archram

To make a somewhat semi serious point though, the stupidity of all this is that on Sunday and yesterday Coventry deserved all the plaudits for the game they made of it at Wembley. Also Leeds vs Boro was another very good game of football last night and deserves credit (with a bit of damnation over both sides defending as well)!
But what are the top of football discussions at the minute? Antony celebrations, VAR decisions, pep moaning of fixture congestion’s and Forest losing the plot. If you want to know what is wrong with the premier league, it’s that they all live in a microcosm where they think we should all care about all these little things that shouldn’t matter over actual games of football.

Look at the bright side, at least it's Tuesday now 😁
This week is indeed crawling past though... 

Who is DCFC Lee? 
I personally don't think Clowes should win it. Just not appropriate,  this award is about ordinary fans.
Clowes deserves all the accolades for what he did (last season, actually) bit in a different arena to this one.

I’ve just nominated Dan. Nominations close 6pm Tuesday 

Jesus H 😂
More than anything, though, it is the spoiled and self-entitled response of a club whose owner has a history of this. It is only three years since Olympiakos, also owned by Evangelos Marinakis, criticised the “darkest days of Greek refereeing ever”. A specific target of that criticism was the president of the “central refereeing committee”, who Olympiakos said they were withdrawing “confidence” in. The individual? Mark Clattenburg, who by 2024 Marinakis had enough confidence in to employ as Forest refereeing consultant.

For that haircut, automatic 3 point deduction.

Which obviously isn’t working too well 😂

This in spades 🙌 
Bittersweet for sure and as much a relief as anything, after our troubles. it's been a proper slog and we still need one more big performance to be sure. I wouldn't worry about B4 too much though, as word has it he told the big boss he was nipping out for milk on Saturday evening and has not been seen since 👀

For me, watching sports such as cricket, golf and yes (for my sins), some football on SKY I class as entertainment. However, I go to watch Derby County because they are a passion in my life and give me a feeling of inclusion, no matter the level we happen to be playing at. Do I prefer for us to be playing exciting, attacking football - of course, who doesn't - but after a poor performance do I think to myself was I entertained? Never! Frustration and a certain level of annoyance definitely but those feelings fade as we get closer to the next match and we go again.

Spot on Nige, brilliant response

Stavros is so upset about this, he's lost loads of weight and his hair's all fallen out

The opportunity to win promotion at Pride Park, in front of a sell out crowd, after what the club has essentially gone through the last four years, is something that could create memories that will last a lifetime.
If, and hopefully when it happens, I'll definitely spare a thought for B4 and others who marched through the city to help keep the club alive but sadly won't be here to see this significant step in our rebuilding process. 

Yes, entertainment should be derived from sport, what that entertainment is for each person is subjective.
As has been discussed many times before with regards to football and specifically Derby County, some may prefer possession based teams who retain the ball and use the close control and movement of their players to pass their way through sides before scoring goals. Some may prefer a more direct approach of out working a team then getting the ball forward as quickly as possible to score. Some may prefer a side that absorbs pressure then counter attacks. Some might enjoy the sides who show great defensive and organisational resolve to see out games 1-0. 
It’s the same across all sport, Boxing for example some might just want to see 2 heavyweights going for a knockout, others might prefer the lighter weight classes engaged in a more technical boxing match looking to win on points. Snooker was given as an example, the perfect break might be what some want to see whereas others might want a game of tactics with each player outthinking the other and using snookers to their advantage.
I watch an awful lot of Australian rugby league as a neutral, because the sport entertains me and I don’t have the emotional attachment that I do to a Derby. It’s a different relationship, that’s a sport I watch for amusement, to see two teams crashing into each other alongside pace, power and skill. I watch Derby because I was taken along to the baseball ground as a kid by my Dad, Uncle and Grandfather, it’s an attachment to them and their legacy as much as it’s the entertainment element of sport, I want the club to succeed within reason, but more than that I want it to be there to carry on that connection as my grandfather isn’t around anymore, my uncle lives thousands of miles away and my dad is hundreds of miles away….yet talking about Derby and the club brings us instantly closer together despite the physical distance. 
 
So yes, it should be entertaining, for me this season has been as I’m content seeing the team score plenty, concede less and chalk up the wins irrespective of style of play. But it’s also about more than that in my opinion, if someone feels so strongly about the entertainment aspect then they choose not to go all power to them, that’s their choice, but it doesn’t automatically make everyone else wrong for feeling differently. 

