Ramballs

This Friday afternoon around 2pm, in the newly opened Jurys Inn hotel, RamBalls was sat in the bar waiting to interview the Rams midfielder and former Wales international Robbie Savage. That’s not entirely true. I was here for the opening of the hotel…and had expected to get some pictures and a few quotes from the likes of Tom Glick and a few other local business people regarding the official opening of the hotel and the beginning of the new partnership between The Rams and Jurys Inn Derby.

The lobby of the hotel is heaving as journalists and representatives from local organisations do their networking. Tom Glick, Derby County CEO, is stood by reception speaking to local businessmen and women. I find myself being ushered towards the bar area (not before I had a canapé or two) where some local journalists and a couple of guys from Sunday national papers are sitting. They alI looked professional and serious and were talking sport. I looked like an extra from Mall Rats and was talking to no one.

I was sat in the corner, faffing around on my BlackBerry, when Robbie Savage walked in. The guy looked smart. I doubt there was a single piece of Primark clothing on him. He strolls towards the journos and says “Hello losers”. They laugh and exchange witticisms; one of them says the transfer window has not been too kind to us this summer. Savage laughs and tells them they look like they should be in Dads Army before sitting on the new hotel sofas to do an interview with East Midlands Today.
After Robbie completed his interviews with EMT and the local press pack, it dawned on me that I might be interviewing Robbie and as such, I had better prepare some questions but before I had even started, it was too late. He said hello, I explained briefly what the blog is about and that was it, we were off.

I chose probably the most inappropriate opening question for an interview ever.

Robbie has always been a player that opposition fans love to hate and Derby fans were no exception. Did he realise the strength of feeling towards him before he arrived at Pride Park?

I knew vaguely. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think it was as bad as it was and I thought I would win them over within three or four games because of the way I play but it didn’t happen. I had a nightmare start; I was low on confidence playing in a very, very poor team, the worst team I have ever played for. Usually I can drag people up with me but I couldn’t do anything. I was, you know, basically told I was crap by everybody, felt that way and I couldn’t win them over. I came in on big wages and they expected more and I couldn’t deliver so, in a way, they were right.

One thing I do dislike is booing you. You know, booing your own player. As a player you don’t intentionally play badly, you try your best, whatever happens, you try your best. Booing your own player is wrong, completely wrong. I had it, Gary Teale had it, and Claude had it. Irrespective of what happens, no matter what they feel about that person, you shouldn’t boo your own player. It’s completely and utterly disgraceful in my opinion.

When did he begin to realise that he was winning the fans over?

Probably the Forest game was the main one, if I’m honest with you, when I started waving the scarf. That was the one really, at home. Obviously the gaffer came in and it took a few games to get in the team then I got in the team. I know it was a local Derby but they appreciate what I do now. I’m not going to run around anymore like Greeny [Paul Green] can, or Stephen Pearson. I get on the ball and make us play.

I explain to Robbie that I am surprised. I remember the game against Manchester United at home in the Premier League season where he had a cracking game and I thought that might have been the one.

No, that wasn’t really. They sung my name that game, I remember it, but then again it was one game in twenty. It’s not good enough, it should be every game.

He doesn’t have the legs of old Robbie Savage who chased everything but he can still play. I ask him how he’s finding the change and whether he’s enjoys playing in a midfield three alongside Paul Green and Stephen Pearson as he did against Notts County.

4-4-2 or 5-3-2, whatever the gaffer decides to play, suits me both ways. In a three I think it’s worked well in pre-season. I think it suits the people at the minute. You know we have a few injuries and at the minute it suits the people we have available. Obviously if Hulsey’s fit, Porter’s fit and Kris Commons had a fully fit pre-season it might be different but with Green and Pearson I think I can bring the best of them two and they can bring the best out of me. You’ve got Crofty and Tealey out wide or Commons- whoever the gaffer decides to play- it suits us. It suits us really well.

The thing in that formation, you need the centre backs to have the ball more- you know your football [I smile and nod but inside I think “do I?”]- But because I’m the one lying deep, you need your centre backs to come out with the ball. If I mark and they continue going forward I can just fill in so it’s perfect really. It allows Pearo and Greeny to make the runs forward to support Steven Davies who I thought was exceptional against Notts County and for me, that’s his role, a centre forward; he’s big, strong- that’s his position. I think he’s got a great career.

