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darren22

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  1. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Millenniumram in Derby vs Wycombe Wanderers   
    That performance was atrocious. Can blame the ref all you want (I think she got all the calls right), but we were pathetic. It was a lack of effort. Probably 6/7 of that starting 11 should be hung out to dry for that first half.
  2. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Walkley Ram in Derby vs Wycombe Wanderers   
    Anyway. Goal aside, that performance was absolutely dire.
  3. Clap
    darren22 reacted to NottsRam77 in Derby vs Wycombe Wanderers   
    Wasnt mate
    stone wall pen
    literally summarised our performance today slack, casual and not good enough  
    so much of todays performance was literally utter s*** 
  4. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to uttoxram75 in Portsmouth or Bolton?   
    I would happily have taken the position we are in a week before christmas, 3 points off automatic promotion back in August.
    Plenty of room for improvement but winning is a nice habit and confidence will give us an extra boost going into the next few games.
    We won't win them all, we will lose one or two soon enough but thats when you need to go on another run. The other teams wont win every game either.
    Its all to play for, enjoy it! Look forward to a proper scrap for those top 2 positions over the coming weeks and months.
    COYR
     
  5. Clap
    darren22 reacted to CongletonRam in Derby vs Leyton Orient   
    I'd like to see further action for that. It's assault. Any player should receive a 6-month ban. Outside of a football pitch, you're looking at a criminal record.
  6. Angry
    darren22 reacted to Scott129 in Derby vs Leyton Orient   
    Scumbag move. Knew exactly what he was doing and deservedly got a red card.
  7. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Steve Buckley’s Dog in Boro debts written off   
    Did Rick Parry and the EFL pay them off? Or did Mel have to?
    Never forgive or forget the parasite clubs. 
  8. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Hoppo in Derby vs Leyton Orient   
    Well played Derby. Good win that. 
  9. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Ram-Alf in Serial Whingers Notts Forest playtime, which we simply cannot accept.   
    Ah the come back, The EFL relegated us not Rooney, The EFL had it in for us with Leeds and Villa when we went against the EFLs new Sky deal, They despised us for it, Villa/Leeds got promotion, Morris fiddled while Derby burnt, The EFL cooked up a scheme where we couldn't get a Covid loan, Then went on to support Middlesboro and Wycombe who both wanted payments, Quantuma who were supposed to look after our interests...Then agreed not to appeal our points deduction if the EFL drew a line under out punishment.
    As Jimmy Cricket would say...come here there's more...much more, But you hang onto the fairy story you think what happened, And we'll tell you what really happened.
    Cooper...Legend   
  10. Haha
    darren22 reacted to G STAR RAM in Derby vs Port Vale   
    Yep, if you'd have known about xG you'd have been playing in Europe apparently. 
  11. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to G STAR RAM in Derby vs Port Vale   
    Derby are in the 3rd division because of going into administration and supposedly breaching P&S rules, not sure what that has got to do with xG?
     
  12. Haha
    darren22 reacted to Gee SCREAMER !! in Points Deduction, Who's Next And When Will It Stop?   
    Probably one of those doing 'champions of England you'll never sing that' in the FA cup game against us a few years ago. 
  13. Clap
    darren22 reacted to May Contain Nuts in Glass half full!   
    Warning: May Contain the longest post in the history of the forum. Read it all if you're feeling masochistic, if not quit whenever you like or maybe don't even start it. In fact I'd ask that certain posters (who probably know who they are tbh) ignore it altogether. I probably won't respond to arguments against it anyway because I simply can't be arsed to get into a to and fro, My enthusiasm for posting has gone right down the pan recently tbh and I'm, sick of having the same discussions and making the same points.
    One last time though 🤣
     
    Surely whether the glass is half full or half empty depends on whether you had a full glass or an empty glass in the first place?
    I guess others may be viewing our current situation through the same lens they wore during the period of administration, in which case their starting position is likely that of having an empty glass, and anything else is a bonus? For me it's the opposite.
