After a mundane 0-0 draw at Barnsley had put Derby County within reach of mathematical safety in the Championship table, the Rams aimed to secure their status for 2010-11 at home against relegation-threatened Crystal Palace.

Having been sent off during the recent home game against Ipswich Town for being the only manager ever to allegedly swear at a matchday official, Rams’ manager Nigel Clough denied the charge of improper conduct brought against him by the F A; he has requested a personal hearing.

I’m sure the FA will again ignore the facts and that Clough’s rational and detailed defence will fall on deaf ears among the blazer brigade. I noticed that there was a melee - live on national TV - during the WBA vs. Middlesbrough game on Saturday evening: I also noticed that Chelsea’s John Terry clearly told the referee to " **** off” (easily spotted on Saturday’s MoTD highlights), when the England captain disputed the penalty he'd given away for handball against Spurs.

At the time, Terry was not cautioned or dismissed for the offence (unlike Derby’s Stephen Pearson against Ipswich Town last week) and this inconsistency should be explained. I await the retrospective charges against those other clubs and players with interest.

I also await a structure whereby the FA and Referees Association are duty-bound to explain their procedures and the (erratic) actions and reportage of their matchday officials...though I suppose I had better book one of those Derby County funerals in the meantime, as my demise will probably precede any such move or improvement.

I think we should repeatedly lobby the FA with complaints or notifications about the kind of behaviour seen from other teams and players - for which seemingly Derby County are repeatedly censured, punished and fined. Similar occurrences are going unpunished, because of the crass inconsistency from officials and authorities.

I’d also suggest that those fans within earshot of the dug-outs at Pride Park Stadium should note and record what opposing managers say to officials and lodge a formal complaint to stewards and police about any foul and abusive language used.

We should strive to notify the FA consistently to enable them to react as necessary - under their own precedents - and help their ‘clean up the game’ campaign. The disciplinary panel would keep busy if all similar examples were reported!

Back on terra firma, the Rams’ reserves are still in the title hunt a point ahead at the top of the ToteSport.com League (Central Division) table, with Burton Albion chasing in 2nd place. Derby lost 3-2 to WBA and had Liverpool youngster Adam Pepper in the ranks on trial. The 18-year old scored and manager Nigel Clough may follow up his interest as the Reds are releasing Pepper.

Derby’s young heart-op Irish Youth international Mark O’Brien made a welcome return to action for the Academy side last week, playing 45 minutes against Wallsend on Tuesday. The Rams are pleased with his progress and Mark was due to feature in last Saturday’s youth game with WBA.

Loanee goalkeeper David Martin has gone back to Liverpool, whilst due to the unavailability of Kris Commons and wavering form and fitness of Steve Davies, his namesake winger David Martin will be given a higher profile in Derby’s remaining games.
Transfer talk is never far away at this time of the season and Nigel Clough is looking for half a dozen new players. Striker Gary Hooper of Scunthorpe is in Clough’s sights; let’s hope we’ve already got a bid accepted for him, as the 22-year old hit a hat-trick for The Iron on Saturday, so there is sure to be interest from several clubs.

Nigel Clough commented that he‘d like Hooper, and such as Crewe’s John Brayford - though he wasn’t sure if we would afford the fees demanded. I hope Mr Glick will ensure that we could actually afford to buy Crewe and Scunthorpe players if the manager wants them!

Derby may also renew their interest in Everton’s James Vaughan, whose loan spell at Pride Park Stadium was cut short by injury. Wigan Athletic’s Polish forward Tomasz Cywka could also join Derby as his contract at Wigan expires this summer...or might do, according to Nigel Clough! He has impressed so far and has the skill and mobility to work well alongside the centre forward.

Crystal Palace came to Pride Park Stadium still battling desperately to avoid the drop after suffering the dreaded 10 points’ penalty for going into administration. Derby weren’t safe and Nigel Clough wanted his team to put on an emphatic finish to the season.

Loanees David Martin and Tomasz Cywka made their full home debuts and were two of the few bright spots of the afternoon; the formidable Sean Barker and ‘old reliables’ Russell Anderson and Stephen Bywater were others who played well, as did Paul Green.

Anderson - close to agreeing a new two-year deal with Derby - technically notched the goal that secured Derby’s Championship safety, apart from defending solidly. He might have been the match-winner too, notching Derby’s goal after just 6 minutes in Derby’s whirlwind start. The defender pushed home Savage’s cross and it looked as though the Palace foundations had been fatally undermined; such was Derby’s first-half dominance.

