TuffLuff

12 hours ago, Rammy03 said:

Hourihane

I don’t disagree but was having this debate this morning, and because it’s a slow week (prem no longer interesting, waiting for play offs, transfer window shut) I’ll offer it here too. 

If a lower level Championship team came in with £250-£400k for Hourihane would you take it?  His wage is small and it could be similar to what we perceive about McGoldrick and there could be better offer financially on the table for him. You get to use the money on a replacement that is arguably better suited to our ends.

That’s not me saying I’d get rid, I just think it’s a potentially interesting dilemma.

5 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

Yep but nearer than Vegas. And probably less risky! 

What about Skegvegas? Probably still less risky!

To back up B4 a little, and considering quite a few of our players are there/have been there this year or in the past…does Dubai look a bit rubbish? Everyone always puts up the same photos of the dune buggy experience, photo in an overly cramped pool on top of a hotel or just in front of big buildings and it never seems anyone is actually there more than 5 days. Call me cynical but I dare say the advantage to Dubai is that it’s relatively easy to book a hotel and flights with a weeks notice because you didn’t make play offs?
 

All I’m saying is, try booking somewhere decent in Cornwall with a weeks notice eh!

1 hour ago, Bris Vegas said:

Why? 

I’m not very good at e-foiling. But I won’t stop because it’s fun.

We’re all going to die soon. And there is no sequel. So let’s just have fun while lasts and don’t take yourself, or anything else for that matter, so seriously.

It was only meant light hearted mate…

7 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

You should have seen my predictions this season.

I had all three promoted teams to go down.

I had Liverpool winning the PL.

I had Norwich to win the Championship.

I had Brazil to win the World Cup.

And to top it off I had Derby to finish in the playoffs. 

I’m horrible at football predictions. But that is the beauty of the sport.

Aside from City sweeping up, it has been a season of so many surprises.

 

Then maybe stop doing them?

4 minutes ago, LittleEatonRam said:

They won't get the kind of luck they've had this season in the next. Spent £150m to only just stay up, so they'll either have to spend more or sack Cooper next time around. Given that they have spent next year's money this year, they could end up in trouble.

I was saying this at the end of last season!!

In fairness, we were smarting during the summer that they needed to spend money on that squad and they did just that. I mean they could have spent a third, or mainly just forked out for MGW and a few others and still probably be in the same position they are now. What worries me is that type of spending sets a precedent and the gulf between the prem and everyone else widens indefinitely, but it was probably their only option.  

I think you have to throw some credit their way, they’ve been lucky yes but you need luck in that first season. For all we like to think football os constantly evolving, the reality is that our first season in 96/97 we picked up big results home and away and it wasn’t all down to that sides quality.

Their next move is now interesting, MGW will now be marked out of every game next season. Those top sides won’t want to come to The City Ground and make the same mistakes. I sense it’ll need to be a crazy summer again with a lot of outgoings.

14 minutes ago, Boycie said:

Did you have the 10 course meal?

5 courses but if/when we went again I’d probably save a bit before going and have 10.

I think in an ideal world I would’ve liked to have paid an extra £10 quid, chosen an extra dish off the 10 course and I think that would be the perfect amount of food for me. But the standard of what we had was excellent and as they say they catered for gluten free really well which I wasn’t expecting. Everything that had gluten in they made the same but a GF version, we just had to let them know in advance 

Sorry @Boycie but have to tell you Arthur’s the other night was excellent. Food, staff, how the catered to my partners gluten intolerance, everything about it was top draw. It won’t be to everyone’s taste but for a ‘treat’ dining experience for us both it was exactly what we needed.

And sorry to @sage too, we had eyed up Arkwrights for a drink after but we had to get back to sort the little one out in the end. We will be heading back at some point so hopefully we can take in a few more pubs and bars then.

