BOB BIGGS

Fans & players together. 

Blimey, memories for sure. I travelled down from Northumberland for that one. Haven’t been back since😎

Szmodics is rated at around £4m so I think we can forget that unfortunately. 

Indeed.
I would go further and say, for instance, I would be prepared to play for Derby in any position for free.  The club instead pays players in excess of £250,000 pa to do that role.  You could make the point that is a "gamble" on more established players.
I would be useless and we would be thrashed each week and relegated, but there would be a massive one off saving.
The gamble was paying very high wages to inexperienced managers (who are famous) and who, should you lose a few, would be sacked with compensation to boot.  And paying extremely high wages (and even higher fees) to fringe Premier League players to entice them to take a step backwards.
Paying a "promotion specialist" to increase revenue without taking debt to do so is very good business sense.  

I think to talk of splashing the cash is not really a valid claim. As part of the club's new business plan and risk management it could be argued that costs of spending on an experienced manager were part of a valid response to the risks and financial costs of being stuck in League ! for many seasons. As I recall at the time the plan was that we might be in League for 3 seasons before we were able to gain promotion back to the Championship.  Linking David Clowes behaviour as owner to that of Mel Morris, just won't do. Morris was a maverick who once he was owner did what he wanted without having sufficient people round him to advise him. The Clowes operation seems to be very different to me. What you term as Clowes's gamble  paying off might be viewed by others as careful planning delivering results.

The second leg of the play offs against Brighton, cracking game that was. The play off at Millwall as mentioned, memorable for all the wrong reasons. Was the first and only time I've ever felt scared at a football match. Vowed never to go to Millwall again.

October 21 1961.  Derby 2 Liverpool 0.   Mick Hopkinson from 60 yards !! (well it seemed like it from the 'boys' enclosure !!) and Bill Curry. 27000+ at the BBG. Ron Yeats putting Bill Curry into the railings in frustration.
September 24th 1966.  Derby 4 Huddersfield 3  Kevin Hectors home debut. Boy was that some debut !! Despite having 4 opposition trying to mark him he still managed to score and created the space for Durban to score 3. Little did we know then what the next 10 years would hold !!
November 1st 1969.  Derby 4 Liverpool 0. Can still see Hector and O'Hare bearing down on Lawrence in goal at the Ossie End for the fourth goal. 40993 at the BBG.
January 23rd 1971.  Derby 2 Wolves 1.  FA Cup 4th round. 40000+ at the BBG. 6" of mud and John O'Hare chesting in, in the 90th minute !!
Need I go on. Oh those memories.
 

Blimey, memories for sure. I travelled down from Northumberland for that one. Haven’t been back since😎

I find some of this debate a bit demeaning to PW. This is the guy who negotiated himself a 4 year contract with a very clever business man! He then took over the football at a club that was almost dead, with very limited resource and in 2 seasons got us up.
Look at that record as an unbiased outsider and you see a very sharp cookie.
I'm sure if he wants an extension he will know just when to ask, equally DC will offer one when the time is right.

Personally I would think around Christmas time would be about right for considering whether contract extensions are in order both for the club and for warne , it’s easy to forget that we as a club might not meet his ambition s in terms of being able to get the players he wants to give him a real shot at seeing how far he can go , anybody looking at his record over the last few years can see there’s obviously something there ,
the last two seasons have not really been about building anything other than a culture and spirit of togetherness amongst a squad and the club and the value of that should not be underestimated, the job was to get promoted asap , the other parts of the building job starts now and is shared between warne , scouting/recruitment staff and the club , I think this is where a lot of disagreement on this forum has come from ,
I see no reason why warne can’t thrive at championship level given the right backing and I hope he does , he deserves it far more than a lampard or Rooney trading on they’re names as top players 

To be a top championship player, you’re talking about being to ready for the move to premier league level. I don’t think any of the team are at that level and for Derby to get to that point, some new players will be needed. I wouldn’t write off Ebou, I can see his confidence growing and his performing well. 
As in a promotion in any job, it takes a little while to learn the ropes and settle in, but some people can really excel with that opportunity. This is my bit of positivity and how I hope the team develops. I would be happy with a strong mid table, just into top half finish next season. 

