Comrade 86

An interesting few weeks ahead to say the least. For the first time in a long while we will be able compete without the shackles of an EFL business plan and it'll be interesting to see who we are looking at. Presumably there will still be two lists, one for L1 and one not. My hunch is that we'll see the profile begin to change and perhaps some younger players with potential, rather than older players with proven pedigree. I do agree with some of the posts on here pointing out that there's some very good young players in L1 and perhaps we might see fit to five a few a go at a higher level, assuming all goes well on Saturday. Some who have caught my eye in recent weeks include Chris Forino at Wycombe, Paris Maghoma at Bolton, the aforementioned Harrison Burrows at Posh and Karamoko Dembélé at Blackpool, though I'd love to see us spreading the net and brining in two or three from foreign leagues, where I'm sure there must be some good value for money to be had.

No point in going to bed then really!

Turns out selling your club and racking up a £300 million debt to an (alleged) homicidal, global, drug trafficker, with a penchant for home fires, hasn't quite led to the sunlit uplands of European football and worldwide adulation they'd hoped for. They are trending, mind! 😂

TC vs Madrimov @ light middleweight. A tilt at a belt at a fourth different weightclass for the P4P champ. August 3rd and interestingly.... It is the kingdom's first boxing event outside of Saudi. Alalshikh has become boxing's financial powerhouse, with the ability to put on history-making fights. Anthony Joshua's last two bouts have taken place in Saudi and the undisputed title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will also be held in capital Riyadh on 18 May. "A lot of fans have said these big fights are always in Saudi Arabia now and don't forget the UK and US," Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn, who is working alongside the Saudi organisers, said. "There are also talks of a major event in Wembley Stadium for Riyadh Season." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/articles/cd1vx9k9mrgo

Would this burn off a Snickers 4-pack? Asking for a friend...

From the BBC: Taming the Crazy Gang, a blank contract & David Currie - the legend of Clough Goalkeeper Mark Crossley spent most of his career at Nottingham Forest after making his debut in 1989 - and that meant he got a front row seat in the world of Brian Clough. The double European Cup-winning manager, one of the great characters in the history of the English game, was Crossley's boss for the first four seasons of his career. He recounted some of his favourite tales from those years on the Sacked in the Morning podcast. Full article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/clm3g30dyk5o Full podcast here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hsl2f8

I must be easily pleased, as I'll be celebrating like a mad thing if we clinch promotion on Saturday and right now I couldn't care less about Premier League football.

Love the man. Properly down to earth and humble, but there's a steely determination that's palpable and you can tell what was in part, an act of mercy, has now now morphed into a grander vision. Far from feeling the pressure and weight of fan expectation, the man seems positively enthused. Seems to me he's loving it really and I did worry about that a little. That said, he is a fan himself, so he's every right to feel chuffed! As for the vision, well it seems that these days more than ever, sustainability is absolutely key to a successful football operation, so to hear him echo that ethos is also really reassuring. It's not sexy, but for me, above and beyond all other considerations, are the checks and balances that ensure we never make the same mistakes again. And talking of mistakes, I really hope I'm not wrong again, as Clowes does seem to me at least to be the perfect custodian for this grand old club of ours. Please can I not be wrong again! In all seriousness, I do have enormous faith in the man. Listening to him talk, I think it's safe to assume that there won't be the overnight change that some seem to expect, but rather incremental growth, built on solid foundations. I get that some folk want to see us challenging in the Championship straight away*, why wouldn't they, but slow and steady is all music to my ears, as I believe that a more measured and strategic plan is far more likely to yield longer term success, than the bang or bust approach adopted by so many clubs these days. And if Clowes, whose first year losses amounted to £7 million, is prepared to be patient enough to build this club back up the right way, as well as footing the bill, surely the fan base should be too? It's food for thought. *Irrespective, we do still have a game to negotiate on Saturday and hopefully all the players and coaching staff are fully focussed on that right now, as this is potentially a huge step back towards whence we came and if any supporters are due a party, it's us lot 😋 COYBR

Really? Nah! I mean, come on! No Rams supporter is betting against Derby being promoted and actually wanting their bet to land. I think folk are literally trying to curse Bolton with their cash. I know I am! 🤷‍♂️

Couple of docos watched recently the first being The Real Line of Duty. It deals with a particularly notorious era within the Met where a 'firm within a firm' royally took the piss, which in turn led to the modernisation of police on police evidence gathering. Sadly, it's not a terribly well put together 3 parter, but for all that the filming is run of the mill, the story told is quite incredible. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27125496/ Free to view with Prime The Secret Army is a documentary about a lost film showing real life IRA commanders at work. It's another eye opener for sure, but I'll say no more to avoid spoilers, other than it's another fascinating account and well worth a look. BBC iPlayer

Easy. B4 this year, David Clowes next.

