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RamsWeek 33: Get Behind The Mule!
RamsWeek 33: Get Behind The Mule!
Monday, 16th Aug 2010 01:31 by Paul Mortimer

Derby’s winning start to the season away at Leeds United was quickly followed by a Carling Cup date at Crewe, then the first home Championship game of the campaign versus Cardiff City.

 

The victory at Leeds had a sour taste attached to it from the behaviour of opposing club and fans. No wonder they will remain ‘the Damned United’ as far as we are concerned!

Leeds United invoked some petty rules by refusing to let Nigel Clough’s son William onto the pitch, whilst Clough himself was then not allowed to view the game from the director’s box because he was clad in a tracksuit.

The Rams’ boss watched the game from a gantry near the media crews and no doubt had a great view of his team’s victory.

Then later there were reports of coins thrown at the Derby contingent inside the ground by Leeds ‘fans’. Radio and newspaper reports after the game said that Rams fans were also attacked by Leeds hordes. Yorkshire Police arrested 12 individuals.

Derby fans wanting the rail station were herded to the bus station instead for their own safety. Trouble is, violence was already being visited upon Derby coaches there, by unruly Yorkshire miscreants!

Coach operators reported vandalism, as Yorkshire nutters stood on motorway bridges to shower coaches with bricks and missiles. Leeds yobs had also congregated en masse at the Billy Bremner statue outside the Elland Road stadium, intent on making Derby fans ‘run the gauntlet’ as they tried to make their way to coach or train.

Eye-witnesses said that elderly Rams fans and children were targeted by the yobs and that the police control was suspect; some exiting Derby fans were isolated and under protected. Yes folks - football violence is alive and thriving in West Yorkshire and if you defeat a Leeds team, then it appears you must pay the consequences.

Nigel Clough regrouped his squad and took the victorious Rams to Gresty Road, Crewe for the Tuesday night Carling Cup first round tie. The Rams squad contained 5 ex-Alexandra players - Robbie Savage and Rob Hulse, Luke Varney as well as Derby’s summer signings from Crewe, James Bailey and John Brayford.

Savage, Bailey and Brayford started the game, with Barker, Pringle, Moxey and Porter in to replace Anderson, Green, Roberts and Hulse. The League Two side started in frisky fashion, full of energy and purpose but they didn’t carve out real chances.

The Rams showed more of their new-found neat midfield possession and attacking variety but it was Shaun Barker who went closest for Derby in the first half, having an effort palmed away for a corner.

Unfortunately, the Derby centre half glanced the ball into his own goal under pressure soon afterwards, to give Crewe a 1-0 interval lead.

The second half was more exciting, with both sides pressing forwards. Crewe matched their Championship opponents. Hulse replaced Porter, whose hip injury has recurred. American forward Conor Doyle made his debut as a 2nd half substitute as Derby sought an equaliser.

The Rams couldn’t turn their ponderous possession into chances though and they tumbled out of the Carling Cup to lower league opposition for the second successive season. Afterwards, Manager Clough seemed distinctly irritated at his side’s poor delivery from free kicks and corners. It had been a powder-puff, wasteful display.

He was disappointed that Derby mustered little end product and declared that he is still seeking consistent service into danger areas and on the lookout for a player who can provide that quality.

It was a flat midweek after the impressive win at Leeds for Derby. Several other Championship sides crashed out alongside Derby, to lower league opposition, including Sheffield United, Barnsley, Coventry and QPR - as did the Trees, defeated by Bradford City.

Bookie’s promotion favourites Bristol City tumbled out too, beaten and their manager Steve Coppell - in charge at Ashton Gate for only 4 months - resigned soon afterwards, saying that his enthusiasm has gone!

Derby midfielder Paul Green was away on international duty with the Republic of Ireland and played 90 minutes in friendly game against Argentina at Dublin’s new Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night, which the R. o. I. lost 0-1.

Derby County corralled a few more corporate partners into the ranch for this and that service, to add to the dizzying portfolio of networked companies linked to the club as franchisees or sponsors. Betz.com are now the stadium betting facility provider of choice for those who bet on football matches and Danish brewing giants Carlsberg were appointed Derby’s official lager provider.

Greggs the bakers have taken over the stadium berth formerly occupied by The Derbyshire Building society before The Halifax or whichever elite money men sliced up our local building society and shuttled it into history.

Naturally, the new partners exhorted themselves as great new matchday enhancements for Pride Park Stadium patrons, with the Betz.com spiel on the official website being particularly verbose and cloying.

At least a variety of fresh sandwiches and snacks and Fairtrade drinks from Greggs seems more palatable than the caloried, fat and sugar-laden McDonalds’ hamburger diet and Starbucks mush that we were supposed to choose at Pride Park Stadium.

More unwanted injury news came from defender Russell Anderson, who retired injured at half-time at Elland Road in the opening game of the new season - as he was ruled out for a month. Derby’s injury jinx continues - and it got even worse by the time Saturday came around.

Despite murmurings that Nigel Clough was striving to land a loanee or two, nothing transpired, though Derby did loan out young striker Gregg Mills to AFC Telford and Derby are taking an interest in a 20-year old Bohemians’ striker, Paddy Madden.

Carlsberg claim that they make probably the best lager in the world but Rams fans are more interested to see if their team can make a stab at becoming one of the best teams in the Championship this season.