I concur. Steven Davies is a good centre forward, with a lot of quality and he can beat a man.

Yeah, he can beat a man. He’s quick, for me, probably one of the quickest at the club along with Crofty and Tealey.
I think our best player is Kris Commons. I’m not the manager, luckily enough I’m not the one faced with having to pick people, but that’s why he’s the manager. Kris Commons is a top player, so what position does the manager put him in at the minute. It’s a tough one because people are holding the positions they are in at the minute. We’ve got Crofty and Tealey but Kris Commons is a player you’ve got to have in your team. I’m just glad I’m not the manager.

With talk of Crofty, I wonder how are the new boys are fitting in?

Brilliant. Jake Buxton, from Burton, looks good. Ben Pringle in training looks good, very good- wants to do well. Moxey looks ok.

Croft?

Croft, yeah. Everyone looks ok. They’re young and enthusiastic and want to do well. The gaffer has given them the chance and they want to grasp that with both hands, all of them. It’s looking good. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to win the league by thirty points. You know, if we can finish in the top ten then we can build, which the gaffer wants to do. I’m sure we can do that.

I jokingly ask Robbie about the goal against Notts County, describing it as “cracking”.

Fluke. It was a fluke. I’m 35 now and I’ve got a lot of experience and, what you realise is, in certain situations you put the ball in the right area.

You’ll see certain times on a Saturday when I’ll just put the ball into the channel. It looks like it’s going to nobody but it’s a great ball because what happens is the defender will have to put it out for a throw in and you’re thirty or forty yards further up the pitch. The thing I think we’ll have a problem with the home crowd is if we play in a five we keep the ball quite a lot and we’ll pass it back and back and back and to the side. Sometimes the Derby fans can get impatient with that but you’re doing it methodically and for the right reasons, waiting for the opportunity to open up. I just hope they appreciate what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to play football. The gaffer wants us to play but, obviously, not going back for the sake of going back; take every opportunity to go forward and get it in the right area. It’s, erm, it’s looking good.

I ask about the pre-season which has seen the lads do all sorts of activities. How has he found it?

It’s been great. We’ve done all sorts of activities. Swimming, running. It’s been very good, very enjoyable. The lads have bonded well together. We’ve got a smaller group than last year, that’s not hard. The gaffers got his own group now. The thing with the gaffer is, if you do it right, you’ll get a chance with him. If you don’t take the Mick, don’t take the piss, do it right, you respect him, you come into work and do things they want doing, he’ll respect you. That’s what you want from a manager. I respect him greatly. He saved my career. End of story. You know, I did a bit of that myself but he saved me. Simple.

Again, I agree with Robbie. Since Nigel came in he’s been a completely new player.

Yeah. It’s been the greatest turn around since Lazarus.

It’s time to take the conversation a different direction (basically I forgot my questions, panicked and ended up asking this). What was going through his mind when in the 90th minute at Pride Park Stadium he had Craig Burley in your face after he’d just won a penalty? Craig’s a big fella. How’d he feel?

Oh, you know. I wasn’t bothered about it. Shrugged it off. I won a penalty for my team, and it was a penalty. Danny Higginbotham was silly enough to go in for the challenge and if you’re a Leicester City fan, you love me. If I did that for Derby against Leicester, if I won a penalty against Leicester, am I bothered about what the Leicester fans are gonna sing? Couldn’t give a toss, really.

Predictions for the season? He mentioned top ten earlier. Maybe play offs?

Realistically we stayed up by the skin of our teeth last year so we’re not going to win the league by thirty points; we’re not going to win every game. What we are going to do, and I can guarantee the fans, we are going to be the fittest team in the league but the first three or four games are difficult.