    I was full of optimism when we came out of administration. The chance for a big reset and to grow the club in the 'right' way, to employ a forward thinking manager to help build a new identity with a clear way of playing that we could develop and improve over time, including proper integration of the academy with their transition to the first team eased by there being a thread running from the top of the club to the bottom, no massive disconnects in intent (or 'vision') or style. Everyone on the same page.
    I was expecting and accepting that it might take a few years of slow and steady but sustainable growth. I thought it was going to be a tough and ugly league full of seasoned pros and wizened old managers, and that while they'd probably have the upper hand on us for a spell we'd learn as we went. And that was OK, we would be building toward something better, everyone understood that patience was required.
    Then we started playing, and the league was nothing like I'd feared. Besides, even if it had been we'd now appointed a League One promotion specialist to help even out any disadvantage, someone who'd use his talents to get the better of other managers. Or so I thought.
    Even our hurriedly assembled squad quickly showed the division up for what it really is, there was and is (this season, especially) nothing to fear from anybody. With better squad rotation to help reduce the late season burnout we could easily have found ourselves finishing in the playoffs - ultimately it came down to a single goal, one narrow defeat turned to a draw, one draw turned to a win and we'd have been in, and then who knows?
    The season ended in mildly disappointing fashion. Rather unexpectedly so, as if you'd have asked a before a ball was kicked you'd have taken a top 10 finish, but the appointment of Warne coupled with seeing how poor the league really is did raise expectations of what we should be achieving and when. How could it not have done? You don't appoint 'promotion experts' only to be eternally patient while they make mistakes they probably shouldn't be making.
    My optimism was dampened at various points by the performance of the manager, his lack of of tactical nous leading to him being out-thought multiple times by opposition managers, his poor squad management and lack of adequate rotation, some deep flaws in his playing philosophy (surely this isn't what we thought we were getting, or is it?) but toward the very end of the season I'd convinced myself he was showing some progress.
    -----
    And so we roll onto this season, there's some fanfare about the restrictions being eased, a big interview where the chairman of the club states that our budget is good enough, in his opinion, for promotion.
    This sounds like an ideal opportunity - a second opportunity after somewhat blowing the first one -  now we've had time to plan it, to really get to grips with the 'project' we had in mind before Warne was employed which when coupled with his past record of getting the most out of his squad as a collective should have seen us taking advantage of the best of both worlds. It didn't happen last season but fair's fair, it wasn't his squad and realistically we could not have done anything in that January window to really change or even adequately supplement what we had.
    Our initial signings on paper sounded altogether quite promising, the aim was to build a squad which includes a number of players who either still have something to offer at Championship level (justifying their likely higher-than-average wage demands) or could improve to reach that level. An admirable target. The manager and the players talk of a promotion season, with the aim set for automatics, it's very convincing.
    My glass isn't quite full at that stage, but at about 85/90% The other 10/15% depends on the manager having learned lessons from the season just past.
    However, the progress seen (whether it was actually there or not) last season went out of the window when it became clear that the manager had his heart set on 3 at the back with wingbacks but more importantly playing the same style of football he deployed at Rotherham (but without the necessary type of players), rather than building on what worked the previous season, meaning certain positions that otherwise would only need a starter or a covering player are completely unfilled and require both.
    Another 'reset' then, but maybe it wouldn't matter? We have plenty of scope now to build the team Warne wants, and in the end we bring in 10 permanent signings. Unfortunately some of those signings get injured, but some look so badly researched that they look disastrously unsuited to what's asked of them and can't get in the team, some are simply not being used very much for one reason or another.  Even without the injuries it's difficult to see where everyone really fits in with the style of play so it's a transfer window effectively wasted - one which we're not looking to 'correct the mistakes of' (as is typically the manager's view of business done in January) in a couple of months.
