TuffLuff

Had a think about this question over a few days and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that while I expect us to be challenging near the top, I’m not too bothered about promotion. I mean if it happens then great, I’d be ecstatic but a few things bother me.

1) I want us to be a sustainable club, I don’t want us to have a chairman who’s having to throw thousands, if not millions, into the club just to keep us afloat or chasing a near impossible dream. We are a community club and I don’t want us to have an idea that the finances of the club are an ownership problem rather than an overall problem we need to keep an eye on.

2) I want us to have an achievable plan in place to build something. We might have this already in place internally but I want us to have a plan to build something over x amount of seasons rather than just getting to the championship and then going from there. 

3) I have great concerns for the football pyramid as a whole, I can’t see the point in being a championship team with more overheads, trying to get to the prem where the gap between the have and have nots gets ever bigger.

Yes I’d love promotions and getting back to being a big club again, but I also like local ownership and I want us to be steady and stable. We need to be careful what we wish for and think about what’s next and how it’s going to be achieved as much as just having expectations.

It won’t quite be for everyone, but really loved Gallows Pole on BBC2 last night. Directed by Shane Meadows and I think has a lot of his tropes but set in a period drama rather 

All three episodes are on iplayer. If you are familiar with the book I think it serves as a prequel rather than a direct dramatisation of the book 

15 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Wednesday June 14th I believe 😁

…two weeks of pre-transfer window to get ourselves fit and raring to go for opening day?

Glad we’ve got all that pesky football out of the way and we can start looking forward to the real reason we love this sport…
 

The Summer Transfer Window opens Thursday! The summer sagas, the twists and turns, the crushing blows when a free agent goes elsewhere, the highs when we see a Twitter announcement from the club, the disappointment when tweet literally anything else that’s not a signing, Imminent!, 48 hours!, what will be the journalistic buzzword this year?, what Twitter account can we trust, will Nixon show any form or consistency?, when will Barry the Ram turn up?

Best time of year!

😉

Highlight was Bannan telling someone he wanted the captain armband on before going up the stairs, get up the stairs ya bloody arse!

My experience from knowing a few Leeds fans is that they have a Bielsa shaped cloud still over that club, which has only intensified after a poor appointment in Marsch. I think it’ll hang over them for a while yet, there’s quite a bit of unrest aimed at the owners (not undeserved) and the squad still needs an overhaul like it did last year. Bielsa was a great appointment, he got a feel good factor back at Elland Road and thousands of fans returned and gained interest in the club. But there was always a price to pay for that appointment, they held on too long and didn’t really have a long term plan for the club without Bielsa. A lot of those that came back because of Bielsa aren’t going to stay around for Leeds as they are now. Managers like him are great when the going is good but they leave you no legacy, nothing to build and unmotivated footballers. We did it with Billy Davies with the lost disastrous effect, other clubs have done it with managers like Redknapp (bit more successful, but it’s what he leaves behind). 

3 minutes ago, Srg said:

Of course you do. That's potentially a couple of players and he's 32 with 1 year left. That'd be silly money not to take.

I’m probably over valuing at 400k! Was probably thinking more along the lines of 250k. Hard to know what a realistic valuation would be 

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.