ImARam2

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.

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.

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?

... And if so, why?
I'll start...
As a Rams fan, following a club that has recently recovered from open-heart surgery... and also being able to wear a crisp white, floaty-light shirt to the match, on scorching hot match days. ?
As a father, knowing that the (grown up) kids are all doing well, are happy and healthy, living comfortable lives, doing what they want to be doing, in locations they want to be doing them in... and despite numerous hiccups along the way, including having me as a lone parent when they were toddlers, and yet they still turned out alright! ?
Being fifty nine and seven twelfths, and not particularly concerned about the pending Big 6-0, but still physically able, and most definitely willing, to:
Pootle out on our bikes for up to 30 miles or so.
Trek uphill and down dale, with rucksack on my back, boots on my feet, fresh air in my lungs, and fantastic views in my memory bank.
To load up the car and go off camping... proper camping, putting our own tent up... be that UK weekends/short breaks, or a full fortnight or more in France(the South West next month... Northern coast last June... plenty of other areas over the past decade), (Other Euro destinations are available, and still on the bucket list). 
As an employee, having a boss/job that allows for plenty of leisure time, non-counting of holiday days, no set hours etc ("Just as long as the job gets done"). 
Having earned just enough to have a paid-for roof over our heads, (albeit on a lowly council estate in a lowly suburb), a nice but nothing fancy modern, reliable car, Not give a second thought to stump up for another Rams Season ticket, and enough savings to pay for holidays as above... or something a little more mainstream (Costa apartments or similar), as and when the mood takes us.  
As a man, being able to amble around the garden topless in this mighty fine weather we are having... often with my hose in hand.
 
... And most of all, after 26 years married (next week)... +10 years prior to that, living very much in sin!... and still having that same true love, for and from the same good woman!  
 
So...

The reason that the BBC are doing it is because they are continuing their strategy of trying to appeal to younger people - younger than you @David and certainly younger than me who they are not bothered about in any way. They believe that they have to attract a young audience at all costs. The fact that I, in my mid 60s and with a history and habit of listening to the radio all day every day, might like the concept of Sports Report, the classic signature tune and someone reading the classified football results from all 6 leagues in England and Scotland is anathema to the modern BBC. It’s why Radio 5 is like it is - full of young people with no experience, with their nicknames and in jokes, largely incapable of stringing two sentences together never mind analysing a football match, and a fixation on the PL as being all that football is about. It’s why I’ve largely stopped listening, not that they care, to anything that the radio station produces and why I’ve long since stopped watching BBC tv.
There was a time when I would have gone to the barricades to defend a free to air public broadcaster like the BBC. Not any more. 

If someone has slow onset dementia, has never touched a computer or used the complexity of a phone enjoying the huge amount of data and copious remotes to go with it is irrelevant. My grandma was set up with all singing, all dancing TV.  She put's on Radio Derby and watches The Chase.  There will be something far more comforting clicking a button to put on a radio in the comfort of their room than getting frustrated with surround sound, hundreds of channels etc .  Vinyl was outdated, Now people can't get enough.  A radio service, like public libraries, is fundamental to any educated society that cares without the oversaturation of subject you get online or interactive and more important provides access via another route to all. 
 

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

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.

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.

Close the thread...
 

Yes, my mistake, I have counted the Grimsby Town game (Papa John Trophy).
Let's all party on the beach (if the tide is out!!) at Morecambe for our 5,000th game.

As there were 3,000 Oxford Utd fans, that makes 28,000 Derby fans, of which @18,000 were season ticket holders. so approximately 10,000 Derby were 'walk-up' / 'pay-on-the-day' fans.

Bah humbug!!!
38 Degrees C to 40 Degrees C - is nothing compared to when I was working on a Saudi Arabian desert airfield, changing aircraft engines, and the temperature reached 52 Degrees C., that's 126 Degrees Fahrenheit in old money.
The desert heat is very dry, so God help us if it had been humid as we get in the UK. You can get used to a high temperature, but the humidity is worse.

Did anyone take notice of the German team coach yesterday, which I thought was a brilliant advertisement for their club and team. Not only a great slogan but with all the name badges of the districts and towns which surround the city of Berlin.
"Wir Sind ein Berliner" - translated means "We are Berliners".
Not the incorrect JF Kennedy quote of "Ich bin ein Berliner", which basically means, "I'm a hot dog"!!!
I don't know if Derby County F.C. have an official coach, or do they just hire one for the day?
However, why not a club coach with "We are Derby" on the outside, with our own districts and towns where our supporters originate? Or would that provide a abuse and damage from other club supporters as they drive to and park at other grounds?

Did anyone take notice of the German team coach yesterday, which I thought was a brilliant advertisement for their club and team. Not only a great slogan but with all the name badges of the districts and towns which surround the city of Berlin.
"Wir Sind ein Berliner" - translated means "We are Berliners".
Not the incorrect JF Kennedy quote of "Ich bin ein Berliner", which basically means, "I'm a hot dog"!!!
I don't know if Derby County F.C. have an official coach, or do they just hire one for the day?
However, why not a club coach with "We are Derby" on the outside, with our own districts and towns where our supporters originate? Or would that provide a abuse and damage from other club supporters as they drive to and park at other grounds?