TheAllestreeRam

We should demand better recruitment then. There are ways to do it without significant funds. 

Full transparency. I was invited to this meeting, but chose not to put my name or the forums to this.
Reason being as I have previously stated, this forum is a platform for fans views, I am not an elected chairman/spokesman to speak on behalf of you all, simply the creator of this platform for fans views which can already be openly seen by the club.
I did not feel comfortable signing on behalf of the forum without consulting you all, and felt my name without attaching dcfcfans.uk held no weight.
My own personal views are that this letter has been created out of concern for the clubs future and regardless of how you feel towards any of the groups that have signed off on it, do not see this as an opportunity to attack supporters groups for speaking on behalf of Derby County fans.
We all love this club. ?

Good post. Just regarding Johnson, we did initially try to play him as an advanced midfielder in view of his goal record with Norwich. The problem was his technique, passing & mobility were all poor and our forward moves were ending everytime with him. Recall a lot of fan abuse & Johnson reacting a couple of times too. At Norwich, he had Wes Hoolahan dictating play & creating chances for his late runs...he didnt have that at Derby & had to join in buildup play, which he just wasnt good enough to do. Eventually he was dropped for a few months.
It was only during McClaren's second spell that he was finally recalled as a DM with his physicality & aerial presence giving the side a sound base. Agree he was a very expensive DM but having paid so much for him, it was the only way we could get any value out of him.

Very good diagnosis. 
The problem wasnt the spending but how the money was spent. 
Change of manager = change of squad and the greater the gap in playing style the more players will be useless to the new manager. Mel only really got the idea between Lampard and cocu by trying to bring someone in who wanted to play possession based football, and even then the style was massively different. 
Johnson is a great example, scored 15 or so goals for norwich from left wing and we proceeded to buy him and try to turn him into a DM. He did well in the end I thought but we could have brought a DM for less than half what johnson cost at a much younger age and not have to wait 2 seasons for him to learn the position. 
Just throwing money at things and hoping for the best isnt how to achieve success. 

Very good diagnosis. 
The problem wasnt the spending but how the money was spent. 
Change of manager = change of squad and the greater the gap in playing style the more players will be useless to the new manager. Mel only really got the idea between Lampard and cocu by trying to bring someone in who wanted to play possession based football, and even then the style was massively different. 
Johnson is a great example, scored 15 or so goals for norwich from left wing and we proceeded to buy him and try to turn him into a DM. He did well in the end I thought but we could have brought a DM for less than half what johnson cost at a much younger age and not have to wait 2 seasons for him to learn the position. 
Just throwing money at things and hoping for the best isnt how to achieve success. 

The problem wasn't so much the spending. The problem wasn't even really gambling on going up. The problem was that combined with the following factors;
Schizophrenic changes in management Shallow scouting Overpaying and handing out massive contracts to players who were coming off a hot streak Buying without a clear idea of how the player was going to fit or complement the squad An overall lack of planning and direction The frequent changes in not only management but playing style as well has meant that huge sections of the squad are no longer suitable from one season to the next and it took a lot of ground work to shift back and forth from style to style. It's felt at times like we never getting beyond laying the ground work of a squad but still accumulate a whole raft of players that just don't fit what we are trying to do. Whatever your opinion about playing style and it's importance, it's vital for any success in this division to craft a squad where the different parts of the squad complement one another and fit an overall cohesive plan. Due to the nature of players at this level they tend to be pretty skilled in a few areas but week in others, so you have to think about how best to fit them in and what kinds of players you need around them to get the most out of them. 
I've mentioned it before but the underlying issues with our transfer activity in the past 5 or so years can be largely encapsulated in a single transfer; Bradley Johnson. Now, I pick out Johnson not because he's a bad player but because he's a decent player that we signed for the wrong reasons and we really didn't think it through. For a bit of context I think it's important to remember a few things going into 15/16 we had a squad developed around quick passing football, a really strong set of midfielders where we had just been hit by a couple key injuries, we had just signed Butterfield and we were transitioning to slower possession based game under Clement. It was really debatable whether we needed to add another midfielder especially one that wasn't a specialist DM  and especially on a long term deal but if we were going to sign someone it was blatently apparent that the midfielder needed to be really good on the ball and capable of creating space for both themselves and their teammates. Yet we sign Johnson, a player who just so clearly was not suited for that type of play given his poor ball retention, not being the most mobile  and not being great at finding space; he was almost the opposite of what we needed out of an advanced midfielder at that point. But not only do we sign him, we break the transfer record for a player Norwich were trying to sell and give a 29 year old a massive, long contract. All in all we end up massively overpaying for a player that doesn't complement the squad, doesn't fit how we were trying to play, don't take into account why he'd been successful previously and in a position we were already well stocked.
TLDR; Just because you can spend 6M on a player doesn't mean you get to switch your brain off and not do due diligence

I think that's the issue. No problem with going for it..but we were never creative..we didn't have an overseas scouting team we didn't seem to have anyone expertly looking over lower league players..we didn't have stats guys identifying undervalued potential...we pretty much just bought high and sold low. It was amateur hour ..that was the big problem..