I think we give him time in the same way as if he was a new manager.
this is a new era for the club now, first time in what 2 years plus that we havent operated under an embargo or a strict business plan.
a lot of players still here were signed at the v end of a transfer window where were still waiting to find out if we have a club.
there will be a lot of changes due to out of contracts and quite simply a step up in league quality.
so as i said at the start of this season, we … as a fanbase would be best placed to exercise patience … not go off on one after 6 games, 12 games or even before xmas.
if there is wholesale changes no matter who u are it takes time for those players to gel and hit a rhythm… hopefully people will have seen this last year and will be more prepared to exercise some retraint be calling for the manager to go or slashing wrists after 30 minutes of the first home game that doesnt go our way 

While I don't expect a relegation fight. I certainly don't expect us to be ripping up the league based on fan base size. The current team is pretty much a band of bandits that were cobbled together on a shoe string. A large amount will probably be moved on, and there are those out of contract. We know that DC does not have the bank roll of many owners. So unless we get investment,  we can't expect the very best that the championship can offer. We will probably need a fair few new players. I would temper any expectations.  Any thing more than mid table would be great I think in. the first year.
Just my opinion 

The 4 year contract was a bold move by David Clowes, its paid off, they'll be a nice bonus for Warne and his staff i should imagine so no need to do anything just yet.
Sage touched on it above, its a different task for Warne than it was with Rotherham. Derby fans will expect more than just fighting to stay up, Thats not being entitled, its just how it is, Derby are capable of competing with half the Premiership in terms of fan base, stadium, training facilities etc so of course Clowes will not want a relegation fight and probably expect a go at the play offs in the second year.
I would be more than happy with a solid top half finish, no major brush with relegation and build for the following season. I think Clowes would be as well. 

If I were Clowes I’d be leaving Warne (and his staff’s) contract as is. Warne probably also content with that. There’s still 2 years to run, probably had some sort of bonus or % increase written in should he achieve promotion. Wait and see how we go and if there’s a need to discuss a new deal it can happen later in the next season. 

I was having a good weekend until you mentioned Mike Ashley 😎
I think and hope not. 

David Clowes took Paul Warne and his coaching staff on to get us up. PW’s record of achieving promotion from L1 is unreal.
PW set the squad a target of 92 points to get us up this season. 
we achieved exactly that and in the dying embers of the season held our (experienced) nerve and fought off the challengers who now have to go through play-off purgatory.
Paul Warne has got the job done. 
he will get a long unfettered transfer window and a fair crack at Championship management. He deserves that.
I think Rotherham were in 7th or 8th position in Championship when DC came knocking. 

I’m looking forward to seeing his Derby side and how they fair next term. I’m hoping for an Ipswich rather than a Plymouth season.
Massive respect to him his coaches, DC and all the players. Enjoyed that ta 🥈🐏⚽️👏

I don’t want to start a squabble at such a happy time but “crap and going nowhere” illustrates this misplaced demand for instant success. It’s something that rarely happens. I’d say, that at that time we looked lacklustre, disjointed, not working in harmony or being better than the sum of our parts (which is what a team game needs) Warne was new at the time, had inherited players and little room to buy. He needed time to build that group in to team. He needed to Instill his culture and methods. That took time.  He succeeded.
That is why I get so narky when the knives come out after a couple of bad results. I am going to say the same next season when we are 15th in the table  just had a bore draw at home against a lower ranked side. Patience. 

I’d question if any Derby fan is actually human if they didn’t get emotional at least once yesterday. 
We nearly lost it all. Everyone has their ritual, whether it’s going with lifelong friends and getting on the beers, travelling from afar to visit home, seeing family they may otherwise rarely see… would be all gone  
There were kids that pitch who were probably too young to remember the Villa play off loss, let alone the QPR one, they wouldn’t have seen a single moment of success watching us. I’m 33 and don’t remember promotion in the 90s, all I have is 07. Suppose we could support Man City? Nah, never, that’s not football. That’s not belonging. That’s not family.  
There’s a lot of pain in the recent past, and yesterday was a stark reminder of what may never have been again. 

I agree with that to some extent. It’s just a pity we didn’t achieve promotion as a result of his departure. 

I trust his abilities. We may not be play off contenders next season but given half decent recruiting we won’t be struggling.
 
PW and his team know what they are doing.  A small upgrade in first touch/natural ball skills, signing Ebou and a scary striker and we won’t be pushovers. 
I don’t agree with the criticism of his football style. It was designed and shaped by the necessity to get out of this league. This league isn’t pretty, the football often isn’t perfect either. We are somewhere else now. I am looking forward to the next chapter.?

Paul Warne , thank you. 🐑
 

Right at this very second, I couldn’t give a flying f*** whether people like Paul Warne as a man or a manager, I don’t care whether you think his brand of football leave you cold, or you think he concentrates too much on the opposition, or that he’s too jokey in his interviews.  All I care about is that today, him & his staff helped provide me & my lad with memories we will never forget, that were able to share as father & son, that I will happily take to my grave.  
 
Thank you Paul.  Thank you

Interestingly, though that under mac 2 , clement and cocu we had a team that could pass a ball but not scrap and do the ugly side of the game and quarters moaned about that.
 
we all want the uropia of a side that plays nice or attacking football and can still do the ugly stuff.
maybe finally with a window thats unrestricted and un embargoed we will be able to hit a sweeter note 

Take a bow paul warne record points shove it up the ass of the doubters