Learning the lessons to put down a marker.

[Guest]

Bit trite I know, but we have trotted out several of the old cliches recently in our attempts to bolster the ranks, reassure the queazy., etc

However, some of the stuff being uttered by management and playing staff hasn't really convinced me that we are good enough to win this league, or survive in the Premiership. I would so love it to be different, but this season we have not really displayed the consistency required, or the ruthlessness that top teams tend to exhibit. On our day we can beat any of the contenders, but our inability to press home advantage is rather disquieting. I did wonder if the management was actually too nice, and possibly too close to the playing staff to actually deliver the hard messages that are sometimes required. Everybody that comes in says how great the dressing room is, but this may be an indication that there is not quite the required level of discipline entrenched in the camp.

Sir Brian used to work on the basis that if you didn't concede then you couldn't lose, and built his teams accordingly. My feeling is that we tend more to the Kevin Keegan school of management and work on the basis that if THEY score 5 then WE will score 6.

This tends to bring me round to thinking that I would probably be more happy if we were looking to improve the quality of the defence rather than bringing in yet more strikers. I think we can probably manage with what we have until such time as the principal players are available again.

[Alph]

All those better and more consistent sides have the same or less points than we do. only one team has conceded less than us and they have scored less too. 

Leeds United Syndrome. 

No other fans put Derby down as much as Derby fans. Most call us a top Champ side and celebrate a point at the ipro as if they've just won the FA Cup. 

I don't understand all the worry from people who have been saying we aren't good enough since August. If we aren't good enough then why is there such a meltdown when we lose? Why do we need to prove we can survive the PL this season.

who was better last season? QPR or Leicester? Did Leicester prove to their fans that they could survive promotion with their league winning season? 

What about Swansea? When they only just went up in the play offs in such tight games? Did that prove they could survive the PL? 

Next season is next season. It's a whole transfer window away and quite a different league to this one. It's slower and more disciplined and purposeful for a start. On an individual player and tactical coaching level it's superior. You don't play as many games. It's another problem for another season.

Derby fans don't deserve this team or this set up. They were far happier 2 years ago when there was plenty to moan at. 

All it would be next season is "will we survive Europe" or "would we survive losing all our players when we go down"

Picture it. Derby, QPR, Villa and Norwich all on 30pts with 10 to play. Derby are outside the relegation zone. "can't see us staying up"

not QPR or Villa. It's definitely us that's going down. 

Can someone explain why people were worried about Mac leaving and about losing players next summer? It doesn't sound to me if any of them are that hard to replace. I mean if Alex Neil and Bradley Johnson are so much more reliable then surely we can dig up some replacements. 

[r4derby]

 

who was better last season? QPR or Leicester? Did Leicester prove to their fans that they could survive promotion with their league winning season? 

What about Swansea? When they only just went up in the play offs in such tight games? Did that prove they could survive the PL? 

[halifaxram]

I hope I wasn't delivering the message that I am dissatisfied with what we are getting, really I was just offering a few musings on what may be some of our shortcomings. I too don't derive any pleasure from hearing fans moaning at players in the ground, or on social media.

If I was to sum up how I feel, then frustration would be the best description, as I know we can be so good, and with a few tweaks, or a bit of good fortune, I think we could achieve our goal. 

Next season, as you rightly point out, could be a totally different kettle of fish, and as such will bring with it a whole new raft of preparations.

This week set me to thinking that someone in the mould of Dave Mackay would be just the ticket at the moment, but of course those characters are rare, and elsewhere!

As fans of course, all you can ever really hope for, or expect, is that your team are giving 100%, and if that fails, no no-one can justifiably criticise.

COYR