Derby County Players Confront Fans After Frustration Boils Over
Derby County lost their second game away from home on Saturday, at Shrewsbury Town. The 1-0 defeat saw The Rams slip to 11th place in the League One table, and the result saw some unsavoury scenes at the final whistle.
Derby went down to an own goal, courtesy of Conor Hourihane, who was later seen in a dispute with angry fans when the game finished. There is an air of frustration amongst the club, even though this setback closes an unbeaten run of seven games across all competitions.
Huge Frustration
With Hourihane pleading with the fans that he and the team are doing their best, it does seem that the club is in a state of flux as they now sit 10 points off the automatic promotion places.
Goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith spoke after the game and tried to act as a peacemaker, understanding the fans’ frustrations.
As reported in the Derby Telegraph, he commented. “I can see why they are frustrated. In the last couple of games, weather-wise and what has been going on across the country and in Derby itself, they’ve shown their faith by coming here to back the boys. It’s not the way we wanted to repay them. It’s frustrating and we fully understand why there were grievances at the end.
“But I would just ask them to stick with us and stay positive. We are working really hard every single day and we don’t take it lightly. We wanted to come here, win, and give them something to cheer about. That didn’t happen. The lads take the brunt of that.”
County have a chance to put things straight in midweek when they entertain Exeter City, a team sitting just below the team that has just taken the points off them.
“If they [the fans] can come down in their numbers on Tuesday and get behind the lads and give us as much as we give them I feel that is a recipe for success. That will get us right back where we need to be going, hopefully with three points.”
Writer’s View
This has been a disappointing start to the season for Derby County as they were hotly tipped to be a front-runner. The slow start, with some very mixed performances, has put pressure on manager Paul Warne, who has himself admitted the club is behind where they want to be. If results do not take a serious upturn then it is only a matter of time before a change comes in the dugout.
