4 straight defeats - is the clock ticking for Nigel Clough?
Derby County v Bristol City
Coca Cola Championship
Pride Park Derby
Saturday 25th September 2009, 3:00 pm
Bristol City:
Current League Position: 10/24
Leading scorer: Maynard 5lg 1cp
Manager: Gary Johnson
Kit home: Red shirts, White trim/White shorts
Kit away: Black Shirts/Black shorts
Last game: Bristol City 1-1 Scunthorpe United
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
2 Defender Bradley Orr
3 Defender Jamie McAllister
4 Defender Liam Fontaine
5 Defender Jamie McCombe
6 Defender Louis Carey (captain)
7 Midfield Marvin Elliott
8 Midfield Lee Johnson
9 Striker David Clarkson
10 Striker Nicky Maynard
11 Midfield Paul Hartley
14 Midfield Cole Skuse
15 Midfield Gavin Williams
16 Striker John Akinde
17 Midfield Ivan Sproule
19 Defender Christian Ribeiro
20 Defender Andre Blackman
22 Keeper Dean Gerken
25 Midfield Brian Wilson
27 Midfield Ashley Kington
28 Defender Joe Edwards
29 Midfield Evander Sno (on loan from AFC Ajax)
30 Keeper Stephen Henderson
31 Striker Danny Haynes
32 Defender Lewin Nyatanga
33 Striker Álvaro Saborío (on loan from FC Sion)
35 Keeper Adriano Basso
36 Defender Jordan Walker
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
2 Defender Paul Connolly
3 Defender James McEveley
4 midfield Paul Green INJURED
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfield Lee Croft
8 Midfield Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Striker Kris Commons
11 Midfield Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter INJURED
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
16 Midfield Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfield Ben Pringle
19 Striker Giles Barnes INJURED
20 Striker Steve Davies INJURED
21 Midfield Dean Moxey
22 Midfield Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
24 Midfield Jake Livermore (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
25 Striker Paul Dickov (on loan from Leicester City)
26 Midfield Lee Hendrie
What the Bookies think:
Home Win: 11/10
Draw: 11/5
Away win: 2/1
First Scorer: Nicky Maynard, 11/2 Rob Hulse 6/1
Information for travelling fans:
Driving: It's nearly 140 miles to Derby from Bristol and you will need an early start for a 1pm kick off. It's M32, M4, M5 and M40/42 to the M6 where the best route is the toll road to JT4 junction with the A38.
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.
Parking: It used to be at the old Wilmorten College site however that is now a housing estate 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. 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.
Drinking: 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. 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