    The recruitment that once looked promising now looks haphazard, and we're back to our good performances taking the shape of something the manager has been forced to implement (through both poor performances when attempting to play his preferred style and injuries) rather than what he actually planned for. Meanwhile teams who have brought in more players than us and with many of them likely to be on lower wages show us that one of the key excuses for our performance - the team needing to gel - is somewhat negligible, as we'd also shown ourselves the previous season.
    The matches we watch often come with the most predictable and telegraphed tactical approach imaginable yet somehow the messages coming from the sidelines are still muddled and the players rarely seem to know when the manager actually wants. One week it's criticism for not moving the ball quick enough the next it's for trying to be too quick and not taking care of the ball enough, one minute they're told to bypass the middle but the next they've played it wide too often. Players are still being given roles that don't suit them, or played in multiple roles in a single game and across games and often don't seem to know if they're coming or going. Substitutions are still largely random, or done so with an attempt to shoehorn in 3 at the back. The manager still doesn't know what to do when his main gameplan isn't working and he gets tetchy AF whenever challenged on the details.
    Throw into that the poor implementation of academy players and the attitude toward them on which has been discussed at length recently, and there's neither a real identity or any clear future planning on display. People say that the academy players will come in when they're ready, but if they only ever get put on the pitch when there's absolutely nothing on the line then not one of them will ever be ready.
    There's no reason to think that we can take what we're doing this season and 'step it up' should we get promoted, beyond the idea that we can simply chuck more money at it than Rotherham could.
    -----
    I feel very much like there are certain posters who see our potential promotion under Warne as the only criteria on which he should be judged and are willing to close their eyes to everything else.
    All the reasons for my glass being (mostly) full at the start of the past 2 seasons are the very things that the manager has failed to deliver any progress toward, and shows no real signs of being interested in going forward - he doesn't appear to be doing anything other than looking after his own skin. I see him working far more in the interests of Paul Warne than of Derby County.
    While a manager shouldn't sacrifice everything that they want for the sake of the club and should obviously be able to stamp their own identity on it (otherwise you end up with Cocu Season 2), there needs to be a better balance than that which is currently offered up. This alone makes it difficult to 'back' Warne or for me to believe he's the right manager for where we are as a club right now, or where we want to be.
    Whether people who are being dismissive of those with long term concerns are doing so because they just think that the 'now' is more important, believe that the rest will sort itself out once we're promoted, whether they're just trying to win an argument online, whether they just want to appear to be a 'better supporter' than those who aren't happy, or whatever else their motivation for ignoring the issues presented by Warne's ongoing tenure, I'm not (except in one or two instances) really sure.
    We might, and I stress might, be able to achieve promotion this season. But quite frankly so what if we do? What is that supposed to prove? Promotion is the bare minimum outcome for Warne to even come close to being considered a success as Derby manager.  It's no great achievement if it comes at the cost of an almost total neglect of any other aspects of the club's progression, and pretty worthless if we find ourselves back down here in 2 years time. History tells us that's the most likely outcome, especially if Warne's methods haven't developed beyond what they were when he was at Rotherham.
    The longer he is here the more I feel we're wasting time, and the further away I feel from us being able to take advantage of the opportunity we had to build properly. The more we become a Warne team the more we seem to become a League One team, but not a more modern, forward thinking one, an old fashioned horrible one.
    However, if he gets us up and keeps us up while giving or academy graduates at least some meaningful game time (something he is currently averse to doing) then he'll have proved me exceedingly wrong. I still hope for that, but I don't believe for a second that he is capable of the improvement necessary to make it happen. Time will tell - the owner of the club clearly has a lot more faith in him than I do, I just hope he's right and I'm wrong.
  14. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Mucker1884 in Put a fork in football, it’s done!!   
    The only reason I'm still involved is thanks to... or the fault of... one Mr David Clowes.
    Heaven forbid, had the unthinkable actually happened, there's no way I'd be showing any interest in football now.
    I truly couldn't tell you who played in the last game I watched (full, or even highlights) that didn't involve The Rams.  I'd imagine it was the last England WC (proper) game?
