Palace Post Match

[Trav Le Bleu]

At last! A dirty win! Though we deserved it in the 2nd half we were clearly better, they never really threatened.

For those who watched on the box, did anyone else titter each time the commentators mentioned the Palace player Scanell and would say something along the lines of "the ball's falling kindly for Scanell"

Think about it.

[MC Prussian]

oh, grow up, since when did you become such a miserable old bitch...

doesn't matter whether i was at the game or not, (and obviously i can't be bothered to go... shall i roll my eyes?) i wasn't claiming to be any kind of authority, i'm just pointing out that it is like watford all over again, we play well against cov and everybody expects us to suddenly become a great entertaining team...

it wasn't the best game ever, of course not, but all this whining about how ugly it was just seems to me very frustrating, i saw things in this game - ie. movement off the ball (yes, you can see more than 10 feet around the ball on tv), midfielders supporting the attack, one-touch football, overlaps - not in great abundance but it is clear that we have improved and i just wish people would try to focus on this more.

if you feel insulted because i happen to have a losely positive outlook, and offer an irreverent dig at those who are sorrowful and distraught after a victory against a form team in harsh conditions, then boo hoo to you.

maybe it is possible that not seeing every miserable performance this season actually offers me a different (not necessarily better) perspective on how we have improved, i am an ex-season ticket holder and i know that if you go week in week out it is difficult to spot subtle improvement.

i expect better from you daggers than some snidey little pompous knee jerk reaction, shame on you!

I think you're exaggerating a bit there, dear Norge friend. And I'm somewhat baffled by your sudden outburst of temper, after all the thoughtful posts of yours.

Thing is, on one hand you hit out at all the people that have slated the "ugly football" claim (which indeed it was, nothing fancy, rather practical tactical manoeuvering by Ollie's Army), but then concur that "it wasn't the best game ever". And the fact that you didn't see a lot of fancy ball movements, passes et al. is because you simply don't have a big enough basis to compare it to other games this season.

So all that remains is a game between two sides that were about to battle out a hard-fought 0-0, if it hadn't been for Hayles' quick reaction (he could've actually missed that one - but then again, it all boiled down to a little bit of luck).

The positive aspects you've seen are only glimpses of what this team could actually develop into. Winning a game - and even just by the slightest of margins - does help a lot and a big part of the squad that faced Palace consisted of newly-acquired players. Plus, DJ just came back from injury which added another positive boost to morale.

Bottom line: we won "ugly". Three points in the bag. That's all that matters.

And besides, you're not the only one with a "positive outlook".

The majority here feels just the same.

Another reason why your "outburst" comes as a surprise to me.

[Lillehamring]

If you aren't clever enough to work out that perceptions of and reactions to a game vary due to the investment of time and money versus sitting on your arse then so be it.

I can't wait to hear what you have to say the next time we've been on television, I am sure it will be equally insightful.

well, of course they change, duh... but that doesn't make one more accurate than the other, i've spent 25 years sitting behind the goal, but that doesn't mean i could judge a game then better than i can now, cause i couldn't see accurately the other goal mouth and lost perspective in the foreshorthing of the pitch. i've been to games formed opinions watched the highlights and changed my opinion. Is it easier to call an offside from the kop or from a tv replay?

i mean you haven't even bothered to tell me what was so uninsightful about my opinions on this game; because i found some positives in the game it deems my opinion invalid? i have been to so many poor games, in the stadium no less, and often i've seen positives when others have seen only muck.

if you aren't clever enough to work out that perceptions of and reactions to a game vary due to the investment of time and money versus sitting on your arse then so be it. invest your time and money, i'll think about taking a two and a half hour flight on a monday night (not), but i'll still have an opinion and good god, it's every bit as valid as yours.

if you look closely at the post match comments you will see my opinion shared by people AT THE GAME, so are you including them in you menopausal blithering.

dear god, if we can't express positivity, just cause you hated the match, then it's a very sad state of affairs. more people watch the game on tv than at stadia, are their opinions meaningless and unfounded as well, take a listen to yourself and stop being so holier than thou...

