Derby County could take heart from their exciting 2-2 home draw with Championship front-runners West Bromwich Albion as they set about improving their away record with fixtures at Preston and Watford.

There was media speculation at the start of the week regarding the possible January sale of both Rob Hulse and Kris Commons, citing Derby’s financial considerations.

This seemed at odds with the relatively comfortable financial position that Derby appear to be in, with only the £15m stadium mortgage as a current debt. Perhaps the newspapers are hunting headlines to fill the vacuum until the January transfer window.

Later in the week, President and Chief Executive Tom Glick spoke of the club’s current position and the possibility of transfer activity in January 2010. I’ll return to that subject further on.

The Rams visited Deepdale on Tuesday evening to face an out-of-sorts Preston North End side. Manager Nigel Clough made four changes to his side from Saturday; Paul Connolly replaced the injured Fredrick Stoor, Lee Hendrie and Paul Green joined the midfield.

Goal hero DJ Campbell came in to partner Paul Dickov in attack because Rob Hulse was left out with a tight hamstring. Wingers Teale & Croft were kept to the substitute’s bench, so a more compact 4-4-2 formation was employed.

Derby made the more positive start and had a good penalty shout when Lilywhites’ goalkeeper Andy Lonergan brought down DJ Campbell as his pace took him onto a loose ball. Again, Derby were denied by myopic officials.

The Rams created danger, taking the game to Preston and they forced several early corners. Campbell and Dickov were bothering Preston with pace and endeavour - and at least it was not the passive, defensive Derby attitude that saw a meek surrender at Swansea a fortnight ago.

Preston worked their way into the game but real chances were few at either end of the pitch. As the first half wore on, North End built up a fair head of steam and had gained the territorial advantage, without managing to carve out a lead.

Preston attacked from the restart and Bywater turned a Neal Mellor effort behind as Derby’s defence opened up. The Lilywhites sustained their attacking impetus the pattern and Dean Leacock had to retire with a hamstring strain for Stoor to take over, then Gary Teale replaced Hendrie.

Chris Porter made a welcome return to action with 20 minutes to go, replacing Paul Dickov who had been booked and was walking a tightrope with the unpredictable referee. Within minutes, Porter hit the Preston crossbar with a header, Pearson fluffing the rebound. The closing stages were exciting as the game became stretched and it was a surprise that the score remained 0-0.

That’s how it finished though and both sides might wonder just how they failed to score.

It was three games unbeaten with five points taken for Derby, so an improvement had followed the return to fitness of some of Clough’s walking wounded. New injury concerns plagued the manager however, with Dean Leacock retiring with a tight hamstring, Shaun Barker still absent, Fredrick Stoor carrying an ankle injury and Rob Hulse a doubt for Saturday’s game at Watford.

The Rams reserves beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1, the game being played at Alfreton’s Impact Arena. Clough fielded a strong side which included several players getting match minutes after injury - Deeney, Pringle, Porter, Davies and Buxton all figured.

Manager Clough himself featured as a substitute (due to lack of defensive cover) and a trialist midfielder Mark Doninger, headed Derby’s first goal. Jake Livermore also scored for Derby. The Youth team have progressed to the 4th round of the FA Youth Cup after a 6-1 win over Peterborough United.

The Quad in Derby’s Market Place staged a Derby County 125th anniversary celebration event, on Wednesday, with BBC sports presenter John Motson hosting an all-star evening. Motty’s son Fred is a Rams’ season ticket holder and John has a close affinity with the Rams through his contact with Clough & Taylor in the 70s.

Wednesday’s event saw much-loved ex-Rams in attendance, as guests including Stefano Eranio, Roy McFarland, Dave Mackay, Archie Gemmill, David Nish and Alan Hinton appeared alongside current players Robbie Savage and Kris Commons. The Top 10 Derby goals were replayed, with Paulo Wanchope’s brilliant solo goal at Old Trafford topping the fans’ vote, then Roger Davies held a Q & A with the guest players.

