Ravanelli stirs up pride and passion

Derby folk haven?t seen such passion since the days of Charlie George. If Fabrizio Ravanelli's free-kick in the 2-1 victory over Blackburn was stunning, his goal celebration resembled the crazed antics of a madman.

Shirt over the head, arms pumping, a slide on to his backside and a whole volley of ?Come ons? to the normally genteel clientele of Pride Park. Enough to mark out the Italian as the hero Derby supporters have been waiting for. Whether he will also prove the catalyst to inspire Jim Smith?s side to more than another relegation struggle remains to be seen. The omens look good, however. Smith?s £50,000-a-week gamble definitely seems a surer bet than the £6.75m Blackburn manager Graeme Souness invested in Chicco Grabbi, the other Italian striker on the pitch.

Grabbi finished leading scorer in Serie B with Ternana last season. Ravanelli has won the Champions League and played for Juventus, Lazio and Italy.The difference shows. The Blackburn forward was anonymous, even to his team-mates. The White Feather couldn?t have been more conspicuous. Whether by his goal on the stroke of half-time or the challenge two minutes earlier on David Dunn, which forced the England Under 21 midfielder to limp off with ligament damage.

Ravanelli said: ?It is a very good standard here, very strong. It?s similar to Serie A but what is great for me is that the mentality here is about going for goals. In Italy it?s about defence which makes things difficult for strikers.

?I?m very sorry about Dunn. I challenged for the ball. It was an accident and I apologise.? Of equal importance for Derby may be the influence Ravanelli has on Malcolm Christie, whose clinching goal provided another hint that Smith?s team may not be write-offs after all.

Holding off Damien Duff, Christie swivelled to strike a sweet 64th-minute shot and add to the goal he scored for David Platt?s England Under 21 side in midweek.