funniest poster of the year? not anymore, you miserable old sod

[Fez of Mahrez]

well, of course they change, duh... but that doesn't make one more accurate than the other, i've spent 25 years sitting behind the goal, but that doesn't mean i could judge a game then better than i can now, cause i couldn't see accurately the other goal mouth and lost perspective in the foreshorthing of the pitch. i've been to games formed opinions watched the highlights and changed my opinion. Is it easier to call an offside from the kop or from a tv replay?

i mean you haven't even bothered to tell me what was so uninsightful about my opinions on this game; because i found some positives in the game it deems my opinion invalid? i have been to so many poor games, in the stadium no less, and often i've seen positives when others have seen only muck.

if you aren't clever enough to work out that perceptions of and reactions to a game vary due to the investment of time and money versus sitting on your arse then so be it. invest your time and money, i'll think about taking a two and a half hour flight on a monday night (not), but i'll still have an opinion and good god, it's every bit as valid as yours.

if you look closely at the post match comments you will see my opinion shared by people AT THE GAME, so are you including them in you menopausal blithering.

dear god, if we can't express positivity, just cause you hated the match, then it's a very sad state of affairs. more people watch the game on tv than at stadia, are their opinions meaningless and unfounded as well, take a listen to yourself and stop being so holier than thou...

funniest poster of the year? not anymore, you miserable old sod

Out of interest, why did you think Hume was one of our standout players last night?

[Thracian]

Probably not under the ultra defensive Megson, but we would not have won it either!

In order to 'push on' as you put it we need to get forward more as a unit and put the opposition under more pressure. As Thracian pointed out in an earlier post the would require taking more risks, something that given our league position and the need to settle in new players is something I think Ollie will do only very slowly.

I think we are in for a period of attritional football until our league position is much improved.

Didn't we in fact draw 2-2 at Palace in August, losing only because we started conceding space towards the end which left us as suckers for a free-kick?

[Lillehamring]

I think you're exaggerating a bit there, dear Norge friend. And I'm somewhat baffled by your sudden outburst of temper, after all the thoughtful posts of yours.

Thing is, on one hand you hit out at all the people that have slated the "ugly football" claim (which indeed it was, nothing fancy, rather practical tactical manoeuvering by Ollie's Army), but then concur that "it wasn't the best game ever". And the fact that you didn't see a lot of fancy ball movements, passes et al. is because you simply don't have a big enough basis to compare it to other games this season.

So all that remains is a game between two sides that were about to battle out a hard-fought 0-0, if it hadn't been for Hayles' quick reaction (he could've actually missed that one - but then again, it all boiled down to a little bit of luck).

The positive aspects you've seen are only glimpses of what this team could actually develop into. Winning a game - and even just by the slightest of margins - does help a lot and a big part of the squad that faced Palace consisted of newly-acquired players. Plus, DJ just came back from injury which added another positive boost to morale.

Bottom line: we won "ugly". Three points in the bag. That's all that matters.

And besides, you're not the only one with a "positive outlook".

The majority here feels just the same.

Another reason why your "outburst" comes as a surprise to me.

well that is the crux of my argument, i had just watched a tough game of football, that personally i enjoyed, i loved the eveness, the swing in possesion, back and forth, and compared to the last game i caught (cardiff), and the drivel i witnessed at the walkers last year, i saw so many positives that i have listed previously.

i wouldn't say it was much of an outburst (my initial post), if i hit out it was with tongue firmly in cheek, i just felt disbelief that so many people on here were grumbling after arguably the result of the season, 'ugly' or not - and a lot of it was - this was a great team performance, it just felt like everybody was kinda expecting it to be like the fairy tale of coventry... lets face it, seeing four midfielders around the box is a relatively beautiful sight for a city fan.

if there has been any venom in my comments, it is at this pompous and unfounded nonsense that you can judge a game better from the ground, and considering most of the guys on here sit behind the goal, having done so myself since 1979, i just find that really insulting and patronising.

i love FT, it keeps me just a little bit in leiccester, it brings back the (few) things i miss, and for a footy board, there are a lot of very intelligent folk posting good stuff... i don't want to have this spoilt by people telling me my opinion is invalid... its just out of order.

