McClaren has Rams buzzing

Steve McClaren has probably not had the best of press in England because of his term as England manager and yet you can't say that his record as a coach is anything other than excellent. He arrived at Derby County in September with them looking no more than a mid-table team and yet he has given them the confidence and tactical ability to be a real force in the Championship.

Jamie Ward warms up with Will Hughes.

I did not think he would do any better than Nigel Clough, but he has proved me and many others wrong. What's more, I like the way his team plays. When they came down to Dean Court they did not play long balls or use physical strength to over turn AFCB. It was a real tactical battle with both teams playing a fluid passing game. Eddie Howe said at the time that they were the best team the Cherries had faced in the Championship, even though some other teams had beaten AFCB far more convincingly. But I know what he means. Derby play a complete kind of football with everyone working for each other. They have one or two special individuals as well like Will Hughes and Jamie Ward who are capable of dominating games. Ward felt his hamstring on Tuesday night and came off at half time so may not play against AFCB on Saturday.

Their lead scorer is Chris Martin the former Norwich striker who has really hit form compared to last season when he was on loan at Swindon and Derby. Derby also brought in a couple of players on loan in January such as George Thorne from West Brom and the Chealsea players Patrick Bamford who was on loan at Milton Keynes. Bamford has been scoring regularly on the wing and got the winning in their last match.

For all Derby's fire power thought they do not always keep clean sheets even at home. Yeovil recently hit two against them even though they lost, while Wigan also got a result against them this year at the iPro stadium. Derby still lead the goals scored column in the Championship on 59 after the mid-week win against Sheffield Wednesday. But that goals against total of 40 indicates that they are not yet the tightest in defence, which offers me some hope that the Cherries might get something if they play well. Derby also had to change formation to 4-2-4 in their last game which gave them more going forward when they were finding it tough going against Wednesday, but it was also leaving them exposed on the break. The sign of a good team though is not playing well and still winning and that's what Derby did last Tuesday night.

Hughes is one of the conductors that sets Derby's tempo.

The push for promotion is really on now. Steve McClaren will have his team raring to go and the crowd of some 23,000 is going to be right behind the Rams. The confidence the team must have got from beating QPR recently at home tells me that they are serious promotion candidates and they rarely slip up at home. While Leicester City and Burnley were difficult games at home for the Cherries, this will be a harder examination of AFCB's resolve and Lee Camp and his back line need to be extremely well organised if they are to keep a clean sheet, but I think that has to be the Cherries main aim and anything else would be a bonus. Those away wins for AFCB against Reading and Sheffield Wednesday seem a long time ago so it would be fabulous to reacquaint the fans with an away win.

I hope Adam Smith along with Lee Camp knows which side to warm up with on Saturday.

Derby Home form:
WLWWW

AFCB Away form:
WWDLD
 
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Match preview: Cherry Chimes chats to Derby Co Blog

Match Preview
Derby County v AFCB
Blogger Interview - Derby County Blog

Cherry Chimes talks to Ollie Wright the author of Derby County Blog ahead of the clash at the iPro stadium on Saturday with the Cherries. Now that the Rams have closed up to third place in the table their players can see an automatic promotion place tantalisingly just in front of them, but is it Derby's season to make it up to the Premiership?

CC: Can Derby go onto to get a top two finish having seen how you played against QPR?

DCB: Possibly. We don't have the deepest squad in the division, so we need to avoid injuries to key players, but when you look at the amount of points we have picked up under Steve McClaren, you realise that we have been running at automatic promotion form over the past 20 matches.

CC: Have you already started to look at how many points you might need to get an automatic promotion place and are you worried about any fixtures to come in particular?

DCB: A friend of mine worked out that the average number of points required for automatic promotion over the past 20 seasons has been 86. Predictions are a mug's game, obviously, but every way I've looked at it, we do look to be on course to get over 80 points.

The away game at Burnley and the home game against Forest are probably the ones that stand out to the neutral, but I strongly believe that they won't decide our fate. I just hope that the lads can keep going and don't run out of steam in the final straight.

We've only lost twice in our last 17 league games - if we only lose two of the next 15, we will go very, very close.

CC: Are you surprised that there has not been too much gossip about Chris Martin who keeps sticking the goals away for you?

DCB: Chris goes under the radar while other strikers take the headlines. At the time of writing, he has scored the same amount of league goals as Charlie Austin - 14. He's extremely important to the team, not just with his goals, but with the way he leads the line and links in with the midfielders. He is a good technician as well as a powerful presence and is one of our key players.

CC: The defeat against Leicester in January did not knock the teams confidence you must have been pleased with that kind of response?