You can have all the fitness in the world but, you know the first game of the season, the adrenaline; you’re knackered, you feel knackered. It’s unbelievable. You’ve worked all week, all six weeks, working towards the first game. Physically you’ll be as fit as you ever have been but mentally you’ll be drained. It’s weird. It’s a weird feeling; I can’t explain it to you. We’ll all probably look shattered in the first game, not because we’ve not been doing anything, but because you’ve built it up so much and you’re knackered. It’s amazing. That happens for the first two or three games and then you start kicking in but we need a good start. It’s two tough games with the two promoted teams and everyone thinking “oh they should win them” but look at last year. Doncaster battered us and then Southampton’s kids battered us. So it’s going to be a tough start.

I ask Robbie if he’s ready for the first game of the season and the media talk regarding Clough Jr vs Ferguson Jr. Is he already up for it?

Sure, you’ve got to be up for every game. You’ve got to be up for the cup game on the Tuesday or Wednesday or whenever it is. Every game you’ve got to be up for. If you’re not, you’ll get beat. What you don’t intentionally do is go out there and play bad. Nobody goes onto the pitch and intentionally plays bad. Simple as that. What the gaffer won’t accept is if you don’t run for a ball, if you don’t shut somebody down or you don’t make a tackle. You can’t accept them things. If you play bad, but don’t mean to play bad, you can accept that.

Last year’s cup run was brilliant. Are we going to see the same this year?

Hopefully. It was great. That’s when I came back into the team. It was great, you know. The Carling Cup really got me back on the map. Every game I want to play in, it could be my last season. Who knows? I just want to play in every game.

I’m sure it won’t be his final year given his new role not requiring you to do so much running about, box-to-box.

No, it’s great. I still feel like I could play in the Premiership because you get more time in the Premiership. In this league you don’t get much time. Tomorrow, when we play Stoke or when you play Arsenal or Man Utd, you get more time than you would do against Peterborough. It’s amazing but we’re not playing against Arsenal, but I could do. Look at Graham Alexander, he’s 37. I feel I’ve been a better player over the years than Graham and he’s done exceptionally well at Burnley; brilliant, absolutely fantastic. He’s 37 so why can’t I go on for that long.

I ask him Sav if he’ll be featuring against Stoke on Saturday.

I hope so. The gaffer doesn’t tell us the team until an hour before kickoff. I’ll be playing the masters this time next year though. (Sav laughs)

It’s time for one last question. So Robbie, what have been your careers highlights?

Well, obviously all my moves. Playing for my idol, Mark Hughes, at Blackburn was a great experience. But the greatest achievement was coming back from the dead here. Simple. Coming back and having an influence on the team like I have done is the best part of my career. Winning the league cup at Leicester was good, playing in Europe for Blackburn was good but this now is the best time because people wrote me off. People thought I was finished and were calling me all the names under the Sun. There is nothing better than enjoying what you’re doing, in any walk of life, and proving people wrong, prove 32,000 people wrong. There are always going to be a few hundred who hate me still, I don’t care really, I don’t really give two…hoots. The majority of people who know football will know that I’ve done well.

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And with those words, the interview ends. To say that my interview technique needs refining a little is an understatement but Robbie made the whole thing really easy. He’s a very personable bloke and when I had mental blanks, because I hadn’t prepped at all, he was laid back and didn’t bat an eyelid. He’s also completely right about in what he says regarding singling players out for booing. It is unacceptable and Derby fans have been prone to doing it over the few years. Yes, we have seen some awful football but no player tries to play badly. In future, we should just get behind the team even more and make Pride Park a hot bed of noise. Lets make it uncomfortable for the opposition rather than our own squad.

For me, it’s time to go. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of interviewing Sav (it wasn’t too dreadful for a first attempt) and I hope to bring you more interviews in future. Who knows? Next time I might have done some preparation work.

Check out a selection of photos from the Bass Vase final from the Pirelli Stadium. Burton Albion won the game from a first half penalty and looked good for the win. Derby did have some chances, mostly when Kris Commons was on the pitch, but the finishing touch was missing throughout the game.

Kris Commons hit the post from a free kick and almost scored with a volley from inside the area but neither chance found the back of the net. Burton had several chances and could have won the game by more had it not been for some poor finishing.

Click here to open the full gallery in a new window

Read the official sites match report here.