[Lillehamring]

Out of interest, why did you think Hume was one of our standout players last night?

ooh, good question... i think it was just one of those performances that he is famous for but hasn't (i'm led to believe!) really been putting in this season... there was this great little head down he did to oakley on the edge of our own box, very calm and considered. and i thought he takled back well, and linked up nicely with stearman - especially considering he was the only real square peg/round hole player in the squad.

i know he over hit a lot but i don't remember any of our midfielders last year putting balls behind the defence, and he tried to do that a few times.

what people won't have seen at the game was this camera shot of him, snarling his teeth gritted, you just knew that he was playing for his shirt, you could tell by the way he played that he resented being usurped by hayles... and i have a lot of respect for that

oh my, i'm getting all thracian here...

the fact is, i really felt that it was a great team performance from front to back, my standout players and poorer players were relative to a pretty high standard, i mean top and bottom i would have given clem an 8 (motm) and hayles a 6...

[Fez of Mahrez]

ooh, good question... i think it was just one of those performances that he is famous for but hasn't (i'm led to believe!) really been putting in this season... there was this great little head down he did to oakley on the edge of our own box, very calm and considered. and i thought he takled back well, and linked up nicely with stearman - especially considering he was the only real square peg/round hole player in the squad.

i know he over hit a lot but i don't remember any of our midfielders last year putting balls behind the defence, and he tried to do that a few times.

what people won't have seen at the game was this camera shot of him, snarling his teeth gritted, you just knew that he was playing for his shirt, you could tell by the way he played that he resented being usurped by hayles... and i have a lot of respect for that

oh my, i'm getting all thracian here...

the fact is, i really felt that it was a great team performance from front to back, my standout players and poorer players were relative to a pretty high standard, i mean top and bottom i would have given clem an 8 (motm) and hayles a 6...

That's interesting. Personally I've only missed a handful of games this season and I still thought we were pretty dreadful going forward. Very impressed with the back four but that was pretty much it. Obviously this was mostly due to Palace being well-organised and closing down all over the pitch which Coventry for example failed to do. But whatever the results of the games, it's still four quite poor performances out of the last five in my humble opinion.

[Daggers]

<snore>

You are making a first rate twat of yourself. Go fetch your toys before someone in your house trips over them.

[Lillehamring]

You are making a first rate twat of yourself. Go fetch your toys before someone in your house trips over them.

is that it, oh...

[dandannieldanok]

Have to say, that was one of the worst games I have ever seen at the Walkers Stadium, on a par with the performance during the darker days of Levein and Kelly's respective tenures.

[MC Prussian]

You are making a first rate twat of yourself. Go fetch your toys before someone in your house trips over them.

A tad bit uncalled for.

[Simi]

Did not enjoy the game that much to be honest, wasn't helped either by the stewards attempting to ruin the fun.

But, a win is a win as they say. One that I don't think anybody really expected or predicted.

Both sides were as bad as each other going forward, yet equally as strong at the back, which was good to see from us. Stearman played well and it's nice to see him finally finding some consistency.

Hayles is workhorse, no doubts about that. Although, for out benefit I don't think he should be starting all that often. As we saw last night, DJ loves running at defenders and with him feeding off Howard I think that we can be a lot more effective. Despite having Zsolt on the left we failed to utilise him properly, which was a shame because nothing ever came of our attacks through the middle.

Hume needs to stop being played wide right, it's not good for us. His passing has deteriorated lately I feel, plus it seems harsh on Bori because I don't really think he did a great deal wrong. But maybe he's still lacking a bit of fitness.

[Manwell Pablo]

Have to say, that was one of the worst games I have ever seen at the Walkers Stadium, on a par with the performance during the darker days of Levein and Kelly's respective tenures.

But we would of lost it back then, we won, fighting spirit etc etc! erf dear oh dear, back to back home wins for the first time since August 2006 against a team unbeaten in like 15 games and you lot still moan.

You do all know Derby got promoted by winning like that every single week?

[Simi]

But we would of lost it back then, we won, fighting spirit etc etc! erf dear oh dear, back to back home wins for the first time since August 2006 against a team unbeaten in like 15 games and you lot still moan.

You do all know Derby got promoted by winning like that every single week?

Yeah, this is what needs to be said to be honest. We're winning, after some of the shit we've seen recently I can't beleive people are belittling it. Yes it wasn't great, but we had to match Palace. They're an old school side who battle for everything. That was the only way we were going to beat them.

