Pre-Season: Northampton Town 0-1 Derby County

Derby County’s final pre-season run-out before the squad travel to Holland proved to be a tougher test than most would have anticipated. The Rams will today depart for Arnhem where they will spend a week at a training camp based there, with the 1-0 victory over Northampton Town still fresh in their minds. Head coach Paul Clement has indicated that the players and staff will review the footage of yesterday’s match as part of the training camp but the Rams boss declared himself ‘disappointed overall’ with the performance of his players.

The encounter at Sixfields began with a strong display of intent from the home side. Northampton Town kicked off for the first half, and shocked the Derby players with an instant fast-paced attacking move, beating four Rams players in the first six seconds of the match. The move came to nothing but was a strong message that The Cobblers were in the mood to seriously take the game to their opponents. This was not an empty threat as the home team largely pegged Derby back into their own box for the opening ten minutes. The Derby defence however were resilient, and leadership and organisation, something many fans of the black and white midlanders will argue the team has lacked for a few seasons, prevailed. Last season’s captain Richard Keogh, his Republic of Ireland compatriot Alex Pearce, and ex-England goalkeeper Scott Carson, were all commanding at the back, with the experienced men playing large parts in ensuring that Northampton’s chances were limited.

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Once the early storm had mostly faded, the Rams managed to carve out a few chances of their own. The best chances included an Alex Pearce header from a Johnny Russell cross and a Darren Bent shot that deflected wide, once the striker was played through on goal by Russell, a continual thorn in the side for Northampton Town. From the stands, the main view of Russell in the first ten minutes was that he had been caught in possession too many times and had been poor when tracking back, failing to adequately help Cyrus Christie on the right hand side. The Scotsman began to redeem himself as the first half an hour went on, and by the 30 minute mark was established in the match as Derby’s biggest threat.

Not long after the half an hour mark, Johnny Russell was the name on the lips of every Derby supporter in the ground. On 32 minutes, the Rams broke the deadlock with a well-worked team goal. Goalkeeper Scott Carson initiated the move with a long overarm throw from the back to midfielder Jeff Hendrick. The Irishman’s neat one-twos with fellow Derby County Academy graduate and midfield partner Will Hughes allowed the away team to penetrate the Northampton midfield and find teammates in space. New signing Andreas Weimann received the ball and after clever interplay with Rams starlet Will Hughes, found himself in an advanced position, with the energetic dangerman Johnny Russell running on to his smart through ball and finishing the move by putting his side in the lead.

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The two sides went in at half time with the score still reading 1-0 to the away team. Only one substitution was made at half time, with last season’s first choice goalkeeper Lee Grant coming on for Scott Carson. The scoreline continued relatively unthreatened until Richard Keogh mistimed a header early in the second half and was forced to bring down Cobblers forward Marc Richards in the box to concede a penalty. Luckily for the Rams, the Northampton number 9 skied his penalty and kept the away side in the lead.

One of the main stories of this encounter was Paul Clement’s choice of captain. In the first half when previous captain Richard Keogh was on the pitch, Clement chose experienced midfielder Chris Baird to take the armband. Baird at times failed to protect the defensive line as he was well placed to do. His positioning and discipline almost impeccable yet he seemed to be missing the commitment when it was needed to cut off the supply in midfield to Northampton strikers. Nonetheless, the Northern Irishman did a good job as a leader and organiser if his motto as captain was for his teammates to ‘do as I say, not as I do’ as the adage goes. When Baird departed the field after an hour to make way for George Thorne, the oncoming Craig Bryson picked up the captaincy as he replaced Will Hughes. The midfielder seemed buoyed by the responsibility of the armband and, unlike Baird, led by example as captain. The maverick midfielder even managed to come close to netting Derby’s second with a diving header that glanced wide of the mark.

Another of the main stories of the game was the return of talismanic striker Chris Martin, who also came on as a substitute after an hour. His half hour on the pitch was largely quiet, as chances were limited in a cagey second half. After the penalty miss, the Rams never really looked like losing, but only through controlled defending and risk-free football. This meant Martin’s run-out would not require too much from him, a good thing considering the forward’s return from long-term injury. A tired Martin did not really have a chance on goal but the main positive from a black and white perspective is that he came through the game with a few more match minutes under his belt.

The Rams put in a performance that can only be described as unimpressive. Naturally, a lot of work is ahead and there can be no underestimating that. Regardless of the scoreline, Head Coach Paul Clement has demanded that his players ‘step the levels up’ when they play German fourth-tier side SV Meppen on Tuesday evening. While it is clear to see that there is a lot to do before Derby’s season kicks off on August 8^th, Rams fans should leave the worrying to Paul Clement and his staff, because they might have a big job to do, but it is not something that is out of their reach. The Rams will not fare well if they perform like that away from home at Bolton in 20 days, but if a week is a long time in football then three weeks is a whole lifetime away.