We deservedly lost on Saturday against a determined Birmingham City side and we were very fortunate to get a point against Reading on the Wednesday night previous.
Saturday was painful to watch as a fan as yet again we failed to create chances up front. Kuszacz was barely tested in the Birmingham goal and their defence didn't have to overwork themselves to keep us at bay.
Paul Clement dropped Chris Martin to the bench in favour of new signing Nick Blackman who failed to make any kind of impression whatsoever. That said the service to him was appalling.
Johnny Russell ran his legs off but was ineffective, Tom Ince put the effort in without an end result and our midfield was simply outmuscled again.
It's the midfield problem which is the biggest head scratcher for me. We are blessed with a glut of talent yet at the moment they are failing to click.
Bradley Johnson continued his run of poor form and he looks a different player to the one who started so brightly when he first arrived.
Abdoul Camara again had to be content with a substitute appearance and although we haven't really seen much of him my early impressions are that he does seem to be a little lightweight.
Reading fans are convinced that the 2.5 m we paid for Nick Blackman is a complete mugging. Many pointing out that he has played well for two months in his entire time at the Madejski Stadium. Well, after seeing Southampton bag Charlie Austin for 4m I can see their point.
If Blackman doesn't prove to be a success than the book will stop with Paul Clement as he knew the player at Blackburn.
Much chat on social media has fans arguing about getting behind the team and not criticising the players. Well my take on this is you pay your money, you are entitled to make your point. After the capitulation of last season it's no surprise that fans are getting nervous. No Derby fans enjoys seeing players struggle.
We must now focus on getting promotion ambitions back on track and the next game could hardly present a much more difficult test with a visit to Burnley. Turf Moor hasn't been a happy hunting ground for us in the recent past and next Monday will be no different.
Our aim of automatic promotion will need us replicating the first half of the season. We need to prove that we are just having a blip and not choking!
No comments:
Post a Comment