Eager to please, a majority of the Derby players began brightly. Where sharpness lacked, enthusiasm and effort was in abundance for players such as Thomas Ince and Johnny Russell. There was no shortage of commitment on the whole in the first half, but there was not a lot to get excited about. Birmingham got the first shot on target when Ince's poor decision opting not to clear the ball out of defence with more haste led to Maikel Kieftenbeld finding himself in possession in enemy territory. The Blues midfielder worked with left-back Jonathan Grounds to find Jon Toral, whose poor shot was straight at Lee Grant. Derby too got themselves a shot on target when good midfield play through George Thorne and Bradley Johnson gave Jeff Hendrick a sight on goal, but his effort was similarly weak and didn't trouble Birmingham 'keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
The first half was even and 0-0 at the break was fair at that point. The lack of shots on target may have worried both sets of fans but generally there was a feeling that there was still plenty of time and that the football on display had been much improved from Tuesday night.
For Derby fans, this reserved, quiet optimism was short-lived. City set the pace in the second half and stated their intentions early in the half to dominate the game with a series of good chances. The best of these early chances was from the left foot of Jon Toral who curled a shot from outside the box, only for Lee Grant to push it over the bar with a fingertip save. The Blues then broke the deadlock from the resulting corner kick as Maghoma's near post set-piece found the head of Michael Morrison, who steered his header toward the unmarked Paul Robinson at the back post, allowing him to apply the final finish. Dejection was clear on the faces of the Rams players who seemed to be looking at one another trying to work out who was supposed to be marking Robinson. Both left-back Stephen Warnock and midfielder Bradley Johnson seemed to switch off and failed to spot the veteran centre-back's run into space.
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| Photo courtesy of Twitter: @BCFC |
Birmingham found the net again to make it 2-0 shortly after through Stephen Gleeson, the same player who opened the scoring in the corresponding fixture at St. Andrew's earlier in the season with a long range wondergoal. The move began with Toral's quick feet in midfield evading the challenges from white shirts and threading a pass through to Gleeson. The Irish midfielder found support in David Davis, who returned the pass to his teammate in space. Gleeson curled a shot disguised as a cross towards the goal, deceiving Lee Grant who swung a hand in vain as Birmingham went 2-0 up. Derby showed signs of fight moments after kick off after Nick Blackman smashed a shot at Tomasz Kuszczak, but this proved to be the final significant chance the Rams would have. Birmingham completed the rout on 80 minutes as Kieftenbeld smashed home a spectacular volley after Cyrus Christie's attempted headed clearance to make it 3-0.
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| Twitter: @BCFC |
Once again Derby fans made their distaste with the result abundantly clear at the final whistle and unlike on Tuesday night, it’s hard to fault them this time. The fans had been vocal for much of the game and the players had not found themselves short of vocal support. Not to mention that the fans had turned out in droves; the attendance at the iPro Stadium was announced at 32,895. After Tuesday’s performance, it would have been easy for some fans to lose enthusiasm and stay at home. They didn’t stay at home and the performance they paid to see proved to be another disappointment.
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| Photo Courtesy of Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
Fans were subjected to many speculative shots on goal that didn’t come close at all. In some ways, it shows a lot of confidence, which is what fans want to see from players. However, in the context of head coach Paul Clement blaming a lack of confidence for the result in his post-match comments, his excuse just does not make sense to those fans who saw the game. In other ways, the long-range attempts on goal from Bradley Johnson and Jeff Hendrick, amongst other culprits, shows a degree of laziness and selfishness. Some players did not want to work hard for each other to create better, more clear-cut chances and preferred to opt for luck and individual skill alone to find a goal. It is hard not to feel sympathy for Nick Blackman, who on Saturday was asked to play up front alone in the position normally filled by Chris Martin. He rarely touched the ball as the supply to him was almost non-existent. It’s no small wonder that the aforementioned Martin has not scored from open play since late October and has cut a frustrated figure for the last few months.
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| Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
Much like on Tuesday, the blame for this result falls squarely on the shoulders of the playing staff. Nonetheless, there are question marks over the team selection, and later the substitutions, made by Paul Clement. The out-of-form Bradley Johnson got the nod over in-form Jacob Butterfield and new signing Nick Blackman was asked to play a position of vital stylistic importance despite still settling into the club. Blackman was selected over Darren Bent, who not only knows the team and the style at the club better, but also netted twelve times in his loan spell at the end of last season. Clement made all three substitutions at once on 67 minutes, shortly after going a goal down. He took off a leader from defensive midfield in George Thorne, but left the repeatedly poor Johnson on the pitch for another full 90 minutes. Arguably, Thorne’s recent return from injury was behind the substitution but his departure meant all shape in defensive midfield was lost and Derby went on to concede twice more following this. The lively Tom Ince was substituted for Chris Martin, yet the frustrated and downhearted Blackman remained on the field and remained ineffectual for the full 90 minutes.
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| Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
A lot of credit has to go to Birmingham for this result. They applied pressure to Derby and showed an alertness that the Rams lacked. This was impressive and is rooted in manager Gary Rowett’s adeptness in tactical planning. Derby did not seem to be expecting Birmingham to take the game to them and it seemed that Rowett identified this and set his team up to challenge Derby’s talented players. Where many teams have arrived at the iPro with the intention of not taking any risks, Rowett’s side called Derby’s bluff. The bluff in this case is that Derby are a team that will match the effort of a team that works hard against them, but in actual fact it is starting to look like many players simply will not rise to the challenge and will allow the opposition to outplay them decisively all over the pitch. Some may apply the adage ‘fortune favours the brave’ to this result but fortune had nothing to do with it, Birmingham were simply the better team and deserved winners for the same reasons Reading were the better team and deserved more on Tuesday night.
A nervous and shell-shocked Paul Clement faced the questions of the post-match interviewers, a stark contrast to the angry and frustrated head coach that came out to face the cameras on Tuesday. It is forgivable that the shock result would have him incredulous as he faced the post-match questions; it was surprising to say the least that this is the way it has turned out. However, Clement is an intelligent man and with enough time to digest the result, he will be able to find an alternative plan of action. Whether or not the new ideas are successful is a different question, but it is certain that there will be changes. His claim that he ‘knows what needs to be done’ reflects all that Derby fans know about the man.
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