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Monday Musings - More hard work to come
Monday Musings - More hard work to come
Monday, 23rd Feb 2009 19:13 by Paul Redfern

Another two wins and Clough is almost reaching messianic status with some supporters. Certainly he seems to be transforming Jewell's no-hopers into a formidable force.

But wait, the next three games are against teams that are above us in the recent form league: Bristol City, Swansea and Doncaster (we are fifth). True, Doncaster and Bristol have both lost one – but against Swansea and Doncaster respectively.

So those three games will provide daunting opposition regardless of where they are in the table overall – they are the in-form teams and so Clough is absolutely right to remind us that a lot of hard work is in front of us. Because if current form based on the last six games is any guide we are likely to lose, and still need another 3 (by Clough's reckoning) wins and a couple of draws to be safe. And of the remaining 11 games, three are against Cardiff (another in-form team), Wolverhampton and Reading, both battling for automatic promotion, plus Southampton, Watford, Charlton and Barnsley all looking for points for safety. Although by the time we play Watford and Charlton (the last two games) – their interest may be academic with the latter already relegated.

Being the ever-optimistic Rams fan that I am, I am confidently predicting that we will get 7 points (2 wins and a draw) out of the next 9. The problem is we could have around 7 players out with injuries of one kind or another. Should Clough succeed in motivating those not injured to get those points, then he will have deserved his pay cheque and more.

Once we have achieved safety (and I have no doubt that we will), the next phase will be to see how close we can get to the play-offs. It has been said that Clough's first words on entering the dressing room were to challenge the players to achieve just that, a very tall order but not impossible. But at least it is a target to aim for and if we get through the next three games with a decent haul of points, it becomes more of a realistic goal.

The reality is more likely to be a mid-table finish and then more hard work is required. We will start to see how good a team Clough and his people are. It is one thing to lift a demoralised squad, and get them playing to the level they can and should have been playing to; and quite another to identify those who can improve the squad and bring them in.

No-one can doubt that Jewell had an eye for players – his track record compares quite favourably with many other managers. His failings seem to be more around the lines of motivation and organising teams – certainly with us.

Clough is an unknown quantity as is his team from Burton. But so far, some of the backroom team that Jewell brought in – Bill Green and David Lowe for example - are still at PP. This team will be mainly responsible for scouting and bringing in new talent to either lay the foundations of a new squad or augment the existing squad ready for next season. The final say however will lie with Clough and it is this that will determine eventually what kind of manager he is.

He will have access to far more money than he ever did at Burton, he will also be able to buy from other countries rather than confine himself to people playing at the Blue Square level. That is not to disparage these footballers, who are capable indeed of playing at a much higher level than most of us can dream about, but there is inevitably a higher level of quality and possibly fitness in the Championship.

So far Porter is the only one recruited and we have yet to see much of him so we cannot assess how Clough will operate in the transfer market. Some players will go in the close season in a further cull, and some will need to be replaced. And for what it's worth, I think we also need to resurrect the reserves in preparation for the season after which means some Academy players need to be promoted, and some imported.

But for now, the immediate task is to ensure that the present squad – which includes those yet to make an appearance - continues to perform at the same level as it has been doing for the last few games to ensure safety by a decent margin and then start planning for next year.

Photo: Action Images



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