As I left my apartment to head towards Nottingham, the heavens opened. It was a Tuesday evening and here I was, driving down the A52 towards Nottingham in the pouring rain to watch a pre-season friendly against league 2 opposition. Does life get any better than this? Yes. Yes it most certainly does.

By the time I arrived in Nottingham the pitter-patter of the rain had at least stopped. In it’s place was the sound of gun shots and stab victims screaming for dear life. Welcome to Shottingham: Gun capital of the Midlands.

I made my way over to the Wheeler bar at Meadow Lane, ordered a pint and prepared for the big match. Having checked the starting eleven online, I was expecting Varney to play as the lone striker and Davies to be out on the right but I was wrong; the roles were reversed. Teale was on the left, Varney on the right with Green, Pearson and Savage in the middle. The back saw Addison and McEveley play in the centre, Moxey on the left and Conners on the right. Shaun “Reggie” Barker was left out of the squad due to picking up a knock earlier this week.

The battle between Lee “the hit man” Hughes and Jay McEveley was one the watch. Jay battled well with the former Oldham front man but it was clear that he was playing out of position as Hughes got past him on more than one occasion. Based on last nights display, Hughes will do very well in league two. He’s still got a lot of quality and likes to pass and move, or as he knows it, hit and run. It was Hughes who made the first goal. He crossed from the left hand side and McEveley could do nothing except turn it into his net. 1-0 to County.

Six minutes later and the Rams were level. The Notts defence and goalkeeper got it all wrong as a dreadful back pass was pounced on by Steve Davies who calmly slotted the ball home. Davies put in an excellent display up front. He held the ball well, battled hard and he isn’t afraid to have a crack at goal. After the game, Nigel Clough said he was “very, very pleased” with Steve’s display. The one negative for Davies would be his failure to get himself on the score sheet again despite his penalty effort. The Rams were awarded a penalty after a handball in the box but Davies could only clip the top of the bar from the spot.

On 35 minutes we took the lead in superb style. Savage, being the old pro that he is, saw an opportunity to shoot from distance. Using all his experience he craftily disguised his shot as a miss-hit cross and it worked a treat as the Notts keeper flapped his arms around to no avail. The ball found it’s way into the net and the Rams were 2-1 up thanks to the ever cunning Robbie Savage.

The magpies continued to look dangerous and should be pushing for promotion this season. The Rams largely dealt with the pressure but the movement of the County forward line certainly caused problems during the first half.

In the second half, Derby began to show their quality as they kept possession, passed the ball well and looked the better team. Some things still confuse me though:

1) Why do we sometime do short corners? I don’t remember a time when they’ve been successful for us (feel free to list the dozens of goals we have scored from short corners in the past few years)

2) Why did Teale, when presented with a perfect opportunity to cross, play the ball back along the floor to Savage who was only just inside the Notts half. Maybe, given his earlier most-certainly-deliberate strike, he assumed Savage would shoot?

3) What does Luke Varney bring to the side?

I don’t like moaning about individual players on, and I’ll try to avoid it throughout the coming season, but Varney doesn’t do enough for me. I hope he turns in on during the season but, so far, I’m not entirely convinced.

Poor defending seemed to bring about the Notts County second goal. A failure to clear the ball enabled County to slot the ball home with ease.

The final goal came from the substitute Kris Commons who was a late addition to the squad. He was clearly off the pace but even a half fit Commons was a handful for the league two outfit. He ran the left hand side well and put balls into the box with little end result. So, clearly inspired by Robbie Savage earlier goal, Commons followed his lead. He fooled everyone into thinking he was crossing the ball towards the back post when in actual fact he scored by lobbing Russell Hoult. Sublime stuff.

And that was that. The Rams beat Notts County in front of Sven, which is more that Forest managed. Ultimately though, this game doesn’t matter as pre-season games aren’t important, although it’s still nice to see a Derby win, whatever the circumstances.

It’s only been one week since the last people to steal from Derby County were locked up yet we’re hearing shocking news of yet more crimes carried out against the black and white army.

An unspecified number of Derby County shorts, of the sort modelled by the squad on the left, have been stolen from an embroidery firm in Scotland. The shorts, said to have been in “a pile”, were stolen on Saturday.

