Derby County faced promotion contenders Reading and Southampton as a busy Championship fixture programme beckoned.

After a resolute rather than resounding performance at Millwall, some fans called for more adventure and enterprise from the Derby team - though it’s debatable as to whether this Rams team can ‘turn on the power’ when the situation looks inviting.

The lack of ruthlessness in front of goal costs points, as shown by Craig Bryson’s awful miss at the New Den, and chances are now rare in Derby’s shot-shy mentality in such games.

Fans were emboldened to speak out about squad resources, calling for the club to demonstrate more ambition, as the supporters must pay a 10% increase for their season tickets. After four years of mostly going backwards on the pitch, Derby need to challenge for promotion rather than perennially struggling or treading water.

The team can usually defend well but is currently at the crossroads between a rather sterile and unexciting Championship residency and pushing on to greater things. Part of the problem has been the fitness and availability of strikers in the squad, so a great deal of weight now rests on the shoulders of Tyson, Robinson and Steve Davies.

As Derby plod on rather than push forward some will be satisfied with modest progress allied to financial stability. Expect well-honed reminders about some clubs being in financial peril whenever investment is mentioned!

After more than three years with their chosen manager in charge at the club it seems unlikely that GSE will ever trust their chosen manager with anything like the budget granted to Paul Jewell.

Mr Glick’s season-ticket renewal letter also unwittingly betrays the club’s static mentality, saying: “the team will be a contender year-on-year”. That’s meant to sound enticing - but it’s just wrong-headed. A club of Derby’s size and support should be a ‘contender’ for a year or two at most - and then actually win promotion or GSE promises won’t be delivered.

Rival clubs have out-stripped Derby from a worse position in the league and low ownership wealth, on a shorter time-scale. Make your own list! Being ‘in touch’ with the top six is a long chalk from being promotion contenders. It gnaws at Rams fans that the club falters amid ambitious declarations from the owners; we’ll again watch the promotion shakedown from a distance.

Elsewhere, apart from the England fiasco and Liverpool ‘Suarez’ PR disaster, a few other clubs seem to be in a state of disarray. Glasgow Rangers went into administration owing over £50m in tax bills alone and have incurred the 10-point penalty.

The plight of the Scottish giant, a regular Champions League participant, sent a shock-wave through football. Rangers will recover, but they will have to rethink their strategy completely - and again it is clear that football has to change.

There have been warnings about big clubs going to the wall because of their over-commitment on transfer fees and player wages; Electing to ignore HMRC demands and carrying on is a dangerous policy. Now that stricter tax controls are being pursued clubs will have to smell the coffee, get solvent and embrace new financial regulations that governing bodies will introduce.

Championship club Portsmouth are also in administration and their 10-point penalty saw them drop into the relegation zone. Pompey has huge HMRC bills to pay plus debts to former owners and it is currently the most high-profile English club to succumb to financial self-harm.

Trevor Birch, who became a DCFC director for a few days several years ago, is involved with the Fratton Park administrators and called their situation ‘crazy’.

Closer to home, DirtyLeeds have entrusted their future to Neil Warnock whilst neighbours Huddersfield Town surprisingly sacked manager Le Clark, and struggling Wolves sacked manager Mick McCarthy as the club fell into the Premier League relegation zone last week following their 1-5 home defeat to local rivals WBA. Notts County sacked boss Martin Allen, too.

Last season’s play-off finalists Reading have often had the better of Rams vs. Royals clashes and despite financial and managerial changes taking place at the Madejski Stadium in recent times, they are knocking on the promotion door again this season. With a mean defence and an excellent away record, they would pose a stiff test for Nigel Clough’s men.

Ex-Ram Tomasz Cywka, who scored for Derby at Reading in the 2-2 draw in October last year didn’t get a chance to shine against his former manager Nigel Clough; Cywka joined Reading in January but was excluded from the Royals’ line-up in a transfer clause - a strange arrangement.

Nigel Clough kept the same Derby starting line-up that drew at Millwall; Theo Robinson and Steve Davies were included on a substitute’s bench that had no place for anonymous Sunderland loanee Ryan Noble. The recent frozen weather had been chased away for a milder spell and it was a relatively mild Tuesday evening at Pride Park Stadium.

The opening exchanges were scrappy, with Reading having the better of any play. There was little to excite the home crowd and neither goalkeepers were troubled until Reading’s Federici had to deal with a Jamie Ward free kick after 20 minutes, then a Tyson drive shortly afterwards. The dearth of entertainment and productive play continued until the merciful release of the half-time whistle, with a predictable 0-0 scoreline.

Steve Davies replaced Craig Bryson on the restart and soon after, with Callum ball getting no change from the Reading defence, Theo Robinson entered the fray in his place.