    WC & Euro qualifiers... Champions League... Match of the day... Live Prem and/or EFL games... Local parks...small time amateurs... none of it interests me, and hasn't for some time.
    I doubt I'd recognise any more than a dozen players names from the Prem, and I'd be amazed if I could match more than a handful of prem players to their current club.
    Even my participation on here is based on 40% Love of DCFC, and 60% "banter with the gang"!
    I don't even put this apathy down to "strong morals"... I'm just bored with the wider game, full stop.  Disillusioned, I guess! 
    Diving, money, VAR, Rich v Poor, too many games played, too many live games on the various TV options, the over-analysis of it all.
    I'll leave football forever, I'll leave football forever, I'll leave football forever... Should Derby County Die!  😢
     
  15. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Walkley Ram in Warne Out Out   
    We're not moaning because Warne is our manager and we don't like him. We're moaning because we're playing crap football and losing/drawing games we should be winning. Pretending that the moaning is just because people don't like Warne is absurd and ignores justified crisicism of what's happening in reality.
    If we won every game between now and the end of the season, great. Warne has proved us all wrong. And in the two or thre games this season we've played well, he's been highly praised by almost all supporters. But in reality, he's nowhere near proving his critics wrong is he? Every good game seems to be followed by more bad games.
  16. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Rubix001 in Warne Out Out   
    I could accept the inconsistency if it were evident that we’re building something but I’m just not sure what we’re building. We’re told this is a long term project and that Clowes is giving time for Warne to build the club back up but all I’ve seen in his tenure is buying ex-players and those past their best. 
     
    If we were playing our youth, signing up and comers and attempting to play some good football then I think most Derby fans would accept the current position and levels of consistency but as it stands, what have we built in the last season and a half? Our best youth products in years are all set to leave at the end of the season leaving us with a few players that are the wrong side of 30.

    If we don’t go up this year I do fear we’re in this league for the long haul, waiting for PW’s contract to be up so we can get in someone who knows how to build a team for the long term. The messaging from the club says this is a long term project but the signings we’ve made suggest otherwise.
  17. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to DavesaRam in 11 Points   
    I still think we should sue the EFL as well - they broke the law, and their own rules, and allowed pube head to break their riles as well. And the one rule we were supposed to have broken didn’t even exist for another 3 years.
  18. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Anag Ram in I have a dream   
    We moan because our team is inconsistent. My mate supports Cheltenham and they’re consistently rubbish.
    We have it lucky compared to some.
    Not long ago we were praying for a club of any standard.
    My dream is a fanbase that’s more respectful of each other and other clubs.
    It’s of an atmosphere of celebration each week that we have a club we love.
    In my dream, Derby’s players are desperate to play for their manager and the rams badge.
    I hope it comes true.
  19. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to LeedsCityRam in Derby County Versus Crewe Alexandra - Match Day Thread - ( FA Cup 1st Rd Replay )   
    Its definitely this point that has annoyed me the most & its on two levels.
    Firstly, it didn't take too much thinking to conclude that the first team may not have been mentally up for last night's game given they'd just beaten a top 6 rival 3 days earlier in front of 28k & with an international break looming. That game was crying out for players for whom it would be a big deal - i.e. fringe players & especially the Academy lads, to match Crewe's enthusiasm. If we had played Fapetu, Weston & Robinson from the start, I honestly wouldn't have minded if we'd been beat 0-3 & I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that.
    The second point is with regard to the long term development of youth players at a club that prides itself in having a Category 1 Academy. So far this season the kids have been trusted with one game - against a Wolves under 21 side who needed a big win to knock us out. That doesn't really come across as a serious pathway for what are clearly some talented players & as you rightly say, investment this season could accelerate their development in time for next summer. The 2021-22 season under Rooney showed how fast young players can develop when given opportunities - Ebiowei, Plange, Ebosele, Cashin & Thompson all came from nowhere to make first team contributions simply because they got the gametime to make mistakes & learn. Philip Cocu would also have played kids last night (and I suspect in the League Cup & throughout the EFL Trophy too) - picking Bird, Sibley & Knight away at Forest in League Cup in late 2019 was heavily criticised at the time but all 3 were making telling first XI contributions 3/4 months later.
