 Friday, 20th Aug 2010 21:19 by Mick McDermott The Rams travel to the Ricoh (echo...echo...) Stadium, Coventry hoping to recover from the disappointing home defeat against Cardiff City last week.
Coventry City v Derby CountyRicoh Arena, CoventryThe NPower Championship21st August 2010 - 12:15pmCoventry v Derby – Historical:P 38 W 9 D 10 L 19 F 36 A 59 Last game at The Ricoh: Sat 03 Apr Coventry City 0 – 1 Derby County (Barker) Coventry 3/24 P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 F 4 A 2 Leading scorers: Eastwood (2) Derby 11/24 P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 F 3 A 3 Leading scorers: Hulse (1), Commons (1), Cywka (1) The Rams: After the euphoria of the away win against Leeds it was back to earth at Pride Park Stadium the following week. Despite playing ‘well’ (groan) the Rams lost 2-1 to a workmanlike Cardiff City team. I use the quotes advisedly. Admittedly the team show some improvement of previous seasons - but the fact remains that there are obvious problems with the squad that are there for all to see. One is the reliance on Robbie Savage; I don’t like Savage and I never have. Hands up: he seems a genuine and more likeable guy than I thought - but clearly his No. 1 priority is marketing 'brand Savage' and I suppose you can’t blame him for it. What I wish he would do is the job that Nigel Clough pays him for. That is as one of the back two midfielders. That job is to win the ball and pass it to players who are able to do something with it. What he often does is chase the ball from player to player and gives it away in inopportune places. Injuries are also taking their toll on a threadbare squad. We’ve lost our player of the season so far in Tomasz Cywka for a couple of weeks until his fractured jaw heals (though Clough might risk him on the bench). Conor Doyle - an inexperienced ex USA college-footballer - is on standby, as is the hapless Ben Pringle. Up front, Rob Hulse & Chris Porter face late fitness tests; it appears that Luke Varney is on the move, so he may be excluded from the squad selections. He has never fitted Clough's permutations and you have to wonder why Clough played him in this season's 4-3-2-1 formation last week, as only one of his top three strikers (in my opinion can play the system)... when fit. Probable Team: Bywater Brayford Leacock Barker Roberts Bailey Savage Doyle Green Commons Hulse Subs – Deeney, Moxey, Buxton, Pringle, Martin, Porter, Current Squad: 1 KEEPER Stephen Bywater 2 DEFENDER John Brayford 3 DEFENDER Gareth Roberts 4 MIDFIELD Paul Green 5 DEFENDER Shaun Barker (vice-captain) 6 DEFENDER Dean Leacock 7 STRIKER Steve Davies INJURED 8 MIDFIELD Robbie Savage (captain) 9 STRIKER Rob Hulse LFT 10 MIDFIELD Kris Commons 11 MIDFIELD Stephen Pearson INJURED 12 STRIKER Chris Porter LFT 13 KEEPER Saul Deeney 14 DEFENDER Russell Anderson INJURED 15 MIDFIELD David Martin 16 MIDFIELD James Bailey 17 DEFENDER Jake Buxton 18 MIDFIELD Ben Pringle 19 STRIKER Tomasz Cywka INJURED 20 DEFENDER Miles Addison INJURED 21 DEFENDER Dean Moxey 22 STRIKER Luke Varney 23 DEFENDER Mark O'Brien 31 KEEPER Ross Atkins 32 KEEPER James Severn 33 MIDFIELD Arnaud Mendy 35 MIDFIELD Jeff Hendrick 36 DEFENDER Kallum Keane 37 MIDFIELD Ryan Connolly INJURED 38 DEFENDER Mitchell Hanson 39 MIDFIELD Medi Abalimba -- MIDFIELD Conor Doyle LFT = Late Fitness Test Coventry City: Aidy Boothroyd’s team salvaged a point against Watford at Vicarage Road with two late goals, including a 90th minute penalty. Boothroyd has a full squad to choose from and may shuffle the pack up front. His substitutes last week (Clive Platt & Aron Gunnarsson) inspired the team to fight back from 2-0 down, so they may earn a starting place. Boothroyd himself is quoted on the official site as saying he wants the good performances to continue into the International break. Don’t we all! Current Squad: 1 Keeper Keiren Westwood 2 Defender Richard Keogh 3 Defender Stephen O'Halloran 4 Midfield Sammy Clingan 5 Midfield Lee Carsley (captain) 6 Defender James McPake 7 Midfield David Bell 8 Midfield Michael Doyle 10 Striker Freddy Eastwood 11 Striker Lukas Jutkiewicz 12 Midfield Gary Deegan 13 Keeper Iain Turner 14 Defender Chris Hussey 15 Defender Martin Cranie 16 Midfield Isaac Osbourne 17 Midfield Aron Gunnarsson 18 Midfield Carl Baker 19 Striker Gary McSheffrey 20 Defender Ben Turner 21 Midfield Michael McIndoe 22 Striker Clive Platt 23 Keeper Danny Ireland 24 Defender Richard Wood What the bookies think: Coventry are the clear favourites at 7/5 while the Rams are at 9/4. The Bookies don’t think much of our strike Force with Rob Hulse at 11/2 followed by Kris Commons at 9/1. Freddie Eastwood is at 6/1, while Lucas Jutkiewicz is at 11/2 and Gary McSheffrey at 8/1 Information for travelling fans: Driving: It’s 54 miles to Coventry and given that traffic and parking aren’t so good down there, I’d be tempted by the train. Best route is to take the M1 to J21 and then take the M69 to J2 where you join the M6. Leave the M6 at Junction 3. Take the A444 towards the city centre and after about one mile you will see the stadium on your left. Parking: It goes without saying that you shouldn’t park in the retail park unless you fancy a clamping. There’s little parking to be had close to the stadium though some industrial units etc, do offer parking for £5 in the area. All of the street parking is ‘Residents only’ and the club encourages visitors to use various park and ride schemes where you book in advance. The railway station is about an hour’s walk away but you can pick up a bus or taxi straight outside. Drinking: There are several pubs located on the Longford Rd with Footballgroundguide.co.uk reporting the JK English Pub as being the most welcoming. You can park there for £4. The Black Horse between Longford and Exhall is also reported to be popular with away fans. Mick's prediction: We’ve done well here the last few times. The Ricoh is a nice stadium but it takes soulless to a whole new level – mainly because it’s always so empty. It makes games played there seem unimportant and somehow passionless. I imagine that the TV Cameras will make many of the faithful stay away so I’m going for a 0-0 'bore draw'. Don't forget to post your match prediction in the RamZone Prediction League: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/derbycounty/fb_pl.php NEW! Follow Derby's progress in our new MatchZone thread: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/derbycounty/fb_mb.php?m=v&t=4965#0 Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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