LeedsCityRam

Nah, just a earlier joke that @Jimbo Ram has now made public 👍

Been a day of surprises. Firstly, turns out RoyMac5 is actually a lady, then Derby give a promotion rival a two goal gift lead in 15 mins & storm back to win 2-3. These things inevitably come in threes so I'm expecting a statement confirming the Moon landings were fake shortly before midnight. Massive kudos to the players for that turnaround but frankly, it would have been obscene if we hadn't have won - we were so much better than them throughout. Even between their first & second goal, we camped in their box for 5 mins with about 5 corners - they were there for the taking but easier said than done after the defensive brainfarts for their penalty & free kick. Forsyth's goal was absolutely crucial, particularly the timing of it & Oxford's manner at the start of the second half was very much of a team that knew they were outclassed & needed to stem the flow by any means necessary. We went at them from the off and showed admirable patience, constantly recycling the ball but often just missing that final incisive ball - Kane Wilson had the best opportunity & really should have scored from 6 yards out. Thereafter, I thought we'd blown it but then on comes super Liam Thompson - my goodness, we've missed him. All of a sudden, the passes are crisp and the midfield energy returns - two beautiful crosses into the box later, we're 2-3 up and two LS12 Rams are going absolutely mental at the tellybox. We're coming for you Pompy - Come on you mighty Rams 🖤🖤🖤🐏🐏🐏💪💪💪

Cashin for me - oozes quality on the ball (that lad can whip a bloody good ball from left side too) & we've been so reliant on his ability to dominate aerially and put his body on the line. Best CB in the division with performances to match. Honourable mentions for Curtis Nelson & Mendez-Laing. Was a bit apprehensive about Nelson after speaking to some Blackpool fans in the summer but he's been excellent - my only issue with him is his tendency to surrender possession easily with aimless passes/punts. I do think he compliments Cashin really well though, just hope we keep Cashin until the summer & that they are both fortunate with injuries/suspensions. If they manage that, that's the foundation for us to go up.

Our 80's feeder club 1 Derby 1 FRGS Sibley

I won't totally dismiss xG as think it offers interesting context but am struggling to take seriously any League One table that says Barnsley are the joint 7th worst side in the division. Similarly, there is no way Wigan are that bad compared to the likes of Carlisle, Orient & Exeter. Just to clarify, I also never called Wigan 'poor'...I said they were clearly a decent/good side that we made look ordinary. P.s. no need to watch Port Vale highlights, I saw the whole game at the time thanks....they should have scored with that first half breakaway chance & with honourable exception of JJ finish, a pretty flat performance from us, esp first half.

Disagree. Northampton & Exeter gave us the freedom of PP and we promptly took it - they were both poor on the day. Burton & Orient we had spells of the game where we were second best despite both being low quality opposition - the 0-3 away results probably flattered us on both occasions. Vale was a dull & even game which we pinched late on. Peterborough & Blackpool we were clinical in both games in short bursts but they had a lot of the game overall. Yesterday, 0-1 definitely flattered Wigan and the quality of our one touch play & control against a decent opponent was better than I'd seen from us this season. My only criticism would be some heavy touches in their final 3rd/poor finishing that prevented us deservedly beating them by 3 or 4. Combined with the intensity of the press/amount of forced turnovers & calmness when defending late on, it made for a more complete performance than any you've cited above. Where did you get your stats that say Wigan are bottom 4 for xG?

Good away win at a good opponent who were made to look very ordinary indeed. I would agree with those who say it was overall the best display of the season..only Barnsley at home would be comparable but we played better stuff today. Some good one touch moves opened them up & we pressed the life out of them without the ball. Really should have been further ahead but Barkhuizen missed a sitter early in second half that would have been a fairer scoreline at that stage. Nelson, Nyambe & Cashin were all absolute class but everyone worked hard Bit nervy late on & was surprised by how late subs were but they never really looked like breaking through. Massive couple of games coming up & we should believe we're capable of winning both. COYR 💪🐏

You better watch out, you better not cry, cos Derby County will never die...Santa Clowes is coming to town 🐏 Merry Christmas all, hope everyone has a great festive period & here's to smashing this division in 2024 💪

