Tayls of woe! – Newcastle 0, Derby 0.
Posted on December 29th, 2009 | 159 Comments |
And yes, we were still garbage, but there is more to it than just that. Even as I made my way from Durham, I sensed that things seemed flat amongst the supporters, and undoubtedly that was evident on the park for some of our players last night. This word ‘complacency’ has almost lost all meaning, as the doubters and knockers rub their hands in glee at the prospect of another black and white collapse following an impressive lead. While the ‘Class of 96’ was certainly more high-profile, something tells me that our detractors would enjoy our demise just as much this time round.
So is it really complacency and how do we prevent it? Personally, I think it’s a bit of complacency and a little to do with the fact that we’re only a slightly-above-average football team, nothing more and nothing less. We have the nucleus of a decent Championship side and we have some big performers who have helped make the difference at crucial points during the season, taking us up to that ‘slightly’ above average notch. Winning games when we arguably didn’t deserve to, just because we have players who can step up to the plate.
The problem with that, as evidenced in certain games this season and particularly against Derby, is that if nobody steps up to the plate, then we’re right back to being just average. And if teams come and have a go at us then there’s a good chance they’ll get something out of the game. And it’s clear that the ‘do or die’ attitude that in bigger games this season, which saw us chase lost causes, and defend and close down in packs, is less evident when we’re coming up against what is viewed as inferior opposition.
Because of Derby’s position in the league and their current form, I felt we stepped out last night and the players gave the impression that they believed somebody else would pull something out of the bag, and nobody did. Don’t get me wrong, we created and spurned chances last night and we could quite easily have scored early, put the game to bed and this might have been a totally different report. But Derby just seemed like they wanted it more, and we stopped short of throwing everything at them until it was too late.
Having made several changes to his side again, Hughton started with another fresh forward approach with the big-man-little-man combination of Andy Carroll and Lovenkrands upfront, filling the void of Harewood after his loan spell ended and Ameobi who took his place on the bench. Smudger came in as straight swap for Nicky Butt and Ryan Taylor replaced Danny Guthrie on the right hand side of midfield.
Derby buzzed around and played some decent football in the first half hour but we created far more chances that we really should have buried time and again. Barely twenty minutes had passed and with good work on the left from Gutierrez twice, Andy Carroll might have done better with the direction on his headers at the back post. Some smart work from Lovenkrands in the box, saw him hook a volley across the face of the goal and Ryan Taylor hit the bar from a free-kick from 20 yards.
Then came what proved to be the sign that things weren’t going to go our way, as Ryan Taylor beat the offside trap brilliantly and a lovely through ball found him one on one with Bywater. With too much time on his hands, Taylor seemed to hesitate and tried to beat the keeper low down but Bywater judged it well and kicked out his left foot as the ball cannoned safely out of play. And after a handful of half chances went begging from corners and balls into the box, and the half time whistle blew, you couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t going to be our night.
However, the least you could have hoped for was a bit of determination and yet again we came out for the second half almost like we just expected something would happen and there was no urgency. With Savage out-battling Smith, and Enrique and others guilty of sloppy play which surrended possession all too easily, the fans became frustrated and the unlikely call for Shola Ameobi came, oh how the mighty are fallen…
But before Shola rolled onto the pitch to do his laidback cameo, the man he replaced created a chance for what should have been almost inevitably our first goal. A cross from Carroll found Steven Taylor six yards out but the centre half inexplicably powered a header straight into the arms of the keeper.
Ameboi came on not long after to replace Andy Carroll but was a shadow of the awkward and prolific striker he’s masqueraded as this term. Back to his usual laidback and lazy self, he epitomised the sloppy and careless attitude that filled our second half performance.
Derby continued to fight for every ball but also at times popped the ball around to good effect to frustrate us, as we ceased to continue our effective method of hunting in packs, everyone again waiting for someone else to do the graft. But apart from maybe one shot that was saved by Harper and I don’t recall many chances for the Rams.
And so the end crept closer and with Pancrate on for Ryan Taylor and Ranger on for Lovenkrands, we seemed to inject a bit of life back into the performance, but unfortunately not the quality to go with it and some wayward passing and awful crosses kept the remaining chances to a minimum. In fact, apart from a ricochet in the box, there was only Ranger’s chance at the end that looked like going in and making him the hero of the hour, but Bywater took the plaudits as he managed to push his effort onto the bar.
There was just enough time for McEveley to get his second yellow card in stoppage time but if anything that made Derby even more resolute. If only we’d displayed the endeavour of their two centre halves and the tenacity of Savage and their midfielders. Derby enjoyed their spells of fortune but came here and narrowed the play and defended brilliantly. If truth be known, they were really there for the taking but full credit to them for their efforts. Instead, we limped to a frustrating 0-0 draw that sees our lead narrowed at the top.
January must bring with it, a reliable and consistent goalscorer. And if anyone sees a creative midfielder in amongst the January sales, we could really do with one of them too!
Us – Harper 7, Simpson 6, Steven Taylor 6, Coloccini 7, Jose Enrique 6, R Taylor 5, Nolan 6, Smith 5, Gutierrez 7, Lovenkrands 6, Carroll 6.
Subs – Krul, Guthrie, Butt, Kadar, Pancrate 6, Ameobi 5, Ranger 7
Derby – Bywater, Connolly, Addison, Buxton, McEveley, Green, Savage, Hendrie, Pearson, Hulse, Campbell.
Subs – Deeney, Croft, Teale, Pringle, Dickov, Commons, Livermore.
Att – 47,505 (A lacklustre display in the stands, despite the good turnout. I think the cold and the poor performances dampened the spirits but no excuses really, as poor a performance as the those on the pitch. Derby brought about 2,000 and had a small noisy section that were quite vocal throughout, reckon they shaded this one).
NUFCBlog Author: bowburnmag
bowburnmag has written 234 articles on this blog.
Good match report BBM. Agree 100% with your conclusions.