If anyone knows of a good way to have the camera follow behind an object with some speed lag then be my guest.
Fix a pivot behind your player and have the camera follow that while looking at the player (camera could have its own pivot which continually points at the trail pivot). If your camera cannot "see" the player then jump it to the trail pivot because it means it may have got snagged on something (I take it you don't want it floating through walls).
That would be my thinking.