 Friday, 25th Sep 2009 11:18 4 straight defeats - is the clock ticking for Nigel Clough? Derby County v Bristol City Bristol City: Current League Position: 10/24 Quotes from the manager: From the BBC following the Scunthorpe game - the Robins first dropped home points; "I'm not going to be too critical of the lads because I thought we played well. But one good header from a set piece would have cleared it and won us the game". "We conceded some unnecessary free kicks and if you do that and invite the opposition to put balls into the box you are asking for trouble". "I was pleased with a lot of our play and I hope our supporters won't forget how well we passed the ball." Current Robins squad: No. Position. Player The Rams: Quotes from the manager: From the BBC; "I thought we created the two best chances of the game and thought we had an absolute blatant penalty in the 92nd minute". "Anywhere else on the pitch, a late tackle on Kris Commons, and he the referee gives a foul". "When you have seen a player taken off on a stretcher after he's had a shot, I don't think there's any argument that that can be a fair challenge." Speaking on Radio Derby about the centre half situation; "We don't know which are the best two because we haven't seen them all in action yet." Current Rams Squad: 1 Keeper Stephen Bywater What the Bookies think: Home Win: 11/10 Information for travelling fans: Take the A38 north past Burton on Trent and on reaching Derby follow the signs for the football traffic. The best route is to stay on the A38 until you reach the A61 Junction then turn right until you pick up the A52 Brian Clough Way. The ground is on the right along here. You can also park for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Another alternative if you follow the above route is to head around Pentagon Island to the Cattle Market Car Park. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here. 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. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy. Mick’s Prediction: Four straight defeats has increased the mutterings among fans and got the patience card being played by the club. Nigel Clough himself felt it necessary to appear on BBC Radio Derby's moan in programme and defended his tactics and decisions well. Injuries, bad referee's and bad luck plus 'a work in process' seemed to be Clough's angle. That said, seeing the players make the same mistakes over and over again and the apparent lack of a plan B followed by aimless hoofing once we go behind - it's enough to try the patience of anybody and Derby fans have had a lot to put up with over the years. Not that the fans are always right. There is a misconception among the fans that the referee's are against us. They see Rob Hulse falling over every time he challenges for the ball and Kris Commons diving every time he's tackled and then get aggrieved when a real decision goes against the player. Ask any set of fans what the ref his like for them and even Manchester United fans think the ref is against them! Clough states he doesn't know his best centre half pairing and I find that a slightly amazing statement. He paid £1m for Barker so I'd assume he's one of the better centre halves. Buxton is a back up player from non-league so that leaves Leacock and Addison. Leacock is an established Championship centre half so I'd say he should go in ahead of Addison. In Midfield, Nigel seems keen on wing play. Therefore you either need two strong ball winning midfielders to supply the wingers or a third player so that midfield can get forward to support the lone striker. Robbie Savage has been fulfilling that role but frankly, he's not up to it. Savage in his prime simply got under the skin of the opposition, broke up their play and passed the ball to a better player. He struggles to do that for 90 minutes now. When Paul green was fit, the deficiencies were less obvious but Livermore, Pearson etc.. are just not up to the role - especially at 4-4-2. Then there's the wingers. They are supposed to beat players and get to the by-line or be able to float in telling crosses for the striker. Teale & Croft simply do not do that at the moment. One of them should make way for Kris Commons if we're going to play 4-5-1. If we play 4-4-2 with Vaughan up front, both of them should make way for Commons. Mick's team: Bywater, Connolly, Leacock, Barker, Moxey, Savage, Addison, Pearson, Commons, Vaughan, Hulse (4-4-2). Subs: McEveley, Dickov, Teale, Deeney, Croft, Buxton, Hendrie Prediction: Derby 1-1 Robins
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