HorsforthRam

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. 

Jesus Christ, it's a friendly 

All I got from that was :-
Salford was a sterner test with their pressing and front foot defending limiting time and space on the ball as opposed to Betis low intensity low energy approach of a team who looked like they were only interested if they had the ball. There was so much time and space in possession it was like a training game at times.
Jagielka needs to be signed.
Sibley, Watson, Hutchinson have all looked to offer more as inside forward than Aluko has. I dont see what he brings to it.
Forsyth was excellent.
As was Shinnie.
Bird is better and will be worth more than Carroll. I don’t see the benefits of Carroll over Bird in essentially the same role.
Roos was MoM
Not sure Baldock is the answer even as cover as CKR will clearly be the main striker.
Rooney has made a rod for his own back making Lawrence skipper as he has to play him….will he justify that?
Morrison has had less impact with each appearance….
I think we are yet to score a goal with any of Morrison, Lawrence or Aluko on the pitch.
 A win is a win and always raises morale 

I thought Sibley looked far more effective than Lawrence today playing in and around the number 10...but both play better off a strong number 9.

I don't see why roos gets so much criticism. He's a decent keeper. Makes crucial saves.

After years of work and research here it is !
The Derby County shirt worn in the inaugural season of 1884 by the pioneers of our club, Cambridge Blue, Amber and Chocolate Brown the first colours of the Rams, it was thought that the early colours were blue but it was a shade of blue called Cambridge Blue which is actually more of a green. The badge was the badge of the Derbyshire FA that a player was permitted to wear if they had been selected to represent the Derbyshire FA.
we have had two made by a local tailor after we sourced the correct colours and the materials, the embroidery was done separately, even down to mother of Pearl buttons, it is to add further integrity to the book but moreover to show where the club evolved from, the team that wore these colours set the precedent for all those that have followed, the shirts will be on display at our Rams Heritage roadshows later in the year.
brought to life after 137 years by Phil Lowe & Jason Shardlow.

Embarrassing….? Naaahhh it’s great. It’s always great. 

Can you all please just stop posting and talking about photos you've seen on Twitter.
If you want to talk about it go there.
These posts break several Forum rules.
Thank you.

I agree.
I think there's not much to to be said by a protest that Mel doesn't already know. It's not like he's not trying to sell the club. The current pandemic ridden climate isn't helping us either.
So why not show support for the club, I will buy my RamsTV subs for the Betis game and hope to hear the Rams fans cheering. Much better to try and encourage what we have than protest and make it worse. For all lots don't want to see it we had a decent looking attack against Salford and it's only preseason. #COYR

I can't argue with the validity of any of your questions @NottsRam77 but for me, I don't think protesting is the way to go this early.
If you feel strongly about it, get involved with Rams Trust and encourage them to get the fans to "show their strength" in whatever way is deemed appropriate. 
For now, I think the number of fans turning out at these pointless friendlies is a show of our strength as a potential asset to a future owner  and hopefully a support to our bedraggled squad of players. 

Outdoors is pretty safe, according to studies/stats, tbh. And afterall tomorrow it would have been no masks unless you want...

I like Hutchinson, very calm in possession & positionally very decent sat in front of the back 4. Quite similar to Max Bird in some ways as a 'tempo' midfielder (both tall & lean also). Isaac has also spent some time playing on the wing when at Southend so has lived with expectations of cutting edge to his game. Bit disappointed he didnt see more game time on loan at Forest Green last season, probably not a great move at the time given they were in a promotion slog.
Also looking forward to see if Stretton, Duncan & Ebosele can kick on (assuming Festy is playing up the park). They must be aware there are forward starting berths available & that competition between them could well improve standards. Could throw Luke Plange into that mix too.
If I had to pick one breakout player, it'd be Ebosele

Bristol City played Celtic at their training ground last night, so no fans or atmosphere. TV Match pass £10. 
This moaning about absolutely everything Derby does by certain posters is beyond tedious.

The consequences being a £100k fine which I’m sure we will accept, but sadly the EFL won’t.
And if our re-submitted accounts comply with the spending limits for which there is growing consensus they will, then we haven’t gained an advantage, and not done a lot wrong making this whole thing an unnecessary witch-hunt, whatever you think of Mel Morris, Stephen Pearce or your extreme and constant negativity towards the club in general.

He's American, this is what American's do.

I’ll be going. Not overly concerned about COVID. However, having seen the last two England games I am concerned about the booing of players who take the knee. If it happens at PP I, along with my son and other friends will be leaving and not coming back anytime soon. I am a ST holder and travel 180 miles there and back on match days and follow away when I can. I am also a person of colour, and the booing is something neither myself and my son will put up with. The excuse that the booing is against Marxism is laughable.