I feckin hate Peterborough

I think it can be argued that the midfield is better without Hourihane, but I'm not sure how you can say as much about Bird's absence. He's our best CM by some way and with Ebou to run the hard yards alongside him, I'd wager Max will prosper. I guess his ability aside, another thing would be that he's come through the academy and we've watched him grow as a player, so there's some loyalty and affection for the lad from many fans and this is probably heightened by this being his last game. Most fans will have noted that he also stuck by us though the worst of the recent troubles, at a time when he was our most saleable asset and could easily have found better paid employment at a higher level elsewhere. Just an alternative opinion, but if Max is looking OK in training, I'd definitely start him as a swap for Corey Smith, with the latter taking over around the 60 minute mark. Be nice to see Max leave the field for the last time, to rapturous applause from the Rams faithful, having just watched him boss Carlisle. As it is, I'm remarkably calm about it all anyway. I think we'll win well whether Bird starts, or not. COYR

From the second line of the article, tsk, tsk... 😋 The previous record was 12, set in the 2004/05 and 2006/07 campaigns respectively, and Warne’s side equalled that return in March with a comprehensive 3-0 success at Bristol Rovers.

Nah, it's just down to taste, isn't it? We can't all like the same stuff, even if there's lots of shows on which there's a deal of common ground. Personally, I liked this show a lot and Scott's performance in particular, but it is unusually languid and it won't be for everyone. Even speaking as someone who enjoyed it, I don't think it's something I'd revisit.

Seen this proudly heralded on here and rightly so, but it does still seem to have gone under the radar a little, unless yours truly has simply missed it. Thirteen away wins in a single season is bonkers and in these lower divisions, it feels like it's even harder, with some teams pulling out all the stops to ensure their pitches don't encourage actual football. And that's before we mention the 'special attention' ritually handed out to any player with attacking ability. Thinking about this a little, it wasn't that long ago that we couldn't buy an away win and even more recently, our home form was shocking with only our away day prowess keeping our noses in it. On reflection, I'm quite proud at how we've ridden the bumps, worked hard and have improved all the way to the line. Going into the last game we've a 14 to 13 split for home and away victories, so our home form in the second half of the season has actually been very good too. Having a quick tot up as I read the article, a great stat emerged, no xG, I promise!; in winning the 13 away games, we outscored our respective opponents by a staggering 31 goals to 6 which yields an effective rate of over 5 goals scored for every one conceded. See! I told you it was a doozy! Have a read of the article linked below if you fancy a quick bask in the reflected glory. Handy way to distract yourself from how slowly this pesky working week is going. Whadddya mean it's only Monday!?! It must be at least Wednesday by now!!! 😡 https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2024/04/in-focus-the-away-wins-that-set-a-new-derby-county-club-record

Oooh, that's the dream. Were that to happen, I'd very likely be having a party 😋

Just recalled that their appeal hearing decision will be announced this week. Is the timing of their offensive a thinly veiled attempt to bring pressure to bear on the PL? I'm not sure who is advising them, but given they got a reduction for 'showing good faith' with the original IDC, the intelligence behind said strategy is hard to fathom. I'm actually quite hopeful that they'll received a further sanction for their 'troubles'. We learned under Morris that going on the offensive is not always the best policy when dealing with these governing bodies and my hunch is that Forest are about to find that out for themselves.

The irony of all this talk of corruption seems entirely lost on the Gumpies. Burn a bakery, buy a judge, intimidate and buy off juries, arrange for a few witnesses to have accidents, that's all fine apparently, but deny them a decision in a game of footy and they completely lose their collective minds. Then again, given how they mithered and wailed over a chicken balti pie, it's not entirely unexpected.

NGL, I didn't even bother watching the main race. Watching Verstappen finish a quarter of a minute ahead of the field in a sprint race, despite having battery issues for several laps, was the final straw for me. Perez has dropped the lot, Ferrari are bipolar, Mercedes completely schizophrenic and laughing at Danny Ric is just mean, so I've even lost interest in that now. having been my hero, Lewis is becoming a whiny git, though I can understand his frustration at Mercedes' complete inability to furnish him with a remotely competitive car. I might pay a bit more interest when Newey moves to Ferrari and there's some competition for the RBR machine. On the flipside though, MotoGP! Circuito de Jerez up next at the eminently sensible start time of Sunday @13.00 followed by a spot of lunch at The Fishes. Lovely jubbly! Good shouts from both @Gaspode and @RadioactiveWaste on that score for anyone whose not already watching. Round two of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship will take place in Portugal this weekend, and it will be broadcast on free-to-air TV in the UK. ITV will broadcast the MotoGP Sprint on ITV3 on Saturday, before all three Sunday races - Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP - go out live on ITV4. The Americas full race replay from last weekend available here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8wtaes

I'm guessing the Gumps didn't get the memo 😉

This in spades 🙌 Bittersweet for sure and as much a relief as anything, after our troubles. it's been a proper slog and we still need one more big performance to be sure. I wouldn't worry about B4 too much though, as word has it he told the big boss he was nipping out for milk on Saturday evening and has not been seen since 👀

It'd be grand if it could be Derby lads (or lasses) retaining full ownership. I think part of football losing its way has been as a result of too many owners who treat clubs like toys for the billionaire boys club. Lose interest and your club that's been around over 100 years is all of a sudden teetering on the edge. I see Gadsby and even more so, our own David Clowes, as custodian types, as much as owners. Clowes' prime interest was and I think will likely always remain, the longevity and sustainability of the Derby County Football Club. In all honesty, I'm fine with that, though I suspect many won't be. @Boycie has reminded us that Morris was popular and regarded as 'one of our own' prior to dumping us into admin and he's right. I was very much taken in myself. That said, I can't see any similarities other than their Rams ownership at all. The two men are worlds apart in everything from actions to demeanour. I think it's already safe to assume that Clowes is the owner we needed, arriving precisely when we most needed him to.