BucksRam

I know we're thin on the ground and have plenty of young'uns but when you look at the team on paper, we look kind of alright don't we.

You can see what he's trying to do. He's instilling some freedom and a "don't be scared to fail" attitude in the players.  Watson (and Joz to be fair) pinged some great balls through to feet last night which then set up attacking opportunities. OK, it didn't come off every time but Rooney consistently says he wants his players to be brave.  The more they do this, the more opportunities I think we'll create, the more their confidence will grow and the less backwards and sideways passes will be seen.  We've started this season more like I think Rooney wants to play, i.e. look for that forward pass or attack.  Last season we saw more of the latter as it was more a case of "we must not lose" mentality so retain the ball at all costs. One thing I saw last night was that the players believe in what he's doing - there is definitely a strong team bond forming between the players and manager and that can only be a good thing. 

You can see what he's trying to do. He's instilling some freedom and a "don't be scared to fail" attitude in the players.  Watson (and Joz to be fair) pinged some great balls through to feet last night which then set up attacking opportunities. OK, it didn't come off every time but Rooney consistently says he wants his players to be brave.  The more they do this, the more opportunities I think we'll create, the more their confidence will grow and the less backwards and sideways passes will be seen.  We've started this season more like I think Rooney wants to play, i.e. look for that forward pass or attack.  Last season we saw more of the latter as it was more a case of "we must not lose" mentality so retain the ball at all costs. One thing I saw last night was that the players believe in what he's doing - there is definitely a strong team bond forming between the players and manager and that can only be a good thing. 

Have to say I had my head in my hands for the first 20 - reminiscent of the Chorley game where our youngsters were simply out muscled. Rabbits in headlights sprung to mind.   But then I feel they gave themselves a slap and dug right in.  We clearly have some young talent at this club and that talent showed. 
Festy was brilliant going forward and was the spark we needed to get going.  Yes he has much to learn, and you could see Fozzy talking to him, but he has the potential to set this league alight.  Destined for right MF?
I thought Brown did really well - under the radar maybe, but did everything needed without fuss. Lots of guts to volunteer for a penalty at the end. 
Louie Watson grew into the game and was all over the place - looking for the ball every time.  A confident lad, shown when, like Brown he stood up for a pen.
Sibley improved but took a while to get into the game I thought. Unlucky not to score.
Stretton worked his socks off and really should have rewarded his effort with a goal. 
Morrison looked frustrated at times when getting himself into some good positions only to not get the ball.  Clearly wanted to make an impact hence why he dropped so deep to get the ball.  I thought his movement was great, showing so really good touches. His half-volley goal was class. He could turn out to be just what we need - he seemed genuinely happy to get his goal. 
Yes we remain extremely thin on the ground, but IF we can keep injuries to a minimum then I don't think we'll be looking over our shoulder at the bottom 3.  There's some great talent in this team, if not experience and that will grow with each game.  It may only have been Salford, but they're a team on the up, full of confidence and favourites to win the league.  It was a great, confidence building game for our youngsters and Rooney was spot on when he said they'd left the pitch as men.  Roll on Saturday. 

Have to say I had my head in my hands for the first 20 - reminiscent of the Chorley game where our youngsters were simply out muscled. Rabbits in headlights sprung to mind.   But then I feel they gave themselves a slap and dug right in.  We clearly have some young talent at this club and that talent showed. 
Festy was brilliant going forward and was the spark we needed to get going.  Yes he has much to learn, and you could see Fozzy talking to him, but he has the potential to set this league alight.  Destined for right MF?
I thought Brown did really well - under the radar maybe, but did everything needed without fuss. Lots of guts to volunteer for a penalty at the end. 
Louie Watson grew into the game and was all over the place - looking for the ball every time.  A confident lad, shown when, like Brown he stood up for a pen.
Sibley improved but took a while to get into the game I thought. Unlucky not to score.
Stretton worked his socks off and really should have rewarded his effort with a goal. 
Morrison looked frustrated at times when getting himself into some good positions only to not get the ball.  Clearly wanted to make an impact hence why he dropped so deep to get the ball.  I thought his movement was great, showing so really good touches. His half-volley goal was class. He could turn out to be just what we need - he seemed genuinely happy to get his goal. 
Yes we remain extremely thin on the ground, but IF we can keep injuries to a minimum then I don't think we'll be looking over our shoulder at the bottom 3.  There's some great talent in this team, if not experience and that will grow with each game.  It may only have been Salford, but they're a team on the up, full of confidence and favourites to win the league.  It was a great, confidence building game for our youngsters and Rooney was spot on when he said they'd left the pitch as men.  Roll on Saturday. 

It's been out ages, but finally got round to watching Sense8 on Netflix.  Really enjoying it so far although only 3/4 of the way through Season 1. 

