Spread the love

 
After a disappointing couple of weeks, the Bees are back in action again with in-form Derby County hitting Griffin Park. BillytheBee chats to Ollie Wright (@derbycountyblog) – Editor of Derby County Blog www.derbycountyblog.com about spanking Fulham, Forest celebrating wining the league and that goal from QPR

First of all, lets start on a joyous note with Tuesday night’s demolition of a ‘newly revitalised Fulham’…

 The game was crazy. When you look at the team Fulham put out, we should never have even given them a sniff, let alone the two goals we presented them with on a plate.  As soon as we got a penalty and scored to pull one back, I was pretty confident that Fulham would fold. But nobody could have predicted the absolute goal flood that followed. We’re a strong side and if opponents can’t prevent us from playing, we have the potential to pass them to shreds.

It was entertaining and a nice morale-boost but not something to get carried away by. We won’t face a team that weak again all season. Fulham will stay up now they’ve got rid of that lunatic Magath. But they clearly weren’t interested in progressing to the quarter finals of the League Cup.  So hey ho and on we go.  The Chelsea tie will be a money-spinner and we have nothing to lose from it.

We can’t talk any further without me taking you that 90th minute goal. Every single person in TW8 and beyond was willing you to win the playoff final that day so that we could meet QPR at our place next season and when that goal went in, our hearts sank with yours. Talk us through it .. if you can.

Appreciate the sympathy. I genuinely think it’s the case that almost all neutrals outside of the East Midlands were with us that day. The result made – makes – no sense whatsoever and the only positive thing you can take from it is that it demonstrates exactly how crazy and unpredictable football really is. I say that through gritted teeth.  Redknapp was playing for penalties. We kept patiently circling around their penalty box like a flock of hungry vultures and then, out of nothing, we suddenly have this weird, heinous collective brainfade.

Richard Keogh took the brunt of the criticism for the goal, but in fact, there had been a series of little mistakes which built up into the most horrendous and costly f*çk-up in the club’s history.  I’ll never forget the moment when the ball hit the net – the jet-engine of relief roaring out of the QPR support and the deathly hush around me.

People didn’t walk away shouting or swearing, it was just numbed silence.  Nobody could believe what had just happened.  We had all been just waiting for the seemingly inevitable moment when we scored and then – this? It was awful.

Many teams just capitulate after such a depressing end to the season. Were you confident you would be able to pick yourselves up this season after all that ???

The club handled the post-season brilliantly.  Clearly, everybody was absolutely devastated by Wembley. But it soon became clear that there was a determination to keep the squad together and nobody would be sold.

Preventing the departure of Craig Bryson to promoted Burnley by offering him a much-improved contract boosted everyone’s morale and the other top players – Chris Martin, Will Hughes, Keogh, Jeff Hendrick – were all rewarded with new deals too.

George Thorne, who was a revelation on loan from West Brom last year, was the star summer signing.  So, rather than having a bunch of new players to get excited about, we simply invested in keeping the existing group, who had already proved their abilities.

Leicester City took a similar route to the top and the current Championship league table suggests that it wasn’t such a bad idea to follow their example of evolution, not revolution.

We also lost out on promotion to the Championship due to a last minute sucker punch followed by Wembley misery. In retrospect, we were much more set up for life in a higher league from staying in the division for another season. Do you feel you the same this season?

That’s a hard question to answer. The gulf between the top half of the Premier League and the Championship is so wide that any promoted team is likely to face its share of thumpings.  However, I am dying to see some of our current team get the chance to prove themselves in the Premier League. The concern is that if we don’t go up this time, then one or two of them – most likely Hughes and Martin – might be spirited away.

The last time we played you was just over 12 months ago. Nigel Clough was manager and you spanked us 5-0 in the League Cup when Uwe Rosler rather disrespectfully put out a reserve side against you. A lot has changed in the last 12 months has it not?

