archram

The Popside Fanatics group held a funding thing to raise money for flags. 50 of them (flags, not the Fanatics) were put on seats in the South Stand last weekend, 25 were "liberated" post match. The idea is for the flags to remain "on site" and not to be taken home. They were paid for by donations from ordinary fans like yours truly.
Both the Fanatics and I would greatly appreciate any flags that were inadvertently taken home being returned for the Carlisle game and then left in the South Stand post match for reuse next season.
They did post in all the Rams Facebook pages that the flags should not be taken home, it seems not everybody read that.  

Considering he's talking to me, that's not the case at all.  Long story short, me, my lad, and a few of his mates waited for the players after the Bolton game for pics, and I waited a bit longer than most for a pic with the gaffer, but I guess he was either still basking in the post victory glow at the bar, or he'd popped off early.  Fast forward to Saturday and my lad's mates were again waiting outside and one of them told him I was a Derby fan of 40 years & I was gutted I'd missed him a couple of weeks ago.  Warney politely asked him for his phone, asked what my name was, and hit Record.  Top bloke...

Fully endorse this. Great to go to a match again’ on my own’ - though with plenty of minders!
My son had been worried that I was going on a coach full time of football hooligans! He’s always wrong about predicting the score and he was just as wrong about this! 
 
Thanks everyone 

I think the combination works best. 4-3-3 so midfield doesn’t get overrun.
Difficulty there has been getting the right combination. Adams and Smith has worked well lately but in Bird’s absence we don’t have an automatic third (Thompson was okay on Saturday but Orient were rubbish)
If we had Bird with Smith and Adams for protection, we’d have quicker ball to the wide players so crosses are more effective.
Ideally we’d have slick first time passing, except our players have the limitations of League One quality so sometimes passes go astray. That’s not ideal in a tense, must win run-in so it doesn’t happen.
Pragmatism has worked this far. The target was promotion and we are within touching distance.
 

Way too soon to think about next season. We still don't KNOW which League we'll be in. More than half the squad is out of contract this summer. How anyone can say we won't this or can't that is way premature. The current squad and style probably won't work in the SBC. However, if we do go up you can expect 10 out and as many in and feasibly a change of style as PW has found out, to his cost on 2 occasions, what DOENS'T work in the SBC. Hopefully we'll have decent financial backing and be able to put together more of a footballing side capable of going wide and putting crosses in AND playing through the middle on the floor AND playing balls into the channels. The best teams can do all 3...

Still makes me feel slightly tearful - and I never met him.

I’m new but will be there from Bristol. I’m so excited to be able to go to a game on my own! We’ll, with other Rams of course.

Thommo is a brilliant footballer and a good asset to the team. His ability to keep the ball and his naturally attacking mentality is so important to us. 

Fully endorse this. Great to go to a match again’ on my own’ - though with plenty of minders!
My son had been worried that I was going on a coach full time of football hooligans! He’s always wrong about predicting the score and he was just as wrong about this! 
 
Thanks everyone 

Loved it when Thommo and Sonny walked back after celebrating Sonny’s first goal looked like bring your kid to work day 🤣

Personally, I think he was awful and error prone in his early games but since he has forced his way back into the squad, has been OK and certainly not awful. Since his return he hasn't made numerous mistakes (probably no more than most other players) and only showed a lack of leadership/maturity at the Northampton game. I don't know how you've come to the conclusion that he's not willing to own up to his mistakes. It could be argued that, whilst not coming out and admitting his mistakes in public (which players ever do?) I'd say that the way he has buckled down earned his place back in the squad is evidence that he at least accepts his early failings.
I can't help but feel that he has become the new scapegoat.

Fully endorse this. Great to go to a match again’ on my own’ - though with plenty of minders!
My son had been worried that I was going on a coach full time of football hooligans! He’s always wrong about predicting the score and he was just as wrong about this! 
 
Thanks everyone 

Fully endorse this. Great to go to a match again’ on my own’ - though with plenty of minders!
My son had been worried that I was going on a coach full time of football hooligans! He’s always wrong about predicting the score and he was just as wrong about this! 
 
Thanks everyone 

Great trip again yesterday. Thanks to all who made it possible.
Would recommend it to anyone in the region who wants a different routine on match day.
Lots of amiable chat amongst Rams fans, a spot of lunch and a drop off closer to the ground than you’d get by car or train.
The organisers guarantee a home win every time the coach operates (may have made that last bit up but two from two recently!)

