Frustrating Times

Well we head into the international break still waiting to record our first win of the season and hovering just above the drop zone.

Of course it's pretty pointless looking at the league table until a dozen games have been played and I suspected that we might have to wait until mid September before we saw the team start to play its best football. 

That said, the matches played so far have exposed a large hole in the squad that was created on opening day when Will Hughes got injured. We have so far failed to replace him and his contribution to our attack is missed more than many may have thought it would be. 

Without him we have looked pretty toothless going forward and we have gone from being one of the most feared teams going forward to one that has been easy for teams to contain. 

The Tiger has turned into a pussy cat! His link up play with our attack is being missed big time.

Since that opening day game at Bolton, we have failed in our attempts to bring someone in to fill the gap left by Hughes.

Obviously with teams knowing how much our needs are, prices will be inflated. Bids for Jacob Butterfield, Alex Pritchard on loan and Michail Antonio have been rejected. Antonio is never going to be sold to us by our biggest rivals anyway..

I would also suggest that maybe a right back should be on the shopping list. Chris Baird is better suited to the holding role in midfield and if George Thorne picks up an injury, that is where he will be needed. Neither Cyrus Christie or Ryan Shotton look to be a solution in that role.

Obviously our fans are getting very frustrated at the lack of a win and victory is a must over the next couple of games in my opinion.  Paul Clement couldn't have chosen a more demanding job for his first attempt at running a team. 

A club like Detby County where fans expect promotion from which is arguably the toughest division to get out of in Europe is in reality a real leap into the deep end. A win soon is a must because apart from expectations from the stands, the man himself needs that confidence booster.

We head into the international break and hopefully when we resume league action, a couple of signings will have been added to the squad. If not, we face a difficult run in the next series of matches. 

Draws All The Way

Since last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Charlton we have seen two more games finish with exactly the same scoreline. 

Both against Middlesbrough and at Birmingham we dominated possession but failed to capitalise on our retention of the ball. We are currently not clinical enough in front of goal and hopefully over the next few games our strikers can regain the touch that saw them filling their boots last season. 

Two areas of great concern is the Right Back position and midfield. With the season only just started we have seen Will Hughes, Craig Bryson, Jamie Hanson and Jeff Hendrick join the injured list. 

Chris Baird has subsequently moved into midfield leaving Cyrus Christie and Ryan Shotton to battle it out for the Right Back spot. 

Personally I can't see either of these two being the long term solution. There is genuine need for a quality player and until one is added to the squad we will struggle against pacy left wingers. 

Craig Forsyth has stepped it up in his last couple of games and for me there isn't even a question to be asked when it comes to choosing between Forsyth and Warnock for the Left Back slot. 

Obviously midfield will need addition(s) but our options up front should see us scoring more goals than at present. Darren Bent has yet to get going. Andreas Weimann is still settling in to a new club and Chris Martin is obviously a little rusty after missing most of last seasons run in. 

So far the big pluses for me has been the form of both George Thorne who oozes class and Jason Shackell who in my opinion will justify every penny spent on him. 

Tom Ince had a very good game at Birmingham and we need players like him to shine if we are to pick up a win when we face Leeds. 

Home Opener

Saturday saw our opening home fixture of the season against a determined Charlton side. Whereas many fans will be disappointed in only picking up one point in a match that we were for long periods the better side, a big plus was a much improved performance.

Jamie Hanson came into the side for only his third ever senior start and he didn't let us down.  In fact, young Hanson put in a very mature performance and was many people's choice as man of the match. That accolade did go to his midfield partner George Thorne in most newspaper reports and deservedly so.

A very commanding performance from Thorne showed us what we were missing last season. Hopefully he can avoid injury for the whole of this campaign as he brings so mch class to the team.

Jason Shackell again proved to be very solid in defence and it was great to see Chris Martin open his account by scoring the equalising goal after Charlton had gone ahead just after the break against the run of play. Th ball played through by Hanson was nicely tucked away by Martin whois now edging towards fifty goals for The Rams.

It will be interesting to see what line-up Paul Clement pick for the visit of Middlesbrough tomorrow night. Jamie Hanson certainly justifying another pick, but will he tinker with the attack?

Perhaps Andreas Wiemann may just get the nod ahead of Johnny Russell.

'Boro visit us having reacorded an emphatic 3-0 victory over Bolton on Saturday. They will include a certain David Nugent who does have a good record playing against us.

What on paper looks like one of our hardest home games of the season, has come early and we will have to be on our guard from the off. A victory against them will be a good pointer towards us having a good season. Let's hope that we are up for the challenge.

