Is this Nottingham Forest attacker one of the great villains for rivals Derby County?

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There have been many pantomime villains and fan favourites in the East Midlands Derby between Derby County and Nottingham Forest in recent years, but few have caused as much controversy or emotion as Jamie Ward.

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Playing for the Rams from 2011 until May 2015, the Northern Irishman became the latest player to cross the divide and joined the Reds in the summer of 2015 after his contract at Derby expired. This caused surprise on both sides of the East Midlands, with Rams fans surprised that a player with such an obvious hatred of Forest would then do the unthinkable and join them, with Reds fans thinking much the same, despite it not being the first example of such a happening.

In his first interview with his new club, many from Derby’s point of view commented that Ward looked jittery and uncomfortable. However he has since impressed at Forest, reproducing the work rate that saw him become such a fan favourite with the Rams, with a particularly impressive performance against Derby in the last meeting between the two clubs back in November 2015. Ward is a player that any team would like to have on their side in a local derby, with his passion, drive and ability to totally the wind up the opposition fans and players alike being a key attribute in such matches.

Saturday 19th March 2016 will be Ward’s first return to the iPro Stadium since leaving, with a surprisingly warm reception expected for the Northern Ireland international. In the reverse fixture in November – which finished in a 1-0 win for Forest at the City Ground – Ward was applauded by the Rams fans and he returned the gesture by applauding the travelling support. However, this good relationship that has been maintained will matter little come kick-off during any match between the two, with there being little doubt that Ward will do his best to terrorise Derby’s defence and drive Forest to victory, as is his speciality in any local derby. Fans of Sheffield Utd and city rivals Wednesday will back this up, with Ward being just as controversial in Sheffield derbies and no stranger to the bragging culture that goes hand in hand with local derbies.

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In terms of performance, its sometimes hard to know what to expect of Jamie Ward, even in a local derby. His goalscoring record suggests that too, so far only having scored 3 goals in 29 appearances for Forest, after scoring 29 goals in 125 appearances for the Rams. Despite being an attacker, his goals often dry up for long periods of a season – as seems to be happening this year – and, being a flair player, can often disappear for matches at a time without contributing much, with the exception of the 2012-13 season at Derby where he clocked up 12 league goals. Used largely in a winger’s position for both clubs, his danger tends to come when running at full-backs, another quality useful in local derbies given the explosive nature of his play. His drive; whilst lacking a huge amount of pace, can scare full-backs and urge teams on, which he’s sure to do when fired up. Local derbies demand explosiveness and drive to avoid being overawed by those players who rise to the occasion, with Ward proving time and time again that he’s the perfect man for the job in such situations.

Despite the supposed betrayal of Ward, many Rams would take him back in a heartbeat. The general consensus is that Forest could have the edge during East Midlands derbies whilst Ward is playing, a theory that was backed up by how well Ward led the Reds in the previous fixture. Ward retains a unique ability to be in the worst form possible yet still turn up for a local derby, which will now work in Forest’s favour, regardless of their current situation. It’s a pleasure for a manager to have a player with so much passion onside during a local rivalry, and a nightmare to play against. Ward my not have a huge amount of abundant quality, but he’s still particularly dangerous during such matches, something which can never be underestimated. Its a pity he so far has never had the chance to play in the Premier League, but with the right manager anything is possible.

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