Close but no cigar.
That’s probably the best way to describe what happened on Saturday against Derby County.
I said in the build-up to the game that this was the perfect time to play Derby County because of their off the pitch issues last week. And although we didn’t exactly give them the pummelling that I thought was possible in the circumstances, there was certainly a lot for us to get behind and take positives from.
If you look back at how we played earlier in the season against Nottingham Forest where we got destroyed at their place and dominated in more or less all facets of the game. Then compare it to this week. When we went two-nil down on Saturday, we didn’t roll over, shut up shop and try to get out of there with minimal damage. We fought back with two goals, the second one an excellent strike by Sunjic and could have taken the lead if not for a good save on Lukas Jutkiewicz’s penalty.
Pep Clotet has spoken before about the progress that the side needs to be, and has been showing in recent weeks. That Derby game is exactly the sort of progress that I was looking forward to seeing.
Usually I’m of the mindset that I don’t care about how a team plays so long as they get the three points. However, when you don’t get the three points, or any points for that matter, then you can take a look at the performance and look at what the positives are.
So whilst there are some fans who aren’t exactly thrilled with what is going on right now at St Andrew’s, it’s important that we look beyond just the result, and look at how we got there, because it might just give you some clues as to what the real situation is like.
What about you? Were you pleased with what you saw on Saturday? Or are you one of those people who think that the result is all that matters when it comes to progress?
