Ramzabac

Curtis rightly took all the plaudits and emotion when we learned the curtain has finally came down on a brilliant Rams career.
So much so, Richard Stearman's (and James Chester) exit almost went by unnoticed.  
The Steargoat, as he got christened by someone, always gave it us all when representing us, he never complained about not being in the team or squad, plus was a excellent role model for the younger lads.  I'll never forgot when he was interviewed live on TV and stated just "how proud he was to represent this great football club and how much he loved pulling on the shirt".   He almost had the unsung Mark Lillis like cult hero status about him, for those who can remember Ooooh Mark Lillis. 
Wish him the best in whatever his career brings next.  
Good luck to the Steargoat !
Cheers, GDFTT

Don't think I've ever seen a worse Centre Forward performance than that big lummox up front for Wednesday tonight. 
 
 

It should hopefully be the most exciting summer we’ve had for a long time!
Like you said, 2 months ahead in terms of time, but in reality we’re miles & miles ahead as a club. The thing that’ll be more important than time is the stability and flexibility we can now offer. We’re a far way from scrapping around for whatever’s left after surviving as a club by the skin of our teeth.
We have a manager 9 months into the job who has had time to assess what we need to improve, with players who will already be aware of what is expected of them.
A head of recruitment chosen by the manager to help get round pegs for round holes.
The most room to manoeuvre a manager has had for us in god knows when, in terms of being able to recruit alongside a certain vision in terms of spaces in the squad and resources.
I’m pretty sure we last spent a fee on Jozwiak and that was 3 years ago!
I think the biggest problem will be hitting the ground running with so many new faces coming in at once, but if we can manage that, we should be in for an excellent season.

I actually think this could be a blessing in disguise....
If we'd been promoted, we would have really struggled to recruit decent Championship level players within the financial restraints that we'll be under next season (even assuming the EFL permitted us a bit more wriggle room) - it had the potential to be a horrible season with us spending most of the time in the lower reaches trying to fight off relegation. As it is, we will be after less-able (League One level) players, a lot of whom will have played at PP this season and will have liked what they've seen - we'll still be one of the biggest clubs in the division and we'll hopefully be able to recruit players to address the obvious gaps in the squad, permit us to have more options in the matchday squad, and really give it a go from the start of the season with a fully fit squad that have all had a proper pre-season (something we struggled with this year) - and if we do go up, we should be free of the EFL and their diktats when we start in the Championship to really give us a fair chance to compete....

Wrexham have just become champions in the National League(Non League Football) and congratulations to them but because they have 2 famous Hollywood actors as there owners the media go way over the top you would have thought they had won the Champions League. Even Burnley's promotion to The Premier League never got this type of reaction. 

Burton - they're a bit "marmite" aren't they?

You won’t be treated like animals by us, we’re just grateful to be playing clubs like Derby. We’re used to Barnet, Hartlepool, Rochdale, etc so are still rubbing our eyes in disbelief when clubs bring more than 200 fans. But we also rub our eyes in disbelief when we see aeroplanes, so it’s not that big a compliment.
Anyway, enjoy your day out!

Can't disagree, sadly.  Still, who knows?  We might get our groove back on against a footballing side and surprise them - and ourselves!  Hope springs eternal.  I'm still reassuring myself that at least we have a team to go and support and a manager, who despite some limitations, I've really warmed to as a human being - if not a master tactician.  If we fall short this season, so what?  With a little leeway from the EFL (😂), we can start to rebuild with players that fit the model Warne wants to play in order to get out of this tinpot division.  Tension beginning to build now.  🤞  

