Trafford Ram

I really don't get this thing with Wildsmith. He's not the perfect keeper by any means, but he has just kept 20 clean sheets in a season. Yes, a lot of that is down to the players in front of him, but he still made some very important saves to keep the score at nil. Many seem to remember more his mistakes rather than his saves. If we were looking to sign a keeper who had just kept 20 clean sheets in a season in the league below us then most people would be all over it.

Looking at the league us on 92 and and Pompey on 97 neither of these points totals would've been automatic promotion 2022/23 with Ipswich finishing in 2nd on 98 points.
Plymouth smashed League One 22/23 with 101 points and they're lingering around relegation, whilst Ipswich could be automatically promoted.
So for us in the Championship, I'll be happy with mid-table or anything other than relegation, however I also don't think we should simply disregard a decent play-off push because we don't have the cash, it's all about the right recruitment now, the right players for the right roles.
How we performed in the league below doesn't mean anything in the league above, look at Plymouth (again 101 points!!!) same can be said about Burnley and this season in the Prem but obviously that's an even larger gap.
Glass half empty we don't have the funds to truly compete but glass half full, we don't have the funds to buy useless cast offs for silly money, looking at you...
Johnson (8m) Butterfield (5m) Anya (4m) Jóźwiak (4m) Blackman (3m) Jozefzoon (3m) Camara (1.5m) 28.5 MILLION RIGHT THERE!!! 4.5m shy of what Clowes paid for our club. Screw it, whilst these did have the occasional moment you could add either Ince (6.5m), Bielik (8m) or Lawerence (5m) if you want for a total more than what Clowes paid for Derby.
Money doesn't mean anything, it's about building a team not buying a team.

He's spending the summer learning several foreign languages to cater to our incredibly high number of overseas viewers

I trust his abilities. We may not be play off contenders next season but given half decent recruiting we won’t be struggling.
 
PW and his team know what they are doing.  A small upgrade in first touch/natural ball skills, signing Ebou and a scary striker and we won’t be pushovers. 
I don’t agree with the criticism of his football style. It was designed and shaped by the necessity to get out of this league. This league isn’t pretty, the football often isn’t perfect either. We are somewhere else now. I am looking forward to the next chapter.?

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.     

Good luck for this afternoon, I hope you get it over the line for a number of reasons, and the odds are in your favour.
I hope you don't mind an outsider saying this, and I'm sure you all know this, but regardless of any euphoria or disappointment tomorrow, you'll all still be proud supporters - as b4 was, and is. As someone who read on here for a while before I registered/posted and saw lots of his comments when you were in a bad place;  I stand by the fact that whoever we support, we could all do well by being a bit more like him, when it comes to our clubs.

I was at Belper Cinema tonight and the lady working there mentioned she used to work at Derbion Cinema.
I said you must know Daniel then. She smiled for half a second, remembered he had passed, then shed a tear. Within seconds she was smiling again but still with moist eyes.
She told us how positive, optimistic and lovely he was and how great he was at his job. He was her favourite workmate.
At this point I may have had some grit in my eye.
I think Daniel has made us all tearful as we smile at his memory and I dare say many of us will look to the sky at 2.30 tomorrow, with that same bit of grit in our eye.
I've never been so confident before a match in my life, as the very briefest thought of us not doing this for B4, hasn't once crossed my mind.
 
 

B4 April 2023, If ever we needed a rallying call, different game but the sentiment remains exactly the same!
 
Well calling all derby fans to get really really really behind the lads we need get behind the lads lets have wall of noise and have sea of black and white let's have scafs flags and balloons let's cheer lads on into the play offs. The louder we are the better lads play. Let  burton players shake with fear and let them think what on earth have we got our selfs into here.
 
…………..no further comment required! 

Dear Daniel,
I know you've been doing quite a lot of work up there over the past few weeks, in helping us get to the position we find ourselves in.  I understand if you had a night off when we played Northampton, you were probably too busy having a cuppa with Sir Brian & Reich Carter, but if you can see your way clear to have an unconscious word in each of the lads' ears before they step out onto the pitch at 12:25, to be the bravest, best versions of themselves for the next 90 odd minutes we'll all be eternally grateful.  And if we manage to get what we need, you'll be up there, waving your flange with gusto and cheering them on with the rest of us.
🫶

He would be adamant (not the Prince Charming version) that the Rams are going up. He wouldn’t hear anything to the contrary. He would also look like the a DCFC Michelin man with numerous layers of scraves and flanges. I will be taking one of his scraves with me tomorrow. 
Typing this has made me a bit sad. I would often buy Dan DCFC hats, scraves, hoodies etc for Christmas so he would be warm at matches. His favourite hat I gave him had a leather DCFC badge on the front. My dad told me he couldn’t find it before a match one day and was so upset he thought he had lost. It turned up at home a couple of days later. These memories tug at the heart strings. 
 