The visit of Cardiff City in Derby’s final home game of last season rendered three vital points in a 2-0 win, whilst Cardiff wound down their campaign to save their energy for an ultimately unsuccessful tilt at play-off promotion glory.

Rams fans remain cautious about the new season - some being currently a tad disinterested, judging by the low crowd of 25,103 on Saturday, in comparison to the 33,000 that watched the Rams beat Peterborough United on opening day last season.

Derby’s gate still beat the Trees’ home opener against DirtyLeeds (they got 24,986) but Derby’s owners need to be mindful that the cut-price football product isn’t going to excite fans suffering badly from quality starvation over the past three seasons.

Quite simply, their core matchday experience just boils down to mediocrity and disappointment far too often in the final analysis. All the sponsors, partners and stadium monuments in the world can’t magic Derby back into the established Premier League berth that remains at the centre of the original GSE promise.

Brayford, Roberts and Bailey made their home League debuts but with Chris Porter limited to a late substitute’s cameo due to fitness concerns and Rob Hulse sidelined with an Achilles injury, it was left to Luke Varney to lead the Rams’ attack.

Cardiff were chased around the courtrooms this summer for various HMRC misdemeanours but managed to retain most of their squad. Along with their wily manager, Dave Jones, they knew a little too much for a Derby side perpetually in transition - and forever dogged by injury occurrences.

Nigel Clough and his players spoke about making Pride Park Stadium a fortress this season, after Derby’s generally strong home form in 2009-10 ensured that they would avoid relegation - but the Bluebirds disregarded all that to upset the applecart.

A 2-1 home defeat left the Rams’ faithful flat, and they will again be downgrading their expectations for the season. The result might have been harsh on Derby for their endeavour and effort; however, a quality gap was evident as the superior movement, passing ability and end-product from City was decisive.

Cardiff gained a first half lead after some sloppy Derby possession was punished as Commons gave the ball away before Chopra took advantage. Tomasz Cywka snatched his first goal for Derby to equalise after 35 minutes but overall there was a lack of penetration and accuracy in attack.

The midfield was surrendered to the Bluebirds’ swifter and more accurate passing style and Derby never sustained their periods of ascendancy. Robbie Savage hogs the media limelight regularly on a local and national basis, giving as good as he gets on the airwaves - but it was a different matter on the field on Saturday.

The greatest entertainment and enjoyment he gave was to Cardiff fans who watched him get booked after launching into an over-enthusiastic challenge. The mad-haired Welshman was withdrawn soon afterwards as damage limitation, forcing Paul Green to forsake his box-to-box efforts to sit in a more protective role.

Varney buzzed around as he does, and created Cywka’s goal with a neat flick to the Polish youngster; Commons was nullified and mostly anonymous, and Brayford’s runs from deep were neutralised by Cardiff’s energy on the flanks.

The Bluebirds claimed the points when Whittingham, an ineffectual softie when on loan as a rookie at Derby a few year back, but a sure-shot from midfield nowadays, rammed a shot that Bywater couldn’t hold or push away effectively. Chris Burke tucked away the loose ball and though Derby pressed, they couldn’t score again.

Bailey and Cywka did quite well but are young and still acclimatising to their tasks at Championship level. We will see good things from them but not necessarily immediately. Conor Doyle had some minutes as a sub to acclimatise himself to his new home.

The team badly missed the strength and focus of target man Hulse and Porter’s persistent hip injury reduced Clough’s options. With Steve Davies sidelined and Varney being offered for sale, the original declaration that there are six strike-options in the squad is already way off the mark. Send for reinforcements, Mr Glick - and don’t forget that goals are precious and that’s why strikers cost money.

It’s unthinkable that Derby could suffer quite the depletion through injury as last season and struggle so badly - but it’s also a stretch of the imagination to see this team challenging at the top of the division. Teamwork and understanding is still some way short of what’s required, as Cardiff demonstrated.

Another 9 months of workmanlike toil beckons, to calls from the boardroom for ‘patience’ from the fans. The squad at Clough’s disposal must “get behind the mule” to plough steadfastly on until they reach the safe haven of 50 or more points. It’s the Ricoh Stadium, Coventry next week, and another performance like at Leeds wouldn’t go amiss.

Coventry aspires to a good showing this term and will provide a stiff test.

We await some good news from Mr Clough’s transfer (sorry, loan) negotiations, hoping that further strength in depth and a little more quality might soon be on view.

The ‘feel good factor’ will be spooned out generously for the next home game when QPR are the visitors because the polish will be gleaming from the splendid new Clough & Taylor statue to be unveiled that week.

It’s great to celebrate such a famous and glorious heritage - but we mainly want a glittering future, as it will take more serious investment than a sponsored statue to enable the present-day Mr Clough to walk tall in the shadow of the past.

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RamsWeek 33 last year saw Derby ‘giving it all away’ as a good start to the season in beating Peterborough was followed by a wasteful display at League Two club Rotherham United, where the Rams went out of the Carling Cup in the first round.

They next travelled to Scunthorpe United in the Championship and were beaten 3-2, with Gary Hooper scoring twice. There was some poor defending and ineffectual possession with Derby ultimately failing to take anything from a game that they took the lead in and had then clawed back to 2-2, before The Iron scored again with 8 minutes remaining.

The Rams signed Tottenham prospect Jake Livermore on loan. Remember him? Well done!

Photo: Action Images



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