. I'm actually disappointed he's gone as I'd liked to have seen what he could have done with a full squad but, hey ho, onwards and upwards.

Very much this. Thank you and the best of luck Oscar