I don't find it astonishing and I'm not convinced that any new regulator will find it any easier to identify the charlatan owners in advance either.  My view is that they are essentially powerless in a free market economy or even, as football is nowadays, a more controlled market.  It's harder to do than getting a grip of things.
Take three examples:
Had the authorities, at the time he was taking over, stopped Mel Morris from buying us - a multi, multi millionaire with legitimately earned income, a person born/educated in Derby and allegedly a fan of the club - we would have (rightly) been up in arms.  What happened later was largely unforeseeable then though, no doubt, the EFL would give MM as a prime example of why they don't like the owner/funder model of club ownership (without clearly identifying what model of ownership they do like).
Or the Glazers.  Bought Man Utd essentially by putting the club into debt, using it to buy itself.  All perfectly legal whether intrinsically you like that way of funding a club or not. From the beginning there were people who didn't like the club suddenly having to service significant amounts of debt but the club/business can clearly afford the debt levels given its turnover.  No Man Utd fan can legitimately argue that their squad hasn't had money lavished upon it even if you can argue that what was bought was over priced rubbish.  You can't just ban Americans/foreign owners or even people wanting to fund takeovers in ways that limit their own personal liabilities.
Or Newcastle.  Owners that were originally turned down but later became acceptable because, apparently, their funding is not controlled by the State concerned.  Does anyone really believe that or that the state concerned doesn't have human rights issues?  You sense that a great deal of money was spent in between on expensive lawyers finding a fudge or three to satisfy the needs of regulators and the EPL; you sense that some of the opposition was football political - that the existing 'big' clubs didn't want a gatecrasher to disturb their financial monopoly on the top EPL places; and that there was an underlying threat of expensive legal action should the takeover not be eventually sanctioned
Kirchner was clearly a persuasive guy, certainly to a club desperate for new ownership and to authorities that wanted MM gone and for Derby to have new owners.  Whatever the EFL may say now they clearly allowed him past the ownership tests and they and the administrators clearly saw some proof of funds whatever that later proved to be. And Kirchner fooled international banks, plane owners, Rooney and his agent and the game of golf. Maybe, just maybe, we owe MM some thanks for not selling the ground either to Kirchner or to Ashley (and for splitting it from the football club) and for selling it to Clowes' company.
The amount of money sloshing around in football generally nowadays will always attract people at the edges whether they're individuals or countries with dodgy records.  Some might be easier to spot than others but no regulator is going to stop easily perfectly legal transactions from happening, whoever is involved.  Hindsight is a great skill given to no one.   

I'd have loved to see either MM or the administrators challenge our punishments in court, I suspect that we'd still be in the championship.
Remember, we were given a 9 point penalty for a practice that wasn't illegal until February of last year. In addition, other clubs have been allowed a relaxation of financial practises due to COVID, no such allowance had been given to Derby. Other clubs have been allowed to bring action against Derby, against League rules.

Anyone who is worried by current form, think back to the magic 80.
Wycombe need 26 points, Shrewsbury need 28 points, Peterborough and Portsmouth need 29 points. It’s a minimum of two points per game across 12-13 games and 7-8 wins minimum. If any of the four are to overtake us, it will require something special.
We have to forget about the top two. I can understand the frustration because we have wobbled at a time when we needed to apply some pressure.
If we’re honest, it was never really on. Sheff Wed are breaking records and Plymouth have set the pace since very early on. We had to be absolutely relentless. That was never really likely with a squad of 21-22, the majority of whom have played 30-40 games with a possible 15 more to go.
We’re at a stage now where we need to hold our nerve. It‘s that simple. We have 12 games to go and need six wins to guarantee a play off place, possibly fewer if the chasing pack stutter.
We’re having a wobble. There’s no getting away from that. But prior to that we had won six in a row and had gone 15 games unbeaten. You have to take the rough with the smooth and realise the standard we had set was an unsustainable one. Under normal circumstances, we would have added 3-4 more to the squad and avoided any hiccups.
March going into April will probably be our toughest run of games all season. Three away games in five and Plymouth, Ipswich and Peterborough all to play. Brace yourselves because we have to be prepared for a bit more suffering.
Ultimately though I don’t think now is the time to dig out Warne or the players. Fair enough if we end up in 7th or fair enough if we ship 3 to Ipswich or Barnsley and don’t do ourselves justice in the play-offs.
But as it is, the manager and players are giving everything in difficult circumstances. I wish it was more straightforward but the end goal is still very much in our hands and the team will need our support to get over the line.
 

Out of interest just had a peep at the Shrewsbury fans website. Seem a decent bunch but it really is their cup final. About 50% of their average home crowd are coming which in itself is commendable but it goes to show how we always have to be at our very very best. 

