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"Cywka was fouled for the penalty that led to Derby's winner"

Its debatable whether he was fouled or not, though Derby were much better than us and Kasper kept us in the game.

And whose Andy Paynter? He doesnt play for Leeds, that much I know.

what about the elbow in howsons face in their penalty box about 10 minutes after the penelty

Good performance from the super rams,i think we could have won by 3 or 4 to be honest. Schmeichael was in top form and the only reason leeds were still in the game come the final few minutes.Having said that i dont think leeds will have a problem staying up if they play two up front,especially at home.

I was very impressed with Commons & Green today,if we stay injury free then we will have a very good chance of a top half/play-off spot come the end of the season.

As for the penalty, well it was not a dive and Cywka was caught even if it was slight! Leeds fans seem to have a very short memory! Harry Kewell 1999 last minute at Pride Park THAT WAS A DIVE!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the Championship...

Cywka was fouled and it was a stone wall penalty, no question.

Harry Kewell dived right at the end which made me sick.

Fantastic performance from Derby, so pleased we haven't carried on from last year.

COYR

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

To be fair I think it's a good time to Play Leeds at the moment - Injuries and suspensions and new players bedding in mean the first few weeks could be a bit of a struggle - Having said that Derby could have had more yesterday and the defence needs sorting out quickly. Maybe a partnership of Bruce and Collins should be tried midweek in the Carling cup.

Welcome to the Championship, the best league in the World, Prima Donna's not welcome. You can keep the premiership!. The Championship where young players are given a chance to master their craft.
Nigel Clough at my club Derby County is doing just that & so are other managers.

I hope we never get taken over by some Billionaire Sheik to use as a play thing & spoil what i believe nige is trying to do. New method, new ideas, Brilliant!

Football has a fresh breeze blowing through it, & i'm loving it.

I thought Robbie Savage had a good game. He looks as though he's finally found a way of making himself useful without his lack of pace being constantly exposed and without having to foul his way through a game. Yes, he made a dog's breakfast of the defending that led to the Leeds goal, but he's generally a calming influence at the rear of midfield and his free kicks can be dangerous.

He still talks a lot of drivel on radio and TV (and I don't like the way he says "Listen!"), but I think Cloughie is right to keep faith with him on the pitch. He, Commons and Hulse form a decent backbone.

I actually thought Robbie had an only slightly better than average game, he gave away possesion to much and is a bit slow, (age catching up with him) & against better sides than Leeds it may prove embarrassing.

He's a good asset but not in every game i feel.
Still Love robble :-)

Why do Derby fans keep going on about Harry Kewell in 1999. Francis Lee started the diving thing back in 1975

Just like watching a Derby game last season.

One side with limited tactics, huffing and puffing, struggling with injuries and lacking quality. The other playing the more progressive football, resilent, keeping its shape and making that little extra quality count.

How nice to have the roles reversed. Leeds played like we did last season! Leeds will improve, they have to improve.

Derby fans shouldn't get carried away by one performance, I expected more from Leeds and, frankly, they were not very good. All our new signings played well, Cywka looks quality, the lads from Crewe positive and Gareth Roberts was a steady eddie and his goal-line clearance vital.

If, and it's a very big if, we can steer clear of too many injuries, a top half finish should be a realistic aim. Anything else a bonus.

"I'm still waiting at the bar to be served." Climb on to a barstool, Billy, the Aussie barmaid can't you see you from down there.

My money on both this teams to do absolutely nothing all season, both finish mid table and define the word mediocre.

Great to see a young English manager like Nigel Clough adopting a non-typical 4-2-3-1 formation especially in the Championship..is it to early to suggest he may actually do what his father never quite achieved and go on to manage the National team one day..the F.A. are looking to train up a younger manager and what a story that would make.

As for the result..the Championship will be incredibly tight this season with lots of teams in the shuffle and opening day matches rarely provide a true barometer of a teams' overall chances of success - we'll have to wait a while before making a proper judgement.

I don't think mcguirk12 knows what mediocre means. It means below average, so a mid-table finish would not be mediocre.

I digress, Leeds could do anything this season from promotion to relegation. From the very first whistle you could see the passing game that disappeared after xmas last year was back. The pace of the new full backs and wingers also impressed me. Kasper made some amazing saves and while there's no doubt Derby had more possession and chances it was clear to me the team was of much higher quality than the one that scraped promotion.

Paul,

I just found the quote by Billy Davies genuinely amusing. I don't doubt Davies will have Forest there and there abouts again. Davies once wasted the best part of £3.5m on Claude Davis though. How I wished he had stayed teetotal on that one.

It's such a competitive division, especially this season where there are no stand out teams, though I personally think QPR have finally got their act together and Warnock is a good manager at this level. They will also have the backing, I would think, to bolster things in January.

It all boils down to confidence & consistency, depth of squad and avoiding injuries. Owen Coyle's Burnley were able to win promotion with a small, tightknit squad and avoided too many injuries.

It's a mix of teams with big support but who have underachieved and carry debts alongside teams who have 'overachieved' yet are run well, on/off the pitch (Doncaster, a definite dark horse).

