January was a good month for Derby picking 10 points up from a possible 15, the rams also strengthened their squad by brining in 2 players from the premier league, Thomas Carroll on loan from Tottenham and Ryan noble on loan from Sunderland, this was Ryan Nobles second spell at Derby, he didn't really make an impact in his first spell due to injury, his second spell at the club was also questionable. Thomas Carroll is being tipped to be a big premier league star when he is older, with people saying he could replace Luka Modric at the club when he is older.The first 3 games in January were all wins, beating Hull, Crystal Palace (fa cup) and Coventry all of which were 1-0 wins, this saw Derby sitting pretty in 8th with 2 points off the play off's, Derby were drawn with stoke for the 4th round of the fa cup, which proved a good challenge for the rams. Before they faced Stoke the rams faced a tricky away game to Burnley, the match wasn't one of the best and the score ended 0-0, the draw saw Derby slide down the table to 11th. Could Derby cause a shock at pride park and be premier league side stoke? Derby didn't get to the best of starts in the match, they conceded a goal in the 5th minute with Cameron Jerome the goal scorer, Stoke came out 2-0 winners and deserved their result, this wasn't a real surprise for the rams as it was not expected for them to come out winners. Derby lost their last game of January losing 3-2 to Barnsley, this was a very poor match for the rams who were trailing 3-0 at half time, many of the away supporters who travelled booed the team, Derby gradually got better in the second half 2 goals thanks the Jamie Ward and Tom Carroll made it 3-2, the loss made them slip a place to 12th. So after January the rams were sitting 12th and 4 points off the play off's, could they make it to the premier league still or was it too much to ask for.
Well February was a disaster for the rams picking up only 1 point which was against Millwall, but however they should of picked up all 3, Craig Bryson's shocker proved costly as they only walked away from the Den with a point, looking at the next 3 fixtures nobody expected to see Derby win any of them, Reading and Leicester were next at Pride Park and the rams faced a tricky trip down south the Southampton. Derby lost every single game and the performance in those games weren't as good as they showed in January. Derby played Leicester on the last game of February in front of the sky cameras, but Derby embarrassed themselves getting dominated by Leicester and were lucky to only lose 1-0 from a very good goal by Danns. This saw Derby's play off hopes virtually over sitting 15th in the league and they were now 11 points of the play off's, where as in January they were only 4 points off the play off's.
March was a very,very busy month for Derby who had to play altogether 8 games, Derby collected 14 points and there was 24 points to play for, the rams beat Blackpool, their east Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest, Doncaster and Crystal Palace. Derby got March off with a hard away game against Birmingham, the rams trailed 2-0 in the game and things weren't looking very good at all, the return of Steve Davies helped Derby, Ben Davies was given a chance by Nigel Clough who hadn't played a lot recently,and as soon as he came on he set up a goal for Derby as Steve Davies was waiting at the end of Ben Davies's cross ready to head in, before Derby scored things weren't looking bright for them, they just couldn't seem to score, without scoring in February the fans though that this would carry on but however Steve Davies was there to rescue the rams, but then Theo Robinson made it even better as he equalised making it 2-2. Derby finally got their first win in 6 league games against Blackpool winning 2-1 after coming from 1-0 behind thanks to 2 goals from Steve Davies, but were the rams back on track? They still had to face their East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest and relegation candidates Doncaster, the rams faced Nottingham Forest wondering if they could do the double over them, in front of a packed house both teams got under way, the game was pretty even with both teams having there chances, but both of the big talking points came in the second half, but first former Derby man Marcus Tudgay saw red as he collided with Paul Green, both teams thought they had walked away with a point, but in the last minutes Ben Davies whipped in a lovely free kick and Jack Buxton was there to carry it in, Pride Park erupted with joy and 29,000 Derby fans went home happy. The rams next game was against Doncaster,could Derby possibly beat them and start a late surge for the play offs? they did beat them and it was a comfortable victory too, winning 2-1 thanks to two very good goals by Theo Robinson and Gareth Roberts, so after that game there were 3 games left in March and they lost one (Brighton) won one (Crystal Palace) and drew one (Bristol City) which left Derby lying 13th and 7 points off the play off's.
The last month had arrived the Rams had already bettered there points tally from last season, and were now aiming for the 60 point mark, they kicked off the first game of April with a bore draw against Ipswich, the game was evenly contested with both teams have chances, Derby had to quickly focus their attention to the game against Leeds hoping to beat them once again, the game got off to a good start by the rams with good passing and creating some good chances, Leeds midfielder Michael Brown got shown the red card in the 25th minute after lunging in on Theo Robinson, the rest of the game for Derby was made easy coming out 2-0 winners with goals from Bryson and Steve Davies, Bryson's goal was a real cracker striking it into the top right corner. Before the next game against Middlesbrough, Derby were lying 13th in the table with 8 points off the play offs, all the talk at the start of the season about the play off's had now disappeared and the fans wanted a top 10 finish, but the next 2 results didn't help them, losing both games against Middlesbrough and Cardiff, this saw Derby go into the bottom half (14th) with only a top 10 finish to play for, the fans were confident of this as they only had to play Portsmouth and Peterborough which were both very winnable games, the last away game had finally arrived Portsmouth got off to the better start against Derby playing some very neat stuff, however Derby took the lead thanks too Jack Buxton's header, with Portsmouth virtually relegated they had noting to play for except pride, they then equalised thanks to former man Luke Varney, but it only stayed 1-1 for a couple of minutes as Derby got a penalty and Steve Davies scored to put the rams back in front, and the game ended 2-1, which saw Portsmouth relegated.With one game left the rams were sitting in 11th and level on points with 10th, the highest they could finish now was 9th, the last home game of the season didn't go as people expected the game ended 1-1 with Theo Robinson scoring his 11th goal of the season, Derby ended the season in the top half (12th).
