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Won't individual player ratings, feel to lazy after a Balti at Tiffins. So, here goes:

Frankie and Bennie's - £8.40 for a coke and a Peroni. Not a good start. As I drove there with my dad, I couldn't sup anymore/anywhere else at 11.45. Saw some Derby with Rooney on their backs already. WTF???

Excellent performances - Johnstone (possibly MoM) - but pushed close by Ajayi and Bartley - they were both immense today and have a great understanding. Hegazi won't waltz straight back in, although I think as the season goes on Ajayi may find himself in the midfield, especially if others get suspended or injured; Sawyers - bossed much of it , Krov - constantly wanted the ball, great tricky movement;  Pereira , great cameo, changed things offensively, picks out space with his movement and passing, twisted them inside out for the pen. 

Good - Livermore -unlucky not to score (yes it was a fucking corner), one poor pass, but puts a foot in, and uses the ball fairly well most of the time; Furlong ; thought he did well on the right - good solid defensively and supported the attack well in 2nd half; Ferguson - filled in on left after Gibbs went off and did well;  Diangana, good direct running which opened up space in the second half, could have had a pen, great nutmeg and cutback for the Livermore chance (fucking corner!).  

Ok - Phillips, one blocked shot , but cut inside too much rather than do what he does best - strong , direct running; Edwards, not at his best but didn't hide; Zohore - great pen, cool head and should have scored in first half, but his movement is getting better, but needs to get the ball to stick more than he does

Gibbs - only 20 odd mins - poor start with header back to JOhnstone which went out for the corner. Poor challenge for the pen and I think he injured himself in the challenge for it. He did get forward a couple of times after that, and didn't make any more errors, but he'll be judged on those few seconds of madness. 

Bilic - good use of subs and changed things when he had to. I suspect he'd have used Austin at some point, if Gibbs had not been injured. 

Away support - I'll give a rating - 9.5. Almost non stop noise, all positive and good numbers. Derby's support - 5. Quiet after the second penalty and only briefly came to life after their goal. Decent crowd though, considering it was Sky at 12.30. 

Overall a point most of us would have taken. I'd have liked a win after a home draw, but this will be good point at the season's end, and dare I say it, we may have lost this last season. We are much more compact and we keep the ball much better than we did last season, which for me, is key. I'd like us to be more direct at time - perhaps 2/3 less passes and have a dig - but I think we created more clear chances today than Derby. Johnstone made one decent stop in the second half, because that's all he had to. We didn't take advantage of an average Derby performance in the first half, they left gaps but we didn't exploit them enough. I think we shaded the second half, after Derby had a decent spell for 15 minutes. The key was the penalty save , then , later, Pereira coming on.  A draw was fair overall, also borne out by the stats. 

So, we've scored just under half the goals we had at this point last season (6 against 13- but there was QPR), but are two points better off and unbeaten. I'd say a solid start as we reinvent the squad and playing style to a degree.
Great post mate, hope you had a good one.

Feeling a bit groggy now myself but agree with everything you’ve said.
Nice detail. You were there so I respect your views.
Cheers, mon. I think the way we hold the ball will grind teams down as the games go on as they will get tired chasing and closing down for a lot of the game. I think this happened today and I thought we'd win it after we equalised.
I can see us scoring goals in "Fergie Time".

Look at the number Norwich scored late on last season. I'm hoping that will be us as we grind teams down