Pie chuckers 2 Derby 0

I think this is what it boils down to. It feels functional at the minute, very like the Gary Rowett playoff season where we'd win plenty but you often wondered if we really deserved to win & whole passages of the game would be played with nothing happening at all. Can't argue with the results at present but it clearly isn't engaging a section of the fanbase enough to get passionate, hence the lack of noise. I've also noticed it away from home - most notably away at Carlisle where despite winning, there was a lot of discontent & boredom vocalised at how we were playing from the younger, noisier element at the top of the stand. Another factor is probably the calibre of teams we're playing though - after the novelty of playing lower tier clubs last season, the realisation of our level being the likes of Wycombe at home with their 400 fans singing all manner of tinpot garbage to provoke a reaction is starting to hit home. It's just not very exciting playing these teams & think we're all craving a return to our natural level asap. In terms of trying to improve atmosphere against clubs with small away followings, I don't know how feasible it is to start opening up some of the unsold away sections to home fans on a match by match basis. Feels a waste of revenue having 500 fans taking a 3000 allocated area & South Stand/East Stand can feel quite far from away fans when they bring so few. Some new faces in that area might liven things up a bit too.

Derby 1 Imps 1 FRGS Collins

Derby 2 Opportunistic parasites 0 FRGS Collins

That's a reasonable viewpoint to have but the original point was about whether those not backing Warne felt sheepish given our recent run of form. Some fans (myself included) don't feel a short term run of results is going to prove whether Warne is successful or not and that a longer term appraisal of his performance is necessary. I think you're basing your belief on faith rather than the evidence. I don't disagree that managers can improve with experience but the fact Warne was relegated 3 times with Rotherham doesn't suggest he particularly learnt lessons from the first 2 occasions. I will certainly enjoy the better results and genuinely hope we do go up automatically. Just because I don't especially rate Warne doesn't mean I won't be backing the team or relishing success. Just FYI, Ferguson never relegated Man Utd or was even close to doing so. His record at a previous club (Aberdeen) was also far superior to Warne's achievements.

Warne's record at Championship level (including a decent start to last season) is Played 129 Won 26 Drew 34 Lost 69 - that works out at a mere 0.87 points per game, which stacks out given he relegated Rotherham 3 times from that division. You may counter with 'well, its Rotherham....small club, small budget etc' to which I would add that either side of Warne's reign, Steve Evans, Neil Warnock & Matt Taylor all kept Rotherham up in the 3 seasons they were in charge. Its abundantly clear why people have good reason to have long term doubts about Paul Warne. What makes you think that if we go up Warne would be able to stabilise us in the Championship?

EastEnders 1 Super Derby 2 FRGS Collins

This in spades. Many folk have such a fundamental misunderstanding of how to achieve success in football - it is all about thinking smart. Proper structure behind the scenes (so not dependant on one manager), an elite academy, hiring & firing in line with agreed values and style of preferred football & of course, savvy recruitment. Money helps but is not the dominant criteria & the idea we'd want a fan to sell us to a 'benevolent' billionaire who will of course have our best interests at heart, is naive in the extreme. A club the size of Derby is perfectly capable of being a competitive side in the division above whilst operating sustainably - we will be top 5 in terms of crowd numbers & commercial revenue and only dwarfed income-wise by sides recently relegated from the Prem. From then on, it is a case of slowly building the squad for a Prem promotion push - buying cheap & selling expensive and developing own talent. This is not a short term fix though & I fear that is the crux of the OP's post.

Mini Stoke 1 Derby 1 FRGS Mendez-Laing

Derby 2 Gas 1 FRGS Collins

I would agree with @Millenniumram that the quality of this division is weaker than in recent years & that we should therefore be a lot closer to the top 2 than we currently are. Firstly, of the 3 relegated teams from the Championship two of them have had points deductions & sit bottom half as things stand. Ordinarily recently relegated sides would be top 6 contenders - for example us, Barnsley & Peterborough last year. That removes 2 threats. Secondly, two well resourced teams in Sheffield Wednesday & Ipswich have left the division so removing two further threats - we are now competing with clubs with far lower revenue than ourselves based purely on crowd numbers - at this level in the absence of meaningful TV money, that is the key differential. Hence I would struggle to believe Oxford or Portsmouth have a larger wage bill than Derby on average crowds of 18k and 9k respectively & with far inferior corporate entertainment facilities. To illustrate the point about the general quality of the division, Stevenage were promoted from League Two in May but currently sit in 4th place - 5 points ahead of Derby & only 3 points off top two. Their average crowds are below 5k - again, I don't think anyone could seriously argue their budget is comparable to ours or that they would have been anywhere near 4th at this point last season. It surprises me how many of our fans seem content with a mere playoff push given the opportunity this season presents & how long Warne has had in post to shape his team & tactics. You mention we lost our best player in the summer but the overall squad is now much better balanced, hence I don't accept 7th on goal difference is anything other than a sub-par performance as things stand.