Hello again,
I had a great afternoon yesterday at Pride Park, obviously helped by the outcome. Absolutely brilliant support, underlined by the fact that a Premier League fixture down the road had a lower attendance, even with the decent following that the West Midlands sent over. Decent noise throughout the game too, Pride Park seems to work well with the crowd sound and atmosphere - some of the new stadiums get this wrong. I don't think anybody has managed to emulate atmosphere from the old stadiums that were touched by the hand of Archibald Leitch but Pride Park certainly has most of it and, of course, the people component. 
As for the game, it seemed to me that there looked to be a division between the two sides. I felt that the club, city and fan base seemed to be out of place at L1 level. 
Back soon.

Some brilliant stuff yesterday. Midfield 3 of adams , thommo and smith was brill. Plenty of energy , tenacity and controlled the game well. 

ATG
1Wildsmith 6.5…..had almost nothing to do so impossible to get a great score
35Nelson 7……untroubled defensively. Troubled their defence at set pieces 
5Bradley 7.5……good goals and solid in defence 
6Cashin 7……hands full with their 17 at times. Did very well 
2Wilson 7…..so much more of a threat from wingback. I’d have stuck with a back 4 and I’d have been wrong!
12Smith 7……hardly touched the ball and quite a few over hit passes but managed to have a very good game….how does that work?
23Fornah 6….very little time
32Adams 8…..destroyed as per….plus carried the ball with great energy today
10Waghorn 6…. Very little time
17Sibley 8…..my MOTM…..really good going forward and defensively. Better as a wing back but has done admirably in a 4
16 Tommo 7…..wouldn’t have picked him and I’d have been wrong. Team really benefitted from his high pressing 
4Hourihane 6….no time….but world’s best sub. Always cajoling and encouraging as he warms up.
9Collins 6.5…..great work rate and some good hold up play. Got very little off the ref
14Washington 6….just on long enough to miss a couple of decent chances! To be fair he worked very hard to get in position to miss them
11Méndez-Laing 7…..much better than of late. Great pressing and work rate
7Barkhuisen 7……with another CF, he’d have had 2 fantastic assists in no time on the pitch. Just the man for counter attacking 
PW got a lot right today. completely dominated Orient who were pretty toothless.
Thought the ref and linesmen were inept. No game changing mistakes but so many errors on throw-ins and corners, free kicks to Orient for next to no contact and then let their defenders pretty much assault Collins on occasions.
Completely failed to deal with our time-wasting and then only added on 4 mins. 😉

So he’s the only player in Derby’s recent history to have got himself stupidly sent off? He let the side down at Northampton with his reaction but let’s not try to pretend he’s the first (or will be the last to do such a thing). 
 

Thanks for your post Sam
I think it would be great to see Pompey promoted, you have had such a torrid time for years, worse than Derby. Baring an unlikely disaster of losing your last three games, Bolton winning theirs and likewise Derby, then you will be promoted. I would imagine you will be promoted next week, which is what you deserve. You have been the most consistent team of the season. We obviously want Derby to be promoted but Bolton are a great side too and like you and Derby have been through huge difficulties over the last few years. So I hope we all make it . 
thanks again for your support and good luck

He had a good very game yesterday, if it wasn’t for Sonny’s brace he would have been my MOTM, especially if he’d finished that 1v1 chance. I never saw him as a left wing back, especially the way he tackled, so credit to PW and coaching staff for a very astute bit of coaching.

Glad he’s nailed down a role in a potentially promotion-winning team. Even if he hasn’t quite got to the levels we hoped he’d reach, he can still have a good story and go down as a hero.

Maybe we could change it slightly to we are coming with you pompy 🤔

I remember a time, not very long ago, when fans bemoaned that our corners and set-pieces never came to anything. Now we're the most effective team in the division in that regard so, of course, fans have to find something else to criticise the manager for, despite the fact that, when Orient actually had to come out and play, we created enough opportunities to have more than doubled our score. Imagine what Dwight Gayle might have done with those chances...
I hope we keep banging in those corners and crosses in the remaining two games. Any team will struggle to defend the quality of cross we produced consistently yesterday. Of course, if we can also take  chances like the ones we did create yesterday, that would make us all much less stressed.

I agree with you. The "boyfriend" slur was particularly unnecessary.

You don't have to apologise to me, everyone is allowed their opinion and I certainly don't believe mine is any more valid than yours.
Just think it's sad to see so many of our supporters clearly not enjoying what could turn out to be one of our best seasons, for so many reasons, in the last 50 odd years.