Ramballs

It would be unfair of me to give a full opinion of the draw at Blackpool when I wasn’t there. I’m quite happy with the result because every point away from home is valuable but it’s the game on Saturday that will tell us if it was a decent point or not. There are a lot of fans around the messageboards who still appear to need 24hr suicide watch despite is picking up four points from the possible nine.

I’ve been browsing some of the messageboards and I’d like to share some of the more considered write-ups from yesterdays game.

First off, Milton_Keynes Ram from popside.com shared their post-match thoughts. MKR knows football and I think if you want a decent report of the rams performance, head over to popside.com and read MKRs comments after each match.

A clean sheet is always welcome but god that was a boring and crap game of football. In patches on Saturday at Scunthorpe we played better than we did last night, but the difference was a lot more solid against what was admittedly a very very poor Blackpool team who will probably struggle all season.

The first ten minutes we looked the more controlled and composed team and look to me like we would assert control and dominate the game but a few almost casual moments at the back, players trying to do too much on the ball, or no conviction when passing itl got the crowd into it for them and seemed to give their players the boost they needed and after that we never seemed in total control.

Addison and Buxton in particular looked more solid than at the weekend…..though given the type of forward Buxton was up against I’m not surprised. Moxey and Connolly on numerous occassions played their entire attack onside when they should be able to look across the line or/and take the lead from the centre backs and a better attack would have taken advantage. Savage too played them onside a few times when tracking back. To me I think the individual awareness of a number of players in these instances was poor, couple with poor communication from Addison/Buxton almost caused us problems that should never have occurred.

Green was missed tonight. Pearson started reasonably well in the first 5-10 minutes but rapidly faded out of the game and Savage never really took control of the midfield. Croft was exceptionally poor and should have been dragged off plenty earlier whilst Teale seemed frightened to take the full back on either side on. For the majority of the game Teale was up against Eardley the ex-Oldham right back we were linked with over the summer - looked a very good player albeit the first time I’d seen him.

Commons started well but then drifted more and more out of the game as it went on; surprised reading Clough’s comments about him post-match whilst Hulse was clearly not match fit. Although only on briefly Varney probably contributed more in the time he was on the pitch than in any other game for us besides the second half of his debut at Burnley last season.

Whilst we had problems with the offside rule whilst defending the amount of times Croft, teale and Hulse managed to get themselves offside at innocuous times was criminal.

Very poor and flat atmosphere from the travelling fans although the home fans made up for it. Did well to keep the noise in the ground given one temporary uncovered stand and one half built one. Never intimidating as some grounds can be but full marks for getting behind their team.

Finally if the rumours were to be believed about us being in for Charlie Adam over the summer I’m glad they weren’t true. Rotten rotten footballer.
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Over on the DET forums, ratpackramwrote:

Bywater 6 - nothing to do , one save in second half , dodgy ball control nearly let in their forward

Connolly 6 - poor first half , improved a lot in the second

Moxey 9 - outstanding , class class class , great buy

Addison 8 - never gave them a sniff

Buxton 9 - won every header, small but so is cannavaro, another great buy

Croft 5 - unfit , poor crossing, might do better if he lost a few pounds

Teale 6 - tried but no end product

Savage 6 - did what he does , kept it simple

Pearson 7 - just shaded Sav, had a
bit more going forward

Commons 8 - involved in anything we created which was not a lot to be fair but has our x factor

Hulse 7 - no service , kept battling away trying to flick ball on to himself as no one gambled for the flick on

Might get slaughtered for this but I was impressed with Varney when he came on for Hulse
what about playing him in home games alongside Hulse with Commons on the left linking with Moxey , push Teale on the right , get Croft on a diet and bring Barker in for Connolly.

After a defeating the newly promoted Peterborough United by two goals to one on Saturday, The Rams now head to the Don Valley Stadium to take on league two side Rotherham. Rotherham, having started last season with -17 point deduction, ended the season in 14th place with a respectable 58 points. Had the millers not had the point deduction, they would have in 5th place, well inside the play-off places, so the Millers are a force to be reckoned with in League two.

