Alty_Ram

17 hours ago, oldtimeram said:

Down down....Status Quo

Haha, just had to look this one up. Nice EFL theme ? 

"Get down deeper and down
Down down deeper and down
Down down deeper and down
Get down deeper and down

I want all the world to see
To see you're laughing, and you're laughing at me
I can take it all from you
Again again again again
Again again again and deeper and down"

Looks like they've been consulting the Italians tackling manual in that top pic ?

The way things are going we can probably lock this thread.. ?

Sigh...

I think the problems are (at least) twofold. Last year we just didn't score enough goals, not even close. The knock-on effect of that is that it meant that every game was a massive pressure on the defence to keep things tight. Short purple patch aside, if we conceded we were as often as not stuffed and even if we took the lead we could never put a game to bed bar one freak game away at Birmingham and that was with a lot of help from the opposition.

Our central defence is weaker/ non-existent and we have one aging striker (plus some completely unproven youngsters..) who for all his work-rate has a rather underwhelming scoring record throughout his career. If the rest of the attack-minded outfield players don't score anything more than the odd token goal again then we will be in a deeper hole in terms of scoring and the pressure on a defence (particularly the centre) will be colossal.

Without meaningful reinforcement I just can't see how we can expect anything more than relegation zone with this squad and a couple of old journeymen is not going to transform this. The response to the alarming slide last year was pretty much non-existent. If we start badly I can see us folding and just going through the motions again.

I want to be positive, I genuinely do but I just can't think of any obvious examples of teams who will have a weaker squad than us. We need some bodies through the door just to give us enough playing resource to get through the season but we badly need some quality too.

9 minutes ago, wombatram said:

Or did the efl not appeal because they know that are accounts are f**ked. Part of me think they did this so that we hurry up and reveal the accounts… the comes the penalty points = relegation and another year of bad press… which sadly, seems to be what efl want

That occurred to me too. Slightly worried that they are just keeping their powder dry for the better option of nailing us.

Thing is, we don't just need players that will obviously improve us, there are positions where we just need some reasonably competent people who can pull on a shirt, full stop. I don't want to get saddled with a load of zero-future deadwood any more than anyone else does but we just don't have enough players for a season, unless we are pulling out of the junior competitions.

1 hour ago, BriggRam said:

Is he with us now

Not a done deal yet. The local paper up here (Manchester Evening News) yesterday had an article titled 'Teden Mengi close to sealing second Manchester United loan exit'.

Fans and club are so desperate for transfer news that I'm sure DCFC will make a big deal of this if it gets over the line.

Would have been more than happy to have him around in the squad as an experienced head who can play more than one role albeit none of them outstandingly. Established player on good wages though so we have to be mindful that anyone paid what Waggy would want needs to be fundamental to the team for next season and be one of the first names on the starting 11 teamsheet. I'm not sure he's quite that. Losing him definitely weakens us but it all depends on whether there is anyone incoming I guess.

On the up side, we probably don't need a Team Coach now, we can probably get by with a Minibus. Much easier to park at these pokey lower league grounds and at service stations they can park closer to the building which'll be easier for the lads to kick Sibs out to go and get the Crisps and Yorkie Bars and cans of Monster.

Tell you what, they're going to have their work cut out for the official calendar this year ! ? I usually get one for our lad for Christmas but might have to pad it out with a couple of snaps of me in my Derby shirt.

Oh god, the beard has been trimmed.. it's the beard that gives him his powers...we're doomed ?.

Just to echo the above comments really. It felt like a gamble but if it had worked then we'd have had an excellent player at this level in a position that we needed it. Shame.

Good luck for the future Jordon, hope you can find yourself a good place and I hope that whatever help you received at DCFC has put you on a better track.

In all the years of having an ST, I have never demanded that we were any good or even mediocre and god knows, I've watched my share of really poor Derby sides but what's left of a poor squad that only escaped relegation due to points deduction for a rival and that has been further decimated is going to get put to the sword on a regular basis. We would be lucky to not get relegated from League 1 as it stands never mind The Championship. The top end of the Championship will tear us apart and as per the run-in last year, we will be wondering if there is still such a thing as a winnable game.

I always end up renewing eventually however much I grumble, but I just wonder how much people will be able to bring themselves to watch a complete mismatch week after week. Agree completely that the matchday experience isn't all about winning but it'd be nice to think that there was some vague possibility.

Oh I'm definitely still enjoying it, I just think it was closer at the start of the season but I guess what I am seeing is a gap seems to be emerging and I don't think that Mercedes have a plan for this season to close that so I suspect that the last race will become more the norm than some of the closer races earlier on. Agree completely re the gap between the drivers. Max and Lewis manage to wring out every last bit from their cars and that's what makes the difference. I just hope that Mercedes can make a few tweaks to give Hamilton a car that will keep him in the mix rather than just hoping for a Verstappen/Red Bull mistake.

I've been really looking forward to a point where we have such parity in the cars that it's a nail-biter every race but the needle just seems to have swung a little too far the other way as it stands. Hope I'm wrong, I really want to see these two going at each other.

I'm an unapologetic Hamilton fan but completely understand that people want to see some change of faces. Verstappen has been outstanding in a previously inferior car and is now being outstanding in a superior car and good on him, a champion in waiting without a doubt.

