The Downer Hour

For the first time this season, I really wasn’t looking forward to yesterdays game. Even with no other commitments and a clear run for some pre-match beers, I was fearing the worst but hoping the Rams would prove me wrong.

Unfortunately, the game went absolutely as you would have expected it to, with Fulham racing into an early lead and Derby huffing and puffing but not even blowing down the picket fence, never mind getting anywhere near the house.

Here’s ten points on yesterday and the current state of the Rams nation.

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When Does the Cricket Start?

The Rams stormed into 2018 on a tidal wave of feel good vibes. Carson was biblical, the defence was impregnable, Vydra was on fire and we had the best manager in the league.

But what about Derby’s new year curse? “Not with this team” they said, “Rowett won’t let that happen” they said, “Too much know how” they said.

Fast forward 6 weeks, as Derby stumble into Spring wondering where the next win is coming from, its tough for even the most ardent of Rams fans to not be thinking, “here we go again”.

How Much is that Winger in the Window?

Following last week’s piece on Darren Bent, I’ve all but finished follow up Departure Lounge pieces on JR and Shacks.

I was intending on posting one tonight and another next week. However, over the last few days, post transfer window and post Brentford, I’ve done a few tweets that have had an unusually large (for me) take up in terms of likes and responses.  Thus, in the interests of staying on topic, I’ve pulled some of the thoughts together here in slightly expanded form.

Departure Lounge – Darren Bent

As a bit of light relief from the feeding frenzy/ bullshit that is the end of the transfer window, here’s the first in a short series of articles on the dearly departed from DCFC.

Since his arrival at the club Rowett has openly spoken about his desire to reduce the squad size (and associated wage bill). He did a bit in the summer but is really starting to get somewhere in this window. The Ramspace Departure lounge is absolutely open for business, so let’s welcome our first guest to the entrance to the exit, Mr Darren Ashley Bent.

Birmingham Preview & Gary Rowett

Happy New Year to all Rams fans. Lets hope its a prosperous one for DCFC.

Earlier this season I was asked to write a preview piece for the Birmingham game for Blues website/blog http://www.wearebirmingham.co.uk For some reason they’ve asked me to do it again. here’s the piece with a small addition regarding Rowett’s contract.

Derby County Fanspotting

If you were looking for a set of UK football supporters that have been through the mill more than Derby County fans in the last five years you would do well.

Yes, we’ve not been relegated, been in financial difficulty or been rinsed by foreign owners like several clubs, but, as the saying goes, it’s the hope that kills you. After the horror of Wembley, it seems the Rams capacity to emotionally destroy their fans knows no bounds with the rollercoaster results this year doing little to halt the trend.

Any Derby County online group or feed and often the away end at any given game is currently not a nice place to be, with the word “toxic” regularly being used. Civil war is raging between fans at levels not seen since the Clough days but its maybe not as straight forward as happy clappers v wrist slashers.

Here’s how we break down the factions.

Derby County Translate

As another crushingly disappointing season for Derby County comes to a close, we at least have the glimmer of hope that, in Gary Rowett, we may have a manager who understands what the Championship is all about.

With promises of much change in the summer and the football largely irrelevant for the last few weeks, there’s been no shortage of comments in the local press from all levels of DCFC as Directors, Staff and Players try to explain another failure and talk up the future of the club and themselves.

Using our handy Derby County Translate tool, you can read here what these statements really mean.

Derby County – Our Plan For Progress

Last year Mel Morris spoke about re-writing his plan for Derby County and publishing as much of this as possible to the public domain. To date this plan has never materialised.

When Steve McClaren was first appointed and the Rams were winning regularly, nobody cared about Mel’s plan. However, with the team & the club once again rudderless, the topic of “the plan” has started to be raised again.

Whilst Mel gathers his thoughts, we’ve put together our own plan, which the club can have on us, with our compliments.  Some are big issues, some minor, some serious, some not so much. Let us know your thoughts.

Rinse, No Repeat – Part 2

It wasn’t too long ago that a Derby midfield three made up of Hendrick Hughes and Bryson, in his pomp, was widely regarded as one of the best in the division. When Steve McClaren added George Thorne to the mix it seemed like the final piece of the jigsaw.

A few years, a few managers, some awful injuries and some even more awful recruitment later, our midfield is simply a mess and the number one area for refresh over the close season.

In part 2 of this short series, we pick the bones out of the Rams Midfield and what needs done this summer.

Rinse, No Repeat – Part 1

Following the back to back disasters of the Bristol City and Cardiff games, Steve McClaren appealed to Rams fans not to over react and pointed to the great turnaround in form since his arrival.

Whilst Steve has undoubtedly pulled up trees to even get the Rams in the mix at all, this same group of players are again having the same collapse in form at the same time of year.

At the time of writing, Derby sit 11 points outside the play offs (which looks a lot of ground to make up when you consider the teams above them) so thoughts are inevitably turning to next season.

I think most Derby fans would agree that something now must give with this group of players who on their day are great, but simply do not have the X factor required to get us out this league. Thus in the first of a series of articles this week, we consider who stays and who goes, starting with the goalkeepers and defenders.