Rotherham got off to a winning start this season as they grabbed a 1 – 0 win over Accrington at the weekend. Paul Warne, 36, returning to the club this summer after a four year absence from Rotherham, scored the late winner. An old head on the field was exactly what they needed as manager Mark Robins said “Paul coming on shook people up a bit and we certainly needed it. It was good to see him back in a Rotherham shirt in a competitive game because that is how I remember him and he has always worked his socks off,”

Rotherham have also signed 23 year old Tom Pope from Crewe for a club record fee of £150,000. The 6′3″ striker has found himself in a spot of bother as he was recently found guilty of affray for an incident at a Hanley nightclub. He’s a confident young striker and has set himself the target of 20 goals this year and, after banging in plenty of goals in pre-season, Pope is expected to do well for the millers this season. Tom said; “I work hard and try and get myself in the box. I don’t keep running all over the pitch. I stay down the middle because I want to get on the end of chances.”

Ryan Taylor, another of Rotherham’s young strikers, hasn’t found his feet just yet but his 6′2″ frame should be his biggest asset. He’s a big striker who should be capable of bullying defenders off the ball but so far has failed to live up to expectations. Last year he made 18 starts and scored just four goals for the Yorkshire team but, having just secured a new two year deal with the club, he managed to bag a goal in Rotherham’s pre-season victory over a Man City XI.

The Rams strikers will be facing a veteran goalie in the form of Andy Warrington who has been playing professionally since 1994. Warrington is said to have played well at the weekend and managed to keep a clean sheet against Accrington, a result he’ll be keen to replicate on Tuesday night.

Pablo Mills, the former Rams defender who made over 50 appearances for The Rams, now makes a living playing as a centre mid. He signed for the residents of the Don Valley stadium back in July 2006 and has since made over 100 appearances for the club.

Rotherham are genuine contenders for promotion from League 2 this season but, given The Rams performance against Peterborough, beating us will be a tall order indeed. Kris Commons is away on international duty and Paul Green looks likely to miss this game after picking up a knock against Peterborough. Luke Varney may have recovered enough from illness to find himself a place in the squad or Nigel Clough may even choose to field some of our younger players with the likes of Prijovic, Mendy and Pringle all having performed well in pre-season.

The Rams have a good record against the league 2 outfit having won four of the last six competitive meetings between the sides, although when playing at Rotherham the last three games read one won, one lost and one drawn. This is the first time the clubs have ever met in in a cup competition and The Rams have only won one of their last seven games away from Pride Park.

Derby had a great run in this competition last season, reaching the quarter finals before eventually being knocked out by Manchester United 4-3 on aggregate. Kris Commons scored a stunning goal against the Red Devils in the semi-final home leg and Tito Villa, now of Cruz Azul, prevously scored a hat trick against Brighton & Hove Albion to send The Rams through to the fourth round.

Can Derby County repeat last seasons success? Hopefully, but before they can think of the second round, they have win at the Don Valley Stadium.

In the past week or so you may have noticed the new adverts down the side of the blog featuring the new DCFC strip and leisurewear. That is because I have launched the RamBalls Amazon store.

The RamBalls Amazon store feature loads of the new Derby County 09/10 replica kit and the latest leisurewear as designed by Adidas. The latest range of leisurewear really is quite smart and it’s reasonably priced so you won’t feel ripped off.

The benefits of shopping through the RamBalls Amazon store include getting to shop safe in the knowledge that your transactions are being processed by the biggest and most trusted online retailer in the world, Amazon, as well as offering a good deals on delivery and service guarantees. It also features a massive selection of Derby County products that you can find in one place without the hassle of searching for it all yourself.

As well as having the latest in DCFC fashion, you can order from a wide range of books about your beloved football club. We’ve got Brian Clough biographies, the little book of Derby County, the complete record of Derby County and plenty more. If you need a DCFC book, you can find it here.

It isn’t all books and jumpers though. The RamBalls Store has a whole host of fantastic gift ideas ranging from DVD, scarves and even a Derby County dog coat, for the dog loving Derby fans.

