Dazed Review – Derby at the KC

The Dazed Review – Derby County at the KC

So after the self destruction that occurred on Tuesday we went to the KC in hope for an improved performance against a Derby team that has struggled to get going this year also with only one point to their name ? The sky cameras were there so it was perhaps a good opportunity for us to break our TV hoodoo ? Crowd was down on the Tuesday but the atmosphere was actually surprisingly good ?

The changes that were made to the team were one forced and one surprising to a few ? Collins in for Delaney and Livermore makes his debut in place of Welsh ? Welsh not even being on the bench was surprising, Livermore was obviously brought on to help shore us up defensively in the middle after obvious gaps were left and exposed against barnsley ?

The game gets underway and early exchanges were a bit nervy on both sides ? with both having an early chance, then on 7 minutes Derby took the lead from what simply should not have been a goal ? he was blatantly offside as I was sat level with this and myself and to be honest the entire crowd could not believe that the goal was given ? how Hull were to react from this was quite positive, Marney and Fagan had half chances and Livermore was quite solid in the middle of the park adding some great defensive cover which we had badly missed, this also allowed Marney more freedom going forward.

This carried on for a while before Duffy went down with a pull of some sort ? he should have been brought off straight away and when he was not it was like us having 10 men out there with Duffy hobbling about, Duffy was eventually replaced by Barmby to a great ovation from the crowd ? unfortunately I think he was a bit too fired up as within a few minutes he got booked following a rash challenge ?

As the first half drew to a close Fagan won us a penalty for us and Parkin coolly slotted away to give the players, and the supporters some hope that the second half could give us our first point, or points, of the season ! A sloppy first half from our team and even though their goal was simply not a goal a draw at half time probably was a fair result ?

Half Time Hull City 1 – 1 Derby County

As the second half started It was a bit dull with both teams cancelling each other out to a point ? the best chance that came to us was from a very powerful shot from the confident Livermore that only just missed ? Derby only had a meaningful chance heading towards the end of the game when Howard shot loosely straight at Myhill who to be honest was a bit wayward with his kicking once again ? Then the penalty came, Dawson was adjudged to have handled when he blocked a cross, this was a bit debatable to say the least and different refs obviously would have given different decisions based on their views, but with it being the same linesman that gave Derby the “offside” goal we were in uproar, Myhill was unlucky to not save it as he got a hand to it but could not keep it out ? we were starting to feel robbed and that, yet again, things just were not going to go our way ? We had a good chance from a free kick when Livermore got flattened but Marney was a bit disappointing from his final shot which he has shown in all three games so far to be honest ? Elliott came on for France and he may as well have just sat on the pitch as he was absolutely nowhere in the game yet again We had another chance through Fagan showing his pace yet again as he almost scored which would have rounded up another great performance by Fagan ? yet another full back will be having nightmares about him that`s for sure ! ?

Andrews came on for Livermore who had suffered since that terrible challenge on him Parkin had two chances, one a weak shot at the Derby keeper and the last one in stoppage time which he should have done better but the defender blocked it (replays showed with his arm!) ? the final whistle blew, we are still to get a point but over all I think that the performance had good positives about it and let`s see what Ipswich brings ?

Full Time – Hull City 1 – 2 Derby County

Anyway Player Ratings

Myhill – 6 ? First goal, despite it being offside he was hugging the near post a little too much so his angles let him down on that one, second goal he was very close to saving it ? Kicking not very good if you ask me ?

Dawson – 7 ? Had the Captains armband and did a good job overall ? Prob the best defender we had to be honest ? very unlucky to have judged to handballed for the penalty ?

Turner – 7 ? Quite solid throughout but missed Delaney next to him ?

Collins – 6 ? Did ok considering he has only had two days training ? Think he will be a good backup this season ? seems to have cut out some of his silly mistakes he made last year ?

Ricketts – 7 ? Another good performance although not as stand out as the previous couple of games ? think our right back troubles could be over though !

Fagan – 8 ? Pick of the midfield and pick of the team in my opinion ? Lively, ran the full back ragged and seems to be getting more chances on goal each game ? good to see the lad is showing to be a fantastic right winger ?

Marney – 7 ? Quite good at times but needs his shooting boots on as his final product is not as good as it could and should be ?

Livermore – 7 ? Good debut from Livermore, solid and passed safe and was not afraid to foul when it was “needed” ? Will be Andrews replacement on the bench and will rotate with Welsh depending on opposition methinks ?

France – 7 ? Another good game from Francey , seems to be performing more confidently each game on the left hand side and not afraid to drift in the middle to pick up the ball and create or shoot ?

Duffy – 5 ? Tried again but is trying too hard now ? he will never score the goals he should while we are hitting long high balls to him, this is not his game and is making him look like half the player he is ? on the floor and he will flourish ?

Parkin – 7 ? Another game and another goal from the “overweight” Beast according to some ? is now the top scorer in the league, who needs 20 goals a season strikers, we may already have one!!



Subs

Barmby – 7 ? Pick of the subs ? very aggressive and considering he is not fully match fit thought he played well ? maybe if Duffy has got a knock then we could try him from the start against Ipswich ?

Andrews – 6 ? Not on long enough to comment although I think Livermore will take his place on the bench next game ?

Elliott – 5 ? Came on apparently at some point during the second half, did not notice myself ? on borrowed time I think ?



Top Tiger ? Has to be Fagan ? played excellently again and already you feel this guy will be a bright star of the team this year ? not one full back has controlled him yet and long may it continue ?



Tigers Tail ? Duffy I think ? unluckily as I have said in his rating he will never flourish under this style of football ?



Parky`s Performance ? Quite a good shift in tactics from the last game, he asked for the simple things to be plugged and they were ? the balance is slowly getting there and you are starting to see a starting XI that he seems to like ?



Ref Watch ? 3/10 – some very strange decisions and should have overruled the linesman on both goals but alas he did not, his insistence on the 10 yd rule was a joke to watch and made for a stuttering game at times ? very frustrating ?



Crowd Watch ? A drop in the crowd but we got behind the team and tried to lift them when we could ? at times you could see the players were responding to this and lets carry this on eh ??



where to from here?

Ipswich away to another team that has failed to get a point and let`s see if we can make sure they carry on with zero points, three points from there and the world will seem a brighter place, no points from there and even though it`s too early for panic stations, it just starts to get a little bit edgy for us ?