Totally respect your opinion on Warne overall Jono. As a general rule, I absolutely hate dismissing managers, its such a waste of money & invariably they are never given enough time to fully implement their ideas. The only exception I tend to make is if there is a fundamental mismatch & I believe that's the case with Derby & Warne, in a number of areas. I guess the collective hope is that we manage to scramble our way to promotion this season, the perception of him from the majority turns to favourable & if we do struggle in the Championship thereafter, it's less painful financially to part ways at that point. Barnsley last Saturday gave a glimpse of what we are capable of, we just need that consistency & a Cup defeat to Crewe isn't really relevant to that. Unfortunately that still doesn't square the sustainability or youth development dilemma but it may be Clowes is willing to overlook that until May just to drag us out of this backwater.

Its definitely this point that has annoyed me the most & its on two levels. Firstly, it didn't take too much thinking to conclude that the first team may not have been mentally up for last night's game given they'd just beaten a top 6 rival 3 days earlier in front of 28k & with an international break looming. That game was crying out for players for whom it would be a big deal - i.e. fringe players & especially the Academy lads, to match Crewe's enthusiasm. If we had played Fapetu, Weston & Robinson from the start, I honestly wouldn't have minded if we'd been beat 0-3 & I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that. The second point is with regard to the long term development of youth players at a club that prides itself in having a Category 1 Academy. So far this season the kids have been trusted with one game - against a Wolves under 21 side who needed a big win to knock us out. That doesn't really come across as a serious pathway for what are clearly some talented players & as you rightly say, investment this season could accelerate their development in time for next summer. The 2021-22 season under Rooney showed how fast young players can develop when given opportunities - Ebiowei, Plange, Ebosele, Cashin & Thompson all came from nowhere to make first team contributions simply because they got the gametime to make mistakes & learn. Philip Cocu would also have played kids last night (and I suspect in the League Cup & throughout the EFL Trophy too) - picking Bird, Sibley & Knight away at Forest in League Cup in late 2019 was heavily criticised at the time but all 3 were making telling first XI contributions 3/4 months later. We do not have the right manager in charge to develop youth & this is at odds with where the club wants & needs to go long term in order to be sustainable.

Never met the lad but choked up reading this awful news. Derby County seemed to be his life, he obviously loved the club so much. He also came across as a gentle soul, always quick to apologise if he thought he'd offended. 38 is no age at all. I'm glad he saw an improbable late fightback at Crewe in his final match, I hope it brought him a lot of joy. RIP Daniel, Ram forever

Derby 1 Kes 1 FRGS Collins

Enjoyed that. Important not to get carried away given the youthful opposition but I really liked the impact of the Academy lads, especially with not watching the under 21s regularly. I would like a very similar line up for the knock out stages to continue their development. Fapetu & Robinson both looked very comfortable all night - didn't realise Robinson could play at the back but he looked very accomplished, physical & timed his challenges well. Fapetu was all energy, very quick feet & loved his attitude - that effort from 40 yards out showed he was there to make an impression. Felt bit sorry for Brown who had his runout when we were struggling to create first half, in contrast to Weston who looked dynamite against the tiring Wolves defence second half - fabulous finish for his goal, great pop pass for Collins' 3rd & generally caused panic in their back line. What struck me overall was how comfortable all the lads looked in possession - that & their obvious energy meant Wolves were overwhelmed that last half hour. If that's the future blueprint for the first team in 18-36 months, I'm absolutely in. Of the older lads, thought Fornah was quietly excellent, Wilson was noticeably excellent & pleased for Collins - his second & third were fantastic finishes.