You can see what he's trying to do. He's instilling some freedom and a "don't be scared to fail" attitude in the players.  Watson (and Joz to be fair) pinged some great balls through to feet last night which then set up attacking opportunities. OK, it didn't come off every time but Rooney consistently says he wants his players to be brave.  The more they do this, the more opportunities I think we'll create, the more their confidence will grow and the less backwards and sideways passes will be seen.  We've started this season more like I think Rooney wants to play, i.e. look for that forward pass or attack.  Last season we saw more of the latter as it was more a case of "we must not lose" mentality so retain the ball at all costs. One thing I saw last night was that the players believe in what he's doing - there is definitely a strong team bond forming between the players and manager and that can only be a good thing. 

If I could turn back the time I'd like to see the original Star Wars trilogy again as a young boy.
As a grown man I always watch the Shawshank Redemption whenever it is on - it would be nice to not know it word for word again!

Jaws. I was 8 or 9 when my mum took us to the cinema to see it. Front row. Terrifying.
I have no idea what she was thinking taking 2 young kids to see such a film but I'm so grateful she did. 
And I didn't want to go near any body of water for years.

Have to say I had my head in my hands for the first 20 - reminiscent of the Chorley game where our youngsters were simply out muscled. Rabbits in headlights sprung to mind.   But then I feel they gave themselves a slap and dug right in.  We clearly have some young talent at this club and that talent showed. 
Festy was brilliant going forward and was the spark we needed to get going.  Yes he has much to learn, and you could see Fozzy talking to him, but he has the potential to set this league alight.  Destined for right MF?
I thought Brown did really well - under the radar maybe, but did everything needed without fuss. Lots of guts to volunteer for a penalty at the end. 
Louie Watson grew into the game and was all over the place - looking for the ball every time.  A confident lad, shown when, like Brown he stood up for a pen.
Sibley improved but took a while to get into the game I thought. Unlucky not to score.
Stretton worked his socks off and really should have rewarded his effort with a goal. 
Morrison looked frustrated at times when getting himself into some good positions only to not get the ball.  Clearly wanted to make an impact hence why he dropped so deep to get the ball.  I thought his movement was great, showing so really good touches. His half-volley goal was class. He could turn out to be just what we need - he seemed genuinely happy to get his goal. 
Yes we remain extremely thin on the ground, but IF we can keep injuries to a minimum then I don't think we'll be looking over our shoulder at the bottom 3.  There's some great talent in this team, if not experience and that will grow with each game.  It may only have been Salford, but they're a team on the up, full of confidence and favourites to win the league.  It was a great, confidence building game for our youngsters and Rooney was spot on when he said they'd left the pitch as men.  Roll on Saturday. 

Have to say I had my head in my hands for the first 20 - reminiscent of the Chorley game where our youngsters were simply out muscled. Rabbits in headlights sprung to mind.   But then I feel they gave themselves a slap and dug right in.  We clearly have some young talent at this club and that talent showed. 
Festy was brilliant going forward and was the spark we needed to get going.  Yes he has much to learn, and you could see Fozzy talking to him, but he has the potential to set this league alight.  Destined for right MF?
I thought Brown did really well - under the radar maybe, but did everything needed without fuss. Lots of guts to volunteer for a penalty at the end. 
Louie Watson grew into the game and was all over the place - looking for the ball every time.  A confident lad, shown when, like Brown he stood up for a pen.
Sibley improved but took a while to get into the game I thought. Unlucky not to score.
Stretton worked his socks off and really should have rewarded his effort with a goal. 
Morrison looked frustrated at times when getting himself into some good positions only to not get the ball.  Clearly wanted to make an impact hence why he dropped so deep to get the ball.  I thought his movement was great, showing so really good touches. His half-volley goal was class. He could turn out to be just what we need - he seemed genuinely happy to get his goal. 
Yes we remain extremely thin on the ground, but IF we can keep injuries to a minimum then I don't think we'll be looking over our shoulder at the bottom 3.  There's some great talent in this team, if not experience and that will grow with each game.  It may only have been Salford, but they're a team on the up, full of confidence and favourites to win the league.  It was a great, confidence building game for our youngsters and Rooney was spot on when he said they'd left the pitch as men.  Roll on Saturday. 

Have to say I had my head in my hands for the first 20 - reminiscent of the Chorley game where our youngsters were simply out muscled. Rabbits in headlights sprung to mind.   But then I feel they gave themselves a slap and dug right in.  We clearly have some young talent at this club and that talent showed. 
Festy was brilliant going forward and was the spark we needed to get going.  Yes he has much to learn, and you could see Fozzy talking to him, but he has the potential to set this league alight.  Destined for right MF?
I thought Brown did really well - under the radar maybe, but did everything needed without fuss. Lots of guts to volunteer for a penalty at the end. 
Louie Watson grew into the game and was all over the place - looking for the ball every time.  A confident lad, shown when, like Brown he stood up for a pen.
Sibley improved but took a while to get into the game I thought. Unlucky not to score.
Stretton worked his socks off and really should have rewarded his effort with a goal. 
Morrison looked frustrated at times when getting himself into some good positions only to not get the ball.  Clearly wanted to make an impact hence why he dropped so deep to get the ball.  I thought his movement was great, showing so really good touches. His half-volley goal was class. He could turn out to be just what we need - he seemed genuinely happy to get his goal. 
Yes we remain extremely thin on the ground, but IF we can keep injuries to a minimum then I don't think we'll be looking over our shoulder at the bottom 3.  There's some great talent in this team, if not experience and that will grow with each game.  It may only have been Salford, but they're a team on the up, full of confidence and favourites to win the league.  It was a great, confidence building game for our youngsters and Rooney was spot on when he said they'd left the pitch as men.  Roll on Saturday. 

