The Rams yesterday at home hosting local rivals Nottingham Forest, scores level, ten minutes to go plus injury time and we are playing for a draw!? Where is our pride, our passion, our desire? Our ambition!

I thought by now Clough would have installed what it means to every Derby fan in the packed Pride Park.

It’s not the result, a draw is disappointing but honours even and you go into work on the Monday head held high fighting your corner.

Rather it’s the manner we gave up trying to win the match. Legzdins acting like we are winning, he ignores the ball, no hurry, Roberts walks to retrieve it with all the time in the world. Slow motions when we are screaming for attack.

It’s pants boys! If you don’t think you can, or even worse want to, win, then sod off down the road to Burton or Mickleover Sports or any other team that wants you. You get paid enough money to at least try for ninety odd minutes once a week, not eighty or eighty seven, the whole match.

I guarantee every one of the twenty eight thousand or so Rams fans would have given their right arm to have a chance to be out there pulling on a white shirt, heck I guess most would actually pay for the privilege.

Ambition; an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honour, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment!

Our “ambition” is to play 4-5-1 at home, Connor Sammon a sole striker. Jamie Ward wide in a five man midfield. Perhaps Alex McLeish couldn’t believe it either, the Rams having the better of the early exchanges without ever really testing Karl Darlow in the Forest goal.

Ward starting for the first time since hamstrings were last considered as alternatives to pork scratchings made a nuisance of himself trying to bundle the Reds keeper into the net. The resulting sight of man giant Elliot Ward and the titchy Derby striker “discussing” the matter was akin to the Krankies having an argument.

On a break Billy Sharp, a yard offside is allowed to run on, he finds Simon Cox and a venomous shot rattles the crossbar. It’s a warning.

Sharp again, this time Roberts skinned, within an inch of the bye line he pulls back a cross, Keogh and O’Brien fail to clear, Chris Cohen meets the ball, it bounces and on his second attempt he hits the back of the net. Derby trail one nil with half an hour gone, the Red Shirts celebrate in a pile.

Forest, well disciplined under McLeish, fight and battle, they close down, they compete, Simon Gillett playing the John Mc Govern role, hardworking and necessary.

Derby are lethargic, we struggle, Will Hughes is knocked off the ball and stands off challenges, at seventeen you can’t expect him to be consistent to the talent he undoubtedly has but he looks desperate for a rest.

Bryson back after a break is still carrying a knee injury, Ward hamstrings and Paul Coutts doesn’t appear to be 100%. It’s a strange selection when Jacobs offers you the option to run at the opposition.

Second half and we come out 4-4-2 with Ward playing close to Sammon. It pays off. Sammon dispossess Gillett, draws the defenders feeds Ward and the diminutive one levels the scores to our joy and relief.

Jeff Hendrick powers through the middle, the Red Dogs underbelly splits at the seams and Darlow tips the ball over for a corner.

Hendrick again, this time brought down by Elliot Ward earning the defender a yellow card whilst the Derby faithful bayed perhaps unrealistically for a red.

Substitutions and delays and eventually the game peters out as the Rams settle for a point. A fair result on the balance of play but I can’t be the only one who was happy with this scrappy affair.

Afterwards Clough on Radio Derby said that Jamie Ward was given a free role in the first half. The player himself interviewed some fifteen minutes later said he started off wide and was told by the management at the start of the second to play as a two with Sammon.

It was “Negative Nigel” at Brighton last week where for sixty minutes we un-ambitiously set out 4-5-1 and only the last half hour when we switched to 4-4-2 and had a go at the opposition did we look even likely to overturn a two goal deficit. It was the same yesterday, negative from the start.

We have a team good enough to take sides apart if we attack and go for it, we need to show some ambition, we need to take games by the scruff of the neck, shake the opposition up and spit them out. Like we did with Leeds and Tranmere!

We need to believe.

Or rather the manager does.

Anything else is unacceptable!

Photo: Action Images

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