[MC Prussian]

Yeah, this is what needs to be said to be honest. We're winning, after some of the shit we've seen recently I can't beleive people are belittling it. Yes it wasn't great, but we had to match Palace. They're an old school side who battle for everything. That was the only way we were going to beat them.

Can we all be happy now and hold hands?

Thank you.

[Pen 3 veteran]

Sorry if I've missed it on the thread lads, but no one has mentioned the 3 (?) headed chances of S.H. last night. I watched it on Sky and their commentators said what good chances they were and normally super Steve would have buried on his past reputation.

So, if he had been more settled in team, should the score have been more like 3-0 (allowing him to miss one!) ?

I thought good strong performance against in form physical Palace team, and we can be proud of the boys. Undertstand what some of you are saying about Hume, but he came across on telly as really committed with praise for his hard work.

I see MON was at the game - who is he after then?

[Simi]

I see MON was at the game - who is he after then?

Well if you beleive the Stearman rumours? Maybe even the Osbourne deal.

Also Savage, Lennon and Walsh were also there.

Bet they had a nice chat after the game!

[Daggers]

But we would of lost it back then, we won, fighting spirit etc etc! erf dear oh dear, back to back home wins for the first time since August 2006 against a team unbeaten in like 15 games and you lot still moan.

You do all know Derby got promoted by winning like that every single week?

...and?

Sorry mate, but if we are going to be winning like that every week then I'll not be going to the games anymore. The style of play is not only unattractive but forms no basis for long-term success - what good has it done Derby this season?

If we go up at some point in the future then it'd better be on the back of performances being ground out by WBA - not a tip of the forlock to Derby and Wimbledon - because at least I rate their chances of being able to survive in the Premiership.

So, apologies to everyone equally offended by my lack of desire to organise an open-top bus parade for the squad on the back of last nights match but I'll reserve my positive comments for the times when we do something to justify the effort.

[The Reverend]

But we would of lost it back then, we won, fighting spirit etc etc! erf dear oh dear, back to back home wins for the first time since August 2006 against a team unbeaten in like 15 games and you lot still moan.

You do all know Derby got promoted by winning like that every single week?

It seems some are obsessed with the Arsenal type of football, and would put passing the ball around higher in their list of priorities than actually winning the match.

Each to their own, eh?

[Daggers]

A tad bit uncalled for.

I'm bored of pandering to someone who only seems to be able to be rude. You're right though Swiss, it probably was a bit over the top.

[dandannieldanok]

But we would of lost it back then, we won, fighting spirit etc etc! erf dear oh dear, back to back home wins for the first time since August 2006 against a team unbeaten in like 15 games and you lot still moan.

You do all know Derby got promoted by winning like that every single week?

The win just clouds over a completely clueless performance though, and without question Derby performed better than that to get promoted.

[Dr The Singh]

Out of interest, why did you think Hume was one of our standout players last night?

Cus he had a bold head????

[Manwell Pablo]

...and?

Sorry mate, but if we are going to be winning like that every week then I'll not be going to the games anymore. The style of play is not only unattractive but forms no basis for long-term success - what good has it done Derby this season?

If we go up at some point in the future then it'd better be on the back of performances being ground out by WBA - not a tip of the forlock to Derby and Wimbledon - because at least I rate their chances of being able to survive in the Premiership.

So, apologies to everyone equally offended by my lack of desire to organise an open-top bus parade for the squad on the back of last nights match but I'll reserve my positive comments for the times when we do something to justify the effort.

It hopefully wont be like that every week, hopefully it will be more like it was against Cov, but the new players are just settling in it's only the third game for half of them and Palace, as I have said, have been unbeatable recently. We needed the three points desperatley, we needed some sort of form at home, it should do wonders for every one at the club and hopefully should do wonders for our home form. If we intend on playing like that every week I agree but something tells me we don't.

The win just clouds over a completely clueless performance though, and without question Derby performed better than that to get promoted.

You'd be very, very suprised.

[Daggers]

It hopefully wont be like that every week, hopefully it will be more like it was against Cov, but the new players are just settling in it's only the third game for half of them and Palace, as I have said, have been unbeatable recently. We needed the three points desperatley, we needed some sort of form at home, it should do wonders for every one at the club and hopefully should do wonders for our home form.

I disagree with none of that .