LazloW

Stay up, spring a few surprises, get points off Forest.
Sensible club, build properly.
 

I'm sure some of you will have shifted your thoughts on to next season now, what is the early thinking towards next season before any arrivals/departures?
Obviously it would be nice to do an Ipswich, however I'm not sure it would be fair on the ownership, staff and players to set the bar that high.
Our promotion back to the Championship was fast tracked somewhat, achieving it in half the time it took Ipswich despite starting with only 4 players on the books.
The idea of being in a Championship relegation battle again isn't one I'm terribly excited by, however it feels like it's a fair and realistic target to have which will ultimately see us survive, before taking the next step.
When you look at the likes of Watford and Sunderland who are currently just 9 points above the bottom 3 going into the final game of the season, that relegation battle is not confined to the bottom 4 or 5, mid table and you're looking over your shoulder into the new year as a mini slump can throw you back in there.
I won't waffle on anymore and say by early target for the club next season is to finish between 14th and 21st. 
Anyone feel like the minimum bar of expectation should be much higher?

Right, admit it, which one of you was this?

I don’t want to start a squabble at such a happy time but “crap and going nowhere” illustrates this misplaced demand for instant success. It’s something that rarely happens. I’d say, that at that time we looked lacklustre, disjointed, not working in harmony or being better than the sum of our parts (which is what a team game needs) Warne was new at the time, had inherited players and little room to buy. He needed time to build that group in to team. He needed to Instill his culture and methods. That took time.  He succeeded.
That is why I get so narky when the knives come out after a couple of bad results. I am going to say the same next season when we are 15th in the table  just had a bore draw at home against a lower ranked side. Patience. 

and Blackburn a few years ago

Man City also bought all their silverware.

Nope, it's been a thing for a while now. I've got a Middlesbrough supporting mate (I know, the shame!) who said they received a trophy for 2nd in the 15/16 season, so it's been a thing for at least 8 years.

Yes.  It's a thing...
 
Bolton receiving theirs after finishing behind Sheff Utd in 2017...

👍

I did wonder, as the camera panned to him sat on the bench, looking at 31'000 fans who love him - does he regret his decision to leave?

The Championship is a very strong atm. I’d take bottom half without a relegation battle.

Sadly this will be my last match today. My first was in 1956 as a 13year old, My dad used to take me before that but he stopped going when we went down to the third division north. My mate and I would catch the 12 oclock bus from Melbourne and be the first in the ground. We stood in the Normanton end pigeon loft, I think it was 3 shilling. To this day I remember that team. We were champions in 1957 and I ran onto the pitch after the last match against Southport, Ray Straw scored 37 goals that season, The next ten years saw me start work, get married and have two children, I had moved to Derby, and after my family, the Rams were the most important thing in my life I never missed a home game in those ten years even though we were only an average second division side. And then in 1966 after England won the world cup my mate and I decided to have a season ticket, Little did we know what would happen that season, I was at work one day and a Rams supporting work mate told me we had signed a player from Bradford Park Avenue, his name was Kevin Hector I'd never heard of him but he was without doubt the most wonderful footballer to grace the Baseball Ground I had ever seen, and because of this we wanted to see more players like him which led to Tim Ward getting the sack and BC becoming Manager, what followed was ten years of unbelievable success and enjoyment. And then things started to go wrong off and on the pitch and I stopped being a season ticket holder during Peter Taylors time as manager, i still loved The Rams of course and when I turned 65 and retired my old mate from Melbourne and I bought season tickets again. But sadly covid left my best friend of 80 years with a dementia problem and he know no longer knows me. For the last two seasons I have been going alone to the match but its just not the same for me. Therefore I am calling it a day, as I write this I am welling up as I will do this afternoon. Thank you Derby County for every thing I will love you till I die.     

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

The EFL will no doubt hide behind their usual "rules are rules... and the clubs make the rules" nonsense. Well, seems yet again that the rules are just plain daft. No common sense. Just about everything that comes out of the EFL, EPL and FA seems designed to make life for football fans worse and, with it, the game. 

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

Cant believe he’s 29. Should have had a much better career - even if he is a regular premier league player, he should’ve been at bigger and better clubs (and maybe England).  FWIW for the sake of his career, I think we kept hold of him a bit too long - he probably needed to move before he did. Oh well. I’m sure he’s still earned enough not to have to worry. 

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

Passion! 
BTW, if you're on X, Georgia Knight is well worth the follow. Takes some great photos.

I think there should be something akin to the "umpire's call" in cricket. If the margin by which they are offside is so small that no human could possibly tell the difference by the naked eye, then the decision goes the way the linesman called it. If that means making the lines a bit thicker or something else, then so be it.  Other elements of VAR are there to (apparently) correct clear and obvious errors.  While offside is factual, the decision today was not a clear and obvious error; he wasn't standing a foot offside and the linesman was asleep, it was millimetres.  Allow for a small margin of error.  
As someone on Twitter said "I am VAR, destroyer of dreams!".  Not how it should be.

Good weekend to be fair 🙂
and