 Friday, 28th Sep 2007 06:46 Another relegation crunch game so early in the season? Derby County V Bolton Wanderers The 5-0 defeat by Arsenal has the doom merchants predicting dire things if we fail to beat Bolton on Saturday. The situation is probably the same among Bolton fans. Many people suggested that Bolton would struggle without Sam Allardyce and that Sammy Lee wasn't the man to follow him. Bolton is Lee's first job as head coach. He joined Bolton in 2005 as a replacement for Derby bound Phil Brown. It's been a steep learning curve for the former Liverpool player. Bolton have only won twice in eleven games under Lee – and they needed extra time for one of those wins. Bolton have the same number of points as the Rams without the disastrous goal difference. Like us there points come from a win and a draw at home. Although they have lost all of their away games, they have managed to score twice. It would be easy to blame Lee for the slide in Bolton's fortunes however a look at their results since January show only six victories in all competitions - and then mainly against relegation candidates - Big Sam possibly got out when the time was right. All that said, Bolton are going to come to Derby expecting to win. We have the worst goals scored record and the highest number conceded. One Bolton player – Anelka - has scored as many goals as the whole Derby team and Bolton have scored twice as many as the Rams and conceded eight less. After the Newcastle game, Nicky Butt annoyed a lot of Derby fans with his comments to SKY; he said; “You would think we would have had the players to have been able to cope with what Derby threw at us, The game was a bit of an embarrassment. No disrespect to Derby, but they're not one of the top guns.” He was right of course. If Newcastle are to progress in the Premiership they need to beat (or at least not lose) to teams like Derby. Bolton will be thinking the same and so should we – we have to win games like Saturday to stay in the Premiership. Current Bolton Squad No. Position Player Chief Coach: Sammy Lee Last 5 games Bolton 1-2 Everton Danger Men The big Danger man is of course Nicolas Anelka. Anelka has scored goals wherever he has gone, often magical and often with little help from his team mates. He has a natural talent that takes constant vigilance from defenders to contain. Sometimes of course he can’t be bothered. This season he looks as if he’s been bothered. Until Adebayor slotted in his hat-trick last week, Anelka was the leading scorer in the Premier league – not bad for a player in a struggling team. Other players of note in the Bolton team are El-Hadji Diouf and Gary Speed. Diouf has not been the most prolific of strikers however he is a dangerous player and can tie defenders up in knots when he runs at them. Speed is assistant to Sammy Lee after being widely tipped to take over when Allardyce stepped down. Speed was the first player to play in 500 Premiership games and is the only player to have scored in every single Premiership season. The Rams Swings and roundabouts have been the order during the last few weeks. The burst of optimism after the Newcastle game was extinguished by the thumping at Arsenal. Some people have criticised the manner of the defeat at the Emirates but consider if the team had flung themselves in front of every ball and got injured, booked or sent off, how would we do in our key home fixtures? Davies himself was philosophical after the match telling the BBC; "There is no embarrassment to come here and get a lesson off them. We are not despondent, we are getting better." That also seems to be the opinion expressed in the reports from away supporters across the message board. Against Liverpool we capitulated. Against Arsenal we tried to compete – even if it was ultimately futile against a side as good as Arsenal. Team selection will be key for this fixture. There are several key decisions; Formation, who plays in defence and who plays up front. We kept a clean sheet against Newcastle however the defensive frailties were there for Arsenal to exploit last week. Darren Moore may well be fit for this one and Billy may be tempted to play him in place of Leacock. Todd is also an option however I would like to see him play in midfield. Stephen Pearson played well against Arsenal and you can expect him to be the lynchpin of the midfield. Oakley should play and Billy may consider Benny Feilhaber for a start. We need some creativity from the midfield. Eddie Lewis did well against Newcastle but was largely redundant against Arsenal. Giles Barnes is reputed to be only fit for the bench. We shall have to see if this is a Billy Bluff but it’s good to see him back in contention. Up front we should see Kenny Miller again however will he be partnered by Steve Howard or Rob Earnshaw? I’d like to see Earnshaw get a run out. He can score goals and he may be the right player to play of Miller. It has to be worth a try as Steve Howard couldn’t buy a goal at the moment. I’d give anything for big Steve to score and it’s worth remembering he was slow off the mark last year. A goal would work wonders for his confidence and against Newcastle he should really have scored. We can’t wait however and Billy must pick the best combination for the game. Mick’s Team: Bywater, Mears, Leacock, Davis, McEveley, Todd, Oakley, Pearson, Lewis, Earnshaw, Miller. What the bookies think The Bookies think that Bolton will win. The Trotters are at 6/4 while Derby are at 13/8 the draw is at 19/10. Surprise surprise, Mark Lawrenson thinks Bolton will be to good for the Rams. His BBC prediction is 2-1 to Bolton. He told the BBC; “Lee is trying to get them playing good football, only they have lost that bit of nastiness that made them so successful - but they will still have too much for Derby.” It’d be easy to assume Lawrenson has it in for the rams however, Sammy Lee probably played with Lawrenson at Liverpool so we can be charitable and assume he’s talking up a mate. Information for travelling fans Drinking: There are very 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 okay as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Driving It’s about 90 miles to Derby from Bolton. Best route is M6 to J16 then A500 to the A50 through Stoke. Stoke are away so there shouldn’t be too much traffic past the Victoria. Follow the A50 to Derby and stay on it until the turn off for Alvaston. There will be traffic around Alvaston however if you stay on London Rd you can get to the parking areas described below. Parking: It used to be at the old Wilmorten College site however that is now a building site so away fans should 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 for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Mick’s Prediction Bolton will be no pushover as Billy Davies has acknowledged on the official site. They have a key EUFA game on Thursday and may have their minds on that. Having said that, the league has to be the no 1 priority for Sammy Lee. I can see this being hard fought with neither side wanting to lose so a draw may be the outcome. Not really good enough for either side so let’s hope Giles Barnes can come on and provide the winner. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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