The Carling Cup was good to Derby County fans last season.  The impressive victory against Premier League Stoke and first leg triumph over Manchester United, the then European Champions, was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the football calendar.  Nigel Clough recognised this and assured Derby County fans that the strongest side possible would be fielded, but an injury to Steve Davies early on and an international call up to Kris Commons left Derby’s frontline worryingly thin.

Gary Teale deputised as the lone striker and started brightly, scoring in the 11th minute following a well-crafted cutback from Lee Croft.  However, that goal proved to be the peak for Derby. Teale struggled to cope with Rotherham’s physicality and cut an isolated figure up front.  Rotherham’s momentum built up as the first half drew on and they were rewarded with an equaliser as Paul Warne struck home on the stroke of half time.  The Derby defence failed to clear a Rotherham long ball by Jamie Green and journeyman Warne intuitively poached his second goal of the season.  Nigel Clough singled out centre back Miles Addison for criticism citing his lack of aerial prowess.

Things went from bad to worse in the second half as Kevin Ellison added the final touch to a fast Rotherham break, Warne capping off his impressive display with an assist.  Derby responded with a barrage of shots but Rotherham survived the onslaught with some resolute defending.   Dean Moxey fired just inches wide seconds before the final whistle.

Defeat to the league 2 side brings Derby crashing back to reality following the performance against Peterborough.  A series of sloppy mistakes at the back and an injury prone frontline leaves a sour taste of familiarity.  One can only hope the Rams can improve away to Scunthorpe on Saturday or else I feel another season of lower table struggle may be looming.

After Kris Commons gave Derby the edge over Manchester United in the first leg of the Carling Cup, expectations were high for a similar performance on their return journey to Old Trafford. Nigel Clough’s first game in charge against QPR wasn’t particularly successful so there was a lot of pressure on the Super Rams.

It didn’t take long for Man Utd to level the scores when striker Nani punched a ferocious strike past Roy Carroll in the 16th minute.

That wasn’t the end of it neither. Man Utd were keen to show Derby who was boss with John O’Shea and Carlos Tevez both firing home goals past Derby’s broken defence in the first half, essentially wrapping up the tie.

After the break, Derby came back out with a stronger attitude. Clough had obviously inspired the boys with some harsh words and it showed. There were quite a few oppotunities when Derby looked to recoup their losses, slipping through Man Utd’s defence and retaliating on the break.

In the 80th minute, Derby were thrown a life line when Paul Green was brought down in the box from an injured Jonny Evans. Substitute Giles Barnes took decided to take the responsibility and rightly so – it was 3-2 with 10 minutes left to play.

Nine minutes later, Caroll foolishly bought down Tevez in the box, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to hammer home another for Man Utd.

That didn’t stop Derby fighting though. Barnes stepped up for a free kick during injury time and proved why he is such a star striker, whacking another past Foster, handing Derby one last chance of taking it to extra time.

But it wasn’t to be. The whistle was blown and Derby’s dream of a trip to Wembley crumbled away.

Regardless of the defeat, Derby proved they are capable of some astonishing performances. At times, they were the stronger team against England’s finest. Man Utd could never take that pride away from Derby.

The game had huge coverage in the media today and rightly so – this was a massive game for Derby. Not only were they facing one of the biggest clubs in the World nor was it the furthest they’ve progressed in the League Cup for over 40 years but the new manager Nigel Clough was watching before taking the reigns on Thursday.

The first half was quite a level affair. Derby looked strong with several chances on goal while Man Utd struggled to conjure up any special chances.

It was in the 30th minute when the magic happened – Kris Commons managed to collect a ball from Mile Sterjovski, ran on to Man Utd’s defence, whacking a beauty of a strike into the far corner from 25 yards. Derby took the lead 1-0 and held that score for the entire first half with little to worry about from Man Utd.

In the second half, it was Man Utd who upped the ante but struggled to create anything special. They were the stronger side for a lot of the half but Derby still pushed on with quite a few spurts of energy, really pushing the Man Utd defence at times.

There was even an opportunity for Rob Hulse to take Derby 2-0 up on the break from a Man Utd challenge but it was knocked over the bar by Roy Carroll during one of his few required efforts.

Cristiano Ronaldo nearly converted a free kick for United in the second half but went a few inches wide to the Rams fan’s delight.

The “shock” win couldn’t have come at a better time – no doubt the presence of our next manager guided the team to their first leg victory. With two of our strongest players not even present and such a fantastic performance, Clough is probably glad he made the decision to leave Burton Albion at the weekend.

The return leg at Old Trafford is on Tuesday 20th January, kicking off at 7.45pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1. We don’t need to tell you to tune in, do we?

After beating Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in a gruelling yet rewarding quarter-final last week, Derby were on a high. They have not reached the semi-final stages of the League Cup since 1968 – 40 years ago – you can imagine the elation from the squad after such a nail-biting finish.

So when the draw for the Semi Finals were announced on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday this weekend, you can imagine the exhilieration from Pride Park when they saw Manchester United picked to travel to Pride Park for the first leg.

