Just back

I don't rate Hooper at all but to be fare neither he nor Cardwell got any service from midfield or the wings for that matter. How many good moves have been produced from a "Slade instruction". The only excitement so far has been from individual efforts. It's teamwork and team movement that wins matches. A lone striker is no good unless you have people prepared to run off him. Perhaps Cardwell could do the running off Vernon when he is fit

Quoted from Mariner56

Wasn't it the Derby cup match last season when Macca nearly scored with a similar header right at the death. I think he brought a good save out of the keeper on that occasion.

It was, at Pride Park, right at the death, and again that was one of the best chances of the game that night.

Just listened to Slade's post match interview and in addition to Dembele he singled out Berret for praise. I was a bit disappointed that JT chickened out of further questioning the lack of goals and the lack of effectiveness of the strikers. Slade said that we just made wrong choices with the final ball and expressed no concern about the front players.

Quoted from golfer

I don't rate Hooper at all but to be fare neither he nor Cardwell got any service from midfield or the wings for that matter. How many good moves have been produced from a "Slade instruction". The only excitement so far has been from individual efforts. It's teamwork and team movement that wins matches. A lone striker is no good unless you have people prepared to run off him. Perhaps Cardwell could do the running off Vernon when he is fit

A lone striker runs the channels between full backs and central defenders to allow space for midfielders to break. If you watched Chris Martin last night, you would see that he would try and occupy the space between Collins and Dixon rather than the space between Collins & Clarke. That allowed Lawrence the freedom to use the space between our back 4 and midfield - it's only because Rose & Berrett were very good last night that Clarke didn't get isolated.

In comparison, Hooper didn't run the channels at all and therefore created very little space for either Kelly or Dembele. You say it's teamwork & team movement that wins games - absolutely correct - there was no movement in front of the midfield. What was clear is that Hooper should not play as a lone striker.

I was very scathing of Hooper and Kelly after the Stevenage match, but thought they gave much more effort last night; Kelly in particular chased and closed down requiring their defence to retreat to the keeper perhaps more than they might have expected to. However, I don't think Hooper is a natural No 9 and will probably be much more comfortable running at defenders than playing with his back to goal. In his defence, he was marked very tightly last night and given little space to manoeuvre. I also thought both Berrett and Rose played well and gave Town some assertiveness in the spine of the side.
I also wish, somewhat wistfully perhaps, that Slade could find a way of including Dembele, Jaiyesimi and Bolarinwa in the same team. Both Siriki and Diallang are mercurial figures and can really embarrass defenders and might also complement each other. Bolarinwa provides muscle, power and pace too and is undaunted in the tackle. Whilst I've no idea what the formation would look like (easy to be a spectator isn't it?), I just think it's a crying shame that this terrific trio can't be given their freedom to pillage opposition defences together.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the match and whilst Derby seemed to find an extra gear in the second half, showing some terrific pace on the counter, Town were always in with a chance, even with 10.  

Quoted from Hertsmariner

I was very scathing of Hooper and Kelly after the Stevenage match, but thought they gave much more effort last night; Kelly in particular chased and closed down requiring their defence to retreat to the keeper perhaps more than they might have expected to. However, I don't think Hooper is a natural No 9 and will probably be much more comfortable running at defenders than playing with his back to goal. In his defence, he was marked very tightly last night and given little space to manoeuvre. I also thought both Berrett and Rose played well and gave Town some assertiveness in the spine of the side.
I also wish, somewhat wistfully perhaps, that Slade could find a way of including Dembele, Jaiyesimi and Bolarinwa in the same team. Both Siriki and Diallang are mercurial figures and can really embarrass defenders and might also complement each other. Bolarinwa provides muscle, power and pace too and is undaunted in the tackle. Whilst I've no idea what the formation would look like (easy to be a spectator isn't it?), I just think it's a crying shame that this terrific trio can't be given their freedom to pillage opposition defences together.
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the match and whilst Derby seemed to find an extra gear in the second half, showing some terrific pace on the counter, Town were always in with a chance, even with 10.  

Bolly and DJ on the wing and Dembele behind the striker where Kelly was last night?

To be honest, in the imaginary formation with those three playing behind a striker, I think I'd prefer to see Bolarinwa in the centre for his extra pace and aggression. I think Dembele is still better coming in off the wing and we need to start to take advantage of the space he creates on his runs.

That said, I think we'd struggle a bit too much defensively with just the two defensive midfielders if we were to go with such a formation!

Quoted from Mendonca1995

Disagree about Kelly at least he tried to get us up the field attacking wise had a few decent runs with no striker around him in sight, I'm more concerned about Clarke gifting another Goal away that's 3 in 3 games now He had a chance before the penalty to clear the ball and dallied on it which seconds later became a penalty thate worrying a goal a game at the moment and oh another red card that must be some sort of record other than that was a good game against some very good quality players UTM

Clarke won a great tackle and then let himself down by trying to play the play out instead of passing. For all his experience I don't think much to Clarke and I think we let just as good a player go. The worrying thing is that if we achieve promotion this season then we will need to replace two " twilight years " centre-backs which wouldn't bode well for next season.
I thought town played quite good last night and certainly seemed better in mid-field than of late. The main cause for concern is up front where we seem quite ineffective , apart from Dembele.

If Wilki could convert Bolly into a target barnstorming battering ram similar to the Shop with Dembele and DJ out wide as plan B, we may prove more of a threat to apposing defences.

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

Bolly and DJ on the wing and Dembele behind the striker where Kelly was last night?

I think Tom or DJ would have offered more of a threat up front last night just simply because of their pace. I still can't quite work out what either Hooper or Cardwell offer to be honest other than Cardwell appears to put himself about more.