South Coast Shocker!

So we crash out of the Capital One Cup at the first hurdle to Portsmouth. 

Shocks are no surprise in this round and indeed Nottingham Forest and Leeds also were eliminated by lower league opposition too. 

The nature in which we went out though was very disappointing. Our hosts always looked the more likely to score and yet another gaffe by Lee Grant again proved to be costly. 

I'm fairly certain that Scott Carson will be reinstated for tomorrow's home game with Charlton. 

A few people have come up with the excuse that we made seven changes to the side that drew at Bolton. These were very experienced players though with the exception of Isak Ssewankambo. 

Pompey also made a similar number of changers and the argument that it was them fielding a reserve side is more valid. 

It's obvious that Hughes is missed, but we are going to have to get used to that. 

Darren Bent was anonymous up front and hoofing balls up to him isn't the answer. 

I personally thought that Ince did look lively when he came on and Baird and Shackell both put in a decent shift. 

Obviously a new boss will take a few games to get into the swing of things, but it's important to get that first win as soon as possible. 

Hopefully he knows what our best options and best formation is for the visit of Charlton because we face a much harder task on Tuesday night in Middlesbrough who have just signed David Nugent. Not quite a Bamford, but he has a knack of scoring against us. 

Double Blow!

Derby came away from the Macron on Saturday with a point and two players on the injury list. 

Will Hughes has a tear to his ACL and Craig Bryson received a knock on left knee. 

It comes as a big blow seeing our last two players of the season stretchered off in the first half. 

Bryson could be back in as little as a month, but Hughes is unlikely to appear again until towards the end of the season. 

The game itself was tough and we can count ourselves lucky to come away with a point. Despite us hitting the bar, the Trotters did so three times and were the better side in the later stages. 

The midfield diamond doesn't suit Tom Ince and he was anonymous playing in the middle rather than on the wing. 

A lack of width saw very few chances created and hopefully Clement will change his tactics for the next league game. 

Positive points from the game included George Thorne having a very good game.

Carson was dominant in the box despite not having a great deal to do. Leigh looked much better with Shackell to his left and Baird had a solid game. 

Chris Martin failed to get into the game and one wonders if it was a lack of match fitness as well as playing in a different formation that kept him quiet. 

Our Capital One Cup game could see several changes, so it's next Saturday hosting Charlton that we will probably witness the next plan in the playbook of Paul Clement. 

Season Preview 2015/16

We shortly start another campaign in our attempt to reach the Premier League.

 The task doesn't get any easier and this season will once again prove to be very difficult, but achievable. Paul Clement has taken over the Head Coach hotseat and new players have been signed. Three defensive players and a goalkeeper join us with Chris Baird, Alex Pearce, Jason Shackell and Scott Carson signing contracts. 

 It's certainly at the back that improvements were needed and a much more assured defence could be key to us gaining promotion. I am predicting a play-off place which will be a good start for Paul Clement as he begins his first spell in charge of a club. 

 Middlesbrough are my favourites for promotion. they came close last season before losing to Norwich in the play-off final. 

Hull City have the talent in their squad and resources to join them. Sheffield Wednesday with a larger budget, Ipswich and Wolves are my picks to make up the top six. QPR could and should be amongst the favourites, but will the league pursue them for finanacial fair play fines? I can see them finishing just outside the top six with the distractions.

 Burnley didn't spend big in their season in the Premier League and have lost Trippier, Ings and Shackell. Definitely a top eight club, but a bounce back into the top tier may just be a little too much at first attempt. 

 Blackburn will up in the mix and Birmingham are much improved since the appointment of Gary Rowett as manager, however I don't think that they have enough to go up! 

 The fight against relegation for me will be between the promoted clubs Preston, MK Dons and Bristol City. Brentford in my opinion could join them. After a great season last time out, they enter the new campaign under a new boss and structure. Why? it's anyones guess! Mark Warburton did a great job and if something isn't broken why attempt to fix it? 

 This is an impossible division to predict and I've no doubt that keeping in tradition with my picks, that one club I have tipped for the basement will end up nearer to the top. for what it's worth my predicted finish is 

 1st Middlesbrough 2nd Hull 3rd Wolves 4th Sheffield Wednesday 5th Ipswich 6th Derby 7th Burnley 8th QPR 9th Blackburn 10th Birmingham 11th Brighton 12th Leeds 13th Forest 14th Cardiff 15th Charlton 16th Fulham 17th Reading 18th Huddersfield 19th Bolton 20th Rotherham 21st Bristol City 22nd MK Dons 23rd Brentford 24th Preston