Following the fallout with Bolton, Derby County considers free agents as the Rams express their concerns about the referee.
Derbyshire Live’s most recent Derby County news includes a summary of the Facebook Q&A with Rams author Leigh Curtis.
Despite the absence of League One action while Derby County is on a break for overseas travel, there has been lots to talk about.
The Rams will return the following weekend when they play Portsmouth at Pride Park in an effort to avenge their loss to Bolton.
Jake Rooney suffered an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, while goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith will be eligible after having his red card from the loss to Ian Evatt’s team overturned.
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To help him improve his fitness, Tom Barkhuizen participated in a 60-minute internal Derby game involving first-team and under-21 players.
Here is what was stated during the Rams writer’s Facebook Live chat with football editor Brian Dick, during which this and many other topics were covered.
BD: Let’s simply reflect on the defeat at Bolton. We might approach this from a variety of directions. Starting with the refereeing judgments, it is obvious that they had an impact on the outcome. There has also been a lot of blowback, right?
First off, it should go without saying that Derby weren’t very strong that day, in my opinion. In possession, I believed they lacked much bravery, and outside of it, I believed they lacked strength. Derby got back into the game, scored, and it was up to Bolton to keep it going until halftime after a fairly strong start by the home team. Despite the fact that Jake Rooney had a significant injury, which we will undoubtedly discuss, I didn’t think he gave a really strong performance. That being said, a number of calls did prohibit Derby from trying to fight for a point or even a victory.
When Curtis Nelson headed it into the box, it was evidently an unnatural arm that was struck. The penalty would have been awarded if League One had used VAR. In the one after that, Derby actually secured a penalty after scoring. He simply didn’t state the goal, which I for the life of me cannot comprehend. I acknowledge that Callum Elder was fouled, but the goal had already been made. The goal ought to have stood and the foul is irrelevant.
What if Conor Hourihane had missed the opportunity to score? Simply put, it was a ridiculous choice. I’ll state in the second part that Joe Wildsmith is a sincere young man. He’s not the type to look.