If we'd have spent on the right sort of players, then it would have been a gamble worth taking. Most of the signings we made though were badly planned, overpriced and really bad value. The likes of Butterfield, Blackman, Camara, Anya, Shackell, Malone and Jozefzoon were all ridiculously overpriced. Even Johnson and Waghorn were way too expensive too. That for me is Mel's biggest mistake of all, having the wrong scouting setup. 

If we had been relegated would we even be having this discussion? I doubt it. 
The only reason we werent relegated is because we got lucky with EFL appeals and Sheff Wednesday didnt and because of covid, Rotherham had to play every 3 days for the last month or so of the season which dragged their form down to nearly as bad as ours. In any other season we are relegated, we got extremely lucky. 
I dont think rooney deserves another chance, the manner of some of the defeats, worst of all 3-0 at rotherham with relegation on the line doesnt suggest to me a manager who was close to cracking it but just got unlucky. 

If Rooney's not being 'doing things his own way' for the last 35 games, who's been in charge? He's been doing whatever pleases him since he rocked, up including eating half of Greggs during lockdown #1 and disappearing off for a charity game when he should have been working hard with the squad at Derby.
As for loyalty, that's the funniest thing I've heard in years. Wazza's known for a lot of things, but loyalty sure AF ain't one of them ?
 

I don't think anyone with a straight face can say that an unqualified manager picking up 7 points from the last 45 available should be leading us next season. I mean that run is so bad if someone on the forum who had some minor football experience and tactical knowhow had a shot at the job they'd probably pick up the same amount of points. I honestly believe if we let Rooney lead us for anything more than 10 games next season we'll be in exactly this position next season- I've got no faith in his recruitment, his coaching or his ability to get the most out of the players. 

I think what bothered me today was that despite spending a week on the training ground defending set pieces we were all over the place, so either their sessions are garbage or every player can't defend. The space we allowed Bannan was absolutely criminal, he ran their midfield today and the obvious solution was to mark him out the game and hit him hard. Over the next weeks he needs to look at himself in the mirror and do not what is best for wayne rooney but what is best for Derby County. That is him admitting that he's not ready for this job, get his badges and start lower down the footballing pyramid. 

True, but if nobody reports issues they don’t know there is an issue to fix which can be an issue.

Derby vs Rotherham 30th March picked for TV coverage by Pitch International, get your 'flights' booked to any of these hot destinations: https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/ramstv-availability-for-tv-games?nocache=1
https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/ramstv-faqs

Think of the man hours required to type out what Jack Woodward says. 

That's nothing... Some fans knew it was Keogh's fault we conceded before the game had even started!

This is nitpicking at it's finest! ?

Unfortunately it is not worldwide. Just the UK and countries where the EFL do not have a broadcasting rights agreement because the game has been picked by another broadcaster (Pitch International). If you're abroad an cant watch because of this then maybe you could take a 'connecting flight' to one of these countries https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/ramstv-availability-for-tv-games?nocache=1 where the game will be available 

Quite often the sound isn't synced with the pictures in the away games. Must be due to using the crappy iFollow feed instead of being a proper RamsTV production like there is for the home games.

Ghost is right. Need more atmosphere on the sound and need less sound from Mr Woodward. He doesn't get it, that TV commentary is not the same as for radio. Too much flannel. Yes it is. ....it really is. (sorry). 
Apart from that, much improved this season watching on PC. Very few dropouts and much more reliable. 

We have a far superior service than most in our league, if not the best.  It’s a shame the red buttons effected the return on the investment this season.

I think it's a bit unfair to compare RamsTV to the likes of Sky and BT. You have to think about the amounts of equipment it takes to create a live event on Sky and BT these days, and RamsTV just cannot compete with that. 
 
The sound quality on RamsTV has come along way since last season also, so I'm sure this will get better as time goes on. 

"It's really a lot isnt it Shane?" Jack Woodward
"It really is" Shane Nicholson 
(Goes all commentary on RamsTV)

Think of the man hours required to type out what Jack Woodward says. 

Think of the man hours required to type out what Jack Woodward says. 

Think of the man hours required to type out what Jack Woodward says.