The hard-earned point from the home draw with Burnley helped the Rams inch towards Championship consolidation as a busy fixture schedule with four games in ten days beckoned.

The club announced that it had extended the ‘early bird’ season ticket renewal deadline by a couple of days until after the Wolves home game on Easter Monday. Early season ticket sales were well ahead of the response this time last year; over 16,000 renewals has been recorded by the original renewal deadline of 11^th April - with a further 600 new applications too. It’s unclear whether these ‘newbies’ include the free under-8s that can be obtained with an adult S/T).

A fans’ forum for 750 renewed season ticket holders took place on Monday, with three ‘Derby teams’ doing the rounds in rotation between three stadium suites. Tom Glick, Adam Pearson and Nigel Clough answered current questions whilst ex-players (‘legends’ Roger Davies, Alan Durban and Archie Gemmill) and (representing the current squad) Robbie Savage and Stephen Bywater, provided the anecdotes, knockabout humour and glad-handing.

Nothing exactly revelatory came from the board or manager; they reiterated the intention to operate a smaller, higher quality and more closely-knit squad and expected to be in the running for the top six. The Rams’ board members commented that they had reduced Derby’s deficit from £31m to £23m and intend to reduce it this August to £15m, or the value of the mortgage on Pride Park Stadium.

There seems to be interest in a stadium monument to Brian Clough (and, I hope, to Peter Taylor) with the club saying it puts heritage and community in front of ‘global branding’ at the moment. Clough said he expected his players to be involved with the city and the fans and to get out there and ‘do things’, which was good to hear.

The investment in players and wages, spent mostly by the Gadsby regime via managers Davies and Jewell had largely brought about that debt. Shedding unwanted players and paying off members of the two previous managerial regimes proved as expensive as points had been elusive in those awful 18 months between promotion to the Premier League and Paul Jewell’s capitulation.

A record low with the relegation and now a bottom-third finish looking likely with currently one of the best-paid squads in the Championship after a scrabble for survival points has meant a testing time for the new owners as they try to capitalise on the huge support and optimism from the Derby fanbase.

The Cardiff away game (called off originally in the January frost) was now set to be the last floodlit game in the history of Ninian Park, with City moving to their new Sloper Road site this summer. Nigel Clough put fitness doubts Kris Commons and Stephen Pearson on the bench, with Bannan playing behind Rob Hulse, Eustace in midfield and Mile Sterjovski in a wide role.

Derby started brightly and John Eustace had a couple of chances and had another penalty claim turned down - whilst Sterjovski also missed a chance when put through - as the visitors muted the home crowd. Cardiff took the lead against the run of play, though after 17 minutes with a simple goal as the unmarked Roger Johnson headed a free kick past Bywater. Bannan was busy in Derby’s bright play but they lacked a cutting edge, as the ball simply didn’t stick well enough up front to threaten the Bluebirds.

Derby started the second half well but conceded again. Gavin Rae latched onto a long pass and slotted the ball home easily. Two minutes later, Derby were (cruelly) 0-3 down. As in the first half, Derby failed to defend a corner, Bothroyd reacting to fire it into the net. It was a harsh scoreline but if you don’t take chances and are slack at the other end, that’s what happens. Cardiff settled down to control the game in which they’d often struggled to match the Rams’ football.

Andy Todd, substitute for the below-par Albrechtsen, lost control and presented the contract-hopping American striker Eddie Johnson with a simple goal for 4-0. The failure of central defence to perform their jobs properly yet again would have enraged Nigel Clough and his staff, as well as increasing their resolve to find solid and consistent defenders to bring into the Derby side.

Derby conceded four goals at Sheffield United on their last away trip and have developed an unrewarding away habit of playing attractively and conceding a hatful sloppy goals. They did at last score, pulling a goal back in stoppage time; American striker hit the wrong net this time, obligingly rifling in Gary Teale’s corner for a paltry Rams’ consolation goal.

If only they had scored when it mattered! The ‘goals against’ column is potentially damaging to the Rams, because if the basement battle went down to goal difference, the deficit could put other teams within reach of them. They must stop conceding cheap goals! Derby were left to pick up enough crumbs from their remaining 6 fixtures to make the end of the season as comfortable as possible.

Cardiff took the points comfortably - rather gratefully - in the end, their 18,000 crowd going home happy in the Ninian Park twilight and in anticipation of their side claiming a play-off spot. The scoreline looked emphatic and Derby had let themselves down again; Rams fans still looked up enviously at mid-table teams and could only hope for better at Hillsborough on Saturday.

According to reports, Marseille may swell Nigel Clough’s coffers by taking window-jumping full-back Tyrone Mears off Derby’s hands soon in a permanent transfer of up to 1.5m Euros but Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock says his club couldn’t afford the fee or wages for Claude Davis, who is on loan with the Eagles until the end of the season and busy making himself just as popular with opposing players, fans and managers as he is in Derby.