Take a look around and buy in confidence from the worlds largest e-retailer.

Cheers

Martin RamBalls

It was being billed as Clough jr vs Ferguson jr as the media constantly reminded us of both Nigel and Darren’s fathers achievements. Our Nigel had beaten Ferguson Snr last season and was now looking to complete the Ferguson set. Darren Ferguson has high hopes for his Peterborough team as he talks of reaching the Premier League but before he can do that he had to take his Posh side to Pride Park. It’s ok though because they’d done their homework, as he told the BBC “We are going there to win as in any other game, we know their strengths and we know their weaknesses,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s all about us and we can go there and give a good account of ourselves”

To be fair to Peterborough, they did give a decent account of themselves but the first half was dominated by The Rams as the five man midfield chased everything, passed well and always wanted the ball. The defence weren’t troubled too much and the first 45 minutes were satisfying for Derby fans.

The first goal came from a badly cleared corner as Miles Addison threw himself at the ball to head it in at the far post. This was a brave move as he collided with a Peterborough player and injured himself along the way. This minor knock was unlikely to keep Miles down for long though; he picked himself up and carried on with the match, playing a blinder if I do say so myself.

The Posh followed up The Rams goal with a goal of their own after new boy Tommy Rowe crossed low into the six yard box to George Boyd who slotted home with ease. Seconds of joy for The Posh fans were soon replaced by disaapointment as they realised the flag was up; offside!

Derby were better in possession and I can honestly say that I didn’t feel too concerned when Peterborough attacked. They did have a few efforts, notably Aaron Mcleans shot which went wide from ten yards.

The start of the second half saw Paul Green replaced by Kris Commons and The Rams appeared to shift to a 4-4-2 formation, with Commons playing alongside Steve Davies. The game seemed pretty even at times; only poor execution in the final third seemed to prevent either team from scoring. The exception to this was Dean Moxeys last ditch tackle which was sublime. Craig Mackail-Smith was clean through on goal and, in my mind, the only possible outcomes from the situation were a goal conceded or penalty awarded. Moxey proved me wrong in stunning style as he timed him sliding challenge to perfection and pulled the ball away from CMS.

The Posh were awarded a penalty though. Bywater came running out of his goal and was left stranded in a moment of madness. Shaun Batt ran onto the ball, knocked it past the keeper and went down under the challenge of the Derby goalie. From where I was sat, it seemed harsh. He got a touch but he kicked it out of play and would never have caught the ball had he not be brought down. That was irrelevent though, the penatly stood and now Bywater was the only man who can save the day.

He didn’t. George Boyd scored, sending Stephen Bywater the wrong way in the process.

I thought that was it. We were likely to be leaving with a point but I hadn’t banked on Gary Teale being in the right place at the right time.

Kris Commons played the ball into the box from a corner and the following goal mouth scramble resulted in the ball landing at Gary Teales feet and he tapped the ball in from a few yards.

Full Time: Derby 2 - 1 Peterborough

I make no apologies for being Derby biased. If you want impartial reporting, don’t visit a Derby County blog written by a Derby County fan

Check out the some unbiased (and a couple of biased) match reports from around the web.

DCFC Official Site
Peterborough Official Site
Sky Sports
Derby Evening Telegraph
Guardian
Daily Telegraph
Daily Mail
Daily Express
Daily Star
The Times
BBC
Ramzone
Derby County Mad
Football.co.uk

I hate waiting for things; Christmas, holidays, buses, 5pm Monday to Friday etc. That’s why I am so excited about tomorrows Championship opener at Pride Park against Peterborough. At the end of last season I was relieved when safety was confirmed and the season was finally brought to an end because my ticker couldn’t cope with the pressure. Now, after a couple of months off from it, I can’t wait for it to kick off again. It’s as if I am suffering from amnesia as the memories of last years battle for survival has been entirely replaced by giddy excitement as I wait for Saturday 3pm.