I think JoC (17) is right, the first day no real indicator though we once got thrashed at home by Stoke 0-3 and we knew then already we were in a relegation battle from day one. I do think one of the more established Championship sides could find themselves under serious threat such as Preston.

grecian9: "mediocre, from Latin 'mediocris' "of middling height or state," originally "halfway up a mountain,"

mcguirk12 is quite right in definition and usage of the word 'mediocre'.

Just to add, I found Nigel Pearson's move to Hull a surprise, but after yesterday's result, I would not discount Hull being in the top 6. He got Leicester promoted, using loans astutely and Bostock & the younger players could thrive under Pearson.

No, i know what it means.
It means average.
You fool.

Well done for being able to cut and paste from dictionary.com

You conveniently missed this bit

adjective
1.
of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate.
2.
rather poor or inferior.

Oh and regarding football. Hull look good, Bostock is a great signing. I think Boro will take a season to get themselves sorted, cant understand the belief bookmakers have in them, or Forest for that matter, but at least they have last season to compare to.

For me its Hull Ipswich and QPR for the playoffs.

Neither good nor bad, WHAT IS THAT THEN, ITS AVERAGE!!!!!

Thus mid table, oh my god are you that stupid?

Sorry to hijack this football thread...apologies all.

English is a very subtle language and there is widespread misunderstanding of the word mediocre. As you can see in the definition it also says rather poor and inferior. Mediocre means below average but not terrible. I'll leave it there.

This game didn't seem to be anything special. Two average championship sides, and on the day, either side could have won it. Alot of Derby's success seems to rely on Commons, and on his day he can win a match single handedly, but as Forest fans will attest, he will only show up in about a tenth of Derby's matches. If he's not injured, he only performs during high profile matches (i.e. Forest v Yeovil (2008), Derby v Man Utd).

Leeds had a number of their better players missing, so I'd expect them to finish in the top half of the table, whilst for Derby, I'd predict a similar season to last season, finishing just below midtable.

Johnny Metgod influencing the new style of play at Derby ? - I think that is a good shout Paul

When we started playing the 4-2-3-1 pre-season I wondered where it had come from, was pleased that Nigel was showing more tactical sophistication; the link with Johnny M makes sense !

It is only one game but I thought our approach and style yesterday was miles better than almost every game last season - as others have commented the holding role suits Sav better and fielding three attacking midfielders in KC, Greeny & Cwyka gives us so much more threat that last year.

More optimistic than I was some weeks ago - hopeful of a top ten finish

Last season we (Leeds) found it hard because teams came out and played like it was their FA Cup final. I thought this season that we would be the underdog in all of the games, but I think the name Leeds united brings out the best in people - just watch the interview with Robbie Savage, you would have thought that he had just won the World Cup.

I think we will end up mid-table, and I will be pleased with that. The game reminded us that we are in the Championship, not League One.

I'm sorry but I must have been watching a different game.
Did no-one from either coaching staff, or indeed any of the posters here watch any of the World Cup?
Wasn't the televised game a perfect example as to why England will never win anything internationally?

Top quality football is all about possession : if you've got the ball, they can't score.
It's all about technique and support play to make sure that you can keep possession.

Instead what was shown over and over again?
a)One team lumps the ball forward.
b)There's a bit of aerial combat
c)the other team gets the ball and either boots it out of play,or they in turn, just lump it forward again.
Repeat, ad nauseam, from (a) until some lucky bounce or blind-side elbowing produces a shooting chance.

Where was the skill, the patience, the ability to pass to feet, the ability to see and deliver an incisive pass? No, for all the crocodile tears after the South Africa debacle, what we all still seem to want to see is good old manly hoof and chase.

Bring back Tommy Lawton and Norman Hunter!

I hope we keep getting written off. Keep doubting us, hate us if you so wish. We deserved the victory yesterday and looked dangerous going forward. When Barker plays, our defence is resolute. I can't see us Rams finishing too high up, however the lack of knowledge on DCFC matters from other fans is alarming. Last season, we had a catastrophic number of injuries. We are still missing the likes of Addison and Davies. Nobody seems to have Derby down to finish above 17th. That will do, no expectancy, being mocked yet knowing we actually have a squad with some decent talent. Here's hoping. UTR.

I love the fact Nigel did the ol' Don Revie trick. That move alone has rasied my respect for him 10 fold.

I watched the Damned United a few weeks back and it brought tears to my eyes. Seeing lil Nigel in the film really brings a sense of where he has come from. I now wish him all the luck in the world after this cunning decision. I thought Cloughie was a living legend when I was about 8 years old and we miss his kind in todays Corporate governed world - but Nigel has always struck me as a 2 dimensional character. Maybe I have underestimated the proportion of Clough genes that run through his body !

STID. Swansea Till I die.

Derby didn't play amazing as well as this article says. They looked very frail in defense as well cus leeds had a lot of shots on target and hit the crossbar at one point. Our defence was worse though and fair play to Derby who, if it weren't for Kasper, would've won by a lot more. Bear in mind you lot were playing against an INCOMPLETE Leeds side with 4 of our main players missing.

