Grit, determination and yes, some style. Same old result.

Derby County 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Keane (68), Kaboul (81), Berbatov (pen 94)

When will it end? The Rams gave everything; Stephen Pearson was magnificent as were his teammates and the crowd was at its loudest. Shame that all we got for it was Trevor Francis deriding us every thirty seconds on Sky's Football First.

Home debuts for Carroll and Stubbs, the sort of players Billy Davies should have signed in the summer instead of preening his ego and settling for Andy Griffin. As Colin Gibson pointed out after yesterday's game, wee Billy complained incessantly about not having enough time following the playoff final to get his squad in order and yet two weeks of the summer were spent fooling around trying to keep the egotistical Scotsman happy.

That time should have been spent bringing in Premiership calibre players, either from home or abroad. Billy should have known who to go after a long time before Wembley; on this day a year ago we were seven points clear at the top of the Championship and promotion was no longer some pipe dream; it was the expected result of a miraculous season.

Although direct comparisons can't be made, in 1996 when Jim Smith's Rams suddenly burst clear of the rest of the Division One pack he began the preparations for the Premier League; he signed Ashley Ward and began the process of bringing two players named Jacob Laursen and Aljosa Asanovic to the club ready for the step up to the top flight.

Instead Billy Davies chose to harp on about bringing the rest of his cronies in from Preston and then flailed about signing known quantities like Griffin, Todd, Davis, Earnshaw and Lewis; known in that we all knew they weren't good enough for the money we were forking out for them. Of all of Billy's signings this past summer only Kenny Miller has made any sort of impression and that's why we sit bottom of the league with nine points and getting turned over every week despite giving every ounce of effort possible.

Billy Davies let these players down.

Fear not however, because all is not lost; Paul Jewell is in command now and whilst we still can't find that winning formula we are playing significantly better and this game, despite the result, may be seen in the future as the game in which we finally looked capable of competing in the world's finest football league. Spurs did eventually move up a couple of gears once Berbatov entered the fray and once Giles Barnes squandered his wonderful first half chance you wondered if we had missed out big chance for an upset but it was encouraging to see the Rams take the initiative and have a real go at one of the Premiership's bigger sides.

As I said before, Pearson had a fine game with his direct running and all action style but he was not alone; there were big contributions from Miller, Villa and at long last Giles Barnes who may have just realised he needs to earn his big money move elsewhere.

It was Barnes' aforementioned chance that nearly set the Rams on their way and it really was one of those chances that make or break a game; it was Pearson initially, full of running and his break through midfield eventually Miller with the Rams and with Barnes at full pace in front of him the Scot slid the perfect ball to put the talented youngster through on Radek Cerny; a goal seemed certain but Barnes, choosing finesse over power, placed his shot wide of the goal, a criminal miss really but real encouragement that perhaps our much touted opponents were not all they are cracked up to be.

There is no denying where Tottenham's strength lies though and that is up top; Darren Bent didn't do anything to trouble the Rams but when Dimitar Berbatov came off of the bench to partner Robbie Keane the game was up; under today's ridiculous offside rules Spurs' first was legitimate but it still rankles that the Rams' backline, ably marshalled by the superb Alan Stubbs, did well to step up and catch Berbatov offside only to be undone when the Bulgarian stepped out allowing Malbranque to take possession and drill a low shot which Roy Carroll could only palm into the path of Robbie Keane.

One nil. Rams, meet the pan; you're going down it.

The crowd struggled to meet their previous volume after that which is unsurprising and suddenly Spurs were in full flow with Berbatov looking every inch the world class striker that he is and the Rams looking disconsolate. The second came from a corner and whilst you could say it was poorly defended, Kaboul's turn to outdo Andy Todd was sublime and the finish cave Carroll no chance although you could argue that Barnes should have done better on the line than hang onto his post.

Two nil was harsh on the Rams but three nil was damn near ridiculous. Unfortunately though we were saddled with referee Martin Atkinson who gave a nothing handball against Stubbs in injury time; Berbatov slotted home the spot kick to rub salt into the wounds but applause must go out to Mr. Atkinson who was right to kick us in the teeth with his decision; I just wonder if that would have been given at Old Trafford...

Wigan and Sunderland are out next opponents; if we play as we did in the first hour yesterday then we might just do some of that winning thing.

That would be a turn-up.

Full Time: Rams 0-3 Spurs

Rams: Carroll 7; Edworthy 6 (Jones 5); Moore 5 (Todd 6); Leacock 8; Stubbs 8; Savage 6 (Sterjovski 5); Pearson 9; Barnes 8; Fagan 7; Villa 8; Miller 8.

Spurs: Cerny; Chimbonda; Dawson (Kaboul); Huddlestone; Hutton; Lennon; Jenas; Boateng (O'Hara); Malbranque; Keane; Bent (Berbatov).

Referee: Martin Atkinson.

Attendance: 33,058.

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Photo: Action Images

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