Chris Mepham

[Brentford_till_die]

On the penalty: He was left isolated by the other defenders. And it's never a free kick outside of the box. However, these things happen and he's probably not used to players going down like their striker did. He's also probably not used to having so little time to make decisions. Good learning curve.

Reminds me a lot of Harlee Dean (who made much worse mistakes at this level).

Definitely a good learning curve for him,

 

[Sean]

Totally different performance from the Norwich game. He was assured on the ball, always in control of it. His heading was excellent. A couple of times he put it in row Z when that was exactly what was needed. He gave us an options when he brought the ball forward. Against Norwich I wondered what all the hype was about and now I know. If he can keep that standard up and improve he is going to have a bright future.

 

[Stanley]

Our own version of John Stones?

 

[Brentford 4 Life]

Our own version of John Stones?

Why do we have to put young, homegrown players on ridiculous pedestals? He had a good game, miles better than last week. Good stuff, but let's just leave it at that for now.

 

[BFC1997]

Our own version of John Stones?

Our own Chris Mepham.

Most potential in a youth product I’ve seen us produce. Just needs a chance

 

[finsbury_bee]

Well done!! Thought he was very assured for a league debut.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Yes, accomplished. He didn't have the best of games against Norwich last week but he was fine today and shows a lot of confidence in carrying the ball a number of times. Good lad.

 

[beebopalula]

Did well tonight but not under a lot of defensive pressure. Looks like an excellent prospect and has some pace. I hope he gets in the weights room.

 

[wanderer paul]

Yes, accomplished. He didn't have the best of games against Norwich last week but he was fine today and shows a lot of confidence in carrying the ball a number of times. Good lad.

So unlucky with that header..........aaarrgghh!!

Did well. Needs some muscle on him but he'll be fine.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

MOM contender for me. (Will concede, as has been said, that he wasn't put under too much pressure at the back, though.)

 

[alikat]

Very good first league appearance, although Derby didn't really offer anything going forward.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Very good first league appearance, although Derby didn't really offer anything going forward.

Yep, bizarre to think that a team with Winall, Nugent and Martin available to them let a kid making his debut have a night off defending.

 

[G@M]

Why do we have to put young, homegrown players on ridiculous pedestals? He had a good game, miles better than last week. Good stuff, but let's just leave it at that for now.

he also supports QPR

 

[Stanley]

Yep, bizarre to think that a team with Winall, Nugent and Martin available to them let a kid making his debut have a night off defending.

Sums Derby up, Warnock would have been proud of them?

As for young Mepham he is a talented ball playing CB and they are a rarity, if he can stand up physically to the lumps that play in some of these teams he may find himself in the starting eleven sooner than we think. The way we play suits someone like that and help create chances.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

he also supports QPR

Think we all know that, but it should be dropped promptly. He plays for us. Kenny Dalglish supported Rangers. Irrelevant.

 

[JCMcBee]

...young man did alright....bit leftfield....but reminded me of Gary Gillespie....bit bambi-ish and raw at the mo.

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

...young man did alright....bit leftfield....but reminded me of Gary Gillespie....bit bambi-ish and raw at the mo.

If he can be as "bambi-ish" as Gary Gillespie he'll be doing very well, thank you very much!

 

[North London Bee]

That header was sooooo close

 

[Ealing Bee]

Wow! After Norwich I was worried to see him come on at H-T, but what do I know?

Thought he was excellent, both when defending against so physical a side, but also when carrying it forward. Desperately unlucky with his header.

One for the future!

EDIT: I realise after typing that last line that I'm "stating the bleedin' obvious", but I don't care, he was that good.

 

[Gee Bee]

Sums Derby up, Warnock would have been proud of them?

Warnock is manager of Cardiff

 

[Streetboy]

In amongst the comments about him not having a lot of defending to do, let's not forget the superb double challenge on the edge of our area which snuffed out two Derby efforts in quick succession. A very good league debut.

 

[TW1Bee]

This lad is going to be class. In fact I thought he looked very assured and confident last night and almost looked like he had been playing at this level for a few years.

 

[sonofabee]

Wow! After Norwich I was worried to see him come on at H-T, but what do I know?

Thought he was excellent, both when defending against so physical a side, but also when carrying it forward. Desperately unlucky with his header.

One for the future!

EDIT: I realise after typing that last line that I'm "stating the bleedin' obvious", but I don't care, he was that good.

