The harsh 0-3 scoreline against Spurs last Saturday extended Derby's winless run to equal the club's all-time 20-game record.

Manager Paul Jewell articulated what Rams fans know in their heads, even if not in their hearts, when he said that his team just weren't good enough for the Premier League. 

The manager is keen to avoid earning the all-time wooden spoon of Derby being the worst side in Premier League history and though they need to amass a paltry 7 more points to avoid that unwanted label, points are still extremely hard to come by for the Rams.

With the Premier League taking a break because of the 5th Round of the FA Cup, Derby had a blank weekend in front of them so at least Jewell and his staff could work further on his revamped squad and look to clearing up some of the injury worries the club is carrying.

There was precious little news emanating from Pride Park Stadium and RamsWeek 7 proved to be the quietest time for a long while.

Ahead of taking up his role at his desk as President and CEO of Derby County on Monday 18th February, Tom Glick looked forward to his challenge, saying he didn’t want this season in the Premier League to lose its momentum. Tom, buddy – I gotta tell ya – if you actually find the momentum, tell us all where it is!

Mr Glick is moving his family to Derby and says he can’t wait to get started. He’s pledging his time in our fair city at the helm of the club and the next few months are all about pride and points to be won in the Premier League alongside planning for the challenge of next season.

Good luck to Tom and the new regime - there will be changes and fans only want to see stability, impetus and a forward direction and from what’s been said, GSE and the investors share that vision and are working to make Derby’s recovery in 2008-09 swift and sure. Tom will be meeting with reps of the supporter organisations during next week.

With relegation-haunted Sunderland, Fulham and Reading yet to visit Pride Park, fans hope for an elusive win or two and Jewell warns his rivals that Derby will not be doing them any favours. “There's no concern for us what other teams do but there is a lot to play for in terms of pride,” said Jewell. “All we want to do is be the best we can and get past 15 points”.

Jewell also wishes to avoid Derby setting a new club record to exceed more than 20 games without a win - something he has the chance to prevent when Derby visit Wigan Athletic this weekend.

Captain Robbie Savage hobbled off with a foot injury in the second half against Spurs and left the stadium on crutches, though it was later revealed to be less serious than first thought and no bones are broken - so the battling Ram might still be in contention for the Wigan match.

Full back Jay McEveley was recovering from his injury well in a rare moment of good news on the long-term injury front and may also make the squad for Wigan.

Many fans think that the steadying presence of Alan Stubbs is captaincy material in Savage’s absence and some would welcome the defender as the ambassador of the team on the pitch in preference to the daffy Welshman!

Stubbs has put in good shifts since his arrival as has experienced goalkeeper Roy Carroll. The ex-Rangers’ shot-stopper is aware how teams with extra quality like Spurs have enough in reserve - both in terms of overall quality and literally, with a substitute like Dimitru Berbatov – to step up a gear, control the game and seize the points when the opportunity arises.

“It’s a harsh lesson that if you don’t finish them off, a side like Spurs will come back at you and that’s what they did in the last 25 minutes”, Carroll reflected.

The Rams’ Reserves took on Reading away lastWednesday with a strong side - Derby including David Jones, Rob Earnshaw Gary Teale, Benny Feilhaber and Mile Sterjovski but they still got whipped 0-5 and Leroy Lita scored 4 goals.

The Reserves record is as abject as the first team and Paul Jewell certainly put his finger on it when he said the hardest thing was to overturn a losing mentality - it seems embedded in the club.

With Derby’s injury list and the relative weakness of their squad, the newly reconstituted Reserve team has been largely represented by Academy players and have taken other hefty defeats against stronger more established second-string teams like Aston Villa and West Ham.

So, as national supporter organisations, the media and overseas football federations kicked Premier League chief Richard Scudamore’s butt over the proposals to take competitive English top-flight matches to foreign cities, Rams fans kicked their heels over the weekend as the long-gone FA Cup unfolded further elsewhere around the UK.

WBA won 5-0 away at Coventry, Manchester United drubbed Arsenal and Liverpool crashed out 1-2 at home to Barnsley. Derby have tumbled out of both domestic cup competitions dreadfully to lower-league opposition though some interest was rekindled with so many smaller clubs fighting through to the Quarter Final draw.

The Rams must now pick up their Premier League campaign on Saturday at Paul Jewell’s spiritual home, the JJB Stadium in Wigan and here’s hoping for three points to bring some cheer back to the fans!

RamsWeek 7 last year saw the promotion momentum stall somewhat, as they had a 2-2 home draw with Hull City, the Tigers giving Derby a taste of their own medicine in nicking important late goals when Livermore equalised for them in the 88th minute.

In so doing, hull denied Derby of the chance of equalling two club records - a ninth straight win and a sixth ‘clean sheet’ in a row! Derby remained comfortably on top of the Championship, however, and young full back Jay McEveley made an assured debut in front of over 28,000 at Pride Park.

Photo: Action Images

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