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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Derby

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After a few days of pleasant early spring sunshine, today''s stroll up to CR was enlivened with a fairly stiff wind that felt like it came all the way from Siberia. Thankfully by kick off time we had all warmed up thanks in part to the appearance of the 1985 Milk Cup boys and a lively one minutes applause for Roy McCrohan, one of my all time favourites from the late 1950''s .It was nice to see City dominate from the first whistle although it looked like Derby had set up to contain early on. Johnson tried a long range effort in the early minutes but it was well wide to the left and a few minutes later Tetty did the same only to be even further wide to the right. Wes was soon buzzing round the Derby area and a couple of times almost slipped a team mate in with a defence splitting pass. However Derby looked fairly strong at the back and despite most of the play being in their half they were managing to keep City at arms length.At the other end, Ruddy was virtually a spectator for the first twenty minutes until Derby finally earned a corner from a break down their left. It was cleared comfortably and City were soon back on the front foot but despite holding the ball in the Derby box with some neat passing they could not work a clear opening. Jerome almost got in with a well timed run but could only toe Hoolahan''s through ball wide of Grant''s right hand post.I was beginning to think a goal might not come when all of a sudden it did and what a top class one it was. Tetty combined well with Wes and the little man''s ball inside the full back for Olsson to run onto was perfect, as was the low cross that was swept into the net by the lively Jerome. It was a well deserved lead and it finally brought Derby out of their shell. It was certainly competitive in midfield and Tetty got a yellow for a mistimed tackle but it was by no means a dirty game.For the remainder of the half Derby huffed and puffed a bit but there wasn''t much apart from a few free kicks and corners to bother a well marshaled City defence and when the whistle blew City were well worth their lead.At the start of the second period you could see that Derby were getting into us a lot quicker but despite that, City still held the whip hand. There were a couple of scrambles in the Derby area but the ball wouldn''t drop kindly for a yellow shirt. The crowd got a bit anxious when the ball wasn''t cleared quickly by Bassong and Martin and a couple of times they were very tardy in getting it away. It had become a much more even game and although  we didn''t really look like conceding a goal we all know that strange things happen and one goal isn''t always enough.Inevitably the very thing I feared happened midway through the half. Derby won a couple of corners and from the second Ruddy seemed to misjudge his catch and somehow fumble the ball into the net. How often have soft goals cost us points in home matches this season? If we fail to go up it will be the squandering of points at Carrow Road that will be to blame.The minutes ticked down very quickly after this and Derby were now fighting for every ball as City tried to put matters right. Wes swung a lovely free kick into the box  with twelve minutes left and Bassong met it perfectly only to see Grant get down and save magnificently, low to his right. Hooper then came on for the tiring Dorrans and immediately looked sharp. With time running out he almost broke the deadlock only for Grant to again parry his cross shot out and away from danger.As five minutes added was signalled there was still time for a couple of good chances. First, Whits did very well to chase down a long ball and hook it across goal where Jerome burst between two defenders only for his strong header to fly narrowly over the top. Hooper then found himself in the box with time but delayed his shot by trying to shift the ball and two Derby defenders blocked him out. Then, at almost last gasp, a cross found Johnson racing in with a defender on the six yard line but although he got good contact on the ball, it again flew high over the bar. It just wasn''t to be and although City had always looked the superior outfit, Derby had battled well and in the end had deserved their point.Hugely disappointing in terms of the promotion chase but there is still a fair way to go and nothing is certain until the fat lady sings. I''ve got a horrible feeling that this will go right to the last day, in which case I may need to go and hide under the bed.[:D]

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Thanks for the report as ever. It will certainly go to the last game. I''m sure of the okay offs but my best educated guess is that we need 6 wins starting with 2 of them against Huudersfield and then Forest to have a realistic chance of the automatics. It is going to be about very fine lines for the top 7 for sure and makes for an exciting time to be a canary.

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Cool report and I too have that feeling. but see an ending with us going up without the need for a play-off.

Whilst it must have felt like two points lost immediately after the game, I am going for the half full view, that not losing to a major promotion rival was key, and its a point won....come on!!!

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Thanks Ricardo.
The Scum got buried today and Brentford lost, while Derby are still on a poor run, so as long as we keep winning I think we''ll be okay.  The other pretenders are starting to fall away now.

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Hardly inspiring today, Derby without there 2 main strikers plus there midfield best player. Playoffs at best

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It''s 2 points squandered. Has to be when you were in a winning position.

