The Rams return home in desperate need of point to release the pressure that is building. Unfortunately their opposition are unlikely to make that task easy.
Saturday 12th March 2011
Pride Park - Derbyshire
Rams v Swansea - HistoricalP 19 W 10 D 2 L 7 F 45 A 29
Last game at Pride Park
20 Feb 10 Derby 0 - 1 Swansea - (goal scored by Kuqi)
Current Form:
Swansea - 2/24 P 36 W 19 D 6 L 11 F 490 A 32
Leading scorers: Sinclair (16lg5cup)
Derby - 19/24 Derby P 36 W 11 D 7 L 18 F 44 A 50
Leading scorers: Bueno (4), Cywka (4)
The Rams
I'm sure I could find some quotes from Nigel Clough as to how we were unlucky in the Boro game. Probably along the lines of "they should have been down to 10 men." or blaming the final score on a particular player ... But you’ve probably already read this and got as annoyed as me.
Team at Boro:
Fielding
Brayford Barker Ayala Roberts
Doyle Addison Green Pearson
Ward Robinson
This line up for the game at Boro which lead to the following;
Possession
Middlesbrough 54% Derby 46%
Attempts on target
Middlesbrough 7 Derby 0
Attempts off target
Middlesbrough 1 Derby 1
Corners
Middlesbrough 6 Derby 4
Fouls
Middlesbrough 7 Derby 6
Not one attempt on target. Clough replaced Ward with Porter and Doyle with Ben Davies but not one of our forwards managed a shot on target.
Why?
What has happened to the team that looked so good in our pre-Christmas purple patch?
Team from Purple Patch:
Fielding
Brayford Barker Leacock Moxey
Savage Bailey
Commons Cywka Bueno
Kuqi
You had Kuqi who could hold the ball up bringing in the three attacking forwards. That relieved the pressure on the defence so Brayford & Moxey could get forward to support the strikers and midfield. Result was we created more and scored more.
For whatever reason, Clough did not rate Kuqi. He sold Moxey & Commons and seems to move heaven & earth to accommodate Pearson - a player only he seems to rate. He monitored Ben Davies for 18 months without spotting that he wasn't a Championship player and fell out with Cywka.
He says that Bueno can't play in a 4-4-2 (the most common formation in football - it's like claiming a fish can't swim).
The fans may be protesting against the board (and rightly in my opinion) and say that they haven't backed Clough. That is all well and good and may be true but would they still be supporting the manager if his name wasn't Clough?
We are currently just above the relegation zone and other teams - Coventry & Middlesbrough for example - seem to be being dragged into the mire. But I can't see where the next point is coming from and there are ten games for one of the bottom three to get their act together and escape.
It would be awful for an already promoted (or play off bound) Forest to relax on the final day and let Scunthorpe send us to League 1.
Possible team
Fielding
Brayford Addison Ayala Roberts
Bueno Savage Green Davies B
Davies S Ward
SUBS: Duke Robinson Porter Cywka Davies S Bailey
Current Squad
No. Position Player
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender John Brayford
3 Defender Gareth Roberts
4 Midfield Paul Green
5 Defender Shaun Barker (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Striker Steve Davies
8 Midfield Robbie Savage (club captain)
10 Striker Jamie Ward (on loan from Sheffield United)
11 Midfield Stephen Pearson
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Russell Anderson
16 Midfield James Bailey
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfield Ben Pringle
19 Striker Tomasz Cywka
20 Defender Miles Addison
21 Defender Daniel Ayala (on loan from Liverpool)
23 Striker Conor Doyle
24 Midfield Arnaud Mendy
25 Defender Mark O'Brien
26 Striker Callum Ball
27 Striker Alberto Bueno (on loan from Real Valladolid)
28 Midfield Ben Davies
29 Midfield Jeff Hendrick
34 Keeper Frank Fielding
Swansea
Like us, Swansea is looking over their collective shoulder - they are fearful of dropping into the play-offs rather than League 1 however.
1 point from their last 2 games has left them hanging onto the second automatic promotion place by the tips of their fingers. Only goal difference is keeping in form Norwich below them.
Joe Allen issued a rallying call to his Swansea team mates;
"We have 10 cup finals but the prize is there and there a lot of teams playing for it - so we'll have to make sure we're at the top of our game to achieve that."
Swans fans will be mindful that they missed out in the play-offs two seasons ago and failed to make the play-offs last year. Allen went on;
"Obviously in previous years we've been in the position where we've been playing for the grand prize. And both times we have missed out."
"We have talked a lot amongst each other and we want to make sure that we don't let each other down."
Swansea may have Garry Monk and midfielder Andrea Orlandi available now they are back in training and of course they have Luke Moore who seems nailed on to score against us after his loan.
Current Swan Squad:
No. Position Player
1 Keeper Dorus de Vries
2 Defence Ashley Williams
3 Defence Neil Taylor
5 Defence Alan Tate (vice-captain)
6 Midfield Ferrie Bodde
8 Midfield Darren Pratley
9 Striker Craig Beattie
10 Midfield Andrea Orlandi
11 Striker Cedric van der Gun
12 Midfield Nathan Dyer
14 Striker Stephen Dobbie
16 Defence Garry Monk (captain)
17 Defence Albert Serrán
19 Striker Luke Moore
20 Midfield Shaun MacDonald
21 Midfield Scott Sinclair
22 Defence Àngel Rangel
24 Midfield Joe Allen
25 Keeper Yves Makabu-Makalambay
27 Midfield Mark Gower
28 Midfield Thomas Butler
29 Midfield Ashley Richards
31 Midfield Lee Lucas
34 Defence Joe Walsh
35 Defence Daniel Alfei
37 Midfield Leon Britton
38 Defence Jamie Grimes
What the bookies think
The Swans are 11/10 favourites while the Rams are a 13/5. The draw is at 9/4.
Scott Sinclair 5/1, Luke Moore 6/1, Stephen Dobbie 6/1, Craig Beattie 13/2 and Cedric Van Der Gun at 7/1 are all a better odds than Jamie Ward & Theo Robinson for the Rams.
The bookies have heard how bad we are.
Information for travelling fan
Driving
It's a fair hike from Swansea to Derby. About 138 miles all told. Take the M4/M5/M6 and A38 to Derby. Take the A6 turn-off for Derby and the ground and away parking are signposted.
Parking
Away fans can park at Catalyst on London Rd opposite the Navigation pub. It's about 10-15 minutes from the ground. Don't be tempted to park at Pride Park shopping centre unless you fancy being clamped. You can also park at the Fireplace showroom just at the turn off the A52 for Pride Park.
Don’t be in a rush to leave however as it takes an age to get out of there. Another alternative is to pass the exit for Pride Park on Brian Clough Way and head for Pentagon Island... Take the first exit and turn left and after a few hundred yards you will come to The Cattle Market Car Park. It's about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here.
Drinking
There are a few pubs very close to the ground but if you come by train, the locale around the station is fairly inviting. The Crown and Cushion at the junction of London Rd always seems to be full of away supporters. The Brunswick is a must for any real ale fans and the Alexandra next door is my personal favourite.
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 very good 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
We've got to have some luck sometime and we quite often save our best performances for teams who we don't seem to have a chance against. My head says this will be a heavy defeat played out at a rapidly emptying Pride Park.
My Heart as always hopes for different.
Derby 1 - 0 Swansea