[jjamez]

v

Huddersfield head to derby this weekend on the back of a 1-0 defeat at home to ipswich, in a true smash and grab victory for the tractor boys, although truth be said it was hardly a smash it was more weather it and capitalise on mistakes, we used to try that didnt we chris? and we would have survived in doing so wouldnt we chris? everything was hunky dory at town wasnt it chris?

sorry that was in response to an interview that powell did the other day to a local newspaper about his time in charge of town and in all fairness it couldnt have been easy having the best players sold and only being able to train a few times a week and having to travel from london to do it...

but back to this weekends game, derby spent a huge amount of wonga last summer, bringing in the likes of bradley johnson, jason shackell, andi weinman, tom ince and jacob butterfield to name but a few along with a winter spree which saw marcus olsson and nick blackman join the club, taking their spending this season to a reported £26 million, yes that is correct, a championship club has spent that amount of money.

obviously they spent that money in a quest for the promised land of the premiership, they also had to deal with losing schteve mcclaren to newcastle and subsequently replaced him with former real madrid assman paul clement. however, the money spent didnt ensure a great start to the season with the club being somewhat of a draw specialist their first win coming against newly promoted preston which then saw positive turn around in results. fast forward to march and things have altered slightly. January saw a change of fortune at the club with them only picking up one point in the whole month, february too was an iffy month which also saw Clement sacked, with the club saying he didnt play the derby way, the man tasked with keeping the club in the playoffs and possibly higher is Darren Wassal, a former defender who played for a handful of midlands clubs, before becoming academy manager and head of the academy at derby. Its hard to say what effect he has had on the club but they have managed to get a victory under their belt which is more than what can be said for January.


do you think anyone has mentioned to them he started his career at forest? surely they must hate him more than cellino hates the tax man?

The derby team is blessed with huge talent that probably should be gracing the premiership, the likes of chris martin (who shows to be a top striker now, you still dont need masses of pace), tom ince, who despite his irritations is a very good player on his day. whilst at the back they have former england goalkeeper scott carson, long time rumoured town target cyrus 'the virus' christie and former town loanee richard keogh at centre half. not to mention the fact that they have two international left backs in olsson and steven warnock. further up the field they have an abundance of midfield talent, buttercup, johnson and just to be safe add in the likes of george thorne, jeff hendricks, with craig bryson and will hughes recovering after injury.

also in their squad they have the likes of another former town target jonny russell and former england hitman darren bent (shows what a few wrong turns and injuries can do to you!)



as for town, saturday saw jonny hogg pick up a knee injury which looks set to rule him out for 8 weeks or in other words two months plus VAT, might as well say goodbye to this season and focus on coming back fit and healthy for next season. on the slightly positive note, dean whitehead managed to get through the game unscathed and will slot into hoggs role, the only question is who goes alongside him, huws is still out, philbil is still banned which leaves the likes of d wayne, pato and craine as options.

scannell is also due to be in and around the squad this weekend as is lolley, so in terms of the forward thinking players we are looking rather strong, similarly at the back with husband likley to replace kangaroo jason at fullback.

if we do go into the game with the predicted squad i can imagine only a couple of changes. the back five pick themselves once fully rested. the holding two mids are the slight issue but i can see it being deano and pato. the advanced three for me this week would be karim, bunn and elvis. leaving wells up top as per. lolley and scanz if fit or nearing fitness would be good to have on the bench as replacements for any of the three.

How to get there!

if you are driving then bless you, the motorways are in a constant state of 'improvements'. i know i am on the internet but i dont feel like checking if derby is before or after nottingham, so if you are driving and reach birmingham, i am afraid you missed the turning   or use the satnav but be prepared for a hefty parking fee

if you are going by train get off at derby simples  

if you are walking then, why are you here...

alternatively, use the fans coach or get someone else to drive then it becomes someone elses issue!

Where to eat and drink

There will be pubs around that are for away fans, if not just say something along the lines of alright me duck and you should be okay providing you keep your colours covered.  

food will be easy to find on a matchday, just use your smell and a burger shall appear, will it be cooked properly that is debateable  

Played for both

now this list is quite fast, so i'm going to take writers privilage and name the easy ones and let the rest of you fight and rattle your brains for the rest!

obviously jacob butterfield... dont need another pic of him do we?


theoooooo- that prolific joker.. i mean goalscorer...


richard keogh- one long range miss kick is all i remember of his loan spell


he had a very brief loan spell there, the pic is when he was told not to kick corner flags anymore. he threw the ball in anger...


never played here, but he managed us, think he's late for his train in this pic...


played on loan at both clubs during 2011, think he was player that did exactly what he was brought in to do at town

now you guys can think of some more  

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Lynch out of saturdays game. So cranie will be at centre half i would imagine

[Lord Snooty]

Town legend Mark Lillis played for Derby, jjamez.

Nice thread, by the way.

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Apparently, Denis Law played in the last Town team tomorrow win away at Derby. 1957, about time we stopped that bad sequence, innit. 22 visits ago.

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And we'll have to do it without Lynch. He's being rested in case his hamstring injury gets worse.

[MNTerrier]

going to be a very tricky one this
especially considering Hogg is out, Lynch will be out and Billing suspended with Huws not back in training yet middle of the park looks a bit light and the Hudson Cranie partnership has never filled me with huge confidence
i'll happily take a good performance and not getting a tonking
then give Reading a good thrashing tuesday night, we owe em one

[WakeyTerrier]

I think we'll get a pasting, but a point would be most welcome.

[SHEP_HTAFC]

Nice thread jj....
When Clement was sacked, was one of the things mentioned that promotion wasn't the priority this season....it was playing the Derby way that was the issue.
Aye right.

I used to live in Derby....very fond memories of the place....especially the Pink Coconut nightclub.
I suspect we will lose heavily in this game....but hoping for a point at least.

[jjamez]

yeah it was obviously to deflect from obvious failings

[theo_luddite]

Pubs for beer fans if you don't mind me helping out jjamez.

What a difference a week makes down here in Muddled England.

This weeks free Wolvo rag after Derby lost 2-1 at Wolves



Connor Coady was back in the good books and MOM for the Wolves again - Buttercup was given Derby MOM by a few websites. Don't suppose we can get either back on loan for tomorrow can we?

The week before the local rag was all doom and gloom after losing to us. The Wolves MOM was the drunk fan that gave their goalie a hug.



Fickle fans? Not half a fickle as the reporter at the local rag it seems down here

1957 since the last time we won at theirs - unless I missed a win somewhere. To say we are due one is an understatement. Another point, another pound in the kitty will send me home happy.

[theo_luddite]

Scanz has signed a two year contract extension.

Deano has signed Julian Winter as his new CEO as mentioned on Not the Town O'clock News. He's been injured for donkeys years he so won't be bringing his boots tomorrow. The BBC Notts County page says he will be working a notice period. Hmm, I'll bet he does. Why on earth would you want someone working for you when you know has got a job elsewhere in the same business?

[jjamez]

Not a problem theo!

[WakeyTerrier]

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