Davis cost Derby £3m in July 2007 and has a 4-year contract. With a paltry 31 appearances for the Rams behind him, that represents  £97,000 per appearance, before wages (!) so - unless he ‘does a Savage’ and is rehabilitated by Clough - it is frightening to think what that player could cost Derby before 2011, even considering that he might again be shipped out on loan for the loan club to pay some wages. An outgoing transfer fee on him would redeem nowhere near what Billy Davies paid for him, that’s for sure. Davis is hardly the only current player for which similarly sobering statistics could be calculated.

Better news was that Villa midfielder Barry Bannan - this season’s Leon Osman - can stay on loan with Derby until the end of the season. He has provided an attacking spark when playing off Hulse as well as a busy and intelligent presence in a midfield role and helps to give Rams fans hope that more goals and points can be won between now and May 3^rd.

The Northampton Crown Court trial of the ‘failed five’ continues as Lowe, Keith, Mackenzie, Mackay and Waters answered their charges of fraud and conspiracy to defraud.

The Rams visited Hillsborough close to the 20^th anniversary of the FA Cup semi-final tragedy in which 96 fans died due to poor crowd control. Both managers - Nigel Clough and Brian Laws - were in the Nottingham Forest team facing Liverpool on that day and there were poignant tributes at Anfield and on TV to remember those who perished.

Derby County won 2-1 at Old Trafford on that day in 1989 and along with other Rams fans present I witnessed a very dark and malignant example of football rivalry, as some Manchester United fans loudly cheered the radio reports from Hillsborough of the mounting casualties, a most sick and sorry memory.

Saturday’s game against the Owls saw Nigel Clough keen to plug the gaps that opponents are exploiting in his team and win precious consolidation points. Clough freshened up the midfield and selected Teale, Pearson, Bannan & Eustace, Savage and Barazite dropping to the bench. Ex-Rams Lee Grant and Marcus Tudgay lined up for the Owls.

The Rams started competitively, picking up two bookings in the first few minutes. Connolly was booked for a foul and Hulse was cautioned for leading with his arm. McEveley almost presented Jeffers with a goal but the Everton reject fluffed his shot. Potter then slammed a free kick against the bar in another Owls attack.

Teale was lively for the Rams and Eustace skied a pass from him when in a good position after 40 minutes. Derby took the lead when Hulse rose above the Owl’s defence to head in Teale’s cross, a perfectly timed goal as the whistle went for the interval before the Owls could respond.

Andy Todd replaced the ill Lewin Nyatanga at half time. Wednesday tried to fight back and attacking substitutes Clarke and Sodje pepped them up somewhat; Derby needed to dig in and defend properly to take the precious prize of three points back to Derby. The defenders did their jobs on this occasion to keep a clean sheet. Derby recorded their third League ‘double’ of the season in winning at Hillsborough; Plymouth and Norwich were the other two.

The 1-0 win took Derby onto 51 points, which has almost - only almost - delivered Championship safety to all intents and purposes. It’s been tortuous getting even to that minimum target but it’s only Base One. Manager Nigel Clough, along with the body of nervous Rams fans not wanting another season of disappointment to end in disaster, has been waiting for his team to pass that crucial 50-point threshold for quite some time.

He’s still waiting, along with the rest of us, for absolute safety. The victory brought relief and satisfaction all round though assistant Gary Crosby was quick to underline that mathematical safety has yet to be achieved. This season still has many twists and turns in it and nothing can yet be taken for granted.

The Rams are 17^th in the Championship and on Easter Monday they face leaders, Wolves who have already achieved 80 points. It’s going to be another sell-out day at Pride Park Stadium and a win over the Old Gold would be a great way to provide a comfortable conclusion to (Cups excepted) a poor season for Derby County.

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RamsWeek 15 in 2008 was sheer ‘madness’ with the week ending in embarrassment. Derby County contrived to lose 0-5 to Aston Villa in front of a full house at Pride Park Stadium in one of the most abject performances I have ever witnessed. Yes, sides like Villa are superior but the naivety, looseness and lack of desire and teamwork from those in Derby shirts was hard to take.

Derby were seemingly badly done by from officials as goalkeeper Carroll was fouled before the first Villa goal, and Agbonlahor was offside for the second but there were only token protests, and little response to the adversity, from the team beaten every week before they leave the dressing room.

“You’re not fit to wear the shirt” chants don’t exactly encourage players but it was the only way that fans could tell them how disgusted they were. Derby crowds had to make their own entertainment.

The club dispensed with the services of Academy manager Kevin Thelwell so another of Billy Davies’ acolytes departed the Moor Farm scene. His replacement, Phil Cannon from Everton, has a substantial pedigree of youth recruitment and development and the Rams were also endeavouring to beef up their overseas scouting network.

Despite the appalling embarrassment of Derby’s Premier League sightseeing season, supporters backed Messrs Glick, Pearson and Jewell emphatically with season ticket renewals running at record levels.

Paul Jewell overturned the board’s wishes to take the squad over to the USA for pre-season preparation, opting for a trip to Holland instead; the manager’s preferred methods of training should in my view always take precedence.

Photo: Action Images

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