Derby headed to the City Ground hoping to get their campaign back on track. Instead ex-players and insipid defending may have derailed it all together.

19:45 29th December 2010

City Ground - Forest Referee: A. Bates

Crowd: 29,490 (4,285 Travelling Rams)

Teams:

Forest

Camp, Gunter, Morgan, Chambers, Bertrand (Cohen 38), Moussi, Ramsey (Wilson 60), Tyson (Anderson 79), Majewski, Earnshaw, Tudgay

Unused Subs: McGugan, Adebola, McLeary, Smith

Yellow Cards: Earnshaw

Goals: Chambers (2), Tudgay (24, 45), Earnshaw (53, 90)

Derby

Bywater, Leacock, Brayford, Barker, Moxey, Bailey, Green, Cywka (Davies 82), Commons, Bueno (Porter 72), Moore

Unused Subs: Deeney, Addison, Pringle, Pearson, Doyle

Yellow Cards: Leacock, Moxey, Commons

Goals: Moore (14), Commons (55)

I.Saw's Match Report:

A short car journey.

Travelling with trepidation.

Fuelled by fanaticism.

We made our way through the Red Sea. Bridgford Lower Row Z back of the stand, we stand.

Standing we want a performance.

We demand it.

Our demands like an unsuccessful ransom go unanswered.

Brayford in the centre, Leacock right back, tactics.

Tic-Tac-Toe. A generous free kick right hand side. A generous corner courtesy of what could have only been wafer thin contact. A generous free header from the corner and we are a goal down.

Football's a simple game. Forest prove it so. In less than two minutes.

Leacock hauls down Tyson and whilst the Red rolls a Yellow puts the defender on a tightrope.

Aggression needed we got rashness, Dean Moxey joins Leacock on a yellow both full backs now booked.

Against the run of play we equalize. Alberto Bueno plays the ball for Luke Moore to run on to. He does, Moore fires past Camp off the bar and in. It's one all. We have hope.

Hope wasn't enough, we were getting roasted. “Spit Roast Billy” said the homemade sign, a horrible thought, on the pitch though it was worse. Midfield split like atoms, bouncing everywhere, wings conceded the centre doesn't hold.

Earnshaw, a dwarf taller than a king, crosses and Marcus Tudgay proves he no longer is a Ram as he heads towards goal. The crossbar, the line, the linesman's flag, a goal. We can't believe it. Only Tudgay appealed, only the Assistant saw it. One four letter word is replaced by another.

Two one then and still we can't dominate or even compete; we are second best by a long chalk. A chalk that suddenly got longer.

Going in a goal down wasn't to be as Forest scored with another header, Tudgay again, between two defenders 3-1 as the half time whistle blows.

We expect more, it’s a first half that shows the same old problems we know we have. We can't hold the ball upfront. We then need to pass, move and create space. We don't play with width by Clough's command. We lack options. We resort to long hoofed balls which we can't hold; we lose possession and put pressure on ourselves.

And whilst the manager might have had harsh words with the players in the interval, my overwhelming thought was that it should have been Nigel up against the wall in the dressing room with somebody knocking the stubbornness out of him.

No change at half time, we start the same way as we did in the first.

It took six more minutes than it did in the opening period yet the result was the same.

This time Earnshaw slotted the ball past Bywater after yet another cross was appallingly not dealt with. Brayford, Moxey, Leacock and Barker, Sunday League defending on a Wednesday.

Kris Commons gave us slight hope, a free kick driven past a leaden footed Camp to reduce the deficit to 4-2. A celebration that mocked the Brian Clough Stand, with waves and a pat of the stomach.

Belated substitutions saw Porter provide more of a threat than Moore although Bueno and not Cywka was sacrificed, the Pole was eventually replaced by Davies. And if anybody says it was like a new signing then they are either employed by DCFC or are one step away.

To cap a night of shame, Leacock failed to deal with a bouncing ball and Earnshaw added a second volleying past Bywater to make it 5-2 in the dying seconds.

Wanting to get away, walking through a Red Sea of glee, we fumed, we muttered, Clough's name in the gutter. It's time to go. It's time to go.

In the car, on the radio its 'Blame, blame, blame', Nigel’s song is playing.

It sticks in my craw to be honest. Week after chuffing week we see the same mistakes the same inabilities the same deficiencies; we solved them once by playing a system which suited the players we had.

We can see that Nigel why can't you?

Sometimes you have to take a stick to move a stubborn mule.

Let’s hope this tree proves a stick big enough for Clough.

I.Saw's Man Of the Match: Commons

Manager’s Reaction:

Nigel Clough was fuming after the match when speaking to BBC Radio Derby:

"They can't really hide. When you go over the white line, there's no hiding there, you either do it or you don't do it, some can do it, some can’t." 

"We get to the stage where we give the players every opportunity but at some point you have to move on to the next group. All the ability in the world isn't enough at this level. You have to have the desire." 

"You've either got it or you go back to League Two or Poland or wherever you're from. We can't afford to have nights like this."  

 "Dean Leacock for an experienced defender with Premier League experience and an international midfielder in Paul Green, I thought they offered us absolutely nothing." 

"You talk about the inexperience of our young lads, you're looking for those sorts of players to show a little bit but they gave them absolutely nothing. We have got a very young squad, you need those so-called experienced players to come through for you."

"We thought we were a little bit further down the road. This is a major setback and it's the most upset after I've been after a game of football."

Stand-in Captains Reaction:

Shaun Barker was on bended knee to Rams fans after the defeat:

"Myself and the boys who played can only apologise to all the Derby fans who came to watch that ," said Barker, who was captain for the night in the absence of the suspended Robbie Savage." 

"Defensively, the goals we conceded were criminal. It started with me after two minutes, when I let Chambers have a free header in the box and he scored." 

"You need the skipper to keep things tight for the first 10 minutes, when you are going to be under pressure but I didn't do that." 

"I let the boys down at the start and, after that, we just didn't defend well enough. To concede five goals against anyone is disappointing but to do it against your local rivals makes it even harder to take." 

"Everything went wrong for us, to be honest, it started badly and we were cut open far too easily."

Final Comment:

In just over three weeks the Derby players will have the opportunity to partially make amends for their dismal performance and restore some pride on their own turf.

Nothing less than a home win will do - otherwise it could once again be a very long season for Rams fans.

Photo: Action Images

ConnexIV added 20:56 - Dec 30 Great game, a result that was flattering to the away side more than forest, who could have smashed several more in had they taken there oppertunities. Cant wait to buy the DVD of that match.
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RamZone_News added 19:18 - Jan 4 We'll just remember the hilarious 'cuppie' 4-2 and 3-0 thrashings of the Trees on the Derby DVD of those victories - and look forward to Jan 29th. Some Rams' players certainly have to fight for their future after that one! How is Billy's lawyer? Still making soft earnings over wild, disrespectul allegations about N Clough, after all one of the Trees' best-ever players?

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