There are no known leads at the moment although RamBalls believes Murdo Mackay, Jeremy Keith and Andrew Mackenzie are not under investigation for this particular incident.

For the full story, click here

It would be fair to say that here at RamBalls there is little faith in the British Justice System. Just a few weeks ago RamBalls’ bicycle was stolen and I expected the finest officers Derbyshire Constabulary has to offer to spend the following weeks hunting down the morally bankrupt scummer who is in possession of my two wheels. I assumed the trial of said bike theif would be over within one month of the theft; my bike would be returned to me, along with compensation for the mental distress I suffered, and the theif would be suitably punished with crocodile clips, a car battery and a few hours of my spare time.

What actually happened was markedly different. I contacted the police and they gave me a crime number. The end.

I felt cheated. I used to have a bike, now I have some numbers. I can’t cycle to work on numbers. I tapped the numbers into my mobile phone thinking it might put me directly through to the theif but I ended up calling a directory enquiry line. I asked them for the theif’s number but they didn’t know either.

That’s why I was so delighted to hear the news of last week. The police had actually done some hard investigative work which not only brought people to trial but actually resulted in convictions. Jeremy Keith, Murdo Mackay and Andrew Mackenzie, three former directors of the club, along with David Lowe, a dodgy bloke in Monaco, were given custodial sentences at her majesty’s finest B&Bs.

In case you missed it, and I’m sure you won’t have, some of the directors involved in the 2003 takeover of our club have been convicted of crimes against Derby County fans. That’s not quite true but it’s how many of us feel. Back in 2006 there was real anger amongst many fans at the way the club had been run under the guidance of the “business doctor” Jeremy Keith (Hermes from Futurama) et al. We’d seen Rasiak and Huddlestone sold in a flash and rumours were circulating about the Co-op beginning to call in some debts. All the while we had a board of directors who were as transparent as sewage water.

Eventually, the board was replaced by Gadsby and the local consortium whom, along with former chairman John Sleightholme, it is believed tipped off the police about potential irregular payments made to members of the previous regime. The payments, approximately £400,000 in total, were made to Mr Keith, Mr Mackenzie and Mr Mackay. At this stage the police took over and did their digging.

The investigation was massive. Fraud investigators interviewed over 150 witnesses, crossed countries, trawled through documents and eventually had enough evidence to prosecute. The case seemed strong from the outset and us fans were left waiting, agonisingly, from a distance as the trial took place over a few months. We all wanted guilty verdicts and custodial sentences were the minimum we would accept (the other option was a public flogging although we’d have needed a Saudi court for that one). Then, on July 20th, our wish was granted.

We already knew that they were guilty by this point, as the verdict was delivered back in June, but like a girlfriend who won’t put out until “the time feels right”, we were made to wait a little longer for the good stuff. I received the news by text as my Dad told me what I’d been longing to hear; Keith, 18 months (false accounting), Mackay and Mackenzie, three years (conspiracy to defraud), David Lowe, two years (money laundering). I was away at the time, hence the delay in updating the blog, but I made sure I enjoyed a celebratory pint that evening.

Mackay, Keith and Mackenzie, along with David “dirty laundry” Lowe, robbed our club. They dealt with shady corporations in distant foreign lands, spun a web of lies and personally pocketed some of the the cash that we spent on ticket money. They were crooks. Plain and simple crooks.

It’s really down to us, the fans, that this came about. We made our voices heard and demonstrated that our club is more than a fat man from Oxfordshire’s train set. It’s our community, our social centre and for some of us, our church. We weren’t prepared to let Murdo Mackay get away with this given his dreadful record at operating businesses. Quite frankly, if Murdo Mackay had gotten away with it, we would have been a pretty sorry bunch of fools. Murdo Mackay’s CV makes the winos at the bottom of Abbey Street look like Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Martha Stewart.

The club can now move on from this whole ugly scenario and look forward to a more successful future with a transparent and honest board. GSE…it’s over to you.

