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Nigel & His Rams Can Extinguish Forest Fire!
Nigel & His Rams Can Extinguish Forest Fire!
Saturday, 22nd Jan 2011 08:37 by Stuart Hughes

There should be a fantastic atmosphere for the East Midlands derby today after Derby County announced in midweek that the game against Nottingham Forest at Pride Park Stadium was sold out.

This represents a stark contrast with the Birmingham derby in the Premier League last weekend where only 22,287 Birmingham City and Aston Villa fans watched the game at St Andrews, a ground with an all-seating capacity of 30,016. 

They say that in derby games the form book gets thrown out of the window. Well, if Derby County are to stand any chance this time round, the form book needs to be catapulted out of those windows at Pride Park Stadium and catapulted a very long way. 

Only Watford, who defeated the Rams last weekend, are on a better run of form than Nottingham Forest in the npower Championship currently. Forest are on an unbeaten run of five wins and one draw in their last six games in all competitions.

Derby County, on the other hand, have taken just four points from the last 24 available to them. A win at Preston North End, and a home draw against Millwall, ended a run of five consecutive defeats, but the wheels have again come off after consecutive away defeats against Crawley Town (in the FA Cup) and Watford (in the league).

Manager Nigel Clough has the task of motivating a team who are, by his own admission, “on our arses right now, even lower than that if it’s possible.” In all honesty though, if you can’t motivate yourself for a full house against your local rivals then you shouldn’t be a professional football player.

Clough will have some key selection decisions to make with a squad that is low on confidence and plagued by injuries, inconsistence performances, and poor form.

Does Clough stick with the 4-2-3-1 system that has been utilised almost exclusively this season or does he revert, as he did after the break against Watford, to the 4-4-2 formation that was the mainstay of his team selections prior to this season?

Does he persevere with round pegs in square holes and keep John Brayford at centre-back with Paul Green out of position at right-back, or does he go for round pegs in round holes?

If he goes for the sensible decision, according to most Rams supporters, of selecting players in their natural positions, does he recall Dean Leacock (who by his own admission he’s lost confidence in) or does he play Miles Addison alongside Shaun Barker?

Does he select Kris Commons, after publicly criticising his performances in the last two games, and hauling him off at halftime against Watford? Clough says the protracted contract negotiations are affecting the Rams top goal scorer but I can’t see how publicly criticising Commons in the media is going to encourage him to sign on the dotted line.

Does he persevere with the same players or does he recall Tomasz Cywka? With the Davies deal done, he also needs to decide whether to blood a new players in the cauldron of a local derby on the back of limited training with his new teammates.

Does he risk starting Stephen Pearson, Steve Davies, or Jake Buxton who are all struggling for fitness after injury? Does he give surprise starts to David Martin, Lee Croft, Conor Doyle, Ben Pringle, or Mark O’Brien?

This game has a strange feel to it this time round. Nottingham Forest are on a high, Derby County are on a low, and the game feels like a cup-tie with the Rams entertaining a team from the Premier League. It has that cup-tie feel about it to me where the Rams have nothing to lose.

Nottingham Forest are six points better off than Derby County in the npower Championship with two games in hand. After thumping the Rams 5-2 at the City Ground less than a month ago, Nottingham Forest will go into this game as clear favourites and it will be interesting to see whether the Tricky Trees can handle the pressure of being favourites in an away game against their local rivals.

Pride Park Stadium will be packed. The Rams supporters will be up for the game and the Derby County players will be determined to put the record straight.

If I’m honest, I’d take a draw right now, but if Derby County can put together the kind of performance they produced during October and November then they are more than capable of beating Nottingham Forest.

 

 

Stuart Hughes is a local writer and Derby fan. You can read more of his written work on his website www.stuarthughes.webs.com

Photo: Action Images



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