Stuart Says: Rams Start 2014/15 Stronger Than Last Season
Tuesday, 5th Aug 2014 13:57 by Stuart Hughes

RamZone contributor Stuart Hughes has cast his eye over what was - and what will be - as we fast approach the start of Derbys 14/15 campaign.

When comparing the relative strengths of this season’s squad against the one from the last campaign I think the only fair comparison that can be made at the moment - is to assess how the current squad for the opening game against Rotherham United shapes up against the squad that started against Blackburn Rovers last season.

On Sunday 4th August 2013 Nigel Clough went 4-4-2 with the following match day squad:

GK: Lee Grant

RB: Kieron Freeman CB: Richard Keogh CB: Jake Buxton LB: Craig Forsyth

RM: Jeff Hendrick CM: Craig Bryson CM: Will Hughes LM: Jamie Ward

ST: Chris Martin ST: Johnny Russell

Subs: Adam Legzdins, Adam Smith, John Eustace, Paul Coutts, Ben Davies, Michael Jacobs, Conor Sammon.

The first thing to note is that every one of the eleven players who started that day remain Derby County players. Of the subs, Kelle Roos replaces Adam Legzdins as back-up goalkeeper, and Adam Smith (loan), Ben Davies and Michael Jacobs are no longer at the club.

The team Steve McClaren is likely to pick against Rotherham United, in a 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-3 if you prefer), based on the Rangers line-up will be:

GK: Lee Grant

RB: Cyrus Christie CB: Richard Keogh CB: Jake Buxton LB: Craig Forsyth

DM: Will Hughes CM: Craig Bryson CM: Jeff Hendrick

RF: Johnny Russell LF: Simon Dawkins

ST: Chris Martin

Subs: Kelle Roos, Lee Naylor, Zak Whitbread, John Eustace, Jamie Ward, Conor Sammon, Leon Best with other options being Kieron Freeman, Tom Naylor, Alban Bunjako, Ivan Calero and Mason Bennett.

With.... Paul Coutts, Mark O’Brien, Shaun Barker and George Thorne unavailable through injury. I have assumed Buxton and Whitbread will be fit for selection as is currently being reported.

I would argue that the squad starting this season is stronger than the one that started last season, for the following reasons:

*Summer signing Cyrus Christie is an improvement on Freeman at RB and Freeman is better than Smith (now at Bournemouth).

* Summer loan signing Leon Best will compete with Sammon to challenge Martin and provides depth where it was missing last season.

* Zak Whitbread who wasn’t with us at the start of last season (made his debut on 1/10/13) is an improvement on Valentin Gjokaj (now released) who would have been 3rd choice CB in August last year with O’Brien and Barker out injured.

* Simon Dawkins who wasn’t with us at the start of last season (made his debut on 19/10/13) is an improvement on Ben Davies (now at Sheffield United) and Michael Jacobs (now at Wolves).

* Lee Naylor who wasn’t with us at the start of last season (made his debut on 25/3/14) is solid enough as back-up LB and we didn’t have a back-up LB at the start of last season.

* Nigel Clough and his backroom staff were sacked on 28/9/13. Steve McClaren, Paul Simpson and Eric Steele have come in and improved things dramatically. The squad will benefit from last season’s experience and a full pre-season under the new management and coaching staff.

* Craig Forsyth was, arguably, our most improved player last season. This time last year people were saying he’d be the weak link but by the end of the season he was being called up to the Scotland squad. Other players like youngsters Jeff Hendrick and Will Hughes, and more senior players like Jake Buxton and Lee Grant improved under McClaren, Paul Simpson and Eric Steele.

* Kelle Roos was excellent against Zenit St. Petersburg and has had a good pre-season. Not sure if he’s better than Legzdins but he doesn’t look like he’d be a weak link if called upon.

* Although probably not telling, the development squad has been strengthened with the signings of Ivan Calero, Alban Bunjaku, Alefe Santos, Jonathan Mitchell and Shaquille McDonald. McClaren is more likely to trust these youngsters to do a job for the senior team rather than Ross Atkins, Saul Deeney, Adam Wixted, Andy Dales, Niall Dawkins, Ayrton Wassall, Matteo Capitani, Kurt Revan, Daryl Carrighy and Andre Johnson who have all been released.

Is the Derby County 2014/15 squad stronger than the Rams squad for the play-offs?

It is too early to say because eight players came in after the opening game of the last campaign:

Zak Whitbread debut 1/10/13

Simon Dawkins debut 19/10/13

Andre Wisdom debut 26/10/13

Kalifa Cisse debut 9/11/13

Michael Keane debut 7/12/13

Patrick Bamford debut 10/1/14

George Thorne debut 22/3/14

Lee Naylor debut 25/3/14

There is still plenty of time before the transfer and loan windows shut and I don’t think we can fully assess the strength of this season’s squad against last season’s until both windows are closed.

What is essential though is that the Rams get off to a winning start against newly promoted Rotherham United to build momentum.

It doesn’t matter how strong or not the squad is on paper, ultimately it’s the results on the pitch that will count and determine where Derby County finish this season!

Stuart Hughes is a local writer - to read more of his work visit:

www.stuarthughes.webs.com