ImARam2

Ref: The Morecambe managers 'sour-grapes' comments.

I think Derby County should put out a disclaimer before every game, over the Tannoy and in the match progamme as follows:

• No Transfers were paid for players this season, as the club is in an embargo for two seasons.
• The maximum contract for any player is two seasons
• The only players the club can sign are out-of-contract, or a loan, to which the club cannot pay any fees to an agent
• The players cannot be paid more than (£12,000 per week ?)
• And p.s. 'Our average attendance is bigger than some grounds'

Perhaps that will stop the visiting teams, managers and fans from saying how unfair that they are having to compete against such a "rich" club.

My original prediction was for a total of 11 points and, currently, the only one I've got right is the win vs Cheltenham (3pts).

I had both Bolton & Port Vale as draws (1 pt. each), which are now 3 pts each, with a loss vs Plymouth, which is now N/A.

I have us to beat both Morecambe and Wycombe (3 pts each). So if we have wins against these two, it will be 14 pts and if we only have a draw then I'll be correct with 11 pts!!!

4 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Cheltenham (A)
Bolton (H)
Port Vale (A)
Plymouth (A)
Morecambe (H)
Wycombe (A)

• Cheltenham - Win 3pts
• Bolton - Draw 1 pt.
• Port Vale - Draw 1 pt.
• Plymouth - Lose 0 pt.
• Morecambe - Win 3 pts
• Wycombe - Win 3 pts
• Total: 11 pts

8 hours ago, jimtastic56 said:

I think if we play “Didzy”, “Dobbo” and “Grumpy” up front . Then throw in a bit of “Pantomime Defending “ from Shef W.    We should be in for an entertaining afternoon.

Who are these going to be then - Dopey; Grumpy; Happy; Sleepy or Bashful?

When I was working in the Middle East for a major British oil company, my colleague and I met Les Ferdinand at a sports function, which was being held by the Abu Dhabi Sports programme.

Got chatting to him over a couple of drinks and invited him to dinner, which he accepted and we went to a top-class sushi restaurant and over a couple of hours of food, and more drinks, had a great conversation about football in general, including managers, other players and injuries.

A really lovely guy.

44 minutes ago, chezzyram said:

And wellies for a trip to the bogs!

As well as a gas mask - the stink was awful!!

Have you forgotten the penalty we gave away at Lincoln City, where Knight "touched" their forward and he fell as if he had been pole-axed!!

That makes 8 penalties in the league this season.

Where did the ref get an extra 1 minute & 10 seconds from, for the added time, when the 4th official showed just 4 minutes?

My Dad, Jozef, was from Poland and stayed in England after WWII. Moved to Derby in 1947 (one the first Poles in Derby!!) and worked on the railways, then Ley's Foundry.

Him and several other Poles finished work at lunchtime on a Saturday, then went to the BBG, and apart from the pub, was about the only thing they could afford top go to in those days. For some reason, they always stood in the Osmaston Paddock side of the pitch?

My grandmother & mother lived on Douglas Street, less than 1/2 mile from the BBG, so it was inevitable that my Dad, and Uncle Kevin, took me to the BBG, which is now over 60 years ago, and as I write this note, I can remember every detail.

60+ years of following Derby County Football Club, home & away, including paying for a season ticket when I was overseas - what a journey with the highs, lows and controversies. 

Derby County F.C. will never die with the support the people of Derby, Derbyshire and beyond have shown in the last 2 years. May it continue even when the football is not as good as we want it to be.

Visiting friends in Brittany, France, then off to the Loire Valley to pick up some very good wine, before heading back via Normandy for the Calvados, then home on Sunday ready for 8 weeks of Saturday / Tuesday football.

Who said there was nothing to do when there's no football to watch?

31 minutes ago, Foreveram said:

Why would you want 7 nights in Morecambe?

I spent nearly 3 years working on the Heysham nuclear power station back in the early 1980's, which is just 3 miles up the road from Morecambe.

I lodged in an excellent B&B opposite the Crown Pub, and enjoyed the delights of what Morecambe could offer, including the Wednesday night disco's on the pier, which no longer exists, as well as the 'Battery' pub, which I've noted is still there.

I'll be going to the game on Saturday, which will be my first visit to Morecambe for 39 years, so it'll be something of a nostalgia trip. I wonder if I'll bump into any old girlfriends, although, as I'm now 70, they will all be in their 60's!!!!

