Blues were TV stars on Saturday night. Or not, as Andy Munro explains.
It’s not often I can sit down on a rainy night to watch the Blues win on the telly. and Saturday was no exception. Whilst Derby’s first goal was offside, the Rams fully deserved their lead as Blues were woeful in the first period. Pundit Peter Beagrie commented on the lack of confidence, lack of desire and lack of leadership. It’s no coincidence that much of the trouble came from down the right with Robbo solid but rarely offering a threat going forward and Wade Elliott a middle peg in a wing hole. Midfield was just too slow and consequently over run and therefore Marlon King and Ziggy, who looked like a big boy lost, struggled to feed off scraps.
As usual we improved in the second half although, in truth, we couldn’t have got any worse. Marlon King showed some nice touches but why take off Burke to move Elliott across beats me if you’re one nil down. In the centre of midfield, Mullins certainly wasn’t the Daddy so where was the real version? Left on the bench again. Lovenkrans for Elliott (although he did score). I’d say spot the difference; a better offensive bet would have been to see Redmond lurking behind King. Ziggy is strictly for home matches when we have the momentum to get balls into the box.
Certainly the big plus was the appearance of Robert Hall, whose performance must mean that he will now be confined to the bench. He fully deserved the penalty with his wonderful skill and Marlon then did what he always does. Unfortunately despite a cameo goal from Lovenkrans, we were let down again by a leaky defence who can’t cope with a ball played in behind them and this is becoming a real worry. I think the time has come to give Packwood (until Caddis is available) and Hancox a chance, providing some much needed enthusiasm and in the latter case real pace.
So now we face a few days of platitudes when ‘the team will be hurting,’ they will have been ‘unlucky with their courageous fightback,’ however ‘they will turn it round because they are professionals,’ before the next two games they will be ‘up for it’ and so on. In fact I may decide to cancel my Mail subscription or at least put the back page straight in the recycling bin to prevent myself sticking two fingers down my throat.
If I had my way, this is the side I would play for the next match: Butland; Packwood (or Caddis if fit), Davies, Robinson, Hancox, Burke, Diop, Morrison, Hall, King and Redmond (Blackpool)/Ziggy (Middlesbrough).
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