The first clash will happen on the week commencing January 5th, 2009, dependent on other fixtures but having the upper hand of starting at home will certainly give Derby that much needed support. Thousands and thousands of Ram fans will be packing out Pride Park to see their heroes take on Alex Ferguson’s mighty United, in vein hope of a worthy result.

Ticket information will be announced soon so keep your eyes and ears open for the big sale.

Update: the fixtures have been finalised today: the first leg will be at 7.45pm on Wednesday 7th January 2009 and the return leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday 20th January 2009, kicking off at the slightly later 8pm. The League Cup Final will be held at Wembley on Sunday 1st March 2009.

While Derby’s league campaign has had mixed results, the League Cup was a completely different affair. Derby haven’t reached the quarter finals of the league cup in 20 odd years so they had already exceeded expectations. It was now time to step it up a gear against Premiership side, Stoke City – and on away turf as well.

The first half had little to talk about. The only highlight was a disallowed goal from Richard Creswell due to a handball.

Both teams stepped it up a gear after the break though.

Kris Commons and Miles Addison both rattled the woodwork while Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller was denied the other end of the pitch thanks to an amazing save from Roy Carroll.

It was in the fourth minute of injury time when Andy Griffin handballed Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s cross, forcing referee Rob Styles to reward Derby a penalty. Nathan Ellington accepted duty and smoothly rolled the ball past Stoke’s Steve Simonsen, progressing Derby through to the semi-finals.

Derby haven’t beaten a Premiership team in 25 games since Paul Jewell took the management post, so you can imagine the adilation he was feeling.

Derby are now in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, the furthest they have ever been in the League Cup in 40 years.

With five Premiership teams in the line-up – including Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Blackburn and Stoke City – chances were on Derby had a tough game ahead with some tough competition. Saying that, Burnley did the Championship teams proud earlier in the week by beating current holders Chelsea in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. It was anybody’s cup now!

So imagine our delight when fellow Midlanders Stoke City got pulled from the draw just before our beloved Derby County.

The clash will be held at Britannia Stadium on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 at 7.45pm. Ticket details are still to be finalised but you can be sure thousands of Derby fans will be heading up the A50 to Stoke that evening for a night of goals, tears and celebrations (hopefully, in favour of Derby).

Come on you Potters – we’ll have you!

Derby’s Carling Cup campaign has gone from strength to strength this season – getting to the 4th round was their best performance in the League Cup since 1998. So, facing Leeds United on home turf was bound to be an intense game.

Thankfully, Emanuel Villa gave Derby an early lead in the 6th minute sending in a beautiful left-foot shot after beating Lubomir Michalik.

Nathan Ellington doubled Derby’s lead 12 minutes later with a simple touch in after Kris Commons did all the hard work beating off Leeds’ defence.

Luciano Becchio managed to head in a consolation goal before the break but that was all Leeds had in them. They dominated the second half but struggled to convert any chances, allowing Derby to qualify for the quarter finals.

The Quarter Final Draw of the Carling Cup will take place during Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports this Saturday 12-1pm GMT.

Derby’s Carling Cup campaign has gone from strength to strength after a delayed schedule the other month so the long awaited journey to Brighton certainly had high expectations.

After 28 minutes, Emmanuel Villa commenced his show-stopping performance with the opening goal after John Sullivan struggled to hold Przemyslaw Kazmierczak‘s cross.

Nathan Ellington followed up with another after 6 minutes, connecting with Dean Leacock‘s cross.

Brighton restored some confidence before the break though when Tommy Elphick headed in a consolation goal taking the half-time score to 1-2.

Brighton showed a lot of confidence throughout the second half but struggled to find an equaliser.

Instead, man of the match Emmanuel Villa took Derby 3-1 up in the 73rd minute before sealing the deal 3 minutes from time with a tidy little 6-yarder.

Derby will now host the 4th round tie against Leeds on Tuesday 11th November at Pride Park, intending on progressing to the 5th round for the first time in decades.

The long-awaited clash between Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City was finally played – and what a game it was too.

Brighton went ahead just after the hour when Gelson Fernandes knocked in the first goal, giving Brighton the advantage for the rest of the game.

It was only in the 89th minute when Glenn Murray levelled for the travelling side before Brighton managed to knock in another goal in extra time thanks to Joe Anyinsah‘s late effort.

Amazingly, City’s Stephen Ireland squeezed in an equaliser before the whistle taking the game to penalties.

But it was the Seagulls who held their nerve, taking the win and a ticket to the third round clash against the Rams down at the Withdean Stadium.

Derby will travel to Brighton on Tuesday 4th November 2008 in vain hope of continuing their successful run in the Carling Cup.

Due to UEFA commitments, Manchester City have had to postpone their Carling Cup campaign so will be travelling to the Withdean Stadium on Wednesday 24th September to settle the score with Brighton & Hove.

Once that game is over, Derby will know whether to prepare for a trip up north or down south in an attempt to qualify for the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

Details of our game are still to be confirmed, including the actual date, but we do know the game will be away so one thing’s for sure – we certainly won’t be wearing our new third kit in all its blue and white stripy glory.