As fun as pre-season has been, we haven’t come out of it unscathed as the injury worries continue to mount up: we’ve collected more injuries than an A&E department on a Saturday night during the same weekend as a narcoleptic sufferers superbike championship and “free Stella Artois” event at Zanzibar.

Having beaten Svens men, failed to win the Bass vase, drawn to Dirty Stoke and toured the South West, all eyes now turn to the visit of Championship news boys, Peterborough United, for the 2009/10 season opener.

With Darren Ferguson at the helm, the Posh have won back to back promotions having secured second place in League 1 last season. As they begin a stint in the second tier of English football for only the second time, you can guarantee Darren Ferguson will have his boys fired up for this one as his new look squad takes shape. Back in May, Ferguson announced he was making 12 players available to transfer, including Sergio Torres, a winger signed from Wycombe for £150,000 only 12 months before.

It has been a case of out with the old & in with the new as Ferguson has brought in fresh faces to the London Road residents. Tommy Rowe, 20, signed from Stockport after the club were put into Administration at the end of last season. During Stockports 2007/08 promotion season, Rowe won the accolade of young player of the year and could well be one to watch this coming season.

Another of Peterborough’s new boys is Toumani Diagouraga who signed a four year deal with the club having moved from Hereford Town. The French 22 year old plays in central midfield and had long been admired by Darren Ferguson who unsuccessfully tried to sign him last season. Diagouraga says he joined Peterborough because of Darren Ferguson’s ambition which, if previous seasons are anything to go by, are sky high.

Of course, it isn’t all new faces at London Road. Last seasons stars are still there too as they look to prove themselves as Championship quality players.

Craig Mackail-Smith has attracted attention from some of the bigger clubs, such as Birmingham and Celtic but Peterborough are looking to hold onto their better assets. Mackail-Smith has played for the England “C” team and is known for his hard working style. He is an industrious striker who makes defenders earn their money. His movement is good, he chases everything, knows where the goal is and he looks to play the early ball wherever possible.

Aaron Mclean is the other Posh striker who the Rams defence need to be careful of. He scored 18 goals last season and, along with Mackail-Smith, is believed to have been a target of Celtics. In fact, back in January Celtic were said to be interested in both Posh strikers and George Boyd, although they could not afford the £15m asking price demanded by Peterborough.

George Boyd scored a brace in the recent friendly against Fulham and, at the time of signing for Posh, he was the most expensive player brought from a non-league team (£260,000) back in 2007.

The Rams go into the game with a heavily depleted strike force as Rob Hulse has missed most of the pre-season, Chris Porter may be out until Christmas with hip problems, Kris Commons has missed a bit of pre-season and has been looking to build match fitness recently in the games against Stoke, Burton Albion and Solihull, and Luke Varney is recovering from illness which leaves us with Steve Davies as the lone striker meaning we are reliant on Green and Pearson pushing up and supporting the attacks.

Derby will be looking for a good start but so will The Posh. Ferguson’s boys will be looking to pick up where they left off where as Derby will be hoping to forget last seasons showing and start afresh. Derby lost four of their final five league games last term. The Posh lost only three of their 23 league matches away from home last season.

It’s worth nothing that Derby have only won once in their last four league encounters with the Posh. However, in all competitions, Peterborough have only managed to win two of their previous six meetings.

I predict a tough game. Some people might think The Rams should easily turn the new boys over but as Savage said in his interview with RamBalls, we got battered by Doncaster on the opening day last season and battered against Southampton’s kids. We can’t take anything for granted, Ferguson’s lads will be looking to make an immediate impact at Pride Park and show they are competitive in the CCC. One area where they won’t be competing with The Rams is match day attendances; last season Peterborough’s highest attendance was 14,000 against Leicester and 4000 of those were foxes fans.

So after weeks of training and transfer activity, it’s now up The Rams to show some working class resolve against The Posh young upstarts.

RamBalls Prediction: 2 - 1 to the Rams

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Following last Tuesday’s slightly damp outing to Meadow Lane, RamBalls decided to have another soggy evening out of the house watching The Rams. Peter Kay would say the rain was “that fine rain that soaks you through”.

