Derby County v Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread
Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:35 am
Derby County v Ipswich Town
Tuesday 28th November 2017 – 19:45
Pride Park Stadium
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
With the January Transfer window fast approaching it surely has to be time for ME & MM to loosen the purse strings just a little bit with the emphasis very much on reinforcing what is quite clearly an erratic and error prone Defence, this was never more evident than at Aston Villa on Saturday when once again some woeful defending put paid to any chance we might have had of taking something from the game. Time and time again we are hearing the same old message from MM after games about players taking responsibility and cutting out the basic individual errors that is hampering our chances of keeping with touching distance of the top Six. unfortunately it isn't just any one Individual either, the players seem to be taking turns to throw in an almighty rick which seems to go punsihed every single time. Our attack has shown it is good enough to trouble any defence and our Goals for Column stands up pretty well against anything in this Division, our Midfield has numerous options and with Huws, Adeyemi and Bishop all returning from injury now and in the near future we seem well set in this department too so it is clearly the backline that needs some surgery to it, individually I have no issue at all with Webster and Spence while Knudsen is having a fair few better days of late, however as a unit we are just not functioning correctly, Chambers is finding the going tough of late, Smith is not fit and for me is not the answer, Iorfa is now out with an injury and in any case I have to say looks very poor at times, Callum Connolly looks to be favoured in a Midfield role and Myles Kenlock sits behind Knudsen in the pecking order so our options are very limited, a New face or two could work wonders and give us the foundation to kick on during the second half of the campaign. With talk of Keiffer Moore returning from his loan spell in January, could there not be a case for Josh Emmanuel returning also ? Is he really any worse than Dominic Iorfa ? From where I am sitting the answer is no, equally is he the answer at the moment for a team trying to force their way into play off contention, along with Luke Woolfenden Emmanuel is clearly one for the future but a regular run in the team right now may be just a bit soon, I think we need One or Two experienced been there and done it Defenders to toughen us up a bit, food for thought for sure.
The Villa game ultimately ended the way the majority feared it would but once more we started brightly and had Villa on the back foot at times, some of our approach play was ok but we lacked that bit of quality to unlock their defence, no creative killer pass from Midfield which is hardly surprising given that Celina, Huws and Bishop were all sat on the bench and Didsy was out injured, seeing Ward, Sears, Connolly and Skuse starting did not really suggest we would be creating loads of chances for Garner & Waghorn and so it proved, Freddie did have a bit better game and worked tirelessly but Grant Ward flatters to deceive so often and really offers little for me while Skuse & Connolly are what they are and will never be the creativity within our team. So apart from the goal that we had harshly ruled out in the Fifteenth minute we failed to take advantage when we were on top and of course we get punished as soon as we make a mistake, our defending at times would be laughable if it wasn't so annoying, it happens way too often and players of the calibre of Albert Adomah will punish you all day long and that was the case again at Villa Park. We need a big, strong player at the back, a leader, a ball winner, someone not afraid to get stuck in where it hurts and who reads the game better than what we have at present. Aiden Flint of Bristol City springs to mind, someone like that who offers a threat at the other end of the pitch too and who scores goals, I would actually not be adverse to Chambers at RB sometimes if this type of addition was forthcoming to our cebtral defence but one thing is certain, we really must bring One or Two in, failure to do so and the season will in all probability drift away to Mid table obscurity.
So Tuesday sees us play that elusive "game in hand" where at one time it looked like a game that could propell us into the top Six it now looks more the case that it is a game that could help us keep in touch with the higher echelons of the table instead of falling away. Derby County are now looking like the team many expected them to be back in August, a run of good form has seen them jump up into Sixth place and a win here could see them go as high as Fourth, recent results and form suggest Town will do well to take anything from this game too, a thumping Three goal win at Boro on Saturday was impressive indeed and shows the kind of form they are in right now. On the other hand this is a really happy hunting ground for us in recent seasons and one of my luckiest grounds so all is not lost, for some reason we seem to thrive on the super surroundings of Pride park or whatever they call it now but if we defend like we did at Villa Park this could turn out to be a very long night for us, it is the Fourth of our Five games in Fifteen days run and so far we have a win, a draw and a defeat so it isn't a disaster by any means but we have let points slip away, anything here would represent a very good nights work, we've done it before when the chips are down so let's not give up on a positive outcome just yet, you just never know. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Derby County
Derby County F.C. was formed in 1884 as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club in an attempt to give players and supporters a winter interest as well as secure the cricket club extra revenue, playing their home matches at the cricket club’s Racecourse Ground.
Arguably the most important game in the club's history came in the 1886 FA Cup, when a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa, already an emerging force in English football, helped establish Derby County F.C. on the English football map, helping the club to attract and an invitation into the inaugural Football League. In 1895 the club moved to a new stadium, The Baseball Ground (so called because it was previously used for baseball), which became their home for the next 102 years and adopted their traditional colours of black and white.
Although Derby were inconsistent in the league, they were a strong force in the FA Cup, appearing in three finals in six years around the turn of the 20th Century but lost all three.
Between 1906 and 1925 Derby had some inconsistent years, with a number of relegations and promotions between the First and Second Divisions of the Football League. However, the appointment of George Jobey in 1925 kick-started a successful period for the Rams and, after promotion in 1926, the club became a formidable force, with high finishes from the late 1920s and all through the 1930s, including finishing runners up twice.
