Clough ire at referee sub snub
NIGEL clough was left ruing his Derby County sideʼs lack of a killer instinct — and the technology of the officials — after watching Sheffield United grab an injury time equaliser at Bramall Lane on Saturday.
The Rams battered the Blades in a first half in which they created chance after chance, but only had Robbie Savageʼs 25-yard thunderbolt to show for it at the half-time interval.
Then, in second-half stoppage time, with Clough desperately trying to close out the game by replacing striker Rob Hulse with defender Russell Anderson, referee Graham Salisbury allowed play to continue, the ball breaking kindly for Lee Williamson to earn a share of the spoils for the hosts.
Salisbury claimed afterwards that he did not hear the pleas of the Derby bench in the build-up to that late goal — an explanation that did not impress Clough.
He said: “The ball went out of play on the far side for a few seconds. I believe the officials are all kitted up with these expensive systems now with all of them in the loop and the refereeʼs saying he couldnʼt hear. Iʼm not sure.
“It seems a pretty lame excuse.
There are two linesmen, could they hear? Could they have alerted him? “We might still have conceded, you donʼt know, but when the ballʼs out of play for that length time youʼd think one of them between the four of them could have attracted sufficient attention for us to make the substitution.
“We were ready and waiting and weʼd waited for what seemed like an age at that point. As I say, it might not have made any difference, but it might have done.” In truth, though, Derby could have had the points well and truly sewn up in the first 45 minutes.
Clough said: “A couple of things did us, probably the first half only getting the one. We had opportunities to go and get that second goal, not too many in the second half, but we were pretty comfortable for the majority of it, I donʼt think the goalkeeper had too much to do.
“Of course you get punished for it, it just drops nicely for them in the boxand itʼs 1-1, and really we should have been two or three out of sight by that point.” But the Ramsʼ manager can take plenty of positives from a game in which his side continued the good form they showed in ending Nottingham Forestʼs 19-game unbeaten run the previous Saturday.
Derby were solid from back to front, passed the ball well, Kris Commons tormented the home sideʼs hapless centre-halves Tony Kallio and Nyron Nosworthy and there was an impressive debut for Michael Tonge at the club at which he made his name.
It means the Rams have now lost only one of their last six games in all competitions, winning four of them and keeping three clean sheets in the process.
Clough said: “The performance carried straight on from Forest. The front two led the line very well and everyone takes the lead off them really, when they defend as they did from the front and they create problems.
“The two midfielders coming up behind them backing them up, the two centre halves were again very good indeed, as were the back four. Michael Tonge on his return to Bramall Lane was excellent.
“It was a good solid team performance. On another day it would have yielded three points.”