The Blues team sheet was interesting to say the least. Colin Doyle wasn't even in the sixteen, with Maik Taylor coming in between the sticks and Richard Kingson taking his place on the bench. Kingson warming up was fun to watch - he couldn't hold onto anything. If he ends up in goal this season, we're in trouble. In front of Taylor the defence was as it was against West Ham personnel-wise, though Stuart Parnaby played left back with Stephen Kelly right back (I presume it was the other way around last week, as it had been previously). In midfield Johan Djourou came in to partner Fabrice Muamba in the middle, whilst Olivier Kapo switched to the right, with Gary McSheffrey coming back in on the left, meaning the unlucky Seb Larsson was surprisingly left out. Up front Cameron Jerome got his first start of the season alongside Mikael Forssell. That was something I'd hoped would happen, as I felt Jerome's pace and presence would unsettle Derby's rubbish defence, and so it did.
There's often a gulf in class between two teams when Blues play, and it's normally Blues who are staring across the gulf at a better team. It was the other way around here today though. Derby had a fair bit of possession and some decent-ish chances, but Blues cut them open with ease at times. It was 1-0 at half-time, but could have been treble that - at least. Forssell was wasteful, Blues hit the bar and Muamba was also foiled when one-on-one with Stephen Bywater. Blues were good value for the lead.
The second half was much the same really, as again Blues soaked up pressure and looked threatening on the break. Derby equalised, but Blues then took the lead again, and Derby ran out of ideas as they threw bodies forward chasing a late equaliser.
Blues' football wasn't superb, but it was good - there was some neat passing and some good moves at times, and generally they played pretty well for the majority of the game. The midfield looked composed and in Jerome they had more of an option for balls in behind the defence today - something that can really hurt teams. The defence was fairly sound too, with Liam Ridgewell again excelling in marshalling his troops, and Jaidi also impressing when there were those (myself included) who felt he may get a little found out at this level.
One slight worry was that Blues could have killed this game off at any point really, but were so wasteful - Forssell being the main culprit. Physically it seems that Forssell has regained his fitness, but he's not the same player anymore. He had countless chances today, but was so slow in what he did. He seemed to ponder what to do, and was caught out on all the occasions. Don't get me wrong, he put himself about and things, but he should have scored at least once, and seemed sadly lacking in confidence and conviction in front of goal. Has he lost it forever? Maybe not, but he'll certainly never be the player he was again. He's a decent enough player, but he's not as he once was. It's a shame.
And then at the other end of the striking spectrum there was Jerome, who scored twice and had Derby in trouble all afternoon (well, until he was totally knackered). Jerome offers something that none of our other strikers do - he gives you an option down the channels. You can put balls in behind defences and you've got a willing (and you can never, ever fault Jerome for effort) runner, and he causes problems because he's so quick and so strong. He also led the line superbly today, winning plenty of balls in the air. Everyone quite rightly bangs on about how he's a confidence player, and some of his displays last season highlighted that - I remember his performance away at Crystal Palace last season, and he was awesome. Well, scoring after 30 seconds of your first start in the Premier League is always going to fill you with confidence, and Blues reaped the benefits today, and hopefully will do for months to come.
I questioned the team selection a little above, but Blues won, so you can't fault it too much. One interesting point was the inclusion of Djourou in midfield - let's face it, it was always going to happen as Steve Bruce has been telling anyone who'll listen that "he gives us an option in midfield too" - I'm sure he's been saying it in his sleep over the past fortnight. Well, on this performance, he's absolutely right. Djourou was excellent. There may be those who think because he's a defender by trade, it automatically means he'll be a battler in midfield, but he's so comfortable on the ball that he's not like that. He drove Blues forward on many occasions, and it was like having another Fabrice Muamba in there, only one who is even more comfortable on the ball. The fact is that Arsenal don't really have players who aren't comfortable on the ball, so even moving him into midfield meant you could still see that he oozes class. With him being a defender too, he wins the ball, covers the defence well and understands the game. Over all, he's a hell of a player to have in the squad for a season (hopefully) with his versatility and the options he gives you.
One other slight concern however was how easily Blues surrendered possession and territory late on and almost let Derby back into the game. After about 75 minutes Jerome was barely able to run, and by now Blues had gone to a 4-1-4-1 formation with Djourou in between defence and midfield. As such, Blues were crying out for an outlet up front, and Jerome had well and truly gone. In my mind, Garry O'Connor should have come on to offer Blues an outlet, but Bruce made some strange-ish substitutions, such as bringing Mat Sadler on to play left midfield. We won, so he's justified I guess, but the way Blues invited pressure late on, well, they won't be able to get away with that against lots of teams - it's lucky that Derby were poor and only had Bigstevie Howard (I'm sure that's his proper name - it's all anyone says), 'Big Dave' Darren Moore and a very out of sorts Robert Earnshaw up front at the end. Other teams would have capitalised on Blues' reluctance to push out and retain possession late on, but Derby were poor.
Comments on this match wouldn't be complete without mention of Billy Davies, who I have despised for quite some time. Well, during the first half he and Bruce had a bit of a row, so the Blues fans turned on Davies and brought up the fact that he was "a sad Scottish bastard" managing "a sh*t football team". Davies goaded the Blues fans, cupping his ear and all sorts, like the obnoxious little so-and-so that he is. When Derby equalised, all Davies was interested in was punching the air in delight at the Blues fans, jumping up and down and goading them again. When Jerome got the winner, he retreated to his bench faster than you can say "Billy Davies is a despicable little man". Good. Serves him right.
It's pleasing that Blues have got their first win under their belts, but admittedly they won't play many poorer teams than Derby. Still, Blues played well and there's plenty of positives, but I suspect even after this, Steve Bruce will feel he needs two or three new faces in before the end of August - I'd make a midfielder and a striker priorities. With Hereford up next in the Carling Cup, Blues need to look to make it consecutive wins and go to Middlesbrough next week with confidence, because that's another winnable away game, and it's nice going there without the pressure on Blues to get that elusive, crucial first win.
You could tell by the players' delight at the end that they felt they'd got a monkey off their back with this win, and fair play to them, they thoroughly deserved. Still plenty to work, but plenty of positives too, and it's nice to know that there's definitely poorer teams than Blues in the division