I think I would take two 6 point deductions over two seasons rather than a 12 point deduction in the same season. One way or another that is proper cheating 

Wasn’t last night just a reality check? We are a pretty good LEAGUE 1 Team, with a few players of Championship quality. We are currently nowhere near being able to compete against strong Premier League opposition, indeed a few injuries to key players and we are unlikely to be able to compete against strong League 1 opposition. Warne appears to be getting us organised - that was again evident last night - but two key players were ‘off’ last night which made the game impossible, especially with McGoldrick lame. Let’s continue to enjoy the fact that we have a very strong club, and a highly committed group of players and coaching staff. I remain confident, based on what I have seen over recent weeks, that Warne will have us ready for a really good go at play-off success come season end. A couple of additions today would be ideal (decent forward, and versatile defender).

Very well done today guys thoroughly deserved the win and really it was men against boys. Your physicality, nouse and experience completely undid us. To be fair we’ve been like this all season, pretty football but no cutting edge and we need a couple of old heads to lead the kids. Unfortunately Evatt is so far down his moneyball route trying to find young players to sell on he completely ignores the fact that you need some grey hairs in the team who’ve been there and done it, unlike your man who knows exactly how to do it and is doing a cracking job. There may have been a few questioning his appointment but I think he’s more than answering them now. I think you’ve every chance of making the top two now if you keep up performances like todays so best of luck for the rest of the season. ??

From the start of the second half until they scored their second we could and should have put ourselves out of sight but we were sloppy when in promising situations. Nearly paid the price but deserved the win. 

We've been through some tough times, when you put all the horrendous Covid stuff alongside the financial firestorm of the Morris era together we are lucky to have a club left to support.
But we have a fantastic club to support, we still have our wonderful, stressful, beautiful club to support.
We are averaging 26,000 in the third division. We are selling out most away games, we are Derby.
I love this football club, I love everything about DCFC. I love the history, I love people like @loweman2 doing all the stuff about shirts, @Inverurie Ram with his Rams flag thread, 
Whatever happens this season, whether we make the play offs or even sneak into the autos, it doesn't really matter. 
Being part of the DCFC family is what matters.  We are Derby. Enjoy every game you go to and get behind the team.
??

? Have done lots of games in the home end, only lost it twice- when Curtis equalised at Reading last season and when Sturridge scored the third at Old trafford to seal the points in the wanchope game. Always been pleased with myself that when Paulo scored that wonder goal i just said to the Man u fan next me me that it was quite a good goal. I promise that if we score a 90th minute winner on Saturday there will be at least one of us bouncing in the main stand. 

? Have done lots of games in the home end, only lost it twice- when Curtis equalised at Reading last season and when Sturridge scored the third at Old trafford to seal the points in the wanchope game. Always been pleased with myself that when Paulo scored that wonder goal i just said to the Man u fan next me me that it was quite a good goal. I promise that if we score a 90th minute winner on Saturday there will be at least one of us bouncing in the main stand. 

And our group of four will be sitting on our hands in the main stand. 

And our group of four will be sitting on our hands in the main stand. 

Yes it still is the best chippy in Cheltenham and you can park on the road nearby and walk to the ground. We have also parked in sainsburys next door for a match. chippy has a sit down restaurant as well if you want to splash out. 

Thanks Tarran, As Cheltenham based Rams are looking forward to a good day. A really local away game for us. Pleased to support the mayors collection, hope that's all we give you!

Im not sure where all the pressure and expectation is coming from tbh.
6 months… thats all it was.. 6 months ago wed have all given our right nuts to still have a club.
we then entered what was left of the transfer market armed with no transfer fees, no money to line the pockets of agents and a restriction on what we could pay and over the given length of time we could pay that player for.
We did well to get a squad and tbh these are players that other clubs who had more time to get over the line and more money to tie up passed up on.
lets enjoy what we have, if we make the play offs great, if we dont we dont.
to put into context who can tell me the last time we had a manager that lasted more than 2 full seasons ?
im looking forward to judging warne after 2-3 seasons not 5 minutes and one restricted transfer window 

What a disappointing game that was. We looked good but wasteful early doors.
Burton made the halftime substitution that worked, we made the one that didn't. 
Completely puzzled by why we didn't start NML, needed his strength and directness in that game whilst we had control and McGoldrick was fresh, not when we'd started to get overrun. Go into halftime with a healthy lead, rather than give Burton a chance to get back into the game.
And bringing Davies on was bizarre - the midfield was the problem that needed fixing. Hourihane has to find some industry from somewhere to go alongside his supposed skills, otherwise this season is going to pass us by, just like games pass him by. Bird had to work his socks off to compensate for him.