Can't help but wonder what kind of rallying cry B4 would have written for the players and us this weekend. It would usually land about now

In fairness, it appears you're asking the wrong person, in @Ilkestonian.
This should be aimed at those who have openly aired their intentions (on here) to invade the pitch at full time.
I've made my views clear.  But that's not to say I believe a pitch invasion will in itself lead to a points deduction, as I don't imagine it will for one moment.
My anti-invasion opinions are based on the fact that:
A/  The invaders will be going against the club's wishes, plans, and publicly announced statements, along with the laws of the land.
B/  The potential of those left in the stands missing the advertised "Lap of honour", due to it being cancelled should the pitch not be cleared in an appropriate timescale (There's only so much one man with a megaphone can achieve!).
C/  The potential for just ONE of the assumed thousands on the pitch doing something SO STUPID, that that in itself "COULD" lead to action being taken against the club, be that a fine, points deduction, or any other sanction the EFL has in their power.
Your question is a fair one.  It was just a poor aim.  👍🐏

So that was the part of the brilliant new rights deal that the EFL negotiated that got the price up a tiny percentage was it.
It's a good job ramstv has such a loyal international viewership.

When Daniel died I kept seeing rainbows everyday. I know how science and weather works but I like to think that’s his way of saying hello… or guiding dcfc to the back of the net 😂 I got to write a message on the dcfc changing room white board for the team to read today. I asked them to score a goal for Dan. Ebou delivered 🐏❤️🐏

Pompey fan, in peace.  I read (a lot) and posted (a little) when you were having issues with the ownership.
I just wanted to pass on my belated condolences for B4's passing - as an outsider it was clear how much he cared about your club.  It's lovely to see how much warmth he commands and how he's being remembered.
I'm sure it doesn't need explaining that I hope my club gets up, but having read some of this thread I hope you manage to make it up with us.  It's also a great reminder that football clubs are all about the people who support them.  Raising a glass to Daniel this evening. 

My son Edward was mascot that day. Living in West Bridgford & surrounded by Red Dogs at school, Derby County had the foresight to offer the job to Edward…He fully milked the bragging rights accordingly at school on the Monday morning. 😉

Just watched the highlights back. My god I miss that squad of players. What a team. 

Pre match was just our normal routine of beers and food at The Smithfield but after, we celebrated with 5 glasses of champagne at Seven 🍾🥂 🙂

In 100 years time, I’m fairly sure Fozzy’s ghost will still be haunting the left back areas of Pride Park, and he’ll still be the best crosser of the ball at the club.
I think people do overlook how good he’s actually been for us. He’s been one of the best left backs in the championship for almost a decade. It’s no surprise at all he’s still very good at League One level.

Think we got cup finalled by Barnsley today
Filled their stadium, got their fans riled up, made the most of the home advantage and we shrank into ourselves under the pressure in our biggest game of the season so far
But Barnsley also caught us at a bad time, we’re without a striker and Gayle wasn’t ready to start. That doesn’t excuse the headless passing but we’d have made more of our chances with Collo playing today. It was still a fairly even game.
We’ll have a similar situation at Pompey so we need to learn from this and get a result there to make up for today. We also need to make sure we’re the ones ‘cup finalling’ Bolton when they come to town.
Stopping the calls for the head of a manager who’s clearly not getting sacked would be a good start. 

Bet our scouts are watching 

I didn't write these questions, that said, I'd like an answer to each of these:
Could you share your long-term vision for Derby County, particularly how you plan to balance immediate competitive success with sustainable growth and development of the club?
How important is the youth academy to the club's strategy, and what steps are being taken to ensure Derby County continues to develop and integrate local talents into the first team?
In what ways do you believe Derby County can enhance its engagement with the local community and fans to build a stronger, more inclusive club culture?
With players like Louie Sibley, Joe Wildsmith, and others set to leave as free agents this summer, how is the club planning to manage this transition? What strategies are in place for retaining key talents or finding suitable replacements to ensure the team remains competitive?
Can you discuss the club's current efforts and future plans to support and develop the women's football team at Derby County? How does the club envision promoting gender equality within the sport and leveraging the growing interest in women's football?

Just back home. Well that was a match with lots too talk about. Awful first half, got worse when they scored. Was considering taking up pottery classes on saturday afternoons at that point. Very good substitutions, and the whole outlook of the team changed. Tommo needs to start more often, his energy and biting at opposition's heels are much needed in this division. CBT showed a few good touches, but needs to settle in.
Despite the poor performance, we scraped out a win, which is how to get promoted!
I wish the moaners and boo boys would shut up, and just get behind the team. Booing at the half time whistle, not helping anybody. I've never booed a Derby team in nearly 50 years, and wont be starting now, particularly when we are 1 point off second place, and 3 points off the top. Some people need to get a grip!
 

Time to stop the curse talk nonsense. 
Never been cursed.
Just as a forum topic does not directly impact results on a pitch.
Some of you lot would put a bad day down to putting your left sock on before the right in the morning.

Dug this old thread out, just to say well done to Fozzy.
I remember seeing him flying down the left and whipping in some terrifying crosses and thinking he was some player.
Then I saw him being given a lesson at home against Wolves and thought he was finished, likewise with the three ligament injuries.
But then he reinvents himself as a CD when needs must, with the signings of Nelson, Bradley and Elder I thought his days would be number.
But no Fozzy has re reinvented himself as a LB again and is keeping people out - assisting and scoring.
What an absolute legend, what a club man