Great insight, but thanks for the long awaited confession

 

[jlove]

There was a moment when he lost the ball with no defender behind him, then instantly won the ball back and passed it. No panic, I liked that.

 

[Stanley]

Warnock is manager of Cardiff

He certainly is but would have liked how Derby played.

 

[NorthamptonBee]

I heard all the scare stories from last week but say what you see, a really positive 45 mins plus the 3 mins that the joke ref added after all of their time wasting, we need him to come good and there wasn't much last night to say that he won't, a very good league debut which will do his mind a great deal of good.

 

[kevalutonbee]

Think we all know that,

I must be in a minority of one then

 

[Frothybaby]

I was concerned to see him come on, but delighted with his contribution. If he has a few more displays like that (and with confidence) he will be pushing the other CBs. Well done Chris.

 

[ruislip bee]

Thought the lad did really well. Very pleased for him. Shame the header was just the wrong side of the post!

 

[RoyBee]

I was concerned to see him come on, but delighted with his contribution. If he has a few more displays like that (and with confidence) he will be pushing the other CBs. Well done Chris.

My thoughts exactly. Very assured performance, did not look out of place at all.

 

[Invipai]

He looked fairly good...he was definitely composed and calm with what he did. I would however say he isn't fully ready yet for what we need...I still think he was caught out a couple of times where a more experienced player may have been positioned better initially. However it's good signs for the future, and as a 4th choice centre back it's better to have a youngster pushing to take their chance than a 4th choice senior player who's disgruntled at not playing.

I'd say 6 months from now he may start to look like a very good player. If we do lose Bjellend at the end of the season he'd then be ready to be one of the 3 main CB's.

 

[Delbee]

Just about right for the lad coming up from the B Squad, yes there were a couple of time he got caught out but there was a lot of positives in his performance. As others have said he may need to bulk up a bit ( see Josh Clarke has) . Deserves to be on the bench if there's any doubt as to the fitness of any first three CB choices

 

[beebee4]

Good show last night, see why he got a 5 year contract, a few more appearances and will be 1st choice

 

[Brentford_till_die]

Well done Chris. Good experience for him, granted he didn't get challenged much but still, he done well.

 

[West Wilts Bee]

Just about right for the lad coming up from the B Squad, yes there were a couple of time he got caught out but there was a lot of positives in his performance. As others have said he may need to bulk up a bit ( see Josh Clarke has) . Deserves to be on the bench if there's any doubt as to the fitness of any first three CB choices

Most defenders get caught out even the experienced ones. that's the nature of the beast. Well done Chris nice to see one of our own coming through the ranks

 

[IslandBee]

I was a bit concerned at one point that the 'forward' crew were getting in his head ie he tried to play a cute ball out of defence when the option was to go home. But, good for him, he stuck to his (and our) principles and didn't do it again.

 

[WARFIELD BEE]

I thought he did well and looked composed, however when he came on Derby had dropped deep so him and Josh had all the time in the world, but I think he is going to be very good.

 

[Ken_Hom's_Wok]

Definitely didn't look out of place today

 

[Banana]

I going to say that this is one of the most exciting players we have had come through from the development side of the club for some time. He's going to go a long, long way.

 

[Deanb]

Great baptism of fire today well done young one

 

[BaildonBee]

He was very impressive today. Not faultless but no one looking on would have known how inexperienced he is. Clearly growing up fast.

 

[West Wilts Bee]

Well done Chris, if you can shine up there you can shine anywhere keep going.

 

[josht]

Looked like he was the more experienced CB out of the two today. Very impressive, didn't take any risks and always seemed to make the right decision.

 

[sonofabee]

Good news, well done Meps. Tom Field said a couple of seasons ago that Chris was the best junior he'd ever played alongside.

 

[wanderer paul]

Good to read.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Looks like he can be trusted. He'll stay 4th choice but good to know he can be relied upon.

 

[NorthamptonBee]

Not a foot wrong, a really accomplished performance.

 

[No_sting_Bee]

If we go on as we are with injuries our B team will be our A team.

 

[JTofBFC]

Not a foot wrong, a really accomplished performance.

Good to hear that

 

[stevil]

Great to hear the glowing reports. Thought he did really well on Tuesday, and it's good to hear that he delivered again today. Boro's not an easy place for a CB, as we've seen in the past few years...