The Tigers impressive start to the season at the KC Stadium continued with a victory over a beleaguered Derby County side. For all the well documented problems on the road, at home, City are a different team. There is an extra determination about the players, who show more adventure and certainly enjoy more luck. Derby aren’t a poor side but a team who look like we do every time we step onto someone else’s pitch.
Nigel Pearson made several changes again, most notably handing a recall to Jimmy Bullard. The manager’s comments to the local media suggested Jimmy might be involved at some point in the near future. He’s a shrewd one because as everyone grew to expect Jimmy to make the bench (including Nigel Clough I’d imagine), the manager put him on from the start. Bullard formed a midfield trio with Robert Koren and Tom Cairney which looked like it lacked bite. John Bostock played off Fagan and Simpson up front. At the back there were home debuts for Anthony Gerrard, who looks every bit the brute of a centre half we needed, and Daniel Ayala. McShane and Dawson lined up at full back and Duke was in goal (like we have any other choice).
City kicked towards the South Stand in the first half and started well. Jimmy Bullard received a good ovation before kick-off and each time he trotted across to take a corner, he got a bigger reception. He was barely involved in the opening minutes though, you would have been forgiven for thinking he was being deliberately ignored. His first touch was a headed challenge in midfield and shortly after he chased across to put in a tackle on the right wing. If he needed to prove anything, he was doing it. He was spared his first big “test” when a 50/50 challenge on the edge of their box became 80/20 in Jimmy’s favour as the referee took out Paul Green.
It was a decent half with both teams playing some good football in spells. City worked the ball well between their defence and midfield with Bostock and Cairney passing quickly and incisively. Derby got their full-backs forward and exploited the space it left when ours came out to meet them. They were most dangerous when Brayford came up from right back, drew Andy Dawson and slid the ball into the space for Paul Green who made the same run four times with great success because Tom Cairney never tracked him until it was too late. You’d think that after the first time, he’d be expecting it. Danger was avoided by the impressive Gerrard and Ayala who met everything that came in from open play. Chances from open play were rare but both sides forced plenty of corners and put balls into the box.
Tom Cairney volleyed just over the bar after a Bullard corner was headed clear. From their corners, Chris Barker had the beating of Ayala all night. That was the only black mark against our Spanish centre-half (the best one we’ve had since the magnificent Antonio Doncel). He couldn’t get near Barker who should have scored when he met a lopping corner 6 yards out and in the middle of the goal. He headed wide with Ayala trailing in his wake and Matt Duke super-glued to his goal line. At the other end, Ayala himself headed over from a few yards out. The pattern continued through out the half. Ayala looked to have tripped Bueno just inside the box but Bueno’s theatrical dive put doubt in the refs mind and nothing was given, while Shefki Kuqi, who is so poor that Swansea let him go out on loan despite having no other fit strikers, shot wide after escaping Gerrard for the only time in the half. At the other end, Jay Simpson dropped off their defenders, laid the ball off and then raced onto the return pass and through on goal. It was the first time we’ve really seen this side of his game. His left footed shot lacked power and Bywater saved comfortably. A couple of minutes later, we were in front. Bullard’s free-kick was headed out of the goalie’s hands by Barker. Fagan did well to retrieve the ball and set up Bostock for a low cross that found Ayala and Simpson alone in the 6 yard box. They had the time to have a 12 round boxing match to decide who was scoring. Despite Simpson’s weight advantage, Ayala has the extra reach and he (deservedly) pinched the goal at the near post. It was scrappy but 2 minutes before half time, it was most welcome. Derby had the better chances in the half but we’d had plenty of the ball and played some terrific stuff inside their half.
Only McShane stood out as being really poor, he’d spent the half trying to be an attacking full-back and proving why he isn’t. Our shape meant we were easy pickings out wide if we didn’t get across to support the full-back. We’d struggled to get Fagan and Simpson into the game because we still went long too often. That was inexcusable with 4 ball players around midfield. I felt that Derby would come at us in the second half and we would have space to exploit with our pace on the counter. That didn’t really happen though. Derby look like we do away from home, utterly devoid of any confidence and there is a lack of conviction in front of goal and a lack of communication in defence. That should have made the second half comfortable for City but our own lack of self-belief meant we looked nervy. The game became a bit of a midfield battle with both defences coping with through balls. Ayala showed a great ability to nick the ball in front of the striker while Gerrard showed he’ll head anything and he won’t be pushed about by anyone. As Derby started to enjoy the majority of possession, we needed to put a few tackles in and Paul McShane was just the guy to do so, winning 4 or 5 balls on the right to disrupt their momentum. It had to be done because we didn’t have anyone in front of the back 4 who even knew what a tackle was.
