 Friday, 4th Jan 2008 14:35 If we lose on Sunday, one excuse I don't want to hear from Jewell is that we are concentrating on the league and the Cup is of secondary importance. Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday The league season so far has been utterly wretched and despite the constant stream of players and club officials who keep saying that it's not over yet, 99% of Derby fans know it is. Better Derby teams than this have been relegated. The Cup is our one chance of any cheer this year. The same is true for our opponents. Struggling at the bottom end of the Championship and having problems on and off the field - it's not a good time to be a Wednesday fan. The 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Preston was the first win in six. They haven't won away since November and lost their first six games. They have however managed to win eight of their games - seven more than us and including three on the road. They are currently above the relegation places and several teams (including Leicester) seem to be doing worse than them. Manager Brian Laws was full of praise for his goalscorers after the Preston game, he told the BBC; "We've asked them both to come off the treatment table and play and they've been magnificent, especially Akpo - who's come through two 90-minute appearances in the space of a few days.” He was also complimentary of the supporters - who are expected in large numbers at Pride Park; "It was a scrappy game and we needed a spark. The supporters did their bit by really getting behind us." An ominous statistic for superstitious Rams is that we've played Wednesday six times previously in the cup and only won once. Couple that with two ex Rams strikers (probably on the bench) and an ex Ram in nets and you will probably fear the worst. Current Wednesday Squad No. Position Player Last 5 games Crystal Palace 2-1 Sheffield Wed Danger Men Akpo Sodje is the clubs leading marksman with six goals to his name. A summer signing, he’s being compared favourably with Owl’s legend David Hirst. Akpo is the third of the four Sodje footballing brothers. Francis Jeffers – a possible target of Billy Davie during the summer - has two goals including one scored from the spot against Preston. His early promise at Everton and Arsenal doesn’t seem to have developed as it perhaps should have. A shame because I saw him play as a fourteen year old and if he’d continued on from there as he should we would have an England striker to face on Sunday Deon Burton is well known to all Rams fans. Honest and hard working, he’s netted five times this season. His fellow ex-Ram Marcus Tudgay has scored three times so far. I hope we don’t get a repeat of the booing of these two or Lee Grant who is likely to be in nets for Wednesday. I was surprised when Grant was let go. Unlike Lee Camp, I thought he was knuckling down well in the team and deserved a place in the squad. The Rams Unless we are two of three goals clear, the majority of Derby fans will be watching the clock tick around to the 89th minute with trepidation. The team do not seem to be able to hold concentration for the full 90 minutes and it has cost us big time. If we could have held out, we'd have beat Newcastle, got a draw with Liverpool, Possibly had the confidence to score a second and beat Blackburn and maybe take a point from Bolton. That's seven points. Okay we probably still wouldn't stay up - but we'd at least have a more respectable points tally. This game will give the fans a chance to assess the team against Championship opposition - almost certainly what we'll be playing next year. There's a conviction among some supporters that the team has gone backwards over the year and is now less able than the team of last January. Certainly the team spirit seems to be missing. Coincidently, we played The Wendy's around this time last year and won 1-0 with a last minute free kick - scored by Dave Jones. We also won 2-1 at Hillsboro although that was daylight robbery on the day; it was a measure of the spirit of the team that at 1-0 down and down to 10 men - and playing poorly - we managed to turn it around so spectacularly in the last few minutes. So if the Rams are a lesser team than last January, you can expect us to struggle to break down the Wednesday defence. I'd say that's almost a certainty if Paul Jewell plays a 4-5-1 formation with Kenny Miller as the target man. Miller just isn't a target man. He's not good in the air, doesn't hold up the ball well and doesn't bring other players into the game with crisp passing. His role is to score goals and link up with a striker that does those things. Macken would seem to be Hobson's choice to play alongside him - and he has scored against Championship opposition - so we should expect 4-4-2. The problem there of course is who supplies the bullets for them to score? Craig Fagan had a good game against Bolton (about time) but Teale and Lewis were hopeless. We're crying out for a player who can cross the ball or at least pass the ball to a player in the same colour shirt. It's possible that Laurent Robert who is training with the Rams will fulfil this role but at the time of writing there has been no decision. Matt Oakley has been the lynchpin of the midfield when he's played and it's worrying when even he can't find a Derby player with a pass. The problem is that he's having to do far too much work at the moment as Giles Barnes, and before him Stephen Pearson, goes missing in midfield. Barnes is a very good attacking midfielder but in the current team he's a bit of a luxury. He tends to play in fits and starts and that simply isn't good enough in the Prem. to be fair to Giles, we're expecting a lot of such a young player and in any other club he'd have other players who would take the pressure for him. There's a danger that a season struggling like this will lead to a burnout much as what happened to Phil Gee. Danny Mills may play in the defence if he's cleared in time to play. Maybe Mears will move into midfield? Mick's team: Price, Mills, Moore, Davis, Johnson, Mears, Oakley, Barnes, Fagan, Miller, Macken What the bookies think We’re favourites to win this with William Hill. The Rams are at 4/6 while you can get 10/3 for the ‘upset’. The draw is at 12/5. You can get 13/8 on Kenny Miller and 9/4 on Rob Earnshaw. You can also get 7/2 on Deon or Marcus to score against the Rams while Jeffers & Sodje are both at 3/1.
Drinking: There are very few pubs very close to the ground but if you come by train, the locale around the station is fairly inviting. The Crown and Cushion at the junction of London Rd always seems to be full of away supporters. The Brunswick is a must for any real ale fans and the Alexandra next door is my personal favourite. Fans tend to mingle in these pubs and as long as you’re not being aggressive, the atmosphere is good. The Waterfall opposite the station is okay as well. If you are driving, the Navigation Pub on London Rd opposite the parking area is your best bet. Having said all of that, there’s always the chance that the Derbyshire Police may insist that the pubs close for this game given the number of travelling fans expected. Driving it’s about 50 miles to Derby from Sheffield. Best route is M1 South to Junction 25. Take the A52 Brian Clough Way to Derby and the Stadium is on your left as you arrive in Derby. You can take the ring road to the London Rd area for Parking or stay on as described below. Parking: It used to be at the old Wilmorten College site however that is now a building site so away fans should park at Catalyst on London Rd opposite the Navigation pub. It’s about 10-15 minutes from the ground. Don’t be tempted to park at Pride Park shopping centre unless you fancy being clamped. You can also park for a £5 at the hospital further up London Rd near the hospital and the Railway station. Another alternative is to pass the exit for Pride Park on Brian Clough Way and head for Pentagon Island. Take the first exit and turn left and after a few hundred yards you will come to The Cattle Market Car Park. It’s about 10 minutes walk to the ground from here. Mick’s Prediction No excuses. Only a victory is good enough. If this team can’t compete with a struggling Championship side then it will be a sign we’ve lost all of the progress we’ve made in the last 18 months. That would make me very fearful of the future and would send a clear message to any potential investors that the club was in trouble.
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