HorsforthRam

Play a settled team. Play players in their best positions. Aim to build confidence. Last seasons awful run consisted of chopping and changing a lot of the time. How players, especially the younger ones take on messages and learn their positions in that scenario is anyone’s guess!

…apart from me; and thousands of others. ?

Play a settled team. Play players in their best positions. Aim to build confidence. Last seasons awful run consisted of chopping and changing a lot of the time. How players, especially the younger ones take on messages and learn their positions in that scenario is anyone’s guess!

Whatever happens before Saturday, signings or no signings, the fans have a big part to play to create a good atmosphere before, during and after the game. 
 
No boooooooooing, get behind whatever team starts and finishes. 
 
Please, please, please just support the team. 

Towards the end of last season, we won one in 15 games. When Rooney was without Gregory and Bielik, we lost nine and drew just one (final day) of ten games (that’s one point from almost 1/4 of the season).
Our best XI (or most used by Rooney) from that one point in ten games was:
Marshall, Byrne, Wisdom, Clarke, Forsyth, Knight, Shinnie, Lawrence, Jozwiak, Waghorn, CKR. 
Since then, we have lost Clarke and Wisdom, while backups Mengi, Edmundson and Davies are also not here/currently unavailable. Knight is out injured. Waghorn has gone too. That’s four first-team members missing from the team which took one point in ten games! Bird coming in for Knight is fine, Sibley for Waghorn could be fine. But at CB we’re considerably weaker. Even if we sign Davies, Jags, Morrison and Baldock, are they better than what we had during our terrible run last season?
You can see why we’re tipped to finish last.
 

Harry Wilson for the one at Leeds.
And talking of pressure penalties.... Waggy, of all people, last game of last season.
Charlie George's penalties always seemed to go in.
Gladys Hinton's record will always be tarnished by the one against Juventus.
Vague memories of Steve Buckley hammering them in.

I’ll still travel down from Leeds. Catch up with my Derby based mates. Don’t know if it’s harder following the Rams  living in Derby where you can wallow with fellow fans or harder in Leeds (where all my friends know I’m a Derby ST holder) and having to put up with their new found success. The two cities are very much at polar opposites at the moment and it’s hard not to be envious of their future tbh. But, Derby in the blood so a Rams win always easily puts me on cloud nine ?

I’ll still travel down from Leeds. Catch up with my Derby based mates. Don’t know if it’s harder following the Rams  living in Derby where you can wallow with fellow fans or harder in Leeds (where all my friends know I’m a Derby ST holder) and having to put up with their new found success. The two cities are very much at polar opposites at the moment and it’s hard not to be envious of their future tbh. But, Derby in the blood so a Rams win always easily puts me on cloud nine ?

Echo this whole heartedly. I hope he has a decent run of games. 

I’ll still travel down from Leeds. Catch up with my Derby based mates. Don’t know if it’s harder following the Rams  living in Derby where you can wallow with fellow fans or harder in Leeds (where all my friends know I’m a Derby ST holder) and having to put up with their new found success. The two cities are very much at polar opposites at the moment and it’s hard not to be envious of their future tbh. But, Derby in the blood so a Rams win always easily puts me on cloud nine ?

Lawrence can seemingly do no wrong. I can’t see what he brings to the team. Happy with his work rate but his decision making and execution are awful. He’s just blocking the development of anyone else in that position. To compound it, as has been said elsewhere, the captaincy has made him knots the first name on the team sheet. 
 
I’m also swaying towards Rooney not being the right man for the job. The weekend antics have a lot to do with it. Not necessarily the one incident but the talk of his general behaviour. Doesn’t help living in Leeds where Bielsa is purely focused on football and absolutely nothing else. Obviously daft to compare the two but we need someone with more focus and respect. Rooney has respect for his football achievements but nothing for his managerial ones thus far. 

Well done Kelle , you have put the incident at Wembley firmly behind you , you have listened , trained hard and shown a lot of patience , get out there this season and show the rest of the championship jusy why you are Derbys number 1

What steps are being taken to encourage younger fans to enjoy supporting the mighty Rams ??

Have you considered selling a small shareholding of the club to fans to bring in immediate capital while continuing to make the club attractive to majority ownership buyers. 

When is the South Stand safe-seating being installed ?

I don't go to parties.

It seems we can read lots into it when we lose, but it's just a friendly when we win. 

My first “in the flesh” sighting last night of Derby County since we beat Blackburn 3-0 all those months ago. My thoughts:
1. Jagielka is class. In great shape. Plays with a smile on his face. 
2. Roos has improved hugely. Also bulked up. Made 2 great saves and distributed well.
3. Baldock is very average. A poor man’s Marriott. 
4. Lawrence: also bulked up. Anonymous last night and gave the ball away twice. Has the added responsibility of captaincy actually overburdened him?
5. Carroll looked useful and worth keeping. Morrison has great vision and passing but drifts out of the game especially on the left. Aluko looks ok but stifles Byrne a tad.
6. Derby looked so much better 2nd half when Bird, Watson, CKR & Jozwiak entered the field. Bird and Watson have vision to unpick defences which we lacked totally last season. CKR has obvious cutting edge but needs somebody alongside. 
7. Williams - wow! Where has he come from? Looks like he’s got potential to blossom. 
 
The trialists give us options and added depth but, Jagielka apart, they’re a motley crew of cast offs who perhaps might not live up to some of their hyperbole. I think Bird will really shine this year if played in the right way. Watson also could become first pick. 
 
But, we will struggle for goals again, unless Stretton gets a chance and suddenly catches fire. 
 