8 weeks ago we didn't have a club, let alone, a team, so let's all be thankful for what we have got this season, no matter how it may turn out at the end.

I've enjoyed every game this season, just by being at Pride Park, watching the team I've now supported for nearly 61 years. and yes, unfortunately, I'm one of the "Uncle Alberts" as mentioned above!!!

I've seen the good, the bad and ugly teams, as well as the ever ongoing shenanigans of watching Derby County, but I don't think I would have it any other way.

The Saturday afternoon, 3.00 pm kick-off's, are great, which ensures I can meet up with my brother regularly, to watch a game of football.

Yes, i would like to see The Rams back in the higher divisions, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride.

46 minutes ago, Rich84 said:

I saw it as Cashin as he ran past the ref, too busy celebrating to see the reason, but assumed it was something in the celebration or more likely trying the get the ball back to get going again

Cashin jumped into the South Stand crowd up to about row 3, which is not allowed, therefore a yellow card.

I've ran a 16-seat minibus to Derby away games, and you have to take in consideration the following costs, which, let's say are for an away match to Ipswich Town, would be approximately:

• Minibus hire (one day) = £150
• Parking = £10
• Fuel = 312 miles (Rtn) = 9 galls x 4.55/Lts/gall = 41 litres x £1.85 / litre = £75
• Total Cost = £235
• 16 passengers = £14.68 each.
• You can charge £17 per pax = £272, which gives you £37 "expenses" for organising the trip.
• This can towards paying for a match ticket & a bag of chips, but no  drink as you will be driving!!

The only thing, in my opinion, which prevented Cashin getting a 10/10, was the foul and booking, which in some circumstances, could have ended in a red card and not just a yellow one.

Otherwise, Cashin's performance last Saturday, was as perfect you will see, in any division, because he headed everything that came his way; his tackling was spot on (except for the foul & card), and his positioning sense was as good as Colin Todd's, which I had the pleasure to watch in the 1970's.

I also believe he will make a very good captain as he must be learning a good deal from Curtis Davies and Jake Buxton.

I sincerely hope he plays for Derby County for many years to come, however, if we have to sell him, then the starting price must be in the region of £25million.

How wasn't he named as MotM is beyond belief.

He was outstanding, and apart from the foul, when he was booked, he never missed a tackle, header or interception - just brilliant defending.

He's got everything - positional play, strong tackle, good headers and you can see him demanding and shouting at others to up their game.

If Derby have to sell him before they reach the Premier League, transfer fee starts at £25 million.

Paul Whitehouse, as 'The Manager' is absolutely spot on. That small clip summed up football of many a year gone by, especially when he mentioned the BBC World Service.

In the 1980's, way before the internet and satellite TV, I spent a good deal of my working life in Saudi Arabia, and one of the things a group of us did, especially if we were on the afternoon or night shift, was to listen to whatever game they were broadcasting from, and they were only allowed to begin the commentary to the world after half-time.

That was followed by the football results and round-up, and although we sometimes missed a couple of the results, due to the static on the airwaves, it was a good to listen to, and have a conversation, and sometimes arguments, afterwards.

This is how we learnt about the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, from the BBC World Service Radio.

8 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

FWIW, and it’s not worth a lot, I saw Waghorn down my local supermarket the other day.

I believe Waggy's brother lives in Derbyshire - Duffield? Waghorn was certainly at the Duffield Carnival in July along with Forsyth, Keogh and Johnson 

Here are some interesting facts on shirt sponsorships:

• In the previous 3 seasons 2019-2022, seventeen (17) from twenty-four (24) Championship clubs were sponsored by Bookmakers and the Gambling industry (70%).
• There was not one shirt sponsorship for any League 1 or 2 clubs from the Gambling Industry during the same period.

For the 2022/23 season, the sponsorship deals for Premier clubs are:

• Nine are Gambling ; four Financial Services ; two Airlines ; two E-Commerce / Car Dealers ; one Automotive ; one IT Software and one Telecommunications.
• Gambling takes up to 45% of the sponsorships in the Premier, and from the total, only five are UK located companies.

There is also shirt sleeve sponsorships in the Premier League, which are:

• Tourism (3) ; IT (5) ; Financial Services (4) ; Automotive (3) ; Beverage (1) ; Hospitality (1) ; Sports Retail (1) & Gambling (1). 

