DERBY COUNTY
V
DONCASTER ROVERS
Well we can't say that the fixtures aren't coming thick and fast as after paying host to one East Midland club on Tuesday, Donny are on their was down the M1 to visit another, Derby County.
So far this season our respective results have been at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Rams sit third with a 100% record so far while Doncaster sit bottom of the league but only on alphabetical order. You can tell when life is peeing on your bonfire when your club's name begins with 'D' and you still lose out on alphabetical order! Needless to say, Rovers' 100% record is the reverse of Derby's.
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| Nigel Clough - Keep the Faith |
When I think of Derby I always think "How the hell is Nigel Clough still the manager?". Clough as achieved 15th and 19th placed finishes in his two seasons in charge at Pride Park. In other words, very similar achievements to Sean O'Driscoll.
Meanwhile, in the East MIdland city where they do riot, Billy Davis achieves 3rd place and 6th place and gets the push. Is there really so little logic in football?
Well in this case, it is logical. Thanks to VSC's forum, I found a particularly good blog, the Swiss Ramble. In this blog, Kieron, the author takes an in-depth look at Forest while also publishing some rather interesting financial statistics.
Its all about living within you means. In financial terms, the Rams are one of the divisions big boys with turnover of about £30M per year. Forest turnover half that amount but both clubs pay about the same in wages. In the end, they are both in the same division but Forest's loss last season was about 4 times that of Derby. The Forest chairman lost about £13M last season without getting the mega-bucks that promotion would promise. He backed his man and his man did not deliver.
Clough on the other hand only lost his Chairman around £3M. OK he was nowhere near getting Derby to the Premier League but at least that yacht with a helipad on the back can still be considered!
Meanwhile, in the East MIdland city where they do riot, Billy Davis achieves 3rd place and 6th place and gets the push. Is there really so little logic in football?
Well in this case, it is logical. Thanks to VSC's forum, I found a particularly good blog, the Swiss Ramble. In this blog, Kieron, the author takes an in-depth look at Forest while also publishing some rather interesting financial statistics.
Its all about living within you means. In financial terms, the Rams are one of the divisions big boys with turnover of about £30M per year. Forest turnover half that amount but both clubs pay about the same in wages. In the end, they are both in the same division but Forest's loss last season was about 4 times that of Derby. The Forest chairman lost about £13M last season without getting the mega-bucks that promotion would promise. He backed his man and his man did not deliver.
Clough on the other hand only lost his Chairman around £3M. OK he was nowhere near getting Derby to the Premier League but at least that yacht with a helipad on the back can still be considered!
DERBY COUNTY
We hope that this good feeling we have built up continues into the two games before the international break. - Nigel Clough
Another thing I thought about Derby was that they'd spent mega-money on players. Not true. They much prefer waiting for Rovers players to run their contracts out and make them offers that they can't refuse. Paul Green and Gareth Roberts have both made this move but looking at Derby's line-ups so far this season, Roberts may get a place on the bench while Greeny sadly picked up a serious injury near the end of last season. We wish him a speedy recovery.
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| Jason Shackell - Ex Rover's Target |
One player who will feature is Derby captain, Jason Shackell, who Rovers were gutted to lose out on last season when he went to Barnsley.
So we know that Shackell will shape up against the Rovers, but who else will make the grade?
Looking at the highlights v Birmingham, did I mention Jason Shackell? He scored Derby's first, getting his head some to a Free-Kick that Birmingham should have had covered. But the main thing is tha you could see that leadership Rovers have missed at the back. Chastising his defence vehemently when the defence allowed Burke to run at them and get great shot it and then showing them how it is done with a great tackle in the area that ended a very dangerous moment for Derby.
As you have probably gathered, Derby did not have it all there own way in the opener. Birmingham started very well and I noticed a couple of times that they were allowed to get on with, well too much on their right. Coppinger and Dumbuya take note!
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| Steve Davies - Great efforts from range. |
In this game, step forward Steve Davis. He scored a fabulous goal, receiving, controlling, turning and hammering it into the goal from about 20 yards. He threatened against Birmingham with another cracking effort from distance.
Finally, I took a look at the highlights from the Blackpool game. Again, Steve Davies was prominent and the goal came from one of his free-kicks that was too hot to handle allowing Bryson to react quickly on the rebound.
At the other end, there was another small glimmer of light. Through the middle, Gary Taylor-Fletcher had a couple of runs at them. He got shots in on each occasion so again, its someting that could be tried.
Last season, Derby came to the Keepmoat and won 2-3. On that occasion, they were fabulous in the first half. From what I saw, this side is capable of similar performances. It could be a tough afternoon for the Rovers.
DONCASTER ROVERS
When you play like we did against Forest, it gives you confidence. We are determined to push on and give Derby a good game - George Friend
When you play like we did against Forest, it gives you confidence. We are determined to push on and give Derby a good game - George Friend
So how are Donny playing this season? Well looking at the forums, its somewhere between pants and fantastic. The manager and his assistant were certainly pleased and the players seemed satisfied that they were playing the game the right way.
Listening to the commentary, I felt we started extremely well but after Forest scored, I didn't feel we could win it. Its well known that the threat we pose going forwards is not what it should be and though Chris Brown was a real slave to the cause, in the second half it really seemed he needed more support from the midfield.
I would like to see some of the game to firm up my opinion, but sadly, the highlights have yet to be posted on player. Derby have all 90 minutes of all three of their games available for viewing whereas we have highlights of 2/3 of ours. Not that I'm having a did at the media team at all. I'm just asking them to sort their lives out.
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| Milan Lalkovic playing in the FA Youth Cup Final |
The big news at Donny is the arrival of a Manchester United utility player and a Chelsea winger at the Keepmoat for an initial month's loan.
Looking at Milan Lalkovic on YouTube, the first thing that strikes you is that he has pace to burn. I can certainly imagine him playing off Chris Brown and captilizing from his knock-ons. As long as he is strong enough for the championship, he is only 18, he should be a great addition.
The other high profile loanee is Reece Brown. Unfortunately, I haven't found much of Reece to watch on the net. There are highlights of a England U19 game where he scored England's second from a free-kick at an absurd distance. It was hardly Roberto Carlos though, in fact its still not clear to me how the Russian defence let it through. But there wasn't much of his defensive work to be seen.
The other high profile loanee is Reece Brown. Unfortunately, I haven't found much of Reece to watch on the net. There are highlights of a England U19 game where he scored England's second from a free-kick at an absurd distance. It was hardly Roberto Carlos though, in fact its still not clear to me how the Russian defence let it through. But there wasn't much of his defensive work to be seen.
So its won 3 against lost 3. But Derby's 3 wins were all by the odd goal, as were Donny's defeats. Donny are certainly getting back to their trademark flowing football and Derby, from what I saw are also playing attractive stuff.
It should be entertaining at Pride Park with the teams not being so far apart as their league positions would suggest.
Enjoy the game everyone.
STOP PRESS
I'm looking to try something different with the match report.
I would like a report of the match from a Derby fan and another from a Rovers' fan. I'll put them both in the blog (giving all due credit of course) and then let the discussions begin.
If you would like to offer your services, tweet of DM me (@FuzzyDonnyDuck on Twitter) or leave a comment on here, ja606 or VSC Forum. I'll send you an E-Mail address and we'll see what we can do!
Thanks
Fuzzy
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