 Tuesday, 15th Sep 2009 11:22 Another visitor from Yorkshire - will Nigel Clough's men fair any better?
Derby County v Barnsley Barnsley: Current League Position: 24/24 Quotes from the manager: From the BBC following the Watford game; "I can certainly understand why I was given the job a lot clearer now and things need to be sorted quickly. It's been difficult. I came in on Wednesday afternoon but to try to get as much into the players as I possibly could over that period of time has proved fairly difficult. There is a crisis in confidence and that needs to change quickly."
No. Position Player The Rams: Quotes from the manager: From the BBC; "We were heading for 0-0 with 10 minutes to go and it was an absolutely ludicrous free-kick to give away near the corner flag". "The ball ends up ricocheting in off (Rams striker Rob) Hulse but if you don't give free-kicks away the threat doesn't exist". "I am very disappointed in the manner in which we conceded the goal because we probably did enough to get a point". "We are losing our voices week in and week out, before games and during games saying don't give free-kicks away, especially in those areas. We are contributing too much to our own downfall."
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater What the Bookies think: Home Win: 4/5 - Draw: 12/5 Information for travelling fans: Don’t be tempted to park at Pride Park shopping centre unless you fancy being clamped. You can also park for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Another alternative if you follow the above route is to head around Pentagon Island to the Cattle Market Car Park. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here. Fans tend to mingle in these pubs and as long as you’re not being aggressive, the atmosphere is good. The Waterfall opposite the station is okay as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy. Mick’s Prediction: 4-5-1 can be a fabulous formation. Especially when you have the right midfield combination, it can turn from 4-5-1 into a very fast 4-3-3 attack when you have the ball. It works really well if you have Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs on the wing. It’s not so good when you have Lee Croft and Gary Teale out on the wing. What 4-5-1 also requires is a midfield general if you will to break up the opposition play and pass the ball to someone who can find the wide men. And that patently isn't Robbie Savage. The sight of Robbie Savage being interviewed in the Spanish sun was showing in the concourse - and he might as well have been still out there in the sun for all of his effectiveness on Saturday. It's easy to forget that Savage is reaching the end of his career now and that he's slowing down. That means his game - which relies on covering a lot of grass - is starting to suffer. As a long term option or even for a season, Robbie is not going to be the answer to any of the questions that get asked in midfield. Paul Green could be that answer - but on Saturday he was clearly playing while injured. That meant that Stephen Pearson was the lynchpin of midfield. Pearson was probably the pick of our midfield but simply does not know what to do with the ball when he has it. His passing and shooting seem to go to pot the longer he spends on the ball. I have had high hopes of this player - but it looks as if he's just another one of those promising players who never develops into the full article. Questions are starting to be muttered about Nigel Clough on the concourse and the Radio Derby Moan -in as well. It was clear to many fans that the tactics were not working against the Blades. Rob Hulse cut a forlorn figure up front alone and Lee Croft may as well have been selling burgers in the concourse for all the service he got. We seemed to be willing to accept a 0-0 draw against a workmanlike United team who though they are likely to be challenging for promotion, are no great shakes. This isn’t acceptable and once we were 1-0 down we ran out of ideas - what was the point of a like for like substitution in the 90th minute for the defence? Nice though it was to see Dean Leacock again? Why not put Dickov on? We've played well in fits and starts this season. We've played very badly in most games. Nobody is expecting us to race up the league and take everyone by storm but it'd be nice not to have another season of abject failure on the pitch. It's too early to be talking of must win games but at home to the bottom club we cannot play a defensive 4-5-1 formation. We simply have to put in a better performance and take three points. Otherwise the muttering is going to go up a notch. Losing at home to Barnsley does not put bums on seats. Possible team: Bywater, Connolly, Barker, Leacock, Moxey, Hendrie, Addison, Green, Commons, Croft, Hulse Subs: McEveley, Dickov, Teale, Deeney, Pearson, Savage, Livermore Prediction: Derby 3-0 Tykes
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