Paul Jewell returned to Pride Park and very little seems to have changed, a team on the slide, a board under pressure and a manager under fire. The only difference was protests weren’t aimed at him and he won.

Derby County vs. Ipswich Town

Tuesday 1st February 2011

Pride Park - Derbyshire

C. Boyeson (Fussy, Yorkshire)

Crowd:

23,159 (587 Gentleman Farmers)

Derby:

Bywater, Brayford, Roberts, Barker, Addison, Bailey, Green (Cywka 79), Pearson, B Davies, Bueno, Porter (S Davies 72).

Un-used Substitutes: Deeney, Savage, Doyle, Pringle, Hendrick

Yellow Cards: Barker

Goals: Bueno (7)

Ipswich:

Fulop, McAuley, Delaney, Leadbitter, Edwards, Norris, Wickham, Martin, Bullard, Priskin, Kennedy

Un-used Substitutes: Peters, Scotland, Lee-Barrett, Smith, Healy, Livelli, O'Dea

Yellow Cards: Edwards

Goals: Bullard (28), Norris (68)

Old One-Eye’s Match Report – Tractor Hit & Run!

Three short months ago, Derby went to Ipswich and strolled away with all three points in what Rams boss-at-the-moment Nigel Clough described as a ‘classic away performance’. Then, Derby were pressing hard in the upper echelons of the Championship table, and Ipswich were being managed by Roy Keane, which is akin to saying that they were working towards being doomed by Christmas.

Cast your mind back to those heady days – a team bristling with confidence, taking teams apart with thrilling football, an attacking midfield trio that buzzed around the opposition penalty area like moths around a woolly pullover, marauding full-backs, a solid, no-nonsense goalkeeper and a lone striker whose number one priority was to be a nuisance in the opposition penalty area.

Sure, the defence was a bit ‘iffy’ at times, but the ‘if you score two, we will score three’ attitude thrilled fans and put bums on seats. It also drew praise from opposition managers and fans alike – “Derby County are the best team we have faced this season” was a phrase being heard time and time again. Even Forest fans were looking forward to their regular Brian Clough Trophy defeats with trepidation.

Now let me drag you back to the present day. Fielding – gone. Commons – gone. Kuqi – gone. Moxey – gone. Luke Moore – well, you can’t win them all, I suppose.

The first four players were all instrumental to a certain extent in Derby’s run of scintillating form, and now they are all plying their trade elsewhere - in Frank Fielding’s case, alternating between Blackburn Rovers’ reserve team and receiving the occasional splinterectomy from sitting on the first team bench for too long.

Shefki Kuqi is now ‘unattached’, and Messrs Commons and Moxey have moved on to ply their trade at Celtic and Crystal Palace respectively. All three had been on the receiving end since the good run ended – Kuqi spent his final month with The Rams suffering the ‘cold shoulder’ treatment and was left vegetating on the substitutes’ bench, whereas Commons and Moxey were singled out for ‘special public praise’ by the manager. No wonder they jumped ship.

Anyway, with ten minutes to go before kickoff, the ground looked more like Forest’s – empty and as quiet as the proverbial graveyard, which of course is what it has become of late, at least as far have results have gone for The Rams.

A soporific rendition of “Steve Bloomer’s Watching” did little to lift the gloom before the teams came out, the referee making sure that he was the centre of attention for the first – and certainly not the last – time of the evening, and we were under way.

Derby started well, and pressed Ipswich back with passing movements which were at least measured, if not exactly instinctive. The tension in the crowd was palpable, as if we were just waiting for the first minor indiscretion.

Murmurs of approval were heard as first Gareth Roberts and then Stephen Pearson didn’t fall over the first time play came into their vicinity. It was left to Alberto Bueno to make contact with the ground more often than he did with the ball.

On at least three occasions in the opening moments, Bueno went sprawling in his own personal rendition of ‘Pearson on Ice’, but he made amends on seven minutes when he appeared at the far post to apply the finishing touches to a slick move involving Roberts and the aforementioned and much-maligned Pearson to give Derby the lead.

Ipswich for the first half hour were hardly at the races, although David Norris latched onto the ball at the edge of the area to fire goal wards, only to be thwarted by an excellent diving stop by Stephen Bywater. It was the first time that the Derby keeper had been called upon to do anything, and he must have decided to quit while he was ahead. Three minutes later, Derby weren’t.

A seemingly harmless cross into Derby’s penalty area only found Shaun Barker’s moustachioed head, and he followed the first two rules of defending to the letter – when heading the ball clear, you require height and distance. Unfortunately he forgot rule three – “Don’t let a loose ball come anywhere near Jimmy Bullard. He met the ball on the volley and sent it arrowing towards The Rams’ goal. Bywater managed to get one of his soft, artist’s hands to the ball but it still found the bottom corner.

The remainder of the first half was all about Derby – and the way things look at the moment, Old One-Eye fears that it might become a regular feature over the next few weeks.

A series of free kicks allowed Ben Davies to air a fair few items from his dead ball repertoire, but despite his by-and-large excellent delivery – the reason Derby bought him – there was absolutely no-one up front with the presence to make himself felt in the opposition penalty area.