Ravel slicing across the ball to score was world class. The more you watch it the more impressive it is.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

No need for this apology @Davidbut I can understand from your perspective why you may have felt it necessary to help with your own closure.  
Anyone who gave (or still gives) you stick over this can frankly duck off and support Notts Forest. You, and others, were placed in an impossible position really with the expectations of every fan hanging on the output, no doubt hoping for something amazing.  If I'm being honest, I was refreshing my browser so fast I probably looked like I was playing Track 'n Field, but I couldn't care now.  Move on.  The season's kicked off and we're not bottom!
As for Twitter, anyone who posts vitriol behind an anonymous name is low-life chicken-poo.  I'm on Twitter, but under my real name.Sadly Twitter fails abysmally at policing it. 
Most of us on here are under anonymous names to be fair, but the difference here is you and the other mods police it well.  And to be honest, if anyone had a real gripe with anything I said I'd be happy to pick up the phone to them or have a Zoom call to chat it through.  I live by never saying anything I'd not be prepared to say to someone's face and it's something I've drilled into my kids as they've started using WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
Anyway, enough said.  Keep up the great work you do on here.

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.
The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.
When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.
Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.
I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.
Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.
On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.
Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.
With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.
As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.
I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.
I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!
Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.
On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.
Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.
I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.
They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.
Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.
No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.
Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.
A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.
I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.
Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.
Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.
I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.
Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.
I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 
David
 

Just shows. Couple of days ago people were posting bye bye Ravel as he apparently unfollowed DCFC on Twitter....then 2 days later he's a Derby player. 

I think we're 3 signings away from where we want to be, as shown below:

CB, CF and a winger missing
Jagielka obviously fills the CB slot
Aluko would have been the winger, but as he's gone/going to Ipswich we'll be looking elsewhere (Grosicki?).
We were obviously after Baldock for the CF spot, but I hope we can get someone better in on loan - someone who is easily a starter, rather than competition for Kazim and Stretton. We can only dream of that player being Delap.
With Knight out for 2.5 months and Bielik until Christmas, short term cover (Carroll/Garner) would be ideal but not essential.
Those signings would leave Cashin as the only unproven 2nd choice player (but 4th choice CB)... I'd be more than happy with that.
That squad looks pretty decent to me - certainly midtable.
To put another perspective on things, we were potentially 6 players away from our 'first 11' vs Huddersfield.

Talk about provocative questions ! .. If you intended to start a debate .. you succeeded ! 
”Lack of effort” .. you really don’t watch much football or watch Joz. … whatever else he is, he is a grafter.
“ Lack of Quality”.. compared to what ? … how many players do we have that can beat a man and have decent pace ? Then There’s the small matter of him being a recognised international, young and still developing. 
“Disinterested” .. really ? Not noticed it myself .. ever .. always looks willing and combative.
He had a very average game on Saturday. Didn’t get much of the ball, got caught in two minds (shoot or pass) - once - on the basis of this and not scoring goals in a team where all are falling short you want rid when prices are at the bottom. Idiocy ! 
So on the basis of that you want to loan him out and get in what exactly ? .. “another player who would cut it in this league” .. available really cheaply at any corner shop are they ? 
 
He provides competition for Festy, other teams know he’s dangerous so stretch resources to watch him. He also has excellent on the ball skills. 

I think I've found my new "All time favourite thread"!
What an absolutely cracking read this has been.  Truly fascinating in part, and most certainly humbling.
A few smiles, the odd guffaw, and even the odd threat of a tear, and a lump to my throat!
It brings it all home, at just how fantastically fanatical some of you have been, still are, and no doubt will always remain. 
It is oh so very easy to take things for granted when, like me, you:
A/  Were born in Derby.
B/  Have never lived any further than 3 or 4 miles from the home of DCFC (BBG or PPS).
C/  Have no family ties that could possibly have steered you away from The Rams.
D/  Attended your Junior school days with you local team at the top of the pile.
E/  Entered your teens as once again, your local team became Numero Uno for the second time.
F/  Made your match-going debut on the very day the sun came out, and your local team were handed the shiniest, biggest, most beautiful trophy these 58 year old eyes have ever seen!
With an upbringing and timing like that, I couldn't be anything other than a Ram!  In fact, it would be embarrassing had I taken my football allegiances anywhere else! 
It was all right here, on my doorstep.  A thrupenny bit bus ride away then, a 30 min stroll away nowadays.  So easy, so unremarkable.  So taken for granted.
 
But I take my hat off to each and every one of you who has filled my most recent hour or so with entertainment, enjoyment, and most of all, with awe!  Full fans, in the truest sense!
Thankyou.  And a massive UTR to you all.
?
 

Just shows. Couple of days ago people were posting bye bye Ravel as he apparently unfollowed DCFC on Twitter....then 2 days later he's a Derby player.