Also in response to all this Damned United rubbish. I am a Leeds fan and have seen the film, i also enjoyed it a lot. I've also read the book and you have to remember it was written by a Huddersfield fan who are BIG rivals of Leeds so it's obviously going to be biased, and films just like to exaggerate things even more just to be entertaining

30. At 8:59pm on 08 Aug 2010, swaqik wrote:

I'm sorry but I must have been watching a different game.
Did no-one from either coaching staff, or indeed any of the posters here watch any of the World Cup?
Wasn't the televised game a perfect example as to why England will never win anything internationally?

Top quality football is all about possession : if you've got the ball, they can't score.
It's all about technique and support play to make sure that you can keep possession.

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Swaqik,

I take your point and to a certain extent it is a valid one. However, I'm not sure that using a game between two Championship teams, especially given that one finished in the lower half and one was promoted from League Two, is a good way to show the inefficiencies of the National Team as I'm pretty sure we wont be seeing any players from either side in the National team this year.

It does make me laugh on how everyone is defying a teams season on Saturdays game, I'm a Leeds fan and I can honestly say we wer not great, we wer open at the back and didn't av a plan b as time was running out but let's be honest derby we no better! They got the lead and used ther experience to keep it, Leeds hit the bar twice, moved the ball around well and caused problems, Leeds av 4 quality players missing kisnorbo, snodgrass, gradel and paynter and will all make a difference, it's game one people, I saw better teams at elland road last season than derby. Fair play to derby but dnt write Leeds off yet it's very early

Can we stop all this nonsense about big brave Derby walking the last 200 yards, running the gauntlet of Leeds fans and showing they were in charge ala Leeds when revie was in charge? Those of you who have seen the film will attest that it was shown to be a match at Burton (I think) when Clough was manager and the Leeds coach couldn't get into the ground so they HAD to walk. I think you'll find that the Derby bus didn't turn right into the Leeds ground so they had to walk the short distance from the main entrance on Elland Rd into the covered walkway through to the dressing rooms - probably no more than 75 yards - and at the time they arrived there would have been a few stewards, programme sellers setting up and the odd fan. So much for big tough Derby!

@ Guiseley Pete

No-one from the club is building up the Rams players walk to the ground as "big tough Derby" as you put it

But it was an unusual thing to do and for a team like us with a number of young players in it , it probably settled a few nerves

Also brush up on your history of your own club - this is something Revie used to do in the 1960's and the incident depicted in the Damned United occurred in 1967 when Derby County played Leeds in the League Cup

Leeds' defence looked like they were playing their first competitive game together and had been assembled over the summer, which is true. Bessone, Naylor and Collins looked lost when trying to work out what the other one was doing. It's not because they're bad players, just that they don't have the experience playing together. Though Bessone was miles out of position for the first goal. Lets not forget too that we could and perhaps should have scored two more.

But I've no complaints with the result, I don't think we deserved to win, nor do I think we deserved to lose, or walk away with a point. Same with Derby. They won, lets move on. (Though that wasn't a penalty, I had a near perfect view of it being positioned next to the corner flag, but hey, these things happen and even themselves out over a season)

Commons was fantastic for Derby and I thought Savage bossed the midfield around, you can tell he's been around for years and it showed (in the positive way).

And let's not forget that Derby are an established Championship club and we're the new boys, I'll happily take 21st come the end of the season.

@ 30 swaqik,

"Where was the skill, the patience, the ability to pass to feet, the ability to see and deliver an incisive pass?"

....erm. All 3 goals ??

I think too much fuss was made in the build up to the game concerning the Clough connection. As a 37 year old Leeds fan my memories of Brian Clough are as the manager of Nottingham Forest.

Most fans were more interested in seeing how their teams would line up and who would get the three points. I thought it was a good game. Credit to Derby they looked dangerous coming forward and thanks to some excellent saves by Kasper, they only scored two goals.

The penalty wasn't clear-cut as some are suggesting and it wasn't a dive either. It was one of those that could have gone either way.

I left the ground feeling optimistic having reassured now that we have some pace in the Leeds team. Sanchez Watt and Lloyd Sam looked lively and I am excited about Max Gradel returning from suspension to link up with them.

Did Derby raise their game for the trip to Elland Road? I'm not sure.If they play like that for the rest of the season Derby will finish in the top six in my opinion.

As for Leeds I reckon most fans would be happy for a season of consolidation. A top half finish would be great with anything better a bonus.

Good Blog Paul, as per usual.

Sink estate ?????? He must be hating not having his grandiose seat at Chelski anymore !!

League 1, as you well know is far from it, some very good footballing teams in there, which has been proved by the way some have come out of there and done very well in the championship, even going through it realitively quickly to the greed is good league.
A lot more managers get to cut their teeth down here, and a lot of them preach good passing and good football, i'd rather watch a good league 1 match than two 'premier' teams battling for survival, because that's what it is, a battle (to watch !!)