The World Cup is over and the domestic pre-season is well under way, as clubs up and down the land concentrate on preparing their squads for 2010-11.

Coach Johnny Metgod was still away with the Dutch international squad and it will be interesting to see how his involvement in Holland’s campaign benefits the Rams when he resumes his Moor Farm duties. We certainly don’t want to see Derby playing like the present-day Netherlands side! Or England!

Ex-Ram Paul Simpson is on his travels, too - he has accepted another challenge in his managerial career, by taking charge of League Two club Stockport County.

In the absence of transfer activity at Derby - and the manager saying that Derby weren’t now looking to make a ‘big’ striker signing like Gary Hooper, media stories centred once more on the progress of the players’ pre-season fitness regimes.

Nigel Clough started the week by using a hackneyed phrase, by describing his various injury rehabs back in training as ‘like having new signings’ at the club.

Commons, Davies and Leacock managed only 30-odd games between them last season - and they have yet to start a Derby County game together - so their availability was viewed by Nigel as like having new signings at the club.

It’s viewed as a somewhat cringeworthy utterance and one that Derby fans have become accustomed to hearing, after so many false dawns over the injuries and stop-start careers of some players.

Then, as if to damn Clough’s optimism, there came the worst possible news for Steve Davies - and for club and fans alike. He had twisted his knee in training, and has ligament damage that will keep him out for 6 months.

Unfortunately, it’s a case of déjà vu regarding Davies, and possibly one or two others again nursing injuries. Remembering ‘Déjà Vu’ by CSNY that lent the title to RamsWeek 29, some of the words in that song recant: “...we have all been here before...” Indeed!

The loss of Davies is also one striker off Clough’s compliment of forwards that he had declared himself happy with. As Davies is also now in the last year of his contract, it is now debatable that (if and when fit) he can ever make a lasting contribution to Derby County, to earn himself another contract at Pride Park Stadium, or else attract offers from elsewhere next year.

The manager reiterated the club’s earlier comments about the unwillingness to pay a large transfer fee. That dampened the enthusiasm whilst damning the expectations and optimism of fans encouraged by Mr Glick’s ‘bullish’ comments in the spring, though Clough is now considering a loan striker deal whilst Davies in injured.

Chris Porter and Stephen Pearson remain on the injury list. Porter had further treatment on his hip this week and wasn’t included in the squad for the Burton Albion friendly. Pearson will still be missing when 2010-11 kicks off at Elland Road Leeds on August 7th - and for another month or more beyond that.

Shaun Barker’s ‘softy, softly’ rehabilitation after a knee operation dictated that he wouldn’t be risked in the first few pre-season friendly games. Fellow defender Jake Buxton will be a few weeks behind too. Miles Addison is progressing well from his foot operation(s), but is unlikely to be seen until near the end of the season.

Let’s hope that the autumn isn’t blighted with the injury problems we saw in 2009-10. If that happens and the team struggles, fans’ patience would be short after the cut-price summer spending policy. We watch and wait to see if Commons and Porter will make telling contributions this time around.

On paper, Derby has an adequate squad at this level when Clough has a high compliment of his players fit and available for action. There is, though an ominous gap on the right of midfield that loanee Michael Tonge filled successfully for the 2nd half of the season; it’s asking a lot of newcomer James Bailey to make a similar impact. Mr Clough has handed 30 players a first-team squad number for 2010-11.

The Rams launched the 2010-11 Adidas kit this week too, with the usual catwalk ‘reveal’. It’s a rather simple design but is an uncluttered, classical white shirt with black shoulder stripes and a black band around the crew-neck design. There is of course a great big mobile phone company logo on the front, from the club’s new main kit sponsor. They’ll be on the front of the shirt for three seasons, folks...

The Rams have also teamed up with JD Sports in the Derby Westfield Centre and at Coopers Square in Burton, to distribute official Rams’ replica kits and training wear through outlets other than Pride Park Stadium. No doubt JD Sports have replaced former partner Lab Sport, which ceased trading earlier this year.

The Rams started their schedule of pre-season games at Burton Albion on Saturday, with matches at Southend and Bournemouth to follow in the coming week. Clough gave young Irish defender Mark O’Brien a taste of first team action, a nice reward for the lad’s hard work in battling back from a dangerous heart condition last year.

Clough rotated all of his (fit) players during the game to give them all match-time. Young trialists Amari Morgan-Smith, an Ilkeston Town striker, and Conor Doyle, from USA side Dallas Texans also featured. Ex-Rams Darren Moore and Paul Boertien featured for Albion, and Rams fans showed their appreciation for two good club servants.

The Rams have worked on a 4-3-2-1 formation, which aims to provide a smooth link between the team’s units. It relies on the right creative players being available and Kris Commons fits that bill for Derby. He played his part at the Pirelli Stadium.

Dean Leacock gave Derby a first-half lead from a pinpoint Commons’ cross, and they held onto it to register a 1-0 victory. It wasn’t a tough work out and there are sterner tests to follow in August. Clough’s teams - for there was a totally different Rams XI in the 2nd half - played themselves back into the groove competently and constructively, especially in the second period.

Leacock played well, as did Roberts and O’Brien. Cywka, Pringle and Mills showed their promise as well and it was a satisfactory first work-out. Luke Varney played deep on the flank, and suddenly looked a solution to Derby’s full-back problems!

The Rams are off down south for further friendlies as the on-field work-rate gathers momentum. It’s only three weeks to the big kick-off!

___________________________________________________________________

RamsWeek 29 in 2009, there was plenty of transfer activity. Nyatanga joined Bristol City and Liam Dickinson went to Brighton & Hove Albion - but the big news was that Derby finally captured Blackpool defender Shaun Barker for £900k.

I was speculating on ‘the man in the middle’ - no, not referees but the question of who would ‘boss’ the Rams in the centre of midfield in the coming season.

I thought that age would tell on Savage; it did to an extent - but he did of course put in a lot of games. I said that Green would stay fit and play a major role; that Pearson had suspect fitness and we didn’t know what to expect of Giles Barnes...my predictions were as hit-and-miss as the team’s performances!

The Rams won their first pre-season friendly 5-1 at Arnold Town, with newcomer Ben Pringle impressing, and then lost to Chesterfield in the Derbyshire Centenary Cup.

Green, Leacock, Hulse, Commons, Davies and Porter all needed treatment for injuries...

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