Finding the ground was a bit of a mystery; google maps sent us to a housing estate and the sat nav parked us at a chip shop. Eventually we found the ground, paid the £5 admission and found a seat amongst the few other Derby fans (around 25 of us) who were strange enough to make the 40 mile journey.

The match kicked off with former Stoke striker, Mark Grocutt, playing as a lone striker. Kris Commons played down the right with Ben Pringle on the opposite flank. Arnaud Mendy, the last minute goalscorer against Stoke, played in midfield alongside the trialist David Toukam, a young Cameroonian who plays for the Juventus youth team.

Kris Commons was the creative outlet for much of the first half and the Scottish international danced past a the Solihull defence on the right and shot just wide from outside the box on 20 minutes.

Arnaud Mendy used his power well in the middle and showed some neat control and some good exchanges with Toukam. Toukam also looked lively, showing for the ball and generally looking composed when on the ball.

The next attack came as Jordan Stewart picked up a loose ball, brought it out towards the left and crossed low to Commons who set himself up for a volley. He struck the ball on the turn and it was always going wide.

Minutes later and Commons was beating the Solihull defence again. He skirted across the 18yrd box, took a shot which was parried by the keeper back to Commons who then tried to chip the keeper only to see the ball cleared off the line.

The Rams took the lead through a penalty on 33 minutes. Mark Grocutt had the ball in the box only to be fouled and brought to the deck, right in front of the ref. Kris Commons was the man to step up to the plate and he slotted the ball away with ease, sending the keeper the wrong way in the process.

That was the first half. The second half was less eventful.

I could probably write more about the strange odours that my nose kept on being introduced to than I could the second 45 minutes. Honestly, whoever it was that kept on producing those less than delightful aromas should seek urgent medical advice.

I can’t remember us troubling the keeper in the second half. Commons was frequently on the ball although he didn’t have much to aim for in the middle. Pringle was subbed off for Ojamaa early in the half but his first half performance was good.

The closest Derby came to scoring in the second half was when Solihull defender and ex-ram, Theo Streete, nearly put the ball in his own net from a low cross.

The home side managed to grab a goal around 75 and a good one it was too. The ball found it’s way to John Pugh around the penalty spot and he struck it with a sweet volley beyond the helpless Atkins.

Full time score 1 - 1

RamBalls little camera struggled to get any decent pictures but you can see the gallery here.

Have you seen the latest range of Rams leisurewear? Check it out now.

You’ll know by now that the score was 2-2 and our goals came from Stephen Pearson and Arnaud Mendy. Barnes got a short run out before being taken out of the game by a standard Stoke challenge; high, dangerous and down right dirty. I won’t write a full match report, the official site and therams.co.uk can give you a much better account that I can on a Monday morning.

I would like to highlight some key points from the day:

- The match day announcer got just about everything wrong. Before the game he announced their would be a minutes silence in memory of Sir Bobby Robson. As the ground went silent he said “let’s start the applause”. He also said announced Derby County onto the pitch when Stoke came running out and Derby were still in the changing rooms. Better luck next time Mr Announcer.

- The boo boys were once again in attendance. Giles Barnes received a few boos from the home fans when his name was read out before the game yet Danny Higginbotham got a cheer. Unbelievable.

- Stoke aren’t a good team. We were the better team on the day, by a fair margin I thought, we just lacked the bodies in the final third.

Our passing was good from the start; Bywater was looking to roll the ball out quickly to the defenders, Addison was prepared to come out of defence with the ball, Buxton looked comfortable on the ball and solid at the back, Sav covered a lot of ground and passed the ball well, Green and Pearson both got forward and Steve Davies did well up front although he did stray into midfield a few times leaving us with no one up field.

It’s good to see us playing football. Stoke allowed us to have more time on the ball than we’ll get against Peterborough next week but, providing we keep the tempo up like we did for the first 60 - 70 minutes against Stoke, we should be just fine.

Roll on August 8th.

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.