Nasty Nigel’s Derby Ram a timely reminder up Magpies!
Posted on February 10th, 2010 | 44 Comments |
Having watched Derby categorically destory our impressive record-breaking unbeaten run in the league, supporters were given a reminder that the Cardiff demolition was perhaps a distraction from the otherwise inauspicious form leading into and out of the Christmas period.
However, Hughton was keen to point out that the results perhaps flattered the hosts, saying:
“It’s a very hurt changing room. The manner of the defeat has hurt them and I’m quite sure there’ll be a desire to turn this around.”
“It’s certainly a big blow. We’ve done something that we haven’t done all season and that’s concede three goals. If you do that then there’s a good chance you’ll lose football matches.”
“It’s a hurt changing room because our strength this season is that we’ve been solid and had a good defensive record. Although, on the balance of play I didn’t see it as a 3-0 deficit.”
“We were always a threat, I didn’t think they were better than us but they put the ball in the back of the net and we didn’t.”
West Brom usurped us as leaders following their 2-0 win over Palace, as we dropped into second spot, albeit with a game hand. No doubt a psychological advantage to the Baggies as they have points on the board and we need to win our game hand to regain top spot. On reflection, Hughton said:
“Of course it’s a blow because it’s something we’ve had all season but that doesn’t deter from the fact that the objective this season is to get promotion, whichever way we do that.”
“The fact we’ve been where we’ve been all season means we’ve been one of the best three teams in the division for most of the season, and for most of it we’ve been the best team.”
Following such a heavy defeat off the back of such a superior showing against Cardiff might inevitably suggest a lack of desire and/or a touch of complacency. Hughton was keen to challenge that view and countered:
“I would refute that accusation. We knew we had a really tough game here after the excellent performance against Cardiff and we got exactly that. We didn’t get that little bit of fortune you need.”
“I don’t think there was a hangover at all. We have to dust ourselves down and take it on the chin. We have conceded three goals, which isn’t something we are used to doing. But we have to move on and look to bounce back against Swansea. It is a setback but there were always going to be highs and lows between now and the end of the season.”
“We’ve another tough away game at Swansea coming up – we must make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.”
Speaking after the game, Rams boss, Cloughie didn’t necessarily disagree that the scoreline flattered his side ever so slightly but was inevitably please with the application and performance overall and not least the result.
“The score might flatter us a little in terms of chances created but anyone who has seen us for the last few weeks would say a result like that has been coming.”
“It’s reward for all the hard work in the last few weeks. The first 15-20 minutes were as well as we’ve played since I’ve been here. Stephen Bywater hardly touched the ball.”
So what do I think? Most of you already know but as I implied earlier, the Cardiff game might well have been a one-off. They were genuinely horrible on the night and I think most who watched it, felt like the scoreline flattered us. As a result, cliched or not, it papered over the cracks of recent form and unconvincing performances. The new lads at the back have probably got a bit of an easy ride as well in the last few games and hence expectations may be slightly inflated.
This isn’t the end of the world by any means and it might just prove to be a minor blip. But Cardiff aside, we have performed poorly on a number of occasions and got away with it. It seems to me like if a club has the ability to score goals then we might struggle and we have some tough opponents ahead of us, capable of scoring goals.
Hopefully I’m made to eat my words on Saturday and we turn Swansea over and kick on but even with my optimistic view last night, the season has a long way to run yet and you can’t help thinking we need to pick up some consistent form again sooner rather than later and the players need to know that too.
Hope it is just a blip and we can win our next Match…not the result I expected but hey ho it’s done now and on to the next one.