Saturday 31 October 2015

East Midlands Derby Preview

We head into Friday's East Midlands Derby as against Nottingham Forest as favourites to regain the Brian Clough Trophy following the differing starts of our clubs. This is not to say that a win is a certain.

Let's face it nothing is certain in a local Derby. The old saying the form goes out of the window was certainly justified at the iPro last season. We deservedly lost against a Forest side that was in decline.

The first clash of this season sees us in good form whilst our neighbours are still having struggles. The millions of Fawaz have still failed to lead them into the promised land and to be honest many must be wondering now if he can help bring success to the once proud club.

I try and refrain from making comment on our neighbours, but as its the big game that I'm previewing I will break the rule. I have many friends and many relations from the red side of Brian Clough Way and they are quite dismayed to see the plight of their club.

Fawaz came in as a new owner in a blaze of glory over three years ago with a supposed bottomless pit of money in the quest to regain a place in footballs elite division.

All was going well until......a Boxing Day win against Leeds and a leap into the top six of the Championship saw the first of many bizarre moves by the new owner. He sacked manager Sean O'Driscoll! SOD not only had the club in the play off spots, but he had them playing a nice brand of passing football.

Alex McLeish replaced him, but barely lasting a month before quitting and the saviour known as Billy Davies was reappointed. Davies had steered the Reds to two play off semi- finals although he failed to get the club to Wembley. 

The second coming of 'King Billy' soon evolved into a circus! The farce of not speaking to most of the media! Some odd statements, and indeed his second spell wasn't to replicate the first. It ended with a 5-0 thrashing at the iPro Stadium.

Stuart Pearce was seen as the messiah when last season kicked off! Indeed, they started fast out of the blocks and after the early games were sitting near the summit of the Championship. However, as the season began to unfold, the form dipped and Pearce quit not long after his finest moment as manager when he led them to beat us!

Dougie Freedman was given the task to restore some pride in the team. The results were fairly decent to start with, but after a few windows of Fawaz splashing the cash, he had joined a side under embargo for breaking financial fair play regulations. Irrespective of your thoughts on the rules, it is wise to play by them. The over spending and massive losses has probably put them back years! 

If that wasn't enough, many winding up orders have been issued and bills have been paid late. Only last week journalist John Percy reported that players had been paid late again. Surely someone, whom some are claiming is a billionaire should be capable of meeting bills on time.

Some fans are wanting Dougies head and there is certain division over the rumours of a certain Nigel Clough coming in to manage the club. In my opinion he could be the perfect man to help sort out the team. He kept Derby away from the basement working on a shoestring. Surely any prospective new manager (Should Freedman be relieved of his duties) will have these capabilities! It is a must on their CV.

Fans are now starting to argue on social media about their owner too! Some are saying he's making them a laughing stock, whilst others are staying loyal. Now if Fawaz decided to put the club up for sale, who would buy it without him clearing the debt? I've no doubt there will be people wanting to buy the club, but there would maybe be some hard bargaining before a sale was completed. Anyway they aren't for sale at the moment. 

Right, let's now concentrate on our own club. Recently taken over in full by local self made millionaire Mel Morris, we are now in the best state that we have been in many years.

It's true that we have had to put up with our fair share of frustration, but GSE who recently sold the club, did come good. They got the books in order and made a very good appointment in Sam Rush once Tom Glick left for Manchester City. They left us in a healthy financial state and now Mr Morris has taken over a club with good balance sheets, good support and top quality facilities. Many forget the investment that has allowed us to have a category one academy. 

Since his arrival Morris has had to flex his muscles! The way in which Steve McClaren flirted with another club which saw the almost overnight drop in form and which ultimately saw us go from top of the table to eighth by the end of the season saw McClaren being shown the exit door!

Between them Morris and Rush used their judgement to appoint Paul Clement who despite having excellent credentials as a coach, had not been in a managers chair. They must have had a lot of belief in him to make him our manager (OK Head Coach). I'm certain a lot of homework was done before appointing him. At the moment it is looking like a very shrewd appointment. 

We do have a very exciting squad with depth! Indeed we are currently experiencing some great times.

On to Friday nights clash. I'm not going to break the habit of a lifetime and predict the outcome. I'll take any kind of win against them! I am usually a bag of nerves before the game and I don't think that Friday night will be any different. 

We are by far the stronger side on paper, but football is played on grass! They do lack a natural goal scorer since Assombalonga got injured and I would be very disappointed if our defence gave away any soft goals. Christie, Keogh, Shackell and Forsyth have looked very good this season.

Our midfield is loaded with talent and our front three aren't so bad either. (Understatement)

These fixtures are often hard fought games and it wouldn't surprise me to see a game decided by an odd goal, but if we hit them early I could see us really hurting them.