As far as I can see, none of them are "local" companies or have HQ's close to the clubs or even in their cities. However, we have Mike Ashley's 'Sports Direct' - Frazier Group in Derbyshire, who I'm sure would like to have some UK & local coverage of his brands?

A group of us from Allestree F.C. was coming to the end of a fortnight's holiday in Newquay, when instead of coming back on the Saturday, we took the overnight train on the Friday so we could attend the Watney Cup Final.

Here's a little quirk of that holiday, we wore our Allestree F.C. football tops on that holiday. Although they weren't Derby County shirts, I think we were the first group to wear football shirts outside of our home town

I was 18 years old, an apprentice at RR, with a bit of money in my pocket, and absolutely enjoying life - 1970, where have the years gone? The song which I remember was "In the Summertime when the weather is high", by Mungo Jerry.

10 minutes ago, Duracell said:

Surprised Rolls Royce haven’t done it before. There must be a huge untapped market of football fans unsure of where to buy their jet engines from who would surely be swayed by seeing the logo on the shirts of a third tier club on ITV4. Especially seeing as Rolls Royce is a brand virtually nobody has heard of before.

When you sponsor something, i.e. a football club shirt, you are looking for higher interest in your company or product, with, hopefully higher sales.

I worked in the Middle East & South East Asia for 22 years, in the aviation and oil industries, which included Rolls Royce and BP, and I can assure you Rolls Royce is a very well known company throughout the aviation and automotive world, however, I never heard of anyone wanting to buy a £5 million jet engine, because they had previously seen a logo on a shirt.

26 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

We've discussed this before. 7095 seats free to choose from doesn't necessarily mean there are 7095 season tickets available.

I disagree. If you go on to the Derby County website, log-in to tickets, then season tickets, there are, as of today, 7,095 tickets available under that heading.

So, if, as someone else has quoted, Derby have sold @19,000 season tickets, are they saying that they are willing to sell up to 26,000 as season ticket holders?

As of this morning (Tuesday, 9th August) there are 7,095 seats still available for season tickets.

So, in my reckoning Derby have sold, to date, approximately, 16,000 season tickets, which would allow for a total of @ 23,000 capacity for season ticket holders, which was the same as when we were last in the Premier League.

 If the average price, for this season, is @ £250 per season ticket, they will have taken in the region of £4 million.

The season ticket money is released, per league game (23), over the season, so they have a minimum revenue, per game, of £173,914, which does not take into account the away supporters, nor the Derby pay-on-the-day, fans.

As we had an attendance of 31,000 vs Oxford, that showed another 15,000 supporters x (say) £20 / person, which gave another £300,000 for that game, giving a total of £473,914 for the first game of the season. 

However, have they sorted out the Direct Debit payment system yet to allow more season tickets to be sold?

Under a treaty between King Alfred of Wessex (the South) and the Vikings (the North) the boundary was set, approximately on the River Trent at Repton, capital of Mercia, where the Vikings had their most southerly camp.

Everything above the River Trent was called Danelaw - the North, and those of the South were Anglo-Saxon.

The Danelaw originated from the invasion of the Great Heathen Army into England in the 9th century, although the term was not used to describe a geographic area until the 11th century. With the increase in population and productivity in Scandinavia, Viking warriors, having sought treasure and glory in the nearby British Isles, "proceeded to plough and support themselves", in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 876.

Danelaw can describe the set of legal terms and definitions created in the treaties between Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex, and Guthrum, the Danish warlord, written following Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington in 878.

The Danelaw roughly comprised these contemporary shires: Leicester, York, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, Durham, Northumberland, Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk, Norfolk, Northampton.

I can only presume how Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk & Norfolk got into being called Danelaw, was that they came ashore on the East coast and how difficult it is to get through the fens (even today), they were left to do as they pleased.

Nottingham Forest have been charged by the Football Association after their fans invaded the pitch following their Championship play-off semi-final last season.

"Nottingham Forest has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E20," an FA statement read.

"It is alleged that Nottingham Forest FC failed to ensure that its spectators, and all persons purporting to be its supporters or followers, conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and refrained from using threatening and/or violent behaviour whilst encroaching onto the pitch area, following the completion of the fixture."

I wonder how much that is going to cost them or will they have to play a game behind closed doors?