Gerrard made a terrific header underneath the crossbar from an in-swinging corner. He needed to as well because he’d gifted them the corner. He was pulled down in the box from one of our own corners but the referee wanted nothing to do with it. It must have been a foul. No-one called Gerrard has ever taken a dive. Derby introduced Kris Commons from the bench and even with his chunky frame, he ran rings around McShane. He should’ve equalised soon after. McShane charged into the centre circle to win a challenge but only presented the ball to Green who played a crisp pass into the substitute, Pringle. He exploited the space left by McShane and crossed for Commons to volley wide. That proved crucial. Jay Simpson was slid through in the penalty box but another tame effort was saved by the right boot of Bywater. Seconds later, Dawson’s deep cross found Simpson at the back post. This time he lashed in his shot and Bywater’s parry fell for Koren who dillied then dallied and then slid a shot beyond the wrong-footed Bywater. We saw the game out quite comfortably from there. Daniel Ayala won the KCFM man of the match award, the crowd was announced as 19,714 (to the delight of the 76 away fans) and 5 minutes stoppage time was announce, which would have been terrifying at 1-0. Garcia hit a weak shot from 20 yards, Bullard hit a dipping volley from 25 that didn’t quite dip enough and Shefki Kuqi completed 90 minutes with the aid of a ventilator.
It’s difficult to fathom how a team that is so limp away from home can be so strong at the KC. We haven’t conceded a goal since Darren Bent’s early strike for Sunderland. I make that 445 (regular) minutes of football. Ayala and Gerrard looked an excellent partnership. Very self assured, happy to take the football and confident of winning every challenge. The only worry was Ayala’s failure to get anywhere near barker from set pieces. This is the third partnership we’ve seen in 6 games, using 5 centre halves already. Hopefully these two have done enough to see that situation settle down now. Andy Dawson was exposed at left back by the team shape. McShane was erratic. He gave the ball away and found himself out of position too often but when we needed someone to get amongst them, he did so. Matt Duke didn’t cover himself in glory, failing to come and take looping corners that had his name all over them. Even if he’d come and punched, it would have eased the pressure. His short distribution was as good as ever.
The midfield selection was always a gamble. Focused more on keeping the ball than winning the ball and trusting that our back four could cope with Darby’s sporadic threat. Bullard was the pick of the midfield, as you’d suggest he should be. He was as calm on the ball as ever, constantly finding space and demanding the pass. I only counted one occasion when he gave the ball away. He played lots of simple passes that kept the game moving and several terrific through-the-eye-of-a-needle balls to get us in behind Robbie Savage. His set pieces were superb too. Cairney was a passenger at times, perhaps over shadowed by Bullard. He was too laid back, slow to see a good opening and slow to react to the movement of their players around him. His passes are frustratingly slow, the sort of ball you play at 4-0 up against opponents who have long given up. Too often Dawson over-lapped only to be fed a slow pass that caused him to turn back towards our goal. Robert Koren was decent but lacked a bit of spark. He works hard enough and keeps the game moving but doesn’t look dynamic enough around their box. Hopefully his first goal will give him a lift.
John Bostock gave his best performance since the opening day. He was lively and got into good spaces all over the front third. He tried a lot of ambitious passes that didn’t quite come off but show a good level of confidence. He didn’t waste possession by trying to shoot at every opportunity either, he played a simpler game that helped us generate a bit of momentum. Fagan was very quite, I can’t remember him kicking anyone. He played a part in the first goal but wasn’t involved a lot otherwise. His usual nuisance factor was missing. Jay Simpson had his best game for us. His touch looked more assured and he was a bit fitter and a bit stronger. He started to get in behind them and timed his runs beautifully. He was there to tap in the first if needed, he had two good chances and he made the third with a great movement at the far post. He just failed to put in Koren a few minutes before that when leading a good counter attack. He and Fagan have the makings of a decent partnership, if we can stop trying to hit the ball at them in the air.
It’s nice that Saturday is a home game, we like them. It’s nice that the opposition are Nottingham Forest, who we haven’t played competitively since before I was born. Hopefully we’ll see a more settled side and City can put two good performances together for the first time in a long, long while.
Ratings: Duke 6, McShane 5, Dawson 6, Gerrard 7, Ayala 8, Bullard 8, Cairney 6, Koren 7, Bostock 7 (Garcia), Fagan 6, Simpson 7 (Cullen).