Last season I had a gut feeling that Pearce would do us over! This time around I have no such feeling! If we don't win what will be a golden opportunity to take three points I will be very disappointed! 


Friday 30 October 2015

Johnson and Johnson

We have had a few players over the years called Johnson. 

Michael Johnson was a centre back during the George Burley and Billy Davies eras and was a fine example of a professional with his never say die attitude. 

Before him Tommy Johnson was a tricky winger that like Michael had previously played for Notts County. 

The focus currently is on a midfielder who had added some much needed bite into the position. Bradley Johnson, a no nonsense player who carries a bit of muscle. He wins balls, he passes very well and has an eye for goal when the chance is there. 

Many eyebrows were raised when we paid six million pounds for him. Indeed, I really didn't know what to think. It's obvious now though what Paul Ckement saw in him and for me he has proven to be that missing link we needed from midfield to forwards. 

I suppose there are a few similarities with former Ram Seth Johnson though they aren't exactly the same type of player. 

If we are to have a successful season, I can see Johnson along with Geirge Thorne being key players. 

A nice 2-1 away win at Huddersfield last weekend after the goalless draw at Blackburn sees us sitting pretty in fifth place. We move on to three games in seven days. Home games with Rotherham and QPR followed by the big East Midlands clash with our arch rivals Nottingham Forest. 

A very important run of games and hopefully nine points or seven at the very least though you can't take anything for granted in this division. 

Friday 23 October 2015

Keeping the Momentum Going

It's been a very satisfying week with a great win over Wolves and a draw at Blackburn. 

A good performance against Wolves in front of the to cameras saw a very good display. Chris Martin bagging two very good goals and some very good performances from most players too!

Bradley Johnson with another commanding display in midfield again giving us that extra bit of bite. 

I was delighted to see Johnny Russell get on to the scoresheet. Russell has worked his socks off so far this season and the goal was nothing more than he deserves. 

A draw away at Blackburn wasn't a bad result. They're not an easy team to beat nowadays and the old cliche 'win at home and draw away' can be referred to when chasing promotion..

The one player that seems to have gone off the boil, in my opinion, in the last few games is Tom Ince. A match winner on his day, he has yet to enjoy the same success as his loan period. That said he still causes proble,s for opposition defences. 

If as expected Jeff He drink still isn't available for the visit to Huddersfield, Jacob Butterfield will likely be given the chance to shine in midfield. It's an ideal game for him to stake his claim for a regular place in the starting line up. 

I am yet to be convinced that he is worth the fee that we paid for him, but as they say it is early days. Terriers fans constantly tell me that he is a quality player. 

It was a surprise to a few people on Wednesday night that Stephen Warnock started ahead of Craig Forsyth. However, I suspect that Paul Clement is wanting to give Warnock some game time just I case he has to step in should Fozzy get injured. 

Finally the subject of penalty taker raised its head again on Sunday.  Chris Martin again saw an effort saved. He's missed a few chances over the last couple of seasons and I'm guessing he was allowed to take the spot kick last Sunday due to him being on a hat trick. 

We really must get the spot kick taker sorted out! Martin cannot carry on taking them! Perhaps it's time to give the job to Ince or Johnson!

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Dons Mugged and Bees stung!

We are currently in the international break and we went into it following two victories in a row. 

Our third victory came away at Milton Keynes and to be quite honest it could have so easily been a defeat. Carson saved us more than once in goal and for a good hour or so we were second best. 

We were simply awful! Total against the run of play Bradley Johnson scored his first goal in a Rams shirt, but the hosts replied quickly. 

It wasn't until the last ten minutes that we actually started to cause any real problems. Darren Bent was there for a tap in and Tom Ince with a snatch of the ball from the MK Dons defender giving us a very flattering 3-1 win. 

In contrast the 2-0 home win against Brentford was a much improved showing. Some very nice football and a more organised display. 

Two very worked goals too! Chris Martin getting a fifth of the season and Tom Invce getting his third. 

Hopefully the Brentford game was a sign of things to come.

Bradley Johnson, Jeff Hendrick, and George Thorne were exceptional in midfield. The back four looked very solid too! Keogh is playing some of the best football of his career and Cyrus Christie seemed to have gotten his confidence back again. 

We looked very threatening on the attack too!

We will need to be on our toes on Sunday as we host Wolves in front of the to cameras. Hopefully a repeat of last seasons encounter where we gave them a 5-0 shellacking is on the cards. That said, I'm sure it will be a fiercely competitive game. 

We have now edged our way up the table and now sit just three points off second place. A win is a must in home games from now on as Middlesbrough and Brighton who have got out if the starting blocks quickly must not be allowed to build up a large gap and run away with the automatic promotion places. 

As a first I will name my preferred team for Sunday it is as follows. 

Carson

Christie
Keogh
Shackell
Forsyth

Johnson 
Thorne
Hendrick 

Ince
Martin
Russell