Several developments concerning player deals at Pride Park Stadium and the transfer market later in the week pointed towards that short and medium term future of the club. Editor Dan J has already reported on this subject in midweek:
http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.showNews.php?id=27008

Improving newcomers Jake Buxton and Ben Pringle (both recovering from injuries at present) have been given new contracts, having already been involved at first team level. Scottish international midfielder Stephen Pearson has also signed a new deal, committing himself to Derby until summer 2012. Pearson’s existing contract expires next summer, which had left the Rams vulnerable to the player negotiating future deals elsewhere from next month.

Manager Clough clearly wants the 27-year old as part of his midfield fulcrum and if the player can become less susceptible to injury - whilst showing more end product for his endeavours on the pitch - he could prove to be an integral part of the squad rebuilding.

Another ‘wannabe’ and ‘shoulda been’ was levered from Derby’s wage bill this week as Giles Barnes had his contract terminated. From a 17-year old wonder kid who burst onto the scene at Derby with Premier League clubs clamouring to bid for him, to club-less outcast is quite a reality check for him.

It is a pity to see such a promising player depart but he is no use to Nigel Clough if he can’t get fit. Giles is a ‘porcelain’ player who had seldom been match fit enough to capitalise on his undoubted ability and could not demonstrate his value to the manager.

The injury absences have seen his status and his £4m transfer rating vanish; it seems a long time  since the previous Derby board had to fight so vigorously to repel transfer overtures from Spurs and West Ham. His recent trail of injuries have inhibited his progress beyond England Under-19 level whilst his ex-Rams’ Academy colleague Tom Huddlestone has full England honours under his belt and is now emerging as one of our bright new hopes in Mr Capello’s national squad.

All the promise and the training ground tricks have to be converted consistently to meaningful performances where it matters, however - and Giles has not delivered for a year or more. We have some fleeting, great memories of his class and skill and he is still only 21 - now it is up to Giles himself to knuckle down in a new challenge and make the best of his ability.

As discussed last week, Barnes wasn’t considered a good enough risk for Fulham boss Roy Hodgson to take a punt on him, despite having the midfielder on loan for several months last term.

Fact is, all Giles has managed now by his premature departure  is to  bring Derby’s wage bill down closer to the desired £10m that Mr Glick sees as an appropriate level for an improving Championship outfit. It is also fact (by the club’s own admission) that once returned to Premier League status, a wage bill ‘north of £35m’ will be required to keep Derby up there!

The game at Watford represented another challenge in Nigel Clough’s long quest to improve Derby’s away showing. It was one of only two remaining opportunities for Derby to get the ‘away’ monkey off their back because the last chance to notch an away win this season in 2009 would otherwise be at St James Park, home of Championship leaders Newcastle United.

Defenders Leacock, Barker, Addison and Buxton were not fit to play at Watford, so Connolly and McEveley were deployed at centre half. Rob Hulse had a strain (wouldn’t want him crocked for January, either, eh?) and so Leicester loanees Dickov and Campbell formed the attack. 

Watford had John ‘Useless’ Eustace and Danny Graham in their line-up, both former mediocre loanees at Derby, and hit-and-miss striker Nathan Ellington - for whom Paul Jewell deemed it reasonable to stump up a £1.5m loan fee to bring him to Derby last season - was on the Watford bench.

The on-form Hornets however didn’t have things their way as Derby claimed a precious and long-awaited away win. The Rams defended well despite the injury absentees and had clearly taken confidence from the display at Preston by having much more of a share of the game.

Makeshift central pairing Connolly and McEveley were solid, heroic even - restricting Watford to few opportunities. Their effort and application will have warmed the manager on a cold, dour afternoon in Hertfordshire. The defensive solidity in the absence of so many first-choice players is a big bonus and represented just the sort of commitment and consistency that Clough has been working towards for all year, even if he has yet to bed-down his best centre-half pairing.

