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RamsWeek 41 - Nothing Stirring 'Cept The Coffee!
RamsWeek 41 - Nothing Stirring 'Cept The Coffee!
Monday, 15th Oct 2007 09:38 by Paul Mortimer

Another international break meant another delay in Derby County’s Premier League programme.

It also meant a further week for them to have the chance to get the ineffectual performance at Reading out of their system.  

News from Pride Park and most other clubs was at a premium and even the scandal and takeover stories have diminished as the media concentrated on international fixtures, with England marching onwards in both football and rugby. Even the cricket team are picking up!

A few more football club managers fell by the wayside this week but Billy Davies wasn’t one of them. More pundits will be disappointed and for good measure, Peter Gadsby reiterated his support for Davies come what may in May 2008 in website interviews.

Craig Fagan made a comeback for the Reserves after his suspension, and Giles Barnes enjoyed more match time too. Fagan was booked and Macken struck home a penalty as the ‘stiffs’ were held 1-1 by Reading who snatched a 100th minute equaliser. Barnes and Fagan’s fully fit inclusion in the squad for the Premier League trip to Fulham in a week’s time will enhance manager Billy Davies’ options.

It was announced that Starbucks would take over the former Baseball Bar & Grill space at the stadium to set up a new coffee house. The US designer coffee franchise obviously helps to initiate Derby County’s franchise portfolio to augment facilities for Pride Park users and it will assist in creating the revenue stream diversity encompassed within the Rams’ overall business strategy.

There’s hopefully a place somewhere – preferably at the stadium - for all that great heritage from the BB&G, the historic photos that adorned the walls, and beautiful Victorian oak bar transplanted from The Baseball Hotel itself. As corporatism advances, another little bit of Derby County quietly dies.

Other franchises will no doubt arrive to embellish those all-important revenue streams as Pride Plaza advances but it’s the Derby County ‘brand’ that the football fans are truly interested in. There is no museum or freely accessible public memorabilia display – as there are at other new or redeveloped stadia - for fans to enjoy over 120 years of Derby County history and this is a sad omission from the schemes.

Back to team news, with Billy Davies saying we should expect to see a Kenny Miller and Rob Earnshaw strike partnership in the coming games. Unless Howard is going to be deployed as an auxiliary centre-half, it looks like his goal drought – for all his effort and hard work – will cost him a place in the starting line-up.

Billy also suggested he hoped to add some foreign flair to the squad, as he maintained his anticipation of the January transfer window in the expectation of strengthening his ranks.

The Premier League home game with Everton was moved back 23 hours to Sunday, October 28th with a 2.00 pm kick off. This was due to Everton’s participation in the UEFA Cup, as the Toffees play away in Cyprus on Thursday, 25th October.

This was part of a flurry of fixture alterations that won’t go down too well with some fans: Derby’s trip to Newcastle United has been put back to Sunday, 22nd December at 2.00 pm for Sky TV; the Rams’ home game with Blackburn Rovers is now at 1.30 pm on Sunday December 30th, also moved for TV. After that, the Bolton Wanderers away game will now be played at 7.45 pm on Wednesday January 2nd, instead of New Year’s Day.

Two young Rams received international call-ups this week. Second-year Academy scholar Ross Atkins (17) will join up with the England Under-19s squad for their forthcoming UEFA Qualifying Tournament. Ross has been starring in goal for the Ram’s Under-18s. Estonian striker Henrik Ojamaa, a first-year Rams’ Academy scholar, will join up with his country’s Under-17s for their October matches in the European U-17 Tournament.

The Rams’ senior international contingents, including our Scottish quartet, were away with their countries once again and most were involved in important Euro qualifiers. Striker Kenny Miller set Scotland on their way with a crisp near-post header as Ukraine were beaten 3-1 to keep the Scots in the hunt. Stephen Pearson played the full game, too.

Wales have flopped and John Toshack is considering his future as the Welsh boss and poor Mart Poom had an unhappy day, as the ex-Rams stopper could do little to stop England grabbing three first half goals against Estonia to strengthen their claims for a Euro 2008 place.

A few more days of interest and anxiety will now unfold for manager and fans as the international break extends to midweek. Once all the ‘troops’ are back in the fold, Davies can look forward to selecting his sixteen and his tactics to wrest something from the away game at Fulham next weekend.


In RamsWeek 41 in 2006, Derby County had an embarrassing experience at Home Park, Plymouth, losing 1-3 to Argyle, who were down to 10 men for almost all of the 2nd half, in a ramshackle performance.

Billy Davies expressed his determination to get things right, whilst the media scurried around linking him with the managerial post at Hibernian! Some things don’t change…

Young striker Jon Stead joined the Rams on loan and was to contribute much to the Rams’ surge up the table during the first half of last season as the team clicked into gear and produced results. Derby can’t access loan players as readily being Premier League members and Davies will be hoping that more of his current charges – and perhaps some January 2008 signings – can have a similar impact in season 2007-08.

Photo: Action Images



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