STARTING XI: CARROLL, ALBRECHTSEN, JOHNSON, STEWART, BUXTON, MENDY, BEARDSLEY, VARNEY, PRINGLE, PRIJOVIC, MILLS,

Subs: DEENEY, DUDLEY, GARTON, OJAMAA, KELLY

Alex Prijovic and Arnaud Mendy continue to impress during pre-season as the Rams XI beat Matlock Town 3-2 tonight. The third Derby County goal has been credited to Greg Mills although one fan at the game said “Giving it to mills i think is a little charitable! Both the goalie and centre both looked at each other and asked who touched it last!” (Thanks to Popsides Blondie for the updates)

Check out the DCFC Official Site match report here.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the game

RamBalls is away but will be back next week.

Yesterday we all breathed a sigh of relief as Shaun Barker was officially unveiled as a Derby County player. The weeks of speculation as to whether he would sign for us or the red dogs had been doing the blood pressure of some fans no favours at all. Browsing the forums didn’t help either as they produced new updates every twenty minutes confirming he’d signed for us, or them, or us, or them. I even saw one dreamer declaring it’s was a done deal for Forest: they outbid us and were paying wages of £30k per week.

Capturing Barker was a always going to be a significant move for which ever club secured his signature; the Rams had made it pretty clear for a long while that he was a key target and it was no secret that Forest were in for him also so the following bidding war, ending with a Derby victory, was sweet. It’s nice to beat Forest at everything; on the pitch, on attendances and now to signing players. We should just be glad that Stuart Atwell wasn’t brokering the deal.

Across the forums you can almost feel the shift in confidence now that we have the man who describes himself as an “old fashioned defender”. I’ve seen messageboard contributors who had all but written us off suddenly believing the club are pushing forward and are heading in the right direction. Others are just glad that we’ve spent some money. Popside.com’s DSBean Leacock announced that this signature had “alleviated some of his fears” and appeared to be glad that we’d paid a fee, going on to say “I might have a choc ice later to celebrate”.

Some fans are never satisfied though. While browsing Come On You Rams, I noticed an distinct air of discontent coming from New England Ram who said “Wow so Nigel had noticed the need for a centre back after all. I just want to know why this was not his first signing. This signing should have been made weeks ago.” I’m no expert but I’d guess the hold up in the transfer probably had something to do with the the reluctance of Blackpool to just let their better players leave without a fight, the fact that we weren’t the only club intereted and the negotiation of personal terms. After all, this is real life, not sensible world of soccer.

Over at dcfcfans.co.uk there were reminders of what people thought of Barker when he played for Blackpool against Derby. JoeMadRam reminds us that many people had sour grapes and said Barker was a dirty player but those same people are now delighted that he’s our dirty player.

David, a dcfcfans administrator, agreed, saying ” when we play the likes of Forest which will be a dirty game you want Barker in your team to bully the forwards”, going on to say “every one loves a dirty bugger and thats why I’m still with the missus”. Ok David, there is no need to rub it in.

Over at ramzone.net there was talk of the rams having a more solid defence this season. Hemingway thinks that if the Rams signs Patrick Kisnorbo, things will be looking good for the coming year.

I agree. Against Burton, Kisnorbo put in a solid showing. He looked mobile, strong and he did well from set pieces, so a few goals throughout the season could probably be expected. Genuine competition for places is what Cloughie will be after and having filled his squad with hungry players with a point to prove, he’ll have competition in abundance.

One final thing before I go. If you haven’t checked out this article on Wee Billy down the A52, I recommend you have a gander. It may bring back some memories.

The Rams have today captured their main summer target in Shaun Barker.

Barker joins from Blackpool on a three year deal and he revealed that Nigel Clough was a massive factor when deciding to join the rams over local rivals Nottingham Forest.

The chase for Barker has been going on for a number of weeks with the Rams reportedly having two bids turned down before the tangerines finally accepted the deal. Barker said “I remember coming to Pride Park and their was 30,000 people there and I wished that maybe I could play for a club like that and luckily I am going to be able to this season.

Amazingly, Barker has missed only a handful of games in the past four seasons, a statistic that is quite staggering given how many injuries the Derby fans have been witness to in the past season alone.

While the fee is officially undisclosed, the Derby Evening Telegraph is reporting a figure of around £900,000 has been paid.

If you want to see Barker in action, you can catch him in action against Chesterfield this Saturday.

Check out a profile of the Rams latest signing here.