Son Of Saw: Unless Attitudes Change - The Rams Will Not Succeed
Saturday, 15th Apr 2017 15:19 by Son Of Saw

Football a game of simple premise, the idea of which requires you to out score the opposition.

Reality shows us this is harder than outsiders may think. Yesterday Derby never looked like scoring a goal in a month of Easter weekends.

Before I go any further I feel I should confirm that Derby's performance was not good. I struggle to find any mentionable glimmers of light which might guide us away from a path of negativity and despair.

They say writing is a method of venting frustration, I shall only say that if I had the honour of playing for Derby; yes, I would probably be the worst player to wear a shirt, but I would hope that I at least would show some guts and fight. Something which I struggled to see displayed by the 14 players wearing Derby shirts yesterday.

Brentford with their historic right to a very small pitch, by modern standards, played the fixture brilliantly, they dominated the game with one touch pass and move football something Derby have spent tens of millions trying to achieve, only to be taught how to play that style of football by a smaller London team whose players were purchased on a shoestring and post a healthy set of accounts each year.

A juxtaposition to our unhealthy eight million pound loss in 2015/16.

Derby start the game already on the back foot, it takes 10 minutes for them to gain a modicum of possession which isn't on the edge of their 18 yard line.

Brentford press, harass and hound derby's players until they lose the ball. In a second they break and look like scoring. So much so Carson tries his best to let a shot go underneath him and towards goal until Baird clears with a hint of panic.

The next attempt for Brentford is when Baird 'shots' with his standing foot as he attempts to clear a low cross from the Brentford right. It's an effort stereotyped with Sunday league players the morning after the night before.

Brentford continue to dominate the game with Vibe finding himself with back to goal on the six yard line, turning and toe-poking past the helpless Carson. At half time the Derby fans grew restless with countless suggestions to remedy Derby's peril.

None of these involved bringing Darren Bent on and taking Nugent off, especially as he squandered Derbys only first half chance, though one on one with the keeper who stuck out a hand to block the shot.

The second half consisted of three counter attack goals with Judge pulling all the midfield strings.

For the second and third goal Carson did not move an inch with the Brentford players surprising Carson with first time shots on the edge of the box.

The final goal however involved Keogh getting skinned alive and looking like a fish out of water. The finish was good but Keogh will get all the blame for the single error which resulted in a fourth goal which did not affect the game.

Any fan that singles Keogh out for abuse and blames the TEAMS performance on him is wrong. The TEAM should be held account as a whole not individuals.

The referee’s performance left a sting in my mouth and I believe Derby should have had a penalty, this could have changed the game and resulted in Derby getting a point, but Brentford would have been robbed, so I am not too disheartened.

No player today was error free and all are to blame and I personally believe that because of the excellent facilities and fan support, players believe playing for Derby is easy.

This is why I believe the last three/four years have been a failure and until the attitude of the players is changed, the team will not succeed.

At the end of the day, writing this at the side of the River Thames with a large Peroni in hand, you realise that the 90 minutes, as poor as it was, didn't tarnish a good day out with friends.

Even the £50 spent on the train and match ticket can be excused as I'm glad of the chance to watch Derby play away, something many fans do not get the chance to do.