Ramifications

Big test today as we will see where we are, could be in the playoffs or mid table by the end of the day not that it matters this early but could do with a win today especially at home

My wife's cousin got stabbed by a Man Utd fan at a Chelsea game, nearly died. Unfortunately these things happen at any game. To just pick Liverpool out is a bit unfair. Hope your mate was ok by the way.

Son was at uni in Liverpool, lovely city and lovely people…….

Well, his replacement isn't doing too badly at all. Onwards and upwards. 
 

Well, his replacement isn't doing too badly at all. Onwards and upwards. 
 

I hope the game isn't just a rerun of the Shrewsbury match. Them, happy to see is having the ball. Ourselves, passing a lot but not creating too many chances. 

I hope the game isn't just a rerun of the Shrewsbury match. Them, happy to see is having the ball. Ourselves, passing a lot but not creating too many chances. 

Lots of interesting stuff in this matchday thread. 
I agree with those who say the midfield balance isn't right. There may be three individually gifted players there but they are just too similar to work effectively as a unit. One of Sibley or Knight should always be part of that mix, otherwise Collins is going to continue to be isolated at centre forward and his head is going to drop soon. You can see it in his body language already.
I also noticed that Dobbin and Sibley drew fouls and bookings out of Shrewsbury defenders within minutes of coming on, just by turning and running with the ball. Do that in the first half and you've two nervous defenders on a booking making life easier for us. We need someone who doesn't play it safe on the pitch from the start, imo.
Other than that, I'll take the draw against a well-organised defensive unit who fought hard for each other.
Uninspiring football, but a point on the road is better than none.

Can't believe the moaners have started already. I've been a fan since 68  and after nearly going out of existence am very happy where we are now. Just grateful we have the rams to support.

We can’t continue to play a midfield three of Hourihane, Smith and Bird when we are searching for a goal. It’s fine if we want to protect a lead, but it’s just not going to work in an attacking sense.
I thought Smith looked neat and tidy when he dropped deep. But all he was doing was taking Bird’s role as Bird then became anonymous further up the pitch until they switched back.
Hourihane seems undroppable due to his ability at set-pieces and range of passing. I get that, but he is another who has zero penetration through the middle. It’s all too predictable in there. The balance is off.
Maybe Hourihane needs to play in a wide role. Maybe Barkhuizen can play as the number 10 if Sibley can’t be trusted. Something needs changing in there for sure. 
I felt for NML and Barkhuizen today. It took an age for us to give them the ball and when we did, it’s like we just expected them to beat their man every time and deliver pinpoint crosses. That seemed like the only tactic we had.
Collins also had an impossible job. Challenging crosses on his own against a back three. Pointless. 
 

Obviously disappointing not to win this one but it'll probably be something we have to get used to in the short term.
Some poor performances but it is the 4th game of the league season, it'll improve. We could have easily lost it at the end but didn't.
Bit early to be looking at league position but we're hardly doing badly compared to others either. Considering how long they've been playing together I'd actually say we are doing well overall.
My only takeaway would be Dobbin's cameo. I'd like to see him from the start as soon as possible, and my patience with Collins is running out a bit. Not writing him off, but just think the young lad has earned himself a go in his preferred position ahead of Collins at the weekend. It was the first game where I thought Collins' general play was poor - maybe he could do with a couple games coming on from the bench against tired legs.
 

Collins has been good in every game I've seen him. The goal is just eluding him. The more pressure we put on him, the harder it'll be. Just go on performance and results. If we play well and score goals when he's in the team, then that's how it is. Everything else will work itself out

Anyone go to this?
 

Feel some of the stick for collins is harsh, he battled well and got in good positions. If he does that every game and we provide the same service I’m sure he’ll start bagging. 
 
Positives there for sure though! Bird and NML looked excellent and i thought we got the balance of being direct and when to play shorter/more patient much better. We play like that and start being more clinical we’ll have a great chance of being up there!?

Baffling loss, but take it on the chin. When it’s not your day, it’s not your day. The positive is that we were the better team away from home, performances will ultimately garner results in the long term. 

0-1 Collins

No you’re not, there’s 3,000 of us.

Derby County game totals, incl Derby 1 Oxford 0 on 30/7/2022.
League 4993, FA Cup 350, League Cup 185, Play-offs 20, Others 63, Total 5611.
League record, P 4993, W 1929, D 1221, L 1843, F 7570, A 7288.

Prediction League point scorers for league games, and occasional league tables will be posted in here ..
 
PREDICTION LEAGUE RULES
Every league game, I will start a thread on the 'Prediction League' page. I will go through the predictions you post  after each game and look for your prediction, and I'll attempt to keep a league table running.
 
 
It would help immensely if you could post the result in the following format
 
example :-  Ipswich 0 Derby 2 , Mendez-Laing FRGS
 
 
Points will be gained for the following correct predictions:
1 / For correctly nominating the winning team or a draw: +1 point
2 / For correctly nominating the first Rams goalscorer: +2 points
3 / For correctly predicting no Derby goals: +2 points ya miserable b'stards
4 / For correctly nominating the scoreline ,  ** with the teams the right way around ** , +2 points (so 3, including the point for predicting the winning team)
And no conditionals. No "If Sibley starts, then we'll win, but if he's on the bench we'll draw" stuff - pick a result and go for it.
A total of 5 points can be picked up per game.
I'll be looking at the last prediction you make in the thread. Only predictions made before kickoff will count, and if you go back and modify your prediction after kickoff, I'll not count it.
 
Just for fun and bragging rights , i'll attempt to make League Tables as i did last season , maybe not updating after every match but periodicly depending on how enthusiastic i become , all your predictions will be safely stored on my trusty fag packet  memory stick

 
**unless blatantly obvious , ie 2-0 Mendez-Laing FRGS , which will be allowed , even if Derby are away ** ..
 
Please try and avoid using players 'nicknames' as 'FRGS' as i may not recognise them. 
 
NEW PLAYERS  ALWAYS WELCOME AND  CAN JOIN IN THE FUN AT ANY TIME DURING THE SEASON 
 
 
 

Thank you both, glad you enjoyed it! Just watched this back for the first time (through gritted teeth). Crazy to get the support from the club again, but very grateful.
Hope you enjoy the new book as much as I enjoyed putting it together! 

Robertson does look good ? 
 
he’s the only one that does.

Let it go. 
The guy hasn't got a bad bone in his body. 

Let it go. 
The guy hasn't got a bad bone in his body. 

Let it go. 
The guy hasn't got a bad bone in his body.