Absolutely.  Removing Clough was a controversial decision. But on the whole, the performances ever since have been excellent.  You may have heard the story of the first league game after Steve McClaren’s appointment. Mac sat in the stands to watch us play Ipswich Town and within 14 minutes, we were 3-1 down.  We shipped another goal before half-time, by which point, Mac’s assistant Paul Simpson had already been dispatched to the touchline to help the floundering caretaker, Darren Wassall.

McClaren then made his way into the dressing room, ordered a change of formation and two substitutions and by full-time, it was 4-4, with Ipswich hanging on.

After years of underachievement, disappointment, poor players and endless excuses for mediocrity, last season’s sustained burst of fine form was brilliant.  Everything went right, at least up until the final minute of the final match.

This season, expectations are much higher and perhaps as fans, we can fall into the trap of demanding too much from the players. Even though we’re top of the league and have reached the quarter finals of the League Cup, there is a general feeling that the team have been playing within themselves. But that’s just because we know what they’re capable of.

That game, Will Hughes was flavour of the month. Is he still a key player for you?

Hughes is an incredibly gifted player – technically magnificent.  He’s very much a marked man in the Championship these days and as a teenager, his form can still be fitful – but Google his goals against Blackburn Rovers and Bournemouth this season – both are wonderful examples of his intelligence and skill.  I believe that he will go on to play for England eventually.

Rosler came back and got revenge on Saturday. What went wrong?

Everybody was shocked rigid by that performance.  We were f*çk*ng crap.  Wigan executed their game plan very well. Refusing to let us play out from the back, they seized control of the midfield and stifled us more successfully than anybody else has managed since – well, Wigan last year, funnily enough. Uwe has got our number.

Wigan are underachieving massively at the moment and if they can just get their home form going, they should still climb the table and be in the play-off race come May.

I heard recently that Rösler was Derby’s second choice to succeed Clough, by the way.

 I’ve heard Derby fans mention on more than one occasion about Forest thinking they had won the league back in August. That sounds very much like Orient back in Division 1 last season. They gonna challenge you boys this season?

Forest had a very good start, but after five games of last season, Blackpool were top…

I did a preview piece before the East Midlands Derby in September, in which I pointed out a few possible weaknesses we could exploit and expressed some confidence that we could go to Forest and get a result.

Feeling a bit giddy due to their lofty league ranking, the Forest fans picked it up online, circulated it and took the piss out of it – so it was even more satisfying when we bagged an equaliser late in the game to shut them up. Since then, Forest have only won once in eight games and dropped down to seventh in the table.

Forest ended last season horrendously badly (5-0 and all that) and in a bid to reboot under club legend Stuart Pearce, they have spent a lot of money – most of it on Britt Assombalonga – and sold off star youth products Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow to help fund the splurge.

The introduction of Financial Fair Play has to be a looming concern for them, because they’ve spent well beyond their means on players.  They’re still a decent Championship side and will probably go close to the play-offs, but if they don’t go up this season, there could be trouble ahead.

 Here’s our “Made in Derby” section

Leeds United or Leicester City?

Leicester, because they’re really not relevant in terms of rivalry. Leeds v Derby (for which, read Clough v Revie) in the Seventies was one of the great English football stories and games between the two clubs retain a really special air.  On the other hand, probably the only thing Forest and Derby fans can agree on is, most of us really don’t give a toss about Leicester.

One Direction’s Niall Horan or Jake Bugg?

I don’t know who Jake Bugg is, so I have to say Niall.  Fair play to the lad, he follows his dad’s team. Presumably as a result, thousands of teenage girls from around the world support Derby now.

On a separate showbiz note, Cara Delevinge was recently snapped wearing a Rams scarf – a gift from the filmstar Ram Jack O’Connell.

The Blue Note bar or Hooters bar?

