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Derby County tension was clear amid frank exchange as long-standing problem needs fixing
Derby County paid the price for a slow start as they were beaten by Swansea City on a frustrating night at Pride Park.
Zan Vipotnik and Ronald Pereira Martins had given Luke Williams' team a two-goal advantage inside 15 minutes which came either side of justifiable calls for a penalty after Rams defender Callum Elder was tripped in the box.
It looked as if it would be a long night for Derby but they got their act together after the first 25 minutes and eventually pulled a goal back when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scored from the penalty spot in the second half after Kayden Jackson hit the bar.
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Warne's side pushed for an equaliser with Kane Wilson seeing a header cleared while Dajaune Brown volleyed wide after coming off the bench. But despite their valiant attempt to claim a point, Derby could not find a breakthrough.
Here are all the talking points from last night......
Too much to do
First of all, let's get the first 25 minutes out of the way. Too passive, too open, too quiet, the pressing wasn't coordinated, and they fell well short of the required standards. Swansea picked pockets of space between the lines, and once they had doubled their lead within 15 minutes, the overwhelming fear was that we were in for a long and humiliating night.
Derby finally got their act together once Jacob Widell Zetterstrom's injury allowed a brief touchline pow-wow, but the anxiety and tension weighed heavy both in the stands and on the pitch. The players looked at each other for answers. The fans hoped they could provide them.
Ebou Adams and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing had a frank exchange, which was captured on the Sky TV cameras. It was respectful, but perhaps stemmed from what had taken place minutes earlier after a loose pass from the latter, led to some arm waving between the pair. And yet once they started to play with far more aggression, they were much the better team for 60 minutes. The stats weighed heavily in their favour with eighteen shots at goal, seven of which were on target. In contrast, Swansea had three, two of which were the goals.
Derby's XG of 3.58 was their highest since they walloped Birmingham City 4-0 back in December 2020. It was a game that, by the end, Derby should have got something from. The lesson? You just can't start games as badly as that in the Championship. Swansea manager Luke Williams was relieved to leave Pride Park with three points in tow and he and Warne were both in agreement that the game changed on the basis of Derby's mentality. Both said it was nothing to do with tactics. Hopefully Derby take the message on board.
Issue needs fixing
Discussions over the January transfer window and what Derby may need when the market opens for business are already taking place. But it is abundantly clear they need a striker given Jerry Yates' absence last night was acutely felt.
The conditions of his loan meant he could not play against his parent club leaving Kayden Jackson to lead the line. The former Ipswich striker gave it his best shot and there can be no doubting his effort, but when he hit the bar from about four yards, that kind of epitomised his night. The backup options outside of that were Dajaune Brown, who is learning his trade, and James Collins, who, although finished as top scorer last season, has largely featured as a substitute. Conor Washington did not make the bench again.
A striker has to be a number one priority and if you look at the way that Zan Vipotnik took his first goal, which was a sublime touch and finish, how many goals do Derby score like that? The issue is that strikers cost the most money and Derby do not have millions to throw at the market. After losing £14.2m in the last financial year, we shouldn't expect them too either.
But this has been a long-standing problem that has occurred every window since they came out of administration. That is why the recruitment team have a major job on their hands. Finding a striker that is relatively cheap by the division's standards, but is productive and Championship-ready will be an incredibly difficult task.
Barkhuizen does himself no harm
Tom Barkhuizen has had to bide his time in order to push himself into contention but he did his chances of facing Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday no harm at all after an enterprising 30-minute cameo last night.
The winger remains something of an enigma because he has delivered moments of real quality that makes you wonder why he has not played more often. But consistency has perhaps been his biggest issue and during his entire career at Pride Park, he did have a purple patch in the January of the 2022/23 season when he was virtually unplayable.
You sensed at that point he was ready for take-off. But there is clearly a technically adept player there and he won the penalty from which Mendez-Laing scored. If he is given a chance to start at the weekend, he simply has to take it. He is in the last year of his contract and he won't get many more chances.
Who were the noisy fans in the north stand?
Anybody who stayed beyond the full-time whistle might have witnessed a few flags and songs being sung with particular gusto in the direction of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
Djurgarden players, staff and fans were in attendance ahead of their game against TNS tonight in an Europa League clash.
Derby have formed an excellent relationship with the Swedish club since they did business for Zetterstrom back in the summer. In what was a brilliant gesture, they were invited to the game against Swansea and certainly made plenty of noise as Zetterstrom, who was a huge favourite, went to applaud them after the game in what was a particularly heartwarming moment.
