ImARam2

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.

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.

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?

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!!!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

To answer the original question, I AM enjoying League One - so far. And that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather be in the Prem at all.
But last season and this season there has been much more togetherness on and off the field, than a few of the preceding seasons in the Championship. The crowd expected the players to deliver, weren't contributing much themselves, and were critical of managers and players far better than the ones we currently have.
I have to go back to 13/14 for the sort of atmosphere we have now.
Will it take us back to where we want to be? I don't know but if we stick together it might.

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.

One of my lads was going to a party with his girlfriend Saturday night, on 85 minutes he said shall we go, I said give it 2 or 3 minutes; seeing one goal, we sensed another and left as soon as we scored the 2nd.
Had to run to the car, to help his cause, he was in for earache but I ended up saying mate, you need to reign in her expectations, football should always be priority (outside medical emergencies).
He’s going to have a word with her ?

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

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

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

Thanks for our ratings & comments on the Shrewsbury game. The infographic is below.
Summary
Stearman and Cashin were joint MotM statistically with average ratings of 6.85; given our offensive bluntness it's perhaps not surprising that defenders claimed the limelight as they kept a clean sheet.
Average player ratings were 6.04 - suggesting overall the team were bang average as a whole. 7 players attracted above average ratings and 8 players below - the red dotted line shows the dividing line.
Collins (5.06) and Smith (5.37) were the lowest rated players on the night; Smith is beginning to be the lowest rated player of all games played so far (average 5.73). He needs to get fit and up his output. 
Overall, midfield / wide players had an off-night making up the majority of the below-average ratings - tired legs or the system?  Defenders and subs were the players scoring above average. If fitness is the issue, we should start to see some improvements soon. Or maybe "Rosey" needs to come up with an alternative 1st XI?   
The average aggregate rating was 90.5 compared with 88.2 Barnsley, 83.6 Mansfield, 82.8 Charlton and 80.98 v Oxford, so statistically the "best" average aggregate rating which seems to fly in the face of average player ratings. I'll investigate some of the relative variances in these scores once I have a bigger dataset; although that said, we already have over 100 rows of data. The Tony Hatch award this week goes to Srg & The King of Buxton who gave aggregate ratings of 81 - 10 points lower than the average of all other raters. 
Your comments and suggestions always welcome. I'm going to do a "year to date" infographic soon.  
Ratings for Fleetwood today will posted later today. 
 

We started the season with barely any players, a short pre-season and transfer restrictions. Any players coming in would have been aware that a promotion this season is far from a guarantee. Pushing for it for sure but not nailed on at all. 
The primary reason we targeted the players we did was to stabilise, which was vital in the postion we found ourselves. In the window we have been largely limited to experienced players who've perhaps fallen out of favor or not quite at the level they were or players who are wholly untested. What we've tried to do is bring in experience according to how we want to play, with the idea they could do a job in the championship and can hit the ground running. They will allow us to rebuild structure and more quickly build a firm tactical plan from which we can have continuity. Whilst targeting young players to support the team and develop.
There is a gap between results at all cost and slowly developing. And whilst I don't think we are planning on sticking around in league 1 it's important to note that large sections of the club need/needed rebuilding.
My overall point about focusing on philosophy and tactical identity right now is that ultimately it will lead to better results over the full course of the season and beyond. The quibbles people have had so far are not really a problem with the tactical ideas at play and more than as a club/squad we are still pretty undercooked. I.e. it looks iffy at times because we aren't fluent at it yet. This would be the case with any tactical identity we tried to pursue most likely. 
If we switched to solely focusing on results right now, it might (its a big might as well) result in better results in the short term. But that kind of thinking only ever works short term because your squad never really develops as a squad. It's why every poohouse team you see tends to have a very hard limit on how far they can go.
Ultimately the results really aren't bad right now either. 7 out 12 puts us on target for top 6. If we can hold our nerve, maintain that pace and focus on what we need to do better then my bet is that it clicks around the winter and we see a surge in form. Which leaves us in a better place for subsequent because we'd have something rock solid to build from. 
 

Just got back.
Massively frustrating game and it was one of those games that I was worried about in League One. When a team comes and parks the bus we don't seem to have a clue how to break them down and with the players we had out there we should have been able to.
The tactic was just side to side, didn't really move the ball with any speed which made it so easy for them to defend and close of the space. Everything Infront of the Shrewsbury back 4.
A few times we had chances to break, but the pass that would have set is away was poor. Hourihane, Collins and Mcgoldrick all guilty of that.
Knight at right back is not working. It took until the last minute for him to overlap and drive into the box. When Dobbin came on he kept making the runs but instead of putting a ball over the top for him to run on to, Knight checked back and passed it to Stearman.
We never once tried to play through the middle. I'm not really sure what we're doing with the midfield really. Our tactic was to get it out wide and that was it, when it didn't work one side, we'd pass back to Stearman/Cashin and then try again on the other side and all Shrewsbury did was run side to side. Too easy for them.
Barkhuizen maybe could have done better with his chance, the keeper did close the angle down well. Stearman should score that header and Sibley had a decent chance. But in the end we were lucky they didn't take that big chance at the end.
We need 3 more as a minimum really. A right back is an absolute must. To not sign one would be absolutely ridiculous on the basis that Knight "can do a job there" It's borderline ridiculous we haven't got one in yet cos we would have known Byrne was going ages ago.
We need something different in midfield, another centre forward and a winger for me. 
Highly doubt we will get all of them, probably only bring in a couple more.
The early signs are positive, we should be sat here with 4 wins out of 4 and when teams like this come to Pride Park we'll run riot. It's a brand new group, which are 2 weeks behind everyone else who will get fitter and better the more they play.
Up The Rams 
 

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.
  

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.

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.

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.

Despite only just getting into Derby's 1st team this season, and playing just a handful of game, he is one of the best defenders in the Championship.
He is not the fastest, but he's strong as an ox, and just watch his positioning because he's very quick to be aware of opponents play.
He's certainly got the strength of Buxton, but there's something alike in Colin Todd when reading the play.
This is one player Derby have to give a huge contract, even if it's only to get a decent transfer fee if he leaves. He will play in the Premiership one day, hopefully with the Rams.