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[quote user="morty"]Feels like a loss.#sulking.[/quote]It will all be different Tuesday night.The glorious uncertainty of football.[;)]

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="morty"]Feels like a loss.#sulking.[/quote]It will all be different Tuesday night.The glorious uncertainty of football.[;)][/quote]You''re probably right.I''m still annoyed though.Derby offered very little today, they didn''t deserve their point.

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[quote user="morty"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="morty"]Feels like a loss.#sulking.[/quote]It will all be different Tuesday night.The glorious uncertainty of football.[;)][/quote]You''re probably right.I''m still annoyed though.Derby offered very little today, they didn''t deserve their point.[/quote]You no more get what you deserve in football than you do in life.some are lucky, some aren''t. Fairness is a human concept that has no place in this universe..That''s enough philosophy for tonight so lets just cross our fingers and hope we get the rub of the green.[:D]

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="morty"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="morty"]Feels like a loss.#sulking.[/quote]It will all be different Tuesday night.The glorious uncertainty of football.[;)][/quote]You''re probably right.I''m still annoyed though.Derby offered very little today, they didn''t deserve their point.[/quote]You no more get what you deserve in football than you do in life.some are lucky, some aren''t. Fairness is a human concept that has no place in this universe..That''s enough philosophy for tonight so lets just cross our fingers and hope we get the rub of the green.[:D][/quote]Well done for packing so many cliches into one post [;)]

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This was yet another home game where we struggled to breakdown a defensive negative side. A badly weakened Derby side were poor and they were there for the taking, despite us being well below our best. We were not quick or incisive enough and Wes although being good on the ball as usual drifted across the pitch too much. Whilst I acknowledge Neil''s success to date his tactics today were wrong. We had five in midfield and from the outset it was obvious we could afford and needed two strikers. Howson and Johnson were continually crowded out partly because we had too many of our own players in midfield. We needed to stretch our opponents and both Redmond and Hooper should have been introduced on the hour mark. The caution displayed on the bench today was slightly reminiscent of the "Hughton days".

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You''re ''sulking'', morty, I''m fu*king livid after cashing out far too early on a seven draw accumulator thinking we were going to grab a winner.

Great report, ricardo, as per.

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[quote user="Shyster"]You''re ''sulking'', morty, I''m fu*king livid after cashing out far too early on a seven draw accumulator thinking we were going to grab a winner.

Great report, ricardo, as per.[/quote]Bookies know more about betting than you do.This is an important lesson in life you should know by now.[;)]

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[quote user="morty"][quote user="Shyster"]You''re ''sulking'', morty, I''m fu*king livid after cashing out far too early on a seven draw accumulator thinking we were going to grab a winner.

Great report, ricardo, as per.[/quote]Bookies know more about betting than you do.This is an important lesson in life you should know by now.[;)][/quote]

Quid on the accumulator and a tenner on City win, morty.I never do anything to break the bank Wink [;)]

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We out played Derby today. We created the chances but only scored one (terrific) goal. We let a goal in from a howler that JR wont repeat this season , or probably for 3 seasons . No more needs to be said. I love to over analyze but today isn''t one of those days. Sh1t happens . (And I''ve been going since 1937)

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[quote user="Graham Paddons Beard"]We out played Derby today. We created the chances but only scored one (terrific) goal. We let a goal in from a howler that JR wont repeat this season , or probably for 3 seasons . No more needs to be said. I love to over analyze but today isn''t one of those days. Sh1t happens . (And I''ve been going since 1937) [/quote]*like*

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And to be fair to Neil Adams, we outplayed a lot of teams earlier in the season and got feck all due to one defensive lapse or blunder.
A point''s not all bad, we move on and win the next game.

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We were extremely unlucky and all of our boys gave their all today. I can''t describe how fu(ked off I am. I feel absolutely sick and I''m going to be in a right sulk for a while but I refuse to criticise any of the team, they played well and easily deserved the win. It was almost a repeat of Cardiff (H) last season, it was like we were cursed!

I really do hate football sometimes!

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A draw today is not a disaster for us, we''re still one of five teams in with a good chance of the automatics. The points difference is minimal and we have a superior GD.

It is end of the auto road for Brentford, that lot, Wolves and all the rest, so some reasons to be cheerful.

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Many thanks again Ricardo. I couldn''t help thinking Tettey was not at his best today - was he being played out of position, pushing too far up the pitch? Dorrans looked a real asset, but looked best tricking his way into their penalty area & linking up forward play - if he could combine with Wes (excellent today) we''d be unstoppable.

Nothing much wrong lately, just not having much luck. Why do all (well, nearly all) keepers have blinders against us? Never mind, we''ve just got to hold our nerve & I''m sure results will come.

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