It was Reading, though, who took the lead on the hour as Noel Hunt out-jumped the sluggish Derby defence to head in Kebe’s cross. Even at that stage, Derby’s disjointed attack was still misfiring and the midfield struggled to make any headway against an organised Royals side.

Jamie Ward flashed a header wide but generally, he was generally stifled, so Derby’s play suffered from a lack of thrust and penetration. Pretty play and possession ultimately counts for nothing unless there is a killer ball allied to some muscle and finishing power in attack.

Pushing the centre-half up front (again) in the late stages is all the evidence needed that the club’s reluctance to invest in a centre-forward or goal-taker is rapidly undoing any so-called challenge.

Reading had more experience and it told. Keeper Federici did not have a difficult save to make as the Rams’ display petered out in a disappointing 0-1 defeat. Reading’s compact and efficient team regained a top six place in the Championship table whilst the Rams stayed at 13th spot.

After the game, Bryson and Roberts were nursing injuries and John Brayford is still recovering from his thigh problem. Derby’s lack of cover in a small and inexperienced squad could be exposed. Rookie loanee Sunderland forward Ryan Noble went back to his club after the Reading game without Rams fans seeing anything more of him this time around. Cheerio, then.

The 22,567 attendance craved some entertainment, though 500-odd Reading fans among them were happy. The Royals are on an upward curve and seem on course for a top-six finish.

The stadium looked thinly-populated on Tuesday night; it should be remembered that - whether holders attend or not - season-ticket places sold are always counted in the attendance recorded. It seemed like a sub-20,000 crowd on the night, and those taking a rest made a good decision.

As after the first half of the Barnsley debacle, Rams’ manager Nigel Clough declared himself ‘puzzled’ with Derby’s flat performance. Nigel - we’re just not good enough! It is obvious close up watching Derby performances year-on-year; it’s obvious from a distance too, for the opponents’ staff to work out how to tame and beat us. Score first against us, and you’ll beat us.

Fact: there’s not enough quality or muscle in this Derby squad and it’s sad to conclude that there may be some self-delusion going on at all levels. From a distance, GSE’s European outbase looks attractive and the place can appear glamorous and atmospheric when the top games fill the stadium. At those times, the owners even come across the Atlantic for some ‘fun’.

Fans are closer to the action - and with the benefit of memory and heritage to draw upon the shortcomings of an honest but limited squad present a quite different scenario. The low investment brings a dose of reality to their Derby love affair - which I doubt the investors had witnessed, on low-interest nights like Tuesday against Reading.

I received my latest DCFC e-shot of exciting new offers the next day; I’d say the butterflybeach.com Barbados offer may be a better bet than a 2012-13 Pride Park Stadium season ticket if there are yet more years of Academy-based team development to undergo. Perhaps the only way to hand more funds to the manager is to cash in on some of the precocious youngsters next summer, whilst League clubs can still earn decent fees for their Academy graduates?

The Rams faced New Mills in the Derbyshire Senior Cup on Wednesday and progressed to the final after a 4-1 win over the Evo-Stick League team. Defenders scored Derby’s goals; Tom Naylor netting in the first half then Miles Addison, playing in a forward role, grabbed second-half hat-trick. Ben Davies and Chris Maguire also featured in the Derby side, skippered by Jason Buxton.

Saturday’s meeting with Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium looked one of the sternest remaining tests of the season for the Rams. The Saints have been in the Championship top two all season and rocketed to the top of the table straight after promotion from Division One in 2010-11. To reinforce their promotion bid, the Saints added Billy Sharp in January for £1.8m.

The Rams had an entertaining 1-1 draw with the Saints at Pride Park Stadium in October in front of a 33,000 crowd. One main difference is that Soton have goalscorers - Ricky Lambert tops the Championship scoring charts on 16 (twice as many goals as Derby’s Theo Robinson).

Rams fans in contrast now expect only a ‘safety-first’ mentality from their team; prior to the game, both Derby manager chief executive ruled out a ‘marquee’ striker signing in the summer whilst acknowledging that Derby do not score enough goals. Southampton had scored 54 goals, Derby 33 - and the Saints also had the best home record in the division.

Nigel Clough recalled John Brayford and James Bailey and started with Ward and Tyson in attack, with forwards Callum Ball, Theo Robinson and Steve Davies on the bench. Southampton eased themselves in front after 15 minutes when centre-forward Ricky Lambert made his presence felt and Hooieveld took advantage of Derby’s defensive muddle to score from close range.

In the short spell either side of the break when Derby figured in the game, Saints’ ‘keeper Kelvin Davis stopped a long-range effort late from Jamie Ward, then Barker and Ward combined from a corner to ruffle the Saints defence.

With only those two on-target efforts all afternoon, the attacking threat from the Rams was minimal. Tyson showed energy but no end product. Southampton got their crucial 2nd goal near the hour mark when Alan Martin hooked home from a corner and only minutes later it was 3-0, as Alex Lallana drove in to take the game beyond any Derby comeback.

