IslandExile

I b*****y well hope so but it seemed Mel was seduced by the Lampard effect and somehow thought Rooney could replicate it. But for me Rooney had been poor and slow and an impediment to success for all his teams for a decade. Your two Rooney posts are very fair and make good points and although I dislike Rooney for it, you can't blame him for not looking a gifthorse in the mouth, but you can blame Mel. Our owner made a great decision with Cocu and then pulled the rug from under him by bringing in Rooney. And now we're completely stuck and the work Cocu was doing, as he was tasked, to raise the value of academy products as a business model for the club, has completely fallen by the wayside.

Born and bred in South East London to a family of Millwall supporters and was a Lions fan until I moved to Leicestershire aged 11. My love of the Rams really started through going to see them with a school friend around 1981/82 and then finding out a neighbour across the road was a season ticket holder who I could travel with. It was hard being a Ram at a school full of Leicester and Forest fans in the early 80’s but I never wavered and even after moving to Oxford in 1984 I still followed them and had a season ticket for years until getting a job that involved weekend working. I still travel home and away when possible with a mate from down here and still get the same buzz on match day. I wasn’t born a Ram but will die one!

Born in South Wales and no links to Derby except Derby COUNTY FC. 
began supporting Derby it 1970 when lads front Ripley worked with my dad,  they talked about this new manger Brian Clough and brought down scarves etc and the old Ram newspaper . From then on it was Derby Derby Derby... when able to drive and affordable my wife son and myself was season tickets for 15 yes at BBG. 
Now I live in Ireland and travel over min 20 games season 
So in short I'm a Welsh man living in Ireland supporting the greatest team in the world DCFC
COYR
 
 

I was born in Northampton and lived just me and my mum. I fell in love with football but she had no interest at all. My uncle supported Derby and in 1988 when I was 9 he offered to take me to a Derby match and see if I liked it. Southampton away 0-0. I was hooked. Not long after he got me a season ticket.
A few years later they moved north so I was stuck not going, he would pick me up on the way to away matches like Luton and Watford etc and I appreciated it but it wasn’t enough. As soon as I was old enough to go on the train I had a season ticket again.
When I was 30 we moved to Newquay and I cancelled my season ticket thinking it was too far to drive. A couple of seasons later I decided 600 mile round trip is not too far. I now have a season ticket again and my 9 year old is as much a Derby fan as I ever was.

The nearest I have lived to Derby is some 99 miles away. Moved further, and further, south over the years. It was about 67 or 68 that I started showing some interest in football (aged 7) and the old man (not a football fan) arrived home one night with 3 framed pictures, which I understand were part of a giveaway by Esso or Shell garages based on a ‘buy petrol win prizes promotion’. Could have been a Fulham or West Brom fan, but was seduced by 12 guys in white, standing in front of a green corrugated iron shed.  The picture here (middle) is not the one, but it brings back lovely memories. Up the Rams.
 

Born just over the border in Burton where I saw Jackie Stamps playing late in his career. Dad watched the Rams in the 30`s but it was my mum who took me to games when we were in the 3rd Division North. Train to Pear Tree and Normanton before walking to the Baseball Ground.   Now in Somerset but once a Ram.......
 

Similar to me. Born (Nightingale) and raised (within earshot of the BBG) and all my formative years in Derby but left for work in Brum and then down to London in 1983 where I’ve lived ever since. The Rams though always in my heart even though I’m a STH of The Irons just a few tube stops away.

My father was best mates with Colin Boultons dad so as a very young child I went to the games..used to get loads of signed stuff (posters, shirts, boots etc) as well which luckily I still have to this day..that was enough to get me hooked.

Born Derby (Nightingale).
Lived in various places since going to uni.
Now exiled somewhere down sarf.
Always a Ram ?

Yeah and he was a declining force as a manager by then.
The difference with Rooney is that we have done nothing on the pitch to justify giving him the same slack that Brian had in the end.
It took him years to build up that loyalty.

In the first team sqaud as he has been all pre-season. I imagine he'll be on the bench again though

The bottom line ( no pun intended) is that Wayne is a role model and ambassador for Derby County Football Club. His behaviour needs to exemplary and he is not an immature 17 year old.
Then again, the football industry has its own code of conduct, which allows players to deliberately end another professionals career or spit in the face of a teenage girl and still keep their job. You have players criticising government ministers, but happy to be coached by a known racist. The on field diving and cheating is something else, with often a complete lack of sportsmanship, even amongst the top managers.

One incident.... The play off final against Villa, whose player later admitted he thought it should've been a foul.

Will the clubs future and academy be in safe hands with new owners? 

Pay attention!

Is there any future plans to move away from having betting advertising? ..... Due to increase in people getting in debt through betting and effect on metal health and increased suicides from betting debt. Understand means needs other forms of advertising which i'm sure isn't exactly free flowing at moment but be nice to acknowledge the issue/ have a plan to move away from it in future.

"Welcome to Derby Curtis"

Why bother with Mengi when we have Davies and Jags here we can develop ?

I take back everything I said, fully support the kid now he's still a Derby player

His name was so big he couldn't fit it in the right box on deadline day.

Jagielka and Davies then ?

Rams TV - so why did you choose Derby - erm 

Absolutely, and I was one of his critics. Looking back, he’s been one of our better managers of the past decade, arguably the best (not coach, but manager). 

I’ll also add that I firmly believe Mel brought in Wayne Rooney in a bid to raise the profile of the club in order to sell it.
Rooney the player was never going to come in to the Championship and single-handedly turn Derby into serious promotion contenders. We didn’t sign him as a player for football reasons, despite being arguably England’s greatest ever player. 
Mel then doubled down on him by naming him manager. And he’s still yet to sell the club. It was a bold move which ultimately backfired.
With hindsight, I wonder if Mel wishes he never brought Rooney to the club.
I firmly believe if we had never brought Rooney in and stuck with Cocu, signing a few of his targets such as Dursun, Panzo, Dykes, Moore and Dickie, we’d be in a far healthier place now, on and off the pitch.
Cocu was our Nigel Clough. Maybe he would have never have gotten us promoted, but he was exactly what we needed while clearing the decks.

I’m torn on Wayne Rooney.
On the one hand I despise the fact he signed with talk of him as an understudy to Phillip Cocu while winding down his career. I felt his presence immediately undermined Cocu who didn’t deserve that at all, and his post lockdown performances on the pitch were horrible. We were stuck with an out-of-shape superstar who was seemingly undroppable, and his presence in the team made Cocu’s job of getting results all-but impossible. I then hated the fact Rooney benefited from Cocu’s exit with the managerial job despite his evident lack of experience. His ensuing results towards the end of the season did little to sway that opinion.
However, on the flip side, none of the above was Rooney’s fault. As a player he was on a natural steep decline. Anyone in his shoes would have done the same. The club signed him on ridiculous terms with a stepping stone into management. A big Championship club may I add. And the club later appointed him manager. I can’t hate him for simply taking up the opportunities which have come his way, as much as I disagree with it all. 
My displeasure is directed more at those who made the decisions. Simply terrible.
We’re stuck with Rooney, and he and the players need all the support they can get.