archram

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.

Passion! 
BTW, if you're on X, Georgia Knight is well worth the follow. Takes some great photos.

Two of David Clowes’ aims when he took over the Club were to bring integrity and also establish ourselves in the Championship within 5 years. We didn’t get promotion last year, much to many fans angst. On reflection, it was probably a good job we didn’t. We would still have been working to a strict business plan which would have tied our hands in the transfer market to some degree and made the season very difficult.
We have recruited quite a few players this year who will be able to play in the Championship next year. Some recruits haven’t been quite so successful. We will have a reasonable pot for transfers this year we have been told. Probably, Wildsmith, Nyambe, Cashin,Nelson,Elder,Ward,Wilson,Mendis-Laing,Blackett-Taylor,Sibley,Forsyth,Rooney should be ok in the Championship - I personally have more concerns about Smith, Collins, Barkhaizen, Thompson, Fornah, Gayle, Washington, Vickers.  We will lose Bird and Adams (for now?)
I think, with some shrewd business, we should be able to put together a competitive squad.
in terms of integrity, I think our progression has been amazing. There has been hardly any, if at all, negative news regarding our club in the media. The Management team all absolutely appear to be working together to a common goal. We have recruited (not to everyone’s like) good people, who want to play for the shirt, not just here for the money, as in the past. The Academy has made good progress in its rebuild and the are a few players who look to have good futures, hopefully as Derby players.
At our best and most confident, we do play some exciting football, score goals and don’t concede many. Yes, we would like to see more of the exciting times but our main aim has been to get out of this difficult league this year. Too often in the past we have had a soft underbelly and have struggled against strong, aggressive teams. We currently have a side, which mainly, doesn’t buckle against this type of side.
So I am happy with the progress of Derby County this last two years and look forward to what will happen next. David Clowes is a quietly shrewd business man and I think Paul Warne is an intelligent manager, who is a lot shrewder and football wise than many give him credit for. Not only this but he is a fantastic man-manager and team spirit builder.
Can’t wait to see what happens next.
 

If you've only been entertained by 2 out of 22 home games, I think your expectations might have been a little too high, and if you're only attending Derby games in order to be entertained, then I can understand why you're not renewing. But for many fans, the entertainment factor is only one of many aspects that draw them to Pride Park. For a payment of what is effectively only £8/week, I get an awful lot more than entertainment out of it.

Depends on your definition of “sizeable section of the fan base”. It only takes a dozen or so vocal individuals on social media voicing their opinion (which of course they are entitled to) to make it appear as if their views are reflective of a much larger group.
My gut feeling is: a very small majority have total faith in PW’s ability to keep us in the Championship whilst at the same time playing decent football, a small minority want him gone now regardless, some have accepted he is here to stay next season but have already made up their minds that it’s going to be dross, but the overwhelming majority, whilst they may have concerns, think he deserves the chance to prove himself and are trying not to prejudge him.

I am not sure I agree with this angle. We certainly have better players than many; but the best ? I think that is debatable. Look at the midfield. The arrival of Adams has made a huge difference but prior to that I reckon or midfield was average. Bird is wonderfully talented but in this league often got out muscled and his skill wasn’t always enough for him to win those battles … so better or just good  ? Hourihan 6 years ago, yes a better player, but our Hourihan ? The one who gets caught napping against athletic sides ? A good player but “better” than the rest ?
The only areas where I think we had demonstrably better players was defence and out wide. We Haven’t got the better strikers and we hadn’t (until Adams) got the best midfield. 
 
Warne had “better” wide players and made best use of them to support our  lack, for much of the season, of a dynamic striker. This leads to a form of football that by necessity involves getting the ball in to danger areas via the wings and making good use of set pieces. All to create the greater number of chances to address those areas where we didn’t have “the best” players.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see one touch midfield interchanges crafting chances with slick passing ; but too many of our players didn’t demonstrate enough of those skills either due to ability, age, or the type of opponent / type of football played in this league. 

Paul Warne said you can’t play league one football in the championship and you’ll not get anywhere playing championship football in league one. 
why do some people think he’s stupid?