It'd be grand if it could be Derby lads (or lasses) retaining full ownership. I think part of football losing its way has been as a result of too many owners who treat clubs like toys for the billionaire boys club. Lose interest and your club that's been around over 100 years is all of a sudden teetering on the edge.
I see Gadsby and even more so, our own David Clowes, as custodian types, as much as owners. Clowes' prime interest was and I think will likely always remain, the longevity and sustainability of the Derby County Football Club. In all honesty, I'm fine with that, though I suspect many won't be.
@Boycie has reminded us that Morris was popular and regarded as 'one of our own' prior to dumping us into admin and he's right. I was very much taken in myself. That said, I can't see any similarities other than their Rams ownership at all. The two men are worlds apart in everything from actions to demeanour. I think it's already safe to assume that Clowes is the owner we needed, arriving precisely when we most needed him to. 

The modifier you're missing out on is the emotional component for a lot of people.
I go to Derby games because I like watching football and I have an emotional connection to the club. I don't expect to be entertained, because it's not guaranteed.
 

Good point.  I think we remember the Reading game because of the way the season collapsed in the last 10-12 games, well I do anyway.  T going into that game we were on a shocking run of form.  Plus, it’s a typically British trait to look on the dark side and imagine the worst.
This season is totally different.  We’re in good form, we’re playing bottom of the league at home and we don’t need to rely on anyone else.  When it’s come down to clinching automatic promotion we can get over the line.  We did in 86, 87 and 96.

What do you think competitive sport is?

It's not that there's anything outrageous about this statement, there isn't. Of course, he's right, but it's also blindingly obvious; loans going back and contracts expiring - we'll need those signings regardless of the league we find ourselves in.
It's that it consistently happens in the wake of a win, which makes it look like Bris is content to urinate on everyone's chips and bring the mood down. All people want to do is enjoy the good feeling 3 points bring, and be excited about promotion.
Let us worry about next season after (hopefully) basking in the glow of a first promotion in 17 years. I'm going to enjoy it and praise the good job Warne has done this season. Record points tally, record away wins in a season... it is about time the club and fans had some good times.
 

You tell em Ian Herbert 
But Forest’s preposterous and disgraceful outburst — ‘like a fan in a pub, embarrassing’, as Jamie Carragher observed — took them into the sewers of the game, flying in the face of the professionalism we would expect of any club.
The directive from those at the top of Forest that a tweet be sent, stating they had warned that VAR official Stuart Attwell was ‘a Luton fan’, comes a month after owner Evangelos Marinakas brought the club into disrepute by tearing down the tunnel after referee Paul Tierney following a late defeat by Liverpool. Football rages and seethes against perceived injustice every day, but Sunday was unprecedented. Who the hell do these people think they are?
Would someone care to point out that six players have been sent off against Forest in the Premier League this season, two more than any other club?
And that a number even more relevant to their dangerous league position is the lunatic £300million they spent on 43 players across three transfer windows after getting promoted — to no material effect.
That put them in breach of spending rules and rightly docked four points. They’re claiming that’s wrong too, of course.

Great to see Clowes supporting too - hoping the one club approach does wonders for developing the women's too.
Fantastic achievement, up the Ewes!

Let the following be a warning regarding the dire consequences of pitch invasions.
Back in the early '70s when I was about 9, me and me mates went to a night match at the BBG. As was our custom, we paid a tanner to go in the boys end. As was also our custom, come half time we nipped over the fence so as to get into the Pop Side.
As we walked along the edge of the pitch, a photographer was blocking my way, but in going around him, I strayed over the line onto the pitch. Then, disaster! A stalwart steward, spotting my incursion, swooped. Having single-handedly foiled the mass pitch-invasion, the heroic man in the tabbard frog-marched 9 year old me out of the ground and told me to clear off.
As well as having to navigate my way home alone, I also had to tell me mam that I was early because I'd been chucked out.
Now tell me that pitch invasions are a good idea!

Makes me sick with nerves even thinking about it

I have been taking my son to the match since he was 5. His first match was 2018. In the six seasons he's been watching Derby, he's gone to Wembley to watch Derby in a play-off final - one goal away from the Premier League. He's seen Derby play (on Rams TV) in an empty stadium during a pandemic. He's seen Derby escape relegation on the last game of the season in a 3-3 draw with a dramatic twist in the last 5 minutes. He's seen Derby go into administration, docked 21 points and be (as it turned out) 7 days away from not existing at all. He's seen Derby relegated to the 3rd tier. He's seen Derby, two weeks before the start of the season, with 5 registered players. He's seen Derby miss out on the play-offs on the last game of the season with some dodgy refereeing. He's now seeing Derby 1 draw away from promotion.
It's never dull at Derby.

I think we should be thinking about recruitment as an ‘evolution’, rather than a ‘rebuild’. If we do go up next year, I see us having a tough time maybe even being sucked into a relegation battle. I’d say we have more chance by adding a few players of higher quality than we already have in certain positions, instead of having a rebuild and having 8 or 9 new starters next season. The players seem to have gelled really well this season and apart from a number of players, who are no where near championship standard and potentially holding us back, I think we should look to improve out current squad.