    We do not have the right manager in charge to develop youth & this is at odds with where the club wants & needs to go long term in order to be sustainable.
  20. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Rample in Derby County Versus Crewe Alexandra - Match Day Thread - ( FA Cup 1st Rd Replay )   
    Pretty shocking really, given the side we put out, and the start we had, but shouldn't we be putting 2 up front against lower league teams?
    Playing devils advocate, is it telling that Warne only signed two of the players that started tonight?
    Notably he didn't sign any of our centre mids or forwards. I know he brought a number of players in this summer but was he hamstrung filling gaps and taking gambles rather than being able to stamp his style on the team.
    It's glaringly apparent now that he inherited a team so far away from his preferred design, with no real means to change it, and as such he was the admitedly the wrong appointment. We don't have the means to shuffle the pack sufficiently in January so any chance of top 6 will be a matter of other sides failings and a bit of luck.
    Could another manager be achieving a lot more with these players? Likely so. Could someone come in now and give us a greater shot at promotion and maybe keeping a couple of the players we want to? The switch has flipped in me and I'm now starting to think so.
    With an inevitable stampede leaving in summer, we either seriously get our sh*t together now, identify and bring in exactly the players he needs to play Warneball - the midfield workhorses, some towering defenders, the right sort of centre forwards etc. If we aren't planning for that then there is no point keeping with him at all because thats all he can play effectively.
     
     
  21. Like
    darren22 reacted to G STAR RAM in B4 - for ever a Ram 🐏   
    I ashamedly hold my hands up and admit for a while on here I had him down as an internet troll and accused him of it on mumerous occasions, I just couldn't believe that most of the things he was saying anyone would actually think.
    Luckily an admin @angierampossibly did pull me up on it and I messaged him privately to apologise.
    It didn't make me take his posts any more seriously but at least I knew they were made with the best of intentions and with the sort of love for Derby County I probably displayed during my youth.
    The forum will be a much sadder place without @B4ev6isaround.
    RIP Daniel and thanks for the memories.
  22. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to EtoileSportiveDeDerby in Wayne Rooney   
    He did OK for us, backed the wrong (dodgy) horse Kirchner. I really hope he can take them down, horrible set of fans, they give Milwall a good run for their money
  23. Clap
    darren22 reacted to Ram-Alf in Wayne Rooney   
    I actually like the fella no other reason than he held DCFC together during those dark days...As for BCFC...PMSL and again...PMSL 😁
  24. Cheers
    darren22 reacted to Ram-Alf in Palestine   
    Hands up anyone who was surprised by yesterdays arrests in London, Maybe our press, Or our Government, The Police who were sent from forces around the UK, The marchers perhaps, Even those trying to do their every day work.
    The press stoked all this up and got the headlines they wanted, I pretty much read a lot of Braverman's rhetoric this last week, She's the home Secretary and to the right of the party, She used words that some and our press used against her, We live in times where a loose word or an unfortunate action is stamped on and ridiculed.
    The organisers of the protest got what they wanted...headlines that were wanted on a day that should have been left alone...imo, The Police got the headlines they didn't want but agreed to the march/protest.
    Have you ever thought...we've been played 🙄  
  25. Clap
    darren22 reacted to JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta in How Paul Warne survives!   
    Why the humble pie? Either Warne proves us wrong or Warne proves us right. Either way we all want what is best for the club. 
    I certainly won't feel guilty for my opinion that Warne is unlikely to be the right man to take Derby forward long term. I believe that we as a club have a higher ambition than his coaching ability and footballing philosophy will be able to achieve.
    Today was a good win and a good performance, so well done to Warne and the team. It still doesn't change my opinion on the above.
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