Derby were one of several clubs to close down during the Second World War but restarted in the early 1940s. Derby were one step ahead of the opposition when competitive football resumed with the 1946 FA Cup and won their first major trophy with a 4–1 victory over Charlton Athletic. The League restarted the following season after a break due to World War II and, under the management of Stuart McMillan, finished fourth and third in the 1948 and 1949 seasons respectively, before a steady decline set in and the club was relegated in 1953 after nearly 30 years in the top flight, and again in 1955 to drop to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history.
In 1967, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor took over and led them to their greatest glory. Derby were promoted to the First Division in 1969, finished fourth in 1970, but got banned from competing in Europe due to financial irregularities in 1971 and won their first ever Football League Championship in 1972. Though Derby did not retain their title the following season, they did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup. They lost to Juventus in a controversial match which was subject to subsequent allegations that the Italian club had bribed the match officials, leading Clough, to call the Italians "cheating bastards". Clough's frequent outspoken comments against football's establishment eventually led to him falling out with the board of directors at the club, and Clough and Taylor left in 1973. Such was their impact on the club that, 37 years later, a 9'0 high bronze statue of the pair was erected outside the Pride Park Stadium in commemoration of their legacy.
Despite the departure of Clough and Taylor, Derby's League success was repeated in the 1974–75 season when they won the title. However, Derby's form declined towards the end of the 1970s and they went down to the Second Division in 1980. Though they challenged well in their first season, Derby's stay in the Second Division was not a happy one and they were relegated to the Third Division for only the second time in their history in 1984.
After the relegation, the club appointed Arthur Cox who turned the club around with successive promotions in the mid-1980s to get the club back into the old First Division in 1987.
The club was relegated back to the Second Division in 1991 due to lack of investment. At this time, local newspaper businessman Lionel Pickering became the majority shareholder of the club. In 1995 Jim Smith became the new manager and, although the new season started slowly, throwing his brief of 'a top-half finish' out of the window, Smith guided the Rams to a second-place finish and the Premier League, now the top flight of English football. After finishing an admirable 12th in their first season back into the top flight, the club left the Baseball Ground, its home of 102 years, to move into the new 33,597-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–98 season.
The club settled well into its new home as it recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes for the first time since their 1970s peak, before a sudden decline at the turn of the millennium saw three years of struggle,before the Rams were relegated after a six-year stay in the top flight. in 2002. Former Ipswich Town boss George Burley was brought in as manager, but the club was put into receivership then sold in October 2003 for £3 to a group led by Jeremy Keith.
After finishing 20th in the 2003–04 season, a dramatic improvement in the 2004–05 season saw Derby finish 4th in the Football League Championship, qualifying for a promotion play-off spot, though they lost in the semi-finals to Preston North End. Soon afterwards, Burley resigned citing differences between himself and the board.
In April 2006 a consortium of local businessmen led by former vice-chairman Peter Gadsby bought the club, reducing its debt and returning Pride Park Stadium to the club's ownership in the process. In June 2006, former Preston North End boss Billy Davies was appointed Derby County's new permanent manager. In his first season, Davies took Derby to the Premier League via the playoffs. After a poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left by mutual consent in November.
He was succeeded by Paul Jewell, who failed to save the club as Derby suffered the Premier League's earliest ever relegation, in March,and recorded the Premier League's lowest-ever points total.
Derby's match at home to Sheffield United on 13 September 2008 generated much media coverage as it was approaching a year since Derby's last league win, a run which saw the club break the English league record for most matches without a win.
Just four days short of the anniversary, Derby finally won earning Paul Jewell his first league win as Derby boss at his 27th attempt. Jewell resigned as manager in December 2008 after a run of just 2 wins in 11 matches. He was replaced by Nigel Clough, son of former manager Brian.
He led the club to 18th place and safety. After two disappointing seasons that saw the club finish in the bottom half of the table, Derby finished the two subsequent seasons in 12th and 10th place. Clough was sacked 9 games into the 2013–14 season, and was replaced by former Derby player and assistant manager Steve McClaren.
Under McClaren the club finished third in the Championship and reached the final of the play-offs, where they lost to Queens Park Rangers.
In the 2014/15 season Derby could only manage an 8th place finish after a terrible slump post Christmas and McClaren was dismissed at the end of May to be replace by Paul Clement.
Derby made the playoffs in the 15/16 season, but lost to the eventual winner of the playoff final in Hull Tigers.
Last season Derby could only manage 9th place, 13 points off 6th place. Gary Rowett became Derby manager in March 2017.
The Gaffer – Gary Rowett
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Media Watch - K L Blue
Form Guide
Derby County Last 5 Matches – Currently in 6th place with 32 points
31 Oct Leeds Utd 1 - 2 Derby County
4 Nov Derby County 2 - 4 Reading
18 Nov Fulham 1 - 1 Derby County
21 Nov Derby County 2 - 0 QP Rangers
25 Nov Middlesbrough 0 - 3 Derby County
Ipswich Last 5 Matches - Currently in 10th place with 26 points
1 Oct Cardiff City 3 - 1 Ipswich Town
4 Nov Ipswich Town 3 - 0 Preston
18 Nov Hull City 2 - 2 Ipswich Town
22 Nov Ipswich Town 2 - 2 Sheffield Wed
25 Nov Aston Villa 2 - 0 Ipswich Town
Fixtures of Interest
NOTT. FOREST VS CARDIFF (MONDAY)
Q.P.R. VS BRENTFORD
Match Referee – Scott Duncan
DERBY COUNTY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