On a similar note, was really impressed with The Black Swan at Ashover. Only popped in for a pint with the family because I’d driven past it and noted it was a freehouse with its beer list outside. Lovely little pub, good beer and great chips.

I think the recurring trend is clubs are trying to get money to off set their own financial irregularities and failures.

I do think professional football is at a crossroads that we are sleepwalking into (much like our own issues a couple of years back). My feeling is we will be having more discussions like this and whilst our club won’t be where we quite want it to be, we will be very glad to be away from all this. 

1 hour ago, SKRam said:

This Amad lad for Sunderland looks a proper player….. trouble is he’s an embarrassment with his simulation and out and out cheating 

The only player Sunderland have who doesn’t play like a sh*thouse is Roberts unfortunately. They cry foul everytime there is contact, it’s effective obviously but a crap way to play.

3 minutes ago, B4ev6is said:

I knew all along we would win that game and I throught we would win villa at wrembly.

There was something about that night pre game where I just fancied it a bit. Can’t describe what that feeling is but ‘the stage was set’ for a special night.

Yes it’s that bloody game!

Yes there is a lot we can look at and dissect, how the players celebrated, how Jody Morris celebrated it, Lampard’s 11 in the play off final, Lampard’s failure in not getting that squad promoted, Morris’ spending gamble, the comparisons of then to now etc etc etc

But I can promise any Derby or other clubs fans reading this, I don’t think I’d trade you anything for the jubilation and emotions I felt that night. It didn’t mean anything in the end no, but it’s a game like this that watching football is all about. It’s not just an achievement feeling, it’s about doing the impossible

You know these decisions have a habit of evening themselves up 

Got to say, I think I wouldn’t have been feeling too confident if I was Wednesday fan watching them against us last week. Obviously they aren’t a bad team, but I wasn’t overly impressed considering they played 10 men for half the game 

37 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

The train network around Derbyshire isn't the most extensive, the line up to Matlock is good though.

You can get around on busses OK, but they do take some planning and time.

I concur re: the train to matlock, plus RW sums up the historical places well!

Have a look if any Derby coach companies do day trips too. Chatsworth House is difficult to get to with public transport but there might be a coach company that would take you straight there and back in a day.

30 minutes ago, Chanyoung Lee said:

Hello, I'm Chanyoung Lee from South Korea, and Derby County supporter. I'm visiting Derby in early August this year, and currently booking hotels and looking for place to visit.

I love historical place, but also want to visit decent brewery or distillery near Derby (probably Burton). I heard The Jim Smith Room is for every topic, so I uploaded the post here.

Hey up mate, are you able to drive or will you be relying on public transport? There is plenty to see in Derbyshire but if you are relying on public transport you might be sitting on buses for quite a while!

I think I ended up summing up my own thoughts whilst attempting a non-bias chat with my Wednesday mate whilst playing 5 a side, paraphrased as:

Him: That peno looked a bit soft to be honest 

Me: Yeah I think it was overall but that’s what happens when we have to rely on a 38 year old captain who isn’t really match fit and hasn’t been probably all season. We were in a desperate position and gave the ref a decision to make.

Which I think there is some truth to with some of the decisions. Yes, as a Derby fan, I think we had a lot against us this and have been unfairly treated in that respect. But how much comes from what was our issue all season? Look at the penalty Whyte conceaded against Bristol Rovers, again it’s not a pen imo, but a player gets the wrong side of an inexperienced player and the ref is under pressure. In that situation are the opposition targeting Whyte?
 

We had too many inexperienced players in the wrong position and too many who whilst experienced were putting themselves in a position that they needed to recover. So yeah I would question a lot of decisions that went against us this season, some refs were shockingly bad. But we have to ask what kept happening from a Derby perspective, and whether intentional or not we kept putting ourselves in a position to concede soft penalties.

