Leicester Ram

Weird, weird, weird day of football.

Jesus Christ, you know you're having a rough day when you get rinsed by DEL.

When he got given the ball, even in difficult situations, he held it up and didn't lose it. He almost exclusively makes crisp passes too, he's good at slowing down the game when he gets the ball and then speeding it up again by moving it on with pace. But also I'm just winding up Ninos.

Chris Martin by far the most clever player in possession today, as he is almost every time he plays for Derby.

Don't really see how he can change the formation too much? How much different is 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1? Rowett's really messed up not sorting out any athletic CM's. Proper annoyed me that he went on about bringing more energy and athleticism to this team but has so far made it slower. Also annoyed me that he talked about adaptability and being able to play in different positions but we've only got the players for 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2. To make it worse, Nugent/Vydra were completely toothless today. Wonder if he thought they were the answer and we've had a bit of a false dawn.

Not going to be able to make it to the Cardinals game, unfortunately. Fortunately, it's because I'm actually playing American football at uni.

Me? Smug about drafting Todd Gurley? Never.

On second thoughts, bringing him in just til January is absolutely fine 😂😂😂

Absolutely hate the buzzwords associated with this signing. "Fight" "Grit" "Battling" Those intangibles that give 4-4-2 loving, Pogba hating, proper football men raging hard on's aren't much use if we're still being completely overrun by a mid-table outfit who have even a little bit of pace. He can't "battle" against a player who's 10 yards past him, can he? How much grit does it take to slow down their attacking mid? Even though I've just taken the piss out of Mostyn for treating the fact that this is a panic signing as revelation but it really is. The absolute worst kind. I really don't see how this improves us too much? He's a cannier version of Johnson but we don't need that player. We need an energetic DM who's tidy on the ball. That should be our number one priority in January but it won't be because we'll be full on DM's with no room to manoeuvre on the wage bill because we'll have four. Players on big wages who dropped down from the PL, the complete opposite of what Rowett supposedly wanted. Rowett is currently averaging about 1.5 points a game. It comes out at 69 points at the end of the season. Not quite good enough for the play-off's but good enough to get us to January and have the top 6 still be within reaching distance. Wait until then and get a player who'll be considerably more valuable than Ledley in the long-term. We should be giving Guy and Hanson chances at making a claim otherwise why do we bother with this category one academy? It's short-termism again. Same s****, different regime. I'm absolutely fed up of it. Rowett's gone on about hungry players, young players, lower league players, players who want to play for Derby, players who aren't dropping down from the PL. He really seemed like someone who was more interested in the long-term health of the club than his own short-term success. That's what sold me on him despite being a massively disappointed McClaren fan. But this move is just the same Derby that we've seen since January 2015. Veterans that are supposedly going to get us over the line this season. Don't stop and think about the wage bill we're racking up, don't think about what this does to us if we don't go up, just think about the PL! And while I can have a go at Rowett for this ultimately Mel takes a lot of the blame. If Rowett feels the pressure to get into the top six this season is so bad that he has to chuck a contract at Ledley, who's still dining out on Euro 2016, then I wonder if anyone can get the club healthy again under him. And I've always said Mel is a great thing for this club. The reason this riles me up so much is because that fourth midfield spot could be the most important position in this team. It needs to be an energetic player. The engine, the player who makes Huddlestone or Thorne look a class above anyone else in this league by doing their dirty work. It should be our priority in January. Someone young who can partner Thorne for years to come. Someone who can make the step up to the PL with us. Someone worth spending 5 or 6 million on. It most certainly shouldn't be a free agent signing in his 30's who's barely played for the past year and most likely isn't going to be fully match fit or sharp for weeks. I'm serious, what is the point of this other than satisfying 16 year olds who don't show their faces online and are under @ClinicalVydra on twitter and those members who only post in the transfer suggestion threads about signings Bakary Sako? I usually end these rants by saying I'll be happy to say I'm wrong if he turns out to be a great signing but I hope he's s**** and we finally learn our lesson. Utter madness that I've hit a point where I miss Nigel Clough.

Amazing insight there. Find it really interesting that you think messing up the Keiftenbeld transfer wasn't part of the plan this summer?

It's always difficult to have someone else put in control of how you see something so close to you. We're all passionate enough about Derby to spend our time on here so when you have someone putting across their opinion and you cant respond, it can be really frustrating. What makes it even more difficult is that they have this power over you in that they're the only way you're keeping up to date with the game. It's hard to have a completely steady relationship between the presenters and audience in that situation. I know that I've been listening to the forums podcast and had to turn it off because David, Alex or Scott (three people I've known for a while now and would consider friends) have been saying some dumb s**** that's annoyed me. It's just a difficult topic to cover because its very rare we all agree on something. I remember people saying we needed to get rid of Martin at the end of 13/14 despite us having the best attack in the league that pivoted around him. Be remiss if I didn't mention that I think Dawes and Ramage are decent broadcasters to my untrained ear but I don't think they necessarily make the best pairing. They can both be a bit dramatic, which is okay if you've got someone calmer next to you to offset that. I don't want to contribute to the forum wide Owen Bradley arselick because he single handedly got my beloved Schteve sacked, but he works well as that calm presence. Wish he was more prevalent, clearly very good at his job and is starting to get the recognition he deserves with awards etc.

Carson Wisdom Keogh Buxton Forsyth Hughes Thorne Bryson Ince Martin Hulse

I think this summers been okay, but it was nevertheless going to be a summer that instantly improved us. It's a summer that will look great in hindsight next year. People who thought Huddlestone would take us to the next level were deluded. Huddlestone would have been a great signing if we were still playing that one DM dependent 4-3-3. All he'd have had to do was sit there and spray it about while the team moved around him like cogs. He's meant to be playing in a pressing 4-2-3-1! The big fat irony of the whole situation is that we've sacked Steve McClaren twice and got in the perfect players for his system and style the moment he's walked out the door. 15/16 was the only year we had Martin, Thorne and Ince fit for the entire season, playing together. All three of Mac's most important players available to play together just as he got sacked. This year, we get Martin back, get the best Thorne alternative available in Huddlestone and a winger I'm sure he'd have got the best out of in Lawrence. Just as he got sacked again! That would have been a great summer if he was still in charge. I know which manager I think we should have shown more patience with but that's beside the point because he's gone. Again. We have to show patience with Rowett because there's no other option. He really does need time because he's closer to vintage 2011 Nigel Clough than he is to vintage 13/14 McClaren. A lot of contracts are up in the summer and we've just about positioned ourselves to start building a cohesive squad again for next season. We're close to having a clean slate, something that wasn't looking near impossible last season. Rowett's a functional manager, he's someone that will still leave us in a good situation if he doesn't live up to the grade and gets sacked. He's not an all or nothing manager that will leave us in a mess and this summer reflects that. Relatively low risk signings that won't cripple us in seasons to come.

IT- 4/5 Fun cinema experience. Enough enjoyable characters and character moments to punctuate the film and make it enjoyable outside of the scares.