So, the rams finished 12th in the league, before the season many people were hoping for a top 10 finish, but Derby could only finish 12th, was this progress for the rams or should they of finished in the top 10? I want to get your views so tweet me, @HarveyRai95. In my opinion I think that this was a good season for Derby and need to buy a couple of more players to strengthen if they want to compete for the play offs next season, compared to last season the team now looks more stronger and there is a togetherness within the team, this is something that we did not have last season or the seasons before that. I will be publishing my next blog next Tuesday which will be about England and how I think they will do in euro 2012, and weather the squad that they have chosen is good enough to compete , or even challenge for the trophy.
Well February was a disaster for the rams picking up only 1 point which was against Millwall, but however they should of picked up all 3, Craig Bryson's shocker proved costly as they only walked away from the Den with a point, looking at the next 3 fixtures nobody expected to see Derby win any of them, Reading and Leicester were next at Pride Park and the rams faced a tricky trip down south the Southampton. Derby lost every single game and the performance in those games weren't as good as they showed in January. Derby played Leicester on the last game of February in front of the sky cameras, but Derby embarrassed themselves getting dominated by Leicester and were lucky to only lose 1-0 from a very good goal by Danns. This saw Derby's play off hopes virtually over sitting 15th in the league and they were now 11 points of the play off's, where as in January they were only 4 points off the play off's.
March was a very,very busy month for Derby who had to play altogether 8 games, Derby collected 14 points and there was 24 points to play for, the rams beat Blackpool, their east Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest, Doncaster and Crystal Palace. Derby got March off with a hard away game against Birmingham, the rams trailed 2-0 in the game and things weren't looking very good at all, the return of Steve Davies helped Derby, Ben Davies was given a chance by Nigel Clough who hadn't played a lot recently,and as soon as he came on he set up a goal for Derby as Steve Davies was waiting at the end of Ben Davies's cross ready to head in, before Derby scored things weren't looking bright for them, they just couldn't seem to score, without scoring in February the fans though that this would carry on but however Steve Davies was there to rescue the rams, but then Theo Robinson made it even better as he equalised making it 2-2. Derby finally got their first win in 6 league games against Blackpool winning 2-1 after coming from 1-0 behind thanks to 2 goals from Steve Davies, but were the rams back on track? They still had to face their East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest and relegation candidates Doncaster, the rams faced Nottingham Forest wondering if they could do the double over them, in front of a packed house both teams got under way, the game was pretty even with both teams having there chances, but both of the big talking points came in the second half, but first former Derby man Marcus Tudgay saw red as he collided with Paul Green, both teams thought they had walked away with a point, but in the last minutes Ben Davies whipped in a lovely free kick and Jack Buxton was there to carry it in, Pride Park erupted with joy and 29,000 Derby fans went home happy. The rams next game was against Doncaster,could Derby possibly beat them and start a late surge for the play offs? they did beat them and it was a comfortable victory too, winning 2-1 thanks to two very good goals by Theo Robinson and Gareth Roberts, so after that game there were 3 games left in March and they lost one (Brighton) won one (Crystal Palace) and drew one (Bristol City) which left Derby lying 13th and 7 points off the play off's.
The last month had arrived the Rams had already bettered there points tally from last season, and were now aiming for the 60 point mark, they kicked off the first game of April with a bore draw against Ipswich, the game was evenly contested with both teams have chances, Derby had to quickly focus their attention to the game against Leeds hoping to beat them once again, the game got off to a good start by the rams with good passing and creating some good chances, Leeds midfielder Michael Brown got shown the red card in the 25th minute after lunging in on Theo Robinson, the rest of the game for Derby was made easy coming out 2-0 winners with goals from Bryson and Steve Davies, Bryson's goal was a real cracker striking it into the top right corner. Before the next game against Middlesbrough, Derby were lying 13th in the table with 8 points off the play offs, all the talk at the start of the season about the play off's had now disappeared and the fans wanted a top 10 finish, but the next 2 results didn't help them, losing both games against Middlesbrough and Cardiff, this saw Derby go into the bottom half (14th) with only a top 10 finish to play for, the fans were confident of this as they only had to play Portsmouth and Peterborough which were both very winnable games, the last away game had finally arrived Portsmouth got off to the better start against Derby playing some very neat stuff, however Derby took the lead thanks too Jack Buxton's header, with Portsmouth virtually relegated they had noting to play for except pride, they then equalised thanks to former man Luke Varney, but it only stayed 1-1 for a couple of minutes as Derby got a penalty and Steve Davies scored to put the rams back in front, and the game ended 2-1, which saw Portsmouth relegated.With one game left the rams were sitting in 11th and level on points with 10th, the highest they could finish now was 9th, the last home game of the season didn't go as people expected the game ended 1-1 with Theo Robinson scoring his 11th goal of the season, Derby ended the season in the top half (12th).
So, the rams finished 12th in the league, before the season many people were hoping for a top 10 finish, but Derby could only finish 12th, was this progress for the rams or should they of finished in the top 10? I want to get your views so tweet me, @HarveyRai95. In my opinion I think that this was a good season for Derby and need to buy a couple of more players to strengthen if they want to compete for the play offs next season, compared to last season the team now looks more stronger and there is a togetherness within the team, this is something that we did not have last season or the seasons before that. I will be publishing my next blog next Tuesday which will be about England and how I think they will do in euro 2012, and weather the squad that they have chosen is good enough to compete , or even challenge for the trophy.
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