More Boxing Day Stodge? or will we finally get some Christmas cheer?

Derby County v Blackpool
Coca Cola Championship
Pride Park Derby
Boxing Day 2009, 3:00 pm

Blackpool:
Current League Position: 8/24
Leading scorer: Adam 7lg 1cup
Manager: Ian Holloway
Kit home: Tangerine shirt/White shorts
Kit away: White Shirt/Tangerine shorts
Last game: Ipswich 3-1 Blackpool

Quotes from the manager:

Blackpool Manager Ian Holloway speaking on the BBC after the defeat at Ipswich;

"We got what we deserved and I got what I deserved - nothing."

"I probably tinkered with the team a bit too much and we didn't have our chess pieces in the right places."

"Full credit to Ipswich. They capitalized on that, but I didn't recognize it as the kind of performance we've been giving."

Current Blackpool squad:

No. - Position - Player
1 Keeper Paul Rachubka
2 Defence Danny Coid
3 Defence Stephen Crainey
4 Midfield Keith Southern
5 Defence Neal Eardley
6 Defence Ian Evatt
7 Striker Billy Clarke
8 Striker Stephen McPhee
9 Striker Ben Burgess
10 Striker Brett Ormerod
11 Midfield David Vaughan
12 Midfield Gary Taylor-Fletcher
13 Keeper Mark Halstead
14 Midfield Joe Martin
15 Defence Alex Baptiste
16 Midfield Hameur Bouazza
17 Striker Danny Mitchley
18 Midfield Jason Euell (captain)
20 Midfield Al Bangura
21 Keeper Matthew Gilks
23 Striker Daniel Nardiello
24 Defence Rob Edwards
25 Striker Louis Almond
26 Midfield Charlie Adam
27 Midfield Ishmel Demontagnac
28 Defence Marcel Seip (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)
29 Midfield Barry Bannan (on loan from Aston Villa)

The Rams:

Quotes from the manager:

Nigel Clough following the Doncaster game on BBC Radio Derby;

"Our first 45 minutes was extremely disappointing, on the back of our last four performances and results."

"When you put such a poor one in, and give a goal away as we did, it makes it extremely difficult to get anything out of the game."

"There's no excuse for not doing the basic things right. That is the reason we didn't win the game."

Quotes from Rams midfielder Stephen Pearson following the same game;

"We didn't perform, we didn't get close enough to people and paid the price."

"We're pretty down, it's a hard result to take and the performance wasn't great so we're looking forward to Boxing Day now."

Current Rams Squad:

1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender Paul Connolly
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfield Paul Green
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfield Lee Croft
8 Midfield Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfield Kris Commons
11 Midfield Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
16 Midfield Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfield Ben Pringle
20 Striker Steve Davies
21 Midfield Dean Moxey
22 Midfield Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
24 Midfield Jake Livermore (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
25 Striker Paul Dickov (on loan from Leicester City)
26 Midfield Lee Hendrie
27 Defender Fredrik Stoor (on loan from Fulham)
28 Defender Mitchell Hanson
32 Striker D. J. Campbell (on loan from Leicester City)
34 Keeper Ross Atkins
 

What the Bookies think:

Home Win: 23/20
Draw: 11/5
Away win: 19/10

First Scorer: Dickov, Hulse 11/2, Ormerod 13/2

Information for travelling fans:
 
Driving: Blackpool to Derby is about 120 miles. Take the M55 to the M6 then head south until J16 or J15 (not much in it) then A500 to the A50 through Stoke. Follow the A50 to Derby and stay on it until the turn off for Alvaston. There will be traffic around Alvaston however if you stay on London Rd you can get to the parking areas described below.

Parking: 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 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.
 
Drinking: There are a 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. Around the ground there's a Frankie & Bennie's, Harvester and the Pride Park but these tend to be very busy.

Mick’s Prediction:

For the first time in years, I'm seriously thinking about giving this one a miss. The game against Doncaster Rovers - freezing cold, uninspiring, tactical ineptness and passionless players - may well have driven me over the edge.

Rovers were a well organized side who play as a team and for each other. Our team is a disorganized rabble who think they are a lot better than they are. We keep hearing how they are working "hard" on the training ground (doesn't every team? I've yet to hear a manager say his take are taking it easy in training) yet the same old mistakes and errors and -ineptness- keep on showing up on the pitch.

Nigel Clough talks about how well the team had played in their four previous games - but really - they didn't. We just relied on how bad the other teams were.

We have a team full of loans at the moment and loans don't win you anything. If the board had said at the start of the season that we would attempt to limp into mid table playing uninspiring football and using loan players, I bet a few season ticket holders wouldn't have bothered?

Now two of those loans (Stoor and Livermore) are up and we won't be pursuing them. We will be looking for more loans.

the deficiencies in the team are there for all to see. we have no midfield general capable of bossing a game, we have fragile players all over the pitch who can't manage more than a few games, we're desperately short of goalkeeping cover. Does Clough stand by his "22 man squad is enough statement?"

What I will say to the board is this - well balanced accounts, £1 off the programme, Curry nights and dancing girls on the pitch wont fill the stadium next year. The team needs sorting out on the pitch and sorting out fast. Otherwise next season will see a much emptier Pride Park.

Team:

Bywater, Stoor, Buxton, McEveley, Moxey, Savage, Teale, Hendrie, Pearson, Porter, Dickov - Subs: Commons, Croft, Campbell, Deeney, Leacock, Hulse, Davies.

Prediction:

I'm going for the win, 2-0 to the Rams. Why not - stranger things have happened!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photo: Action Images

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