My only slight regret is that we are not seeing a gradual shift in power and lots of wheel to wheel battles between Max and Lewis, just a passing of the baton, for this season at least. Red Bull have pulled a rabbit out of the hat with their car for this year and reinforced it with good upgrades but Mercedes are standing still and Toto Wolff basically said that all their efforts were going into next years car so I don't expect Mercedes to close what seems to be a widening gap, even since the start of the season.

I'm sure that Lewis will wring all that he can out of his car but just as Max has experienced in recent years, sometimes you just find that you are outgunned and all your skills will not be able to close that gap sufficiently. I'd expect Hamilton to still be around the front row or two but any wins will surely be down to Red Bull getting a strategy call wrong or race circumstances with crashes and safety cars etc because all things being equal, this Red Bull is a great piece of kit that as it stands is just better than the Mercedes and with a driver of Max's quality at the wheel, he'll not be throwing anybody any lifelines and I really think he'll win this year at a canter.

I agree to a point with the statements that the clubs profile alone would still be a big draw for a potential manager, particularly up and coming lower league, but you simply can't ignore the off-field carnage and how it looks to a potential manager.

In our own lives you might see a job advert for a company that previously was well thought of but has recently been in the news due to potentially looming administration and waves of redundancies then you probably think to yourself, "actually, I'll stay put". A hapless relegation fodder team with little chance to change it is still going to sit on a managers CV as a failure and people might suggest that they couldn't make the step up, regardless of the underlying reasons.

We haven't got a pot to piss in so you will get a few journeymen and chancers or a complete rookie looking to start somewhere.

Mistakes have been made no doubt about it but the EFL seem to be obsessed with getting the harshest and most damaging and inconvenient penalty for us and there is seemingly precious little we can do about it. Surely nothing will be sorted ownership-wise while this nonsense is going on so it looks like we are set for a world of pain for the immediate future.

I'll just have to comfort myself with a thought of some future date when we bounce back, win the Championship playoffs at Wembley and to an ear-splitting massively public rendition of 'Feck the EFL' by thousands of Rams fans, the Derby skipper, 'Local lad X' receives the EFL trophy and just chucks it on the ground and just walks off to celebrate with the fans.

20 hours ago, ramit said:

After all that's gone on, i am just happy Derby County are still a club and base my expectations accordingly.  It's going to be a very challenging season, but an exciting one, young players having to step up, tight budget, EFL forever looming, i am content with mid-table.

I really wish I could share your optimism but it seems to me that there is a hell of a lot to do just to get back where we were at the end of the season and that was barely enough. The squad is woefully inadequate as it stands. We're desperately short of numbers, cover and quality and I just don't see this team being suddenly a lot better than it was just because it is a new season.

If this squad as it stands finishes mid-table then they probably deserve a bus top parade of the city. We desperately need quality bringing into this side and cover (and first choices) for positions where we are beyond threadbare. How on earth we will be able to do that with everything hanging over us is another matter though.

I don't think that anyone would seriously claim that we have seen a really effective Lawrence on any consistent basis but he does occasionally have that 'goal out of nothing' capability in a side that is full of huff and puff and honest ineffectual endeavor but lacks quality and goals.

Could we get a more consistent performer from somewhere? Very possibly. Do we have any money to do so ? Nope, not as it stands and high quality attacking options are rarely sat around waiting for clubs to pick them up on a free. I'd like to see Lawrence in a Derby team that was on the front foot bossing games but unfortunately that doesn't seem likely any time soon. His wages will surely be right up there with our top paid players but in a situation where we are unlikely to be able to do anything more than look for freebies and loans, losing him would surely weaken our options ?

I agree completely re the sort of signings we are likely to make without any good resolution to our off-field circus.

There's no great expectations from me at all and I can't see us paying a fee as it stands though so I'm expecting season long loans and frees. With 2 years on his contract and with Wycombe not having to support the cost base of a large established Championship side then I doubt they'll be forced to accept chicken feed, particularly if they can get more than one club interested.

'Expected to be an affordable option at Championship level'. ? 2 years left on his existing contract ? Looks like whoever wrote that article isn't keeping up with current events at DCFC !

Er.. nahh... 

We haven't seem the best of him without a doubt. Are there some flaws in his final product and decision making, yes I think there are. Equally, a neutral audience have just rated him as the 3rd best Polish player on the night and I have no reason to take any real issue with that. Even 2nd half there were a couple of runs 2nd half where he ran at and beat 3/4 players and goodness knows we have precious little of that ability in our squad. To describe him as 'awful' or 'rubbish' on the basis of that performance is baffling to me.

This is great experience for him, let's just be glad that we have Derby players taking part in a major tournament and not looking out of place eh ?

I know what you mean, it's hard to get much discussion momentum bar a couple of pun-infested threads. After previous frankly embarrassing takeover sagas, I do understand that the club is probably waiting to announce something when it is certain of what it is announcing but in the meantime it is eerily quiet. Not really even much in the way of credible ITK hints either.

Fans are out of pocket, the club is a financial mess, we have no idea what the EFL are planning for us in terms of points deductions or fines, we have no idea if we will have new owners and if so who they are. There are just a few regurgitated transfer rumours linking us to anyone and everyone along with a long list of better placed Championship clubs. No retained list, no incoming or outgoing transfer news.

Absolute tumbleweed. I'd say that it is only natural for even pretty staunch fans to be a bit 'meh' about things at the moment.