Kinder

A friend of mine who works with Umbro - the one who told me about the pink last year - has mentioned that the home kit has blue in it this year. He was very cagey, so no further details other that, but could it be back to blue shorts?
He also said that one of the two away kits was 'stunning'; the other one was a bit boring.
On behalf of B4 I asked if there was any pink involved and he said 'not in the outfield kits' - maybe a pink keeper's kit?

I posted some of these yesterday on the Baseball Ground memories post but I think that they warrant a post of their own for the fans who don’t live around Derby or those who do who have never revisited the old BBG area, the surrounding roads etc and may have wondered what it now looks like.
The names are all the same but the view is very different.
I took a walk around, first time i had done it, I could feel the hairs on my neck start buzzing as I walked down Cambridge Street, it has such an image etched in my memory of the floodlights at the Osmaston End and the welcome to the Baseball Ground sign, Shaftesbury Crescent columbo St, Vulcan St, the names forever associated with those walks to the ground, the smells of beer and fags from the pubs along the way that filled the air, the locals stood on their doorsteps to protect their windows, the scuffles that would break out, the police horses being used to skilfully control the crowd, the chants that would echo around the close knit roads, all of those memories of a time gone past are held in these photos.

Some more pics from our trip..... He helped me choose shoes, pooed on the floor in menswear and was a huge hit with the staff. 
Big shout out to John Lewis who actually allow all dogs in their stores. 
 

Nope, it works best loud and through decent headphones!  They’re almost all very strong tracks and her voice goes from fragile / vulnerable to belting it out.  The production is beautiful, there are so many layers.  It’s a great album.

Any links where I can buy the products still.
My cats are bankers.

The last man on Earth is stunning, possibly my favourite track of the year, looking for some quiet time to delve deeper into the album.
Tried listening at work, but it's not the sort of album that works over heavy machinery!

The new Wolf Alice album is superb. Best record I’ve heard for ages.

Is that " In wazz, a wet rust" ?  Think you need to go see the doctor, mate!  
#getitcheckedout

Sorted ?

Final concept this year… a camouflage take on the 1996 Puma maroon away kit when were first in the Premier League under Jim Smith. Ahhh, the good old days. ?✌️??

Only a mindless vandal with dyslexia would go round slashing tyrees. 

I’m enjoying a lovely session ale from Burning Soul after a very tiring day with the kids at Drayton Manor.  I’ve earned this!

Could be a little controversial but I was wondering what peoples thoughts were on the current academy model. 
Here are mine:
Back in ~2015 Mel made the statement that he wanted around half of the first team to be made up on academy players within 5 years. Here we are at that point and that hasnt seemed to materialise. I can understand the model given our continuous failure in the transfer market and heavy investment in the academy. Develop younger and sell on for profit makes sense, bringing through player with 'the Derby way' who can slot into the first team, offer the best prospects in the country an easy path into championship level football to attract the best. However I am sceptical whether this can happen in reality. 
I cant think of another club in world football that has half their team made up of academy players and still remain competitive (maybe Athletic Bilbao?). 
If the model is also to sell the academy players when they can command a fee, which is seems to be the case (bogle, lowe, whittaker) then how can we be competitive while also selling the best our academy produces? We would probably need to be churning out a Will Hughes or Bogle in half of the positions in the team every 3/4 years if promotion/the premier league is still the end goal. I dont think we can sell players and replace them at that rate. 
I also dont think that we are able to bring in the best the country has to offer, and when we do have them, the bigger academies can still poach them for pennies (Kellan Gordon). 
This certainly isnt an academy bashing post either, I think the young lads have done really well under the circumstances this season, but I think too much has been asked of them before they are really ready. 
Do we need to have a bit of a rethink if there is a change in ownership? 

Beautiful Cannock (yam... yam). 
More specifically, campsite at the rear of The Rag Inn at Rawnsley. Host of real ales for me to try later.
(Brew Dog just for warm up)

Ruby our Rottweiler was four yesterday. Don’t normally give her sweets but if you can’t have one on your birthday...
 

I like Leeds too. Should have put that on my list too. Great for beer/pubs. 

I like Leeds, in fact I love Leeds. When I go there it makes me appreciate Grimsby even more.

What a true gentleman & outstanding leader of our club what he did for us last game of season means everything to me!! I'm sure with out Curtis in them last 10 mins we would of conceded a headed goal with out dout and been relegated!! What a truly wonderful suprise for me and my boys with him coming into our work while on holiday in Devon!! made 2 people very happy on a very busy day. Total  Respect for this man and were lucky to call him a ram!! 
Ps does this mean I'm itk as he not going coaching yet got one more season in him!! I did ban him from dance machine to make sure ok for next year ????

Each to their own. Love Brum. Lived in the area for nearly 30 years. Best UK city in my humble opinion. Grew up near Nottingham and also think it's an ace place. Different strokes etc ?

It was an afternoon session so I didn’t have anything too strong. It was Smash & Grab, Life & Death, Perfect Storm and a collab with Salt Beer Factory. All really good.
I know what you mean about the latest  barrel aged releases, they’ve been a bit samey.  The best I’ve had from them is the mole & poblano one, I’ve still got one left that I’m saving for the right time.

Ryan knows about this (sorry @HuddersRam) but I have a new book out, first and only one

Love the artwork on that beer by the way.

Tartarus Abbadon, imperial russian stout aged on Colombian coffee beans, 17%
There's a coconut version too but I don't have that.

I think the click link is quite amusing. You get the now standard terms and conditions/cookies/preferences pop up, and an option which I thought said ‘Ok with Mel’ but on closer inspection it was ‘Ok with me!’.
Garry Cook - Ok with Mel
Dodgy Sheikh - Ok with Mel
Erik Alonso - Ok with Mel
Fawaz Al-Hasawi - Ok with Mel
Sam Rush - No thank you
Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre - Ok with Mel
Au Yeung Wai Kay - Ok with Mel
Michael Mouse - Ok with Mel
 

Yes, I've had a couple. Really nice.