DERBY COUNTY BLOG: '˜Defensive errors and no midfield bite'

We head into this weekend's clash against Birmingham with Derby yet again showing inconsistency and coming off another hefty away defeat.
Gary RowettGary Rowett
Gary Rowett

Last Saturday Bristol City handed out a real spanking as the Rams’ weaknesses were once again exposed.

Errors in defence and a lack of any real bite in midfield have led to very little success on our travels so far and the alarm bells are ringing for those who wanted to see this team challenging at the top end of the table.

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Such is the lack of muscle in midfield, Joe Ledley has been given a contract until the January transfer window opens. This will give him the chance to win a longer deal and Derby an extra option in the engine room.

There been much debate on Twitter with fans arguing for and against the merits of signing Ledley. He has experience and it surely can do no harm to let him have a go.

Gary Rowett will now doubt be keen to put one over on his old club this weekend and pile on the misery as they too have had a miserable time of it lately. Indeed, they have been in free fall since they sacked Rowett nine months ago.

Our visitors will have a caretaker boss in charge as they have dispensed with the services of another manager.

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Harry Redknapp was shown the door after a disappointing run of form and that after quite a turnover of personnel in the playing department too!

Former Rams duo Lee Carsley and Paul Williams will be the management team in the Blues’ corner on Saturday. I’m sure both will get a good welcome from our fans, but it very important that we send them home empty handed.

We need to avoid getting into a downward spiral and pick up points from home matches whilst we endeavour to address the problems we are encountering on our travels.

It appears that we still have problems with playing an alternative to 4-3-3. Why this is, is anyone’s guess! Surely we have within our squad a group of players who can play an alternative!

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As for the fans who are already losing patience with our boss, they seriously need to get a grip!

Rowett is not a fast fix appointment. The situation he finds himself in is similar to that the one that Nigel Clough inherited. One has to be honest and admit that we have more than our share of dead wood. Gary will need time to sort out who has a future with Derby County and who indeed needs to be moved on.

Hopefully our owner, Mel Morris, will give our gaffer the time to build a team that will see us returning to the top six of the Championship.

Meanwhile, us fans need to get behind the team on Saturday and hopefully cheer them on to three points.