 Friday, 29th Feb 2008 11:04 For once we're playing a team that's worse than us at something. Derby County v RK Sunderland Sunderland have the worst away record of any team in the league. They have earned two points on the road compare to our massive, er ... three. It's fair to say that if it wasn't for their home form, the Black Cats would be following us back to the Championship. Roy Keane invested heavily in the summer. Halford, Anderson, Chopra, Richardson, Etuhu, McShane, Gordon, O'Donovan, van der, Cole, Harte, Higginbotham and Jones all came in at a cost of over £35m. In retrospect, Keane signed players who would have been good in the Championship and asked them to make the step up to the Premier League. Although they've done better than the Rams, the expenditure on contracts and players must be astronomical. Niall Quinn and his consortium must be worried about the return on their investment however a further £8m + was spent in the transfer window in an attempt to hang on to their Premiership status. In came Phil Bardsley and Jonny Evans (loan) from Manchester United, Jean-Yves Mvoto for an undisclosed fee from Paris Saint Germaine, Rade Prica from Aalborg and Andy Reid from Charlton. Tellingly, two of the summer signings, Andrew Cole and Halford have been shipped out on loan. Roy Keane it seems does learn from his mistakes. It looks to be paying off as Sunderland inch away from the relegation places. Key home victories over Birmingham and Wigan sees the Black Cats on 26 points and a win on Saturday could take them up to a respectable 12th. Like his mentors, Clough and Ferguson, Roy Keane isn’t afraid to upset people. Keane told Radio Newcastle; “I didn't come to Sunderland to be popular, I came here to be successful. When I became manager I was given a three year contract with the aim of getting the club into the Premiership. The danger in football is looking too far ahead. I've got to look at the bigger picture which is Sunderland Football Club.” Liam Miller is a case in point. He’s been told by Keane that he can leave the club in the summer. Keane told the BBC; “The problem is Liam's time-keeping, it is as simple as that. It is nothing to do with Liam as a player, I’ve got a lot of time for Liam, but we set a very high standard at the football club and, unfortunately, Liam has not been able to match that.” He does hold out an olive branch however. After watching Miller play in a reserve game he said; “If he performs like he did last night and nobody comes in for him, then who knows? As long as he is under the roof, you feel, as with lots of other players, they have always got a chance.” Do I hear an echo of the late Mr. Clough? Current Sunderland Squad No. Position Player Last 5 games Tottenham 2-0 Sunderland Danger Men For fans who like to boo the opposition, there’s former Ram Danny Higginbotham who’s threat not to play because he hadn’t been paid has been seen as being disloyal. There’s also Andy Reid the ex-Forest fatty, Michael Chopra was on loan there and let’s not forget the Manager once played down Brian Clough Way. Leading scorer for the Black Cats is Kenwyne Jones with five goals. That’s only as many as Kenny Miller who has hardly been prolific this season. Jones however has shown that he can learn and may actually develop into a Premiership striker whereas Miller hasn’t. It would be interesting to see how Jones’s career would have developed if Billy Davies had been able to sign him? Whereas the Rams only have one player on three goals (and he’s left the club), the Black Cats have three in Chopra, Murphy & Richardson. Sunderland have scored 26 goals this season, twice as many as us. They’ve scored nine times on the road despite their poor form and that is actually one more than we’ve scored at home. They are also the master of the late goal as we already know from the Stadium of Light. Danny Collins faces a late fitness test but Danny Higginbotham will probably be fit. The Rams “They've certainly made my life uncomfortable with that performance and, next week, Derby won't be a nice place to work for the players;” fumed Paul Jewell minutes after the 2-0 defeat at Wigan. Honesty from the manager and it was the only response anybody who had witnessed the abject surrender could stomach. And even then you get the feeling that the patience of the Derby faithful is stretching to breaking point. Yes we're going down and yes we'll probably be the worst Premiership ever - at least until next year - but at least make an effort. It's wrong to single out players but then it's wrong to consistently let down the fans who pay hard earned money to watch you week in week out. Robbie Savage is at least honest. In The Derby Evening Telegraph he said; "I have been poor. My form has been nowhere near what it should be and I take that on the chin. I am a big boy." Maybe so Robbie but then you go on to cite injuries and lack of confidence among the players as reasons why you aren't playing well. You are the Captain Robbie and claiming you are going to wave a magic wand and get us back in the Premiership will not cut any ice with the fans who sat through last weeks showing. Ostentatious luxury car purchases aren't a help either. You said to judge you on your performances for Derby and so far, you haven't put one in. Giles Barnes is another who needs to take a look at himself. He's a good player. He could be brilliant. But playing as an individual in a team isn't going to get him the big move he wants. He needs to knuckle down and show he can do it for the team and consistently. Otherwise he'll join the long list of nearly men. Look at Tom Huddlestone. He is not as talented a footballer as Giles and yet with work, discipline and application he's already being talked about as a future England star and last week he won his first major trophy. Kenny Miller? I have some sympathy for him in that he's being played as a target man when he clearly doesn't have the ability to play in that role but it's pretty obvious he's after a transfer in the close season and he looks like he's going through the motions. That isn't good enough for any team let alone for the Rams who still fill the seats week in and week out despite being a joke. Only Roy Carroll and Alan Stubbs come out of last weeks debacle with any credit and let’s hope the manager has been easier on them. When Jewell was asked about “boot camp” claims, he said; "When you say have the players had a tough week, do you mean coming in to these wonderful training facilities at 10am and going home at 3pm? I've had a good response from the players this week." Let’s hope we see it on the pitch. Barnes and Savage are out with injuries while Dean Leacock is struggling. Mick's Team: Carroll, Leacock, Stubbs (C), Moore, Edworthy, Jones, Ghaly, Fagan, Sterjovski, Villa, Earnshaw What the bookies think Despite their poor away form, the bookies fancy The Black Cats for this one, having them at only 5/4. The Rams are at 7/4 while the draw is at 11/5. They also have Kenny Miller and Kenwyne Jones as joint favourites to score at 9/4 while all the remaining strikers are at 11/4. Information for travelling fans 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: Sunderland to Derby is about 160 miles. Take the A1 then head south until it joins the M1. Take the M1 to J25 Derby and take Brian Clough Way (A52) to Derby. Stay on it until the turn off for Alvaston – or just follow the follow the away supporter’s football traffic signs. There will be traffic around Alvaston however if you stay on London Rd you can get to the parking areas described below. Traffic on the M1 will be the key factor but you should make it in three hours. 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 take the Derby Ring road towards the City Centre and pass the exit for Pride Park on Brian Clough Way (A52) 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 I'm not sure how this will go. Sunderland aren't very good away from the Stadium of Light but we're pretty bad at Pride Park. Sunderland's home form will go a long way towards keeping them up and a critical few points on the road could make all the difference. I'm expecting them to be up for this and it could be a torrid afternoon for us Rams if they play like they did last week. They couldn't be that bad again ... could they?
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