Looking at fixtures you would expect the final spot will be between Forest, Leeds and Everton (who have been playing well and got the result today I’ve been expecting for a couple of weeks). You would expect Forest will still need a atleast 1 point from Chelsea (a), Arsenal (h) and Palace (a) to confirm it. Considering where their points have come from I would have thought they would have preferred if there was two games at home and one away.

There will be a couple of more twists yet I expect.

3 hours ago, sage said:

Warne was playing 3142 before he  left Rotherham for us.

                 RCB         CB         LCB    

                                DCM

RWB             CM                 CM           LWB

                     CF                   CF   

 

Who out of this this years outfield squad do you see being first choice next season and in which position? 

First off I think we will have a much bigger squad next season and expect a lot more rotation!

                 RCB         CB        Cashin

                                DCM

RWB             Bird               Hourihane        Roberts

                                Sibley                  

                                  CF
Players to stay and rotate: Forsyth, Davies, Collins, McGoldrick, Barkhuizen, NML, Smith, Rooney

Expect Knight and Chester to go. So

we’d need a new back up GK, 2 cbs, a RWB, two midfielders and a goal scorer? 7 players min but I think possibly 9 ?

*Should probably say, I’m going on Davies staying on Warne’s reaction post match and Curtis recently saying he thinks he’s got another season in him. McGoldrick might be a bit harsh to put on a rotate but I’ve tried to go on age as much as anything else. NML I think has proved he will not produce over a full season and maybe we need to have a bit more in/out. 

Anyone willing to have a go at setting up an eleven better than Warne has over the course of the season? What magic formation there was or player you’d have put in a different system?

Rosenior was very smart with his recruitment, but we were left very limited. We had good players but a tiny squad with inexperienced mixed with over experienced and it wasn’t quite enough to get us over the finish line. We were always going to need a bit of luck, and in football when you are desperate for it you never get it and consistently over the season we didn’t get it. Although we bemoan refs how much is White conceading penalties down to inexperience, much like Davies today being too tired in his? 

And even saying that there’s some players, without naming because it doesn’t matter now and cba with the debates, who will feel they let themselves down today. Whether it’s composure in the opposition box, not looking after the ball or if I’m being blunt maaaybe just not wanting it enough in a big game I think there is some that are massively disappointed. Warne can’t affect those moments, it’s down to the players. They’ve been good over the season, but again just not quite good enough.

Also Warne can’t effect s**** refs 😉

I accepted there was a high possibility of league 1 after Feb 1st and I don’t really mind it’ll be the case next year. Also if we had deserved that play off spot we had more than ample opportunities to secure it before today. It’s where our squad was at the end of the day, too many players over 30 and under 23 and Warne remarked about it on the first day he stepped in to Pride Park.

What stings is the nature of the loss today. An attacking player takes an easy way out with minimal. contact, through on goal and should never ever be rewarded for it. It was a gift, not just to Wednesday who could game manage and far less than 100% and a gift to Peterborough

Not complaining about where we are. It’s just the nature of how it happened.

A shocking penalty decision. What can you say?

there is this little tidbit too

Not listened to this properly yet but noticed it came up somewhere else and I liked the last podcast he did a lot. Only note I can really give you is that he called Sammon ‘The Skinny Henchman’

It’s worth pointing out we are very lucky for a third tier to have the standard of coverage we get.

RamsTV is excellent and a valuable source for many of us, Owen and Shaun also work together very well.

It’s worth pointing out that Radio Derby has been excellent this year. Firstly Dominic Dietrich is maybe more subdued as a personality but he’s steered the ship excellently. Ed without the administration saga round his neck is much improved and provides excellent analysis in how he sees the game. The various pundits they use all offer something different with Darren Robinson being the pick of the bunch, really enjoy his insights.

Leigh Curtis has also done a great job in his first season at the DET and provides well thought out insights.

Added to this is Ryan Conway starting to give his opinions via Twitter and hopefully a book coming out about the last few years.

Like I say, we are very fortunate to have the quality of derhhce we get for a third tier club