DCB: I said at the time that as chastening as that result was, it couldn't be allowed to define our season. The next game was a tough test - Brighton at home - but we won 1-0 and haven't lost since. That says a lot for the confidence and belief the players have, especially when you consider that we recovered from 2-0 down to beat Yeovil, scored a late equaliser at Blackburn and also beat one of our direct rivals, QPR, 1-0.

The only disappointment was letting a 3-1 lead against Birmingham slip away, which has to be put down to youthful over-exuberance - they got caught out trying to bomb on and score another one when they didn't need to. However, beating Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough on Tuesday night was more evidence that we are capable of going the distance.

CC: What have you made of Lee Grant's form this season?

DCB: He's a fine shot-stopper with excellent reflexes and also makes some important punches.

CC: How good a prospect do you think is your loan striker from Chelsea - Patrick Bamford - has he been playing well?

DCB: Bamford is a flair player who doesn't give you much until the moment when suddenly, out of nothing, he scores. He's not the quickest and has a languid air, but technically, he is very good and has an incredible eye for goal. Five goals in four starts and three sub appearances tells its own story - three of them have been lovely strikes from outside the box. He's been an inspired loan signing and I'm sure McClaren will be desperate to keep him, if at all possible.

CC: You have had some high scoring games at home of late so are Derby risking playing a more open game under McClaren?

DCB: In a word, yes. Nigel Clough's mantra was always 'don't lose', whereas McClaren's style is about winning first. I guess the way he sees it is that one win and one defeat gets you more points than two draws.

Defensively, we're far from being the best in the division, as was ruthlessly exposed by Leicester City not so long ago, but we're the divisions top goalscorers.

CC: Are there any Bournemouth players you are looking forward to seeing play?

DCB: I'll be interested to see Lewis Grabban, who should keep our defenders on their toes.

CC: What is the atmosphere like in the iPro stadium and are their places to eat and drink nearby?

DCB: It's at the heart of the Pride Park business park, so there are all sorts of watering holes and eateries in the vicinity, plus burger vans for the unwary, of course. If you walk back down towards the railway station, you'll find some fine real ale pubs, especially The Brunswick.

Thanks for the answers Ollie. I think the Championship may well go to Leicester but Derby have as good a chance as any of getting an automatic spot and I was one of those in agreement with Eddie Howe that Derby were the best team I have seen at the Goldsands this season. AFCB have been credited with being a good passing side, but Derby out passed us that day away from home. So the task for the Cherries is a difficult one this weekend but the team continues to improve and I hope that some Derby fans are surprised by what a good game our players can give Steve McClaren's side on Saturday.

For more great gossip on the Rams and to spy on what they may do against the Cherries, take a look at Ollie's Derby County Blog for a good read.

Eddie Howe is crucial to AFCB's development

This week saw the parting of the waves for Tony Mowbray and Middlesbrough. Tony had not had that many defeats this season but such is the pressure on the big clubs in the Championship that it is hard or managers not to pay the ultimate price when they are not near the top of the able. The other week Nigel Clough was also removed from Derby County but it is good to see that he has walked straight into another job, not that reviving Sheffield Utd will be easy.

With Ian Holloway leaving Crystal Palace last night I am starting to get a little more edgy in my seat, but Eddie Howe is not among the leading candidates and I think he is loving it at Bournemouth. Funnily enough former Bournemouth manager Tony Pulis is top of Palace's target list. Of course Eddie has already turned Palace down once before.

Eddie Howe who has been a revelation in both his spells as manager at AFCB. I did not want to even read the Echo this week that said Jeff Mostyn will try and keep Eddie Howe at the club. Indeed, he had better do his utmost to keep him for as long as possible. I would be happy if Eddie was still manager even if we were playing in the Conference South.

Eddie lives and breathes AFCB. He is part of us and I don't want that to change at any time in the near future. Other clubs may well see him as a target to poach but there is a strong bond between the club and the management team. I can see it being even harder for Eddie to leave the club a second time. He has already stated that it does not matter to him what level he is managing at and dropping down a division was not a problem for him. It's the challenge that he likes to get AFCB in the big time and he and Jason are making a mighty fine fist of it from where I stand.  If our owners fail to see that and the strong backing of the fans behind Eddie Howe then the whole club would be very sorry losers. 

Come January and even further on to to next summer, if there is money to spend I would like to see Eddie Howe be the one who has that privilege to strengthen the team further. He has a knack of selecting players who have a good team ethic and enjoy being around each other which no doubt helps them on the pitch. I want to see Eddie do that with even more talented players when the time comes, but not somewhere else. I want to see him do it at AFCB.

Please have a read of Rival Lines if you have not already. We speak to a ardent Leicester City fan and blogger who lives in Poole and works in Bournemouth.