Derby County v Ipswich Town
Tuesday 13th September 2016 – 19:45
Pride Park Stadium
Opening Thought – Jamma
Having lost four out of four at the Madejski Stadium since taking over at Portman Road, Mick McCarthy had just cause to bemoan a lack of fortune after his latest defeat at the hands of Reading. In retrospect, the tone was set just a few minutes in, when Freddie Sears was flagged offside from a throw-in. The referee, Jeremy Simpson, may have waved play on on that occasion, but he was to have a big part to play over the course of the match. Although the Royals enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession and the goalscoring chances in the first 45, Town’s defence looked relatively comfortable for the most part, with our ‘big Pole in the goal’, Bartosz Bialkowski, once again coming to the rescue on the odd occasion that our rearguard was breached. And so if it wasn’t galling enough to concede on the stroke of half time, the manner of the goal was even harder to take, as Grant Ward was adjudged to have deliberately handled, in spite of the fact that the ball had been fired at him from barely a yard. As Garath McCleary converted the penalty, my neighbour turned to me and said that the referee would be sure to ‘even things up’ at the next opportunity. Whether that was also mentioned in Mick’s team talk, I don’t know, but, sure enough, Mr. Simpson obliged less than five minutes into the second half, awarding another questionable spot-kick for Brett Pitman’s rather dramatic tumble in the box. Pitman dusted himself down and slammed the ball into the back of the net. From that point on, the Blues grew in composure, passing the ball around neatly and dictating the tempo of the game. Grant Ward produced a sublime turn and shot which forced a good save from Ali Al Habsi, while Tommy Smith sliced over when it looked easier to score. And so it was left to the referee to have the final say. After warning both sets of players for grappling in the box just seconds previously, he had no hesitation in pointing to the spot once again for Jonas Knudsen’s part in the mêlée. Danny Williams stepped up to score the third penalty of the match, and the second beyond the allotted stoppage time.
When I’m watching Ipswich live, I tend to gauge our performance by asking myself ‘Would I take a draw now?’ at certain points of the game. For large periods of the first half on Friday night, I would have quite happily accepted a point if offered it. But, the longer the match went on, the more we grew into it, until it was Reading worrying about the threat that we posed rather than the other way around. By this stage, I was convinced that, if one side was going to win, it would be us. However, as soon as that 94th-minute corner was awarded, there was a certain sense of inevitability that we would concede, and I would have taken the draw in a heartbeat. I still believe we need to be more canny as a team, whether that is making the right decision when on the ball, picking up our man at set pieces or even not giving the referee a chance to make a match-changing decision. Yes, Joey van den Berg went down as if Grant Holt had sat on him, but if Jonas Knudsen hadn’t had his arms around him there would have been no decision to be made. That little bit more nous here or there could have salvaged a draw from defeat, or turned one point into all three. It’s still early days, of course, but these are the kind of lessons we are going to have to learn if we are to mount a successful promotion bid. But we aren’t the only one in that boat, as promotion favourites Derby have also found so far in 2016/17…
The Opposition
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. The football team played 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, and attract 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 losing 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, Derby finished fourth and third in the 1948 and 1949 seasons respectively. A steady decline then 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 in 1971 due to financial irregularities, 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 their fortunes around with successive promotions in the mid-1980s to get them 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, by now the top flight of English football. After finishing an admirable 12th in their first season back in the top flight, the club left the Baseball Ground, its home of 102 years, to move in to the new 33,597-seat Pride Park Stadium for the 1997–98 season.
The club settled into its new home well 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. 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, as they qualified 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 play-offs. 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.
Clough Jnr. led the club to 18th place and safety. After two disappointing seasons which 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, in which they lost to Queens Park Rangers.
Last 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 replaced by Paul Clement.
Paul Clement lasted until February 2016, when he was relieved of his duties, and Darren Wassall was named as Head Coach until the end of the 2015/16 season.
Last season, Derby made the play-offs, but lost to the eventual winners of the play-off final in Hull Tigers.
The Gaffer – Nigel Pearson
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
Our last visit to Pride Park was on the final day of 2015/16, when a 1-0 win put some gloss on the end of the season:
Media Watch - K L Blue
Brett Pitman:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/b ... _1_4693645
MM on Leon Best:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/l ... _1_4693638
Ian Holloway on the Derby game:
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/09/12/tt ... n-ipswich/
Form Guide
Derby FC Last 5 Matches - currently 19th place in the table with 5 points
Preston North End W 1-0 Away
Aston Villa D 1-1 Home
Carlisle United D 1-1 Home (won 14-13 on pens.)
Burton Albion L 0-2 Away
Newcastle United L 0-2 Home
Ipswich Last 5 Matches - currently 15th place on the table with 0 points
Brentford L 0-2 Away
Wolverhampton Wanderers D 0-0 Away
Norwich City D 1-1 Home
Preston North End W 1-0 Home
Reading + officials L 1-2 Away
Fixtures of Interest
BRIGHTON VS HUDDERSFIELD
QPR VS NEWCASTLE
WOLVES VS BARNSLEY
Match Referee – Stuart Attwell
Final Thought – Jamma
If we never seem to have any luck at the Madejski (and, let’s face it, we don’t!), then what better way to follow up Friday’s disappointment than with a trip to Pride Park, a ground where we tend to do well. It’s tempting to feel pessimistic about our return of two wins, two draws and two defeats with some tough-looking fixtures to come, but a quick glance at the table is enough to remind us how quickly the picture can change in the Championship. I’m fairly sure the majority of us wouldn’t have expected Huddersfield and Barnsley to be holding down top 3 spots six games in, any more than we would have imagined being above the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa.
Another of those clubs who we are above is Derby County, who are seemingly still trying to adapt to Nigel Pearson’s methods, following a period of managerial turmoil which has rivalled their East Midlands neighbours Nottingham Forest in recent times. Somewhat surprisingly for a team that boasts Matej Vydra in their squad, and can afford to name Darren Bent on the bench, the Rams have scored a solitary league goal this campaign, and none at home (I’ve jinxed that one now!
). Joking apart, we should use the current instability in the opposition’s ranks to our advantage, and look to fly out of the blocks as we did at Molineux a few weeks back. If we can get on the front foot early, and take one of the chances that come our way, the natives could soon start to get restless and we could prey on that uncertainty.Going back to that question of mine – Would you take a draw? – I think this is one of those fixtures about which Mick would say ‘Give me the point now and we won’t bother getting the bus up there’. While that would be a decent result on paper, those making the journey to the Midlands shouldn’t rule out the possibility of coming back with all 3. Have a safe trip if you’re going, and enjoy the game.
DERBY COUNTY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
bet Mick plays same team as Friday, I think he works on the asumption that at some time it's got to win a game, stupid old git, hoof it again tonight lads, as for mac polish he's a sucker for punishment.