The Blue Note indie club on Sadlergate was a massive part of my teenage years – I must have spent three nights in there every week and those were great days of drinking, plotting world domination, dancing like a tit – all the usual shenanigans that go on.  Many of the lads and lasses I hung around with back then are still good friends of mine (and I probably still owe most of them a pint).

I’ve never been to Hooters, which, for anybody who doesn’t know, is the city of Nottingham’s main contribution to modern British civilization. The barmaids wear tight tops, hotpants and presumably also rictus grins while they deal with being leerd at by p!ssed Red Dogs, covered in the grease of chicken wings.

F*lham fan (as Wolfie Smith from Citizen Smith) & QPHa fan (as Ben Harper from ‘My Family’) Robert Lindsay or Jason Statham?

Robert Lindsay sang the official DCFC club anthem ‘Steve Bloomer’s Watching’, which is a bit naff really, but still makes me smile.  Jason Statham – that’s the bloke who plays a “double ‘ard barstard” in various guns and motors flicks?  I’m not really familiar with his oeuvre, darling…

Tommy Smith or Paul Smith?

I loved Tommy Smith, he was a class player and part of a wonderful attacking Derby side under George Burley.  Paul Smith – I assume you mean the ex-Brentford and Forest goalkeeper, rather than the Notts-based fashion designer?  My main memory of him was that he played in a wonderfully easy 3-1 win for Derby at the City Ground.  Every time we had a corner in the second half, a bloke behind me kept bellowing ‘Smiiiiiithhh!!!! Smiiiiiiiittttthhh!!!’ at the top of his voice. As far as I know, it had no earthly effect on Smiiiiittthhh, but it is certainly the only story I will ever remember about that particular custodian.

Golfer Melissa Reid or Swimmer Rebecca Adlington?

On her Twitter account, Mel Reid says she’s “a Derby girl, but fortunately without the accent”, so b*lløcks to her – I’ll say Rebecca Adlington!

Head to head Derby are steaming ahead winning 11 games to Brentford’s 8 – drawing 5 in the process. You’re fairly confident that run will continue aren’t you?

Overall, we’ve been very good this season.  We have a strong squad and are capable of going on to claim automatic promotion if we continue to perform as we can and if we have a bit of luck along the way.  Therefore, I am confident that we can beat anybody in this division on any given day.

However, all teams have their off days, as we found to our cost against Wigan. And Brentford are adapting well to Championship life, so I’m sure this will be a tough game.

Give us a score prediction

2-1 Rams

We would like to thank Ollie Wright (@derbycountyblog) for taking time out to chat to us about all things that side of the A52. Give his blog Derby County blog as wee spin.

Check out the Beesotted Derby Pre-match guide from Ian Westbrook

Catch up with the Derby and Forest fan podcast here

Drinking in Brentford

For Derby fans coming down, you are probably aware there plenty of pub options pre-match. There four pubs around the ground. The Griffin is closest to the away end and is very popular with away fans – but also very busy. The New Inn is on the other side is also popular with away fans. The Princess Royal and The Royal Oak (normally home fans only) are the other two options. 

 Other pubs slightly further afield for the more creative amongst you include (and this is by no means a definitive list) the  … The Globe (Windmill Rd) & The Lord Nelson (Enfield Rd)  – both incredibly friendly and cozy away-frienly pubs .. frequented by away fans in the know – and The Plough (Northfields Ave) in Northfields is a decent stop-off if you are coming by tube to Northfields before making your way down to the ground (normally stopping off at The Globe and Lord Nelson en route). 

 There is also a pub right by Brentford station always referred to as … the Pub by Brentford station. 

 For ale head to the Magpie and Stump real ale pub on Brentford High Street. The Royal Horseguardsman can probably hold 15 of you at a push. The Brewery Tap is a cosy boozer by the river.  There are loads more too. 

 The Parcel Yard in Kings Cross station is a decent stop off en route back.

 A quick google search and you’ll find them all. There are many many more too if you have an early start (or all evening)