Half time changed little. Derby continued to press and went close on a number of occasions – one shot from Davies went narrowly wide with Ipswich keeper Fulop, unsure whether he’s a Martin or a Marlon, equally unsure as to whether he could get anywhere near the ball.

Miles Addison continued to make thunderous challenges, but more and more the influence of Bullard grew. As makeshift defender or lurking outside Derby’s box, he frequently found himself in the right place at the right time, either in making a clearance or just generally calming things down.

Gradually, Derby started to see less of the ball. Ipswich, when under pressure, could hit long passes up to Tamas Priskin and they would stick. Norris, too, was becoming a handful for Barker and Addison, a brace of defenders who are more than capable of handling themselves physically but with the collective turning-circle of a Royal Navy battleship.

Norris served up a warning of what was to come when he board out – sorry, bore down – on goal only to fire past Bywater’s right hand upright.

Ipswich took the lead after 67 minutes. Priskin held the ball up well before threading a pinpoint pass through to Norris who beat Bywater with some aplomb. The result of this was as predictable as you like – the unease in the crowd turned to outright hostility with a chorus of boos and a number of uncomplimentary chants aimed in the general vicinity of our American ‘investors’ (sic).

A light-hearted moment arrived in the form of a non-streaking streaker – a fan dressed only in a natty pair of underpants ran onto the pitch, and in the process showed more movement than half of the team. He finally surrendered to stewards and was whisked away. Rumour has it that he will be making his debut away to Portsmouth on Saturday.

Clough rang the changes, bringing on Steve Davies and Tomasz Cywka for Green and Porter, and Derby resorted to bombing high balls in the general vicinity of the Ipswich penalty area. It was largely ineffective, but as normal time ran out, Gareth Roberts drew a foul at the edge of the area. Ben Davies took aim and fired for the top corner. It looked a goal all the way, but the impressive Fulop was equal to it, and that was that.

Derby’s early season form is now a dim and distant memory, and a spontaneous anti-board protest outside the ground just might be a sign of things to come.

A straw poll of season ticket holders in Old One-Eye’s local after the match was hardly scientific, but the results were unambiguous. We’re not happy, and something has to change very quickly, or League 1 will become a reality. Four points in 11 games is not just relegation form – it’s “Worst team in history” form – again!

On a lighter note, yours truly (eventually) returned home and bottled his home-made beer. It’s a porter. Coincidentally, Derby’s centre forward, who goes by the same name, bottled everything too – but that makes him no different from the manager or the board.

Old One-Eye’s Rams Player Ratings:

Bywater(5); Brayford(5), Barker(5), Addison(5), Roberts(6); Pearson(5), Bailey(4) Green (4), Bueno(5), Davies B(7); Porter(3).

Old One-Eye's Man of the Match:

Jimmy Bullard – a proper loanee.

Managers Reaction:

Nigel Clough talking to the official DCFC site after the match:

"We are, again, coming away from a game wondering how we didn't win it, we got the first goal and really should have gone on and won the game from that point."

"When Alberto's goal went in we were pretty comfortable and they didn't really threaten us too much until Bullard's equaliser, which changed the game.” 

"We felt we should have held the lead until half-time at least, but even then we went out in the second half and performed well in the first 20 minutes before Norris' goal. As it turned out, they had three shots on target and scored twice, and that is very frustrating.” 

"It seems to go like that when things are going against you, which we are finding out right now. The effort and commitment is there, just as it was against Forest. It hits the lads every time they play well, put the effort in and lose the game. Every time that happens a little bit more confidence ebbs away, and we need to stop it happening.”  

“We need to keep the belief and make sure we don't get dragged further down the table by addressing this run of results."

Nigel speaking to the DET about the need for the club and its fans to stick together:

"Everybody has to be brave. We are urging the fans to try to stick with us, stick with the team, we understand their frustration with off-the-field things but that has a time.” 

"When we are out on the pitch that is the time we need the fans' support. Confidence is very low compared to what it was.” 

"Young players like James Bailey, who is having a tough time, need the support of everybody. All the players do and we do as a staff as well." 

"When you lose Kris Commons in the transfer window and we don't bring a player in, it is inevitable but all I will say is that Tom Glick and Mal Brannigan could not have worked any harder, like us all, to try to get players in during the window and we just couldn't manage it."

Next Match:

Portsmouth vs. Derby

3pm - Saturday 5th February

Photo: Action Images

BalsallRam added 10:09 - Feb 3 Good report Dan. I think the crowd were on a knife edge before the game & once we scored were pleased to have something to cheer. Following our 'groundhog day' defending & powder puff attacking I think there was just a general sense of 'what's the point' ! BTW - can i have a bottle of your porter..hmm my favourite !
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colin added 11:31 - Feb 3 Good report, Glick has finally put his hand up to being responsible, pity he did not put his hAnd in the GSE pocket and spent some money. Flick must go along with the rest of the Americans who do not understand managing a football club. Let's get em out!!!!!
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