The Rams couldn’t build on their superiority however - and the only thing that Palace could do in the second half was to improve. The Eagles certainly were vastly improved in the 2nd period, with the introduction of Stern John proving a significant change.

He was a useless lump of lard when on loan at Derby in the Phil Brown era but has been our scourge ever since. He changed the game and added power to the Eagle’s attack, giving Barker and Anderson a lot more to worry about with his bustling style.

Conversely, Derby’s play fragmented and substitute Steve Davies was disappointing, out of sorts and unable to boost the Rams’ attack. Manager Clough later made an oblique criticism when he said he wished he’d have put on Ben Pringle instead!

Bywater had to make made a great double save and Stern John crashed one shot against the bar, before the inevitable occurred and Palace equalised. John turned and hammered and emphatic finish with just 6 minutes remaining, to muted groans and a mass exodus again from Derby fans, crestfallen by witnessing a familiar capitulation.

Derby’s 2nd half show was poor indeed and Palace proved they had the greater passion, commitment and determination. It had been another forgettable afternoon in front of a 30,000+ crowd for Derby County; they can gratefully reflect that they are at least safe but look set to achieve the bare minimum from their season yet again.

The boisterous Eagles fans enjoyed their day out much more, travelling back to south London hopeful that they can yet secure survival.

So, Derby County achieved ‘the magic number’ of 53 points - which this season will spell survival with two games to go. The Rams are 15th in the table, 7 points clear of the bottom three. They may just improve on their lowly 54 points’ total of 2008-09.

Derby could at least take their security from the Crystal Palace result, alongside the promising performances from David Martin and Tomasz Cywka, hopefully two for the future as Clough redevelops his squad.

To make any impression on the league table in future, Derby must gather points at a far higher rate than in recent seasons. For the second campaign in a row, Derby County have been unable to reach even the modest total of 60 Championship points from an available 138 points during a 46-game campaign.

That’s thoroughly shameful; even more so in the context of the fact that in excess of 29,000 regulars pay to watch them. The abacus in the feature picture above has 100 beads - champions-elect Newcastle United look likely to exceed that total in points won this season, virtually doubling Derby's tally.

Making the assumption that the Rams can win one of their last two games would give a 2009-10 points’ total of 56 points; add that miniscule improvement onto last season’s tally of 54 points and that’s a measly 110 points garnered from an available 274.

If you added on the ‘proceeds’ of that pitiful 11-point, 38-match Premier League campaign of 2007-08, then Derby County have won just 121 points from an available 390 in three seasons. Truly shocking!

Given that Derby’s Premier League wages were circa £25m, last season’s were £15m and this season’s are £11m, that’s the value given to us from the players whilst over £50m has been spent on player wages.

There’s no doubt that players are the true benefactors in modern football even at our level, the comparatively rich rewards compared to what we mere mortals take home is ridiculous, given that outcome.

For such under-achieving individuals to receive pay levels equivalent (or in excess) of that earned by captains of industry is nonsense.

The club reported that 2010-11 season ticket sales - on the weekend that the ‘early-bird’ price freeze for renewals expired - were set to match last season’s figures and the ticket office renewed almost 2,000 tickets in a single day during the week’s business. Will we watch players who can justify that interest and loyalty?

Derby’s last away game of this season is at Bristol City next Saturday, before the finale at home against play-off hopefuls Cardiff City. Let’s hope Derby can show some momentum and purpose in those two matches to close the campaign on a reasonable note.

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In RamsWeek 15 last season it was a case of vertigo for Derby and ‘you’d better not look down’ as they scrapped for enough points for Championship survival. The leaders, Wolverhampton Wanderers visited Pride Park Stadium and cruelly nicked the points in an eventful 3-2 win for the lupine Black Country life-forms.

Derby had gifted Wolves an lead early on but hit back in spirited fashion, with Kazmierczak (remember him...?) crashing in a 25-yard free kick. The Rams took the game to Wolves and went ahead through Sterjovski (remember him...?) before sloppy defending allowed the visitors to score twice late in the game, to deny Derby at least a deserved share of the spoils.

Then Derby went head-to-head with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in search of survival points (sounds familiar?) but suffered another defeat. Although the Eagles were reduced to 10 men having had Victor Moses sent off, they stole a goal through Shefki Kuqi and saw the game out to inflict a 1-0 defeat on Derby.

Manager Clough bemoaned a lack of passion and commitment from his side (sounds familiar?) and the club stood 18th in the table, 5 points clear of relegation. Still some work to do..!

Photo: Action Images

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