Clough used substitutes Callum Ball, Theo Robinson and Steve Davies during the second half as the game went away from them, respectively replacing the unfit John Brayford, the run-around-for-an-hour Nathan Tyson and tiring James Bailey. Saints’ boss Nigel Adkinson was also able to use his substitutes and run out the game, with Derby’s threat non-existent.

There’s the difference; Clough tries to find a working combination from his forwards, most of whom lack fitness and take a consolation from a lost situation, whilst well-resourced squads like Southampton put goals and distance between themselves and the opposition then take their foot off the pedal when the contest is over.

Southampton made it 4-0 with 15 minutes to go when Lee lashed in from the left of the area. The Rams’ failure to hold possession showed again, as the Saints broke and showed how simple it is to score a goal.

The Derby defence (again) might have covered and pressed the ball better, Theo Robinson too easily dispossessed, as Southampton break swiftly to embellish their impressive home record. Cue home fans leaving early, happy that their entertainment had been fulfilled.

Southampton - in administration a couple of years ago and having to fight their way back from football’s third tier, could look down from the top of the table from a distance. They look a good bet to realise their ambitions of immediate promotion to the Premier League.

The near-1,100 travelling Rams fans in the 25,500 crowd had nothing to cheer from their trip to St Mary’s Stadium; the Saints went marching on and Derby fell away to 15th place.

Derby’s honest endeavour and perspiration weren’t enough against a side that have built quickly, spent judiciously when required and capitalised on their current momentum after a period of total restructuring on and off the pitch. The Saints have experience, dynamism and goal power; they made Derby look what they are - limited, predictable and pedestrian.

It seems there will be no 5-to-10 year toil for the Saints to build a competitive side that can challenge; even if the Rams may not be threatened with the drop, it seems their fans must yet again look enviously up the table when the end-of-season sort-out unfolds.

You get the feeling that Derby are on an achievement plateau with this squad; unless more quality and experience is added in midfield and attack any pretensions of a promotion challenge can be disregarded. It’s hard to disagree with Mr Clough that he now has the best bunch of players in his three years at the club - because his inherited squad was so shocking, it could only improve.

With such emphatic reversals against ambitious rivals, more results like this will drive more Rams fans to watch from a distance for a few seasons whilst this year-on-year maturing process continues. Manager Clough admired Southampton’s quality and striking power and alluded to a summer search for a Ricky Lambert-type player who can add muscle and goals for Derby.

Mr Glick has set great store by the proposed Football League and UEFA FFP regulations that, if voted in, will govern the expenditure-to-income rules of clubs. Rams fans are realistic and will acknowledge that the administration of their club is stable and at less risk than those cases being highlighted in the media and in the courts.

Fans don’t expect GSE to spend amounts like Leicester City on management and player turnover - but they do want sufficient investment in quality and experience - as promised last spring - such that they have a team to challenge and win long-lost pride back for their city.

The Foxes, Derby’s opponents on Thursday, had a turbulent recent history but the owners are determined to deliver the club to the Premier League.

They have stuttered this season and have under-achieved so far, against expectations of their fans, their investors and the pundits. They surprised Premier League Norwich City on Saturday, winning 2-1 in the FA Cup at Carrow Road. After recent ineffectual performances, Derby fans will expect a response from their team.

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RamsWeek 8 last year saw pressure on the club mount after a home defeat by the Foxes. Supporter concerns were increasing and calls for investment or change at the club grew louder.

Ex-director Peter Gadsby revealed that he had contacted DCFC’s ownership group GSE with the aim of acquiring a larger shareholding in the club. A week earlier, in a meeting with the supporters’ trust, when asked about GSE’s longevity or any exit plan, Mr Glick had replied that “there are no bids - and no bidders for the club”.

Mr Gadsby said there was an increasingly urgent need for investment at the club and pledged his commitment to the provision of funds for the manager to buy players. DCFC reiterated a 100% commitment to the club and said it was not for sale.

Both protagonists looked at ‘building the perfect beast’ in different ways; GSE from a seemingly interminable ‘slow build’ through Academy development and an apparently unreachable self-sustaining model of finance, Mr Gadsby from immediate new investment in the team in order to build a successful club and regain elite status on a shorter timescale.

The club at least redoubled efforts to reinforce the ailing team temporarily, and it recruited Sheffield United forward Jamie Ward on loan. Derby managed an uninspiring 0-0 draw at Scunthorpe United in front of a crowd of less than 6,000, and lay 18th in the Championship table.

Crawley Town, the non-League team that knocked Derby County out of the FA Cup in the previous round, lost 0-1 at Manchester United in a game that earned the minnows around £1m.

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Photo: Action Images

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