Overall team potential on last night’s showing: mid-table, having to work very hard to eke out 1-0s and 1-1s. We need more flare so lots of pressure on Lawrence & Jozwiak to produce more. 

Lawrence can seemingly do no wrong. I can’t see what he brings to the team. Happy with his work rate but his decision making and execution are awful. He’s just blocking the development of anyone else in that position. To compound it, as has been said elsewhere, the captaincy has made him knots the first name on the team sheet. 
 
I’m also swaying towards Rooney not being the right man for the job. The weekend antics have a lot to do with it. Not necessarily the one incident but the talk of his general behaviour. Doesn’t help living in Leeds where Bielsa is purely focused on football and absolutely nothing else. Obviously daft to compare the two but we need someone with more focus and respect. Rooney has respect for his football achievements but nothing for his managerial ones thus far. 

It was a good game of football. Technically skilled opponents who in the first half kept us mostly in our half and without much of the ball. That said we defended well with Jagielka looking very composed and reading positions very well. Two lovely pinged crossfield balls one Morrison and one Lawrence I think, picked out Byrne and gave us hope. Baldock mobile and clever but ultimately toothless - 1/2 a yard off it, lacking strength and a killers finish .. offside but through on goal, hit it straight at the keeper. Two brilliant saves from Roos and the woodwork kept us in the game. Aluko .. a worker but so slow in the first 2 yards it’s painful but a fast tank when he’s finally underway. Fullbacks overlapping was nice to see. Much improved 2nd half. Front foot. Bird higher up the pitch, Davis slotted in well with Jags, Sibley and Joz lively but Louie Watson ..wow !  live wire .. Will o the wisp  but despite light weight had great ball retention and even better the willing intelligent runs off the ball. Delightful pass for Birds goal .. right weight, right place. Shinnie was Shinnie. Tidy and an irritating gnashing terrier - they didn’t like him one bit. CKR made a big difference. He isn’t as polished and deft as Martin but a lot stronger and very able. Somehow he seems a better player live than on TV. No ones fool and brings a togetherness to the front line. If he could finish better he’d be a god at this level.
If we had tried to out score them we would have lost that game …but we didn’t which might just say something positive for Rooney’s game plan. 

Lawrence can seemingly do no wrong. I can’t see what he brings to the team. Happy with his work rate but his decision making and execution are awful. He’s just blocking the development of anyone else in that position. To compound it, as has been said elsewhere, the captaincy has made him knots the first name on the team sheet. 
 
I’m also swaying towards Rooney not being the right man for the job. The weekend antics have a lot to do with it. Not necessarily the one incident but the talk of his general behaviour. Doesn’t help living in Leeds where Bielsa is purely focused on football and absolutely nothing else. Obviously daft to compare the two but we need someone with more focus and respect. Rooney has respect for his football achievements but nothing for his managerial ones thus far. 

Lawrence can seemingly do no wrong. I can’t see what he brings to the team. Happy with his work rate but his decision making and execution are awful. He’s just blocking the development of anyone else in that position. To compound it, as has been said elsewhere, the captaincy has made him knots the first name on the team sheet. 
 
I’m also swaying towards Rooney not being the right man for the job. The weekend antics have a lot to do with it. Not necessarily the one incident but the talk of his general behaviour. Doesn’t help living in Leeds where Bielsa is purely focused on football and absolutely nothing else. Obviously daft to compare the two but we need someone with more focus and respect. Rooney has respect for his football achievements but nothing for his managerial ones thus far. 

Lawrence can seemingly do no wrong. I can’t see what he brings to the team. Happy with his work rate but his decision making and execution are awful. He’s just blocking the development of anyone else in that position. To compound it, as has been said elsewhere, the captaincy has made him knots the first name on the team sheet. 
 
I’m also swaying towards Rooney not being the right man for the job. The weekend antics have a lot to do with it. Not necessarily the one incident but the talk of his general behaviour. Doesn’t help living in Leeds where Bielsa is purely focused on football and absolutely nothing else. Obviously daft to compare the two but we need someone with more focus and respect. Rooney has respect for his football achievements but nothing for his managerial ones thus far. 

Nice summary. I still think Sibley has to improve how he receives the ball. At this level you have to have it under control and protected from defenders in an instant. The next skill is awareness of those around you.
It will come, but at the moment he’s a little too easy to rob, and that makes him narky and liable to lash out.
We need a quicker central defender to go alongside Jagielka or Davies as we can’t afford to play them both.
I’d have sold Lawrence not made him captain. He offers so little. 
 
I share your enthusiasm for Stretton. Let’s hope he gets game time soon.

Pretty meh game to be honest. They didn’t give us a kick at times, and despite no intense press we gave the ball away shoddily numerous times, particularly first half. 
Grateful of the win, we needed one - pre season or not. Let’s not pretend that bar two fantastic Roos saves and the width of crossbar that we couldn’t have been 3 goals down before we even had a sniff. 
Of the trialists, I think Morrison is a player who can receive under pressure and be trusted with the ball which is great to have. I do think he needs to be central though. Carroll is a steady player who will recycle the ball well, although did show some rustiness at times. Aluko will do a couple of terrible things for every good thing he does. Baldock is either way light of sharpness or he simply doesn’t have it anymore. Jagielka looks decent for his age, it must be said, but we certainly can’t count on 40+ games from him and Davies. 
We looked better once CKR came on as he offered far more than Baldock. Sibley still criminally underused by the sleepy fart sniffer. Watson looked very tidy and has a lovely centre of gravity to get out of tight spots, but don’t think he has that directness that Sibley has. Both very useful, we need to see more of both. I hope Stetton is fit soon as we really need to see what he has.