DERBY COUNTY V QPR 2-0 FT

Stats do lie, but not these - we are not doing that well. However, in comparing Ollie's tenure with that of JFH and Ramsay we should take into account that the style of play is better and more positive. I definitely am not saying I would rather lose than win a utterly boring game of 1-0, but we should take on board that we look a hell of a lot better since Ollie's tenure. I would also say that he is up against the worst injury list I can remember in terms of the defence, so makeshift/changeable defenders are the order of the day, and restrictions on transfer fees have not allowed Ollie to get the striker he must (surely) want. (Mark Hughes and Ramsay had the opportunity to buy in talent so have less excuse for failings imho.)

Having now had the benefit of watching the full 90 mins at Derby I have to say I am in a quandary. It is true that Ollie's makeshift side was the equal of Derby for 46 minutes (until Ngbakoto's poor work resulted in derby breaking away and scoring), and that Lynch's injury meant he was unable to defend properly until Manning replaced him (no other defence player being on the bench) leading to yet another Back 4 combination of Wszolek/Baptiste/Robinson/Bidwell; but the real problem was the inability to make more of our attacks. Too frequently the Rs were content to pass back in the other half, rather than risk losing possession by passing forward or taking opponents on. Losing Lynch meant we lost Wzsolek's positive moves down the right, leaving Manning crossing or Route One back in use when Smith came on. Mackie and Ngbakoto were generally ineffective (so why does Ollie persist with them?) but Scowen/Freeman/Wzsolek/Wheeler/Robinson played well. 

Should we have lost? The injury to Lynch almost certainly led to the first goal, and may have contributed to the second as the space to shoot was where Lynch would have dominated. So we had bad luck at the back, but we lost this (yet again) at the front where (in the second half) Mackie, Washington, and Smith made no real impact.