Even another baffling, inconsistent refereeing performance (this time from Mr K Stroud) couldn’t deny Derby their reward, for a change. The second half saw Derby as the more likely team and so it proved, with Chris Porter celebrating his 26th birthday by clinching the game with a brave header on 77 minutes from a Hendrie cross. Watford couldn’t respond and Derby ran out 1-0 winners.

Read Paul Redfern’s full RamZone Watford report here:
http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.showNews.php?id=27019

The 900 away fans, manager and squad celebrated in their relief at Derby’s deliverance from their away torpor at the final whistle. Let’s hope this week is a signpost to better things at last. The Rams multiplied their away points tally this week and given notice that they can be competitive on their travels.

It didn’t mean too much in the context of their present Championship placing but has pulled them further away from the relegation zone. Now they must build on it with home points against Doncaster and Blackpool before the visit to Newcastle, which concludes the league fixtures for 2009. Putting productive performances together in a sequence is the only way to climb the table.

The increasing options for Clough with the availability of other forwards returning from injury will have given the manager food for thought, Returning Rams strikers Chris Porter and Steve Davies were among Derby’s substitutes and they are sure to figure in the boss’s thinking when considering his formations and his January squad redevelopment.

The attack looked lively - and away from home, we haven’t said that often in recent months! The success of Chris Porter and Steve Davies in the 2nd half at Watford showed that a goal threat exists beyond current Player of the Year and top scorer Hulse.

James Vaughan is expected to return to Pride Park Stadium next month on loan from Everton, the manager could secure Dickov and Campbell for further periods at Derby and Clough allegedly has his eye on new recruits too, including Plymouth striker Jamie Mackie.

The fate of Luke ‘Reg’ Varney is also a moot point; he’s currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, who are in dire current form and undergoing managerial upheaval at this time. Owls’ ex-boss Brian Laws spent most of his final weeks moaning that his side’s performance was ‘unacceptable’; it was like a tape loop!

Cynics will say that the performances of Porter and Davies for Derby at Watford alongside the loan options of Campbell and Dickov will also have given the DCFC board food for thought in adjudging the financial merits of any possible offers coming in soon for such as Hulse and Commons.

TG reminded us that every player has his price tag but it is generally regarded that sales of star players at Derby now are for team-building rather than bank appeasement.

Fans will accept top players moving on for appropriate fees if the funds are available to the manager to acquire the (hopefully permanent) players he wants, which he believes will improve the squad. We have hopefully left the dark deceptions of the Huddlestone and Rasiak sales well behind us these days.

Pragmatists might say that if such eventualities facilitate Clough acquiring players to fit into his own jigsaw (as he moves further away from coping with the squad he inherited) then some re-invested income from significant sales could well assist Derby’s movement to a higher level of the Championship. At least we now have several forwards on form and more striking options at hand.

RamsWeek 50 last season saw promotion-chasing Wolverhampton Wanderers secure three points more at Molineux against a feeble Derby side.

Bywater replaced Roy Carroll in goal for the Rams because Carroll was under suspension after a training ground bust up with manager Paul Jewell but the goalie could do little after loan defender Darren Powell gave away an early penalty for Wolves to take the lead.

Wolves went two up before half time when Dave Edwards returned a poor Derby clearance straight past Bywater; Wolves scored a third goal on the hour through Ebanks-Blake and that was that. Wolves had twice as many points on the board as Derby at that stage of the season and manager Jewell was still trying to make sense of the 21 new player signings he had made.

Press speculation suggested that Jewell’s position was under threat and later events show that the speculation was well-founded.

Giles Barnes made a comeback in a Moor Farm game against Leeds and the club anticipated a January return to action for the midfielder.

Everyone anticipated that the time-honoured phrase applied to Giles more than once would again be dusted off: “it’ll be like signing a new player....” and now we know that his departure will enable current manager Nigel Clough to replace him with a new player!

Photo: Action Images

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