One week to go. Confident?

[Ambitious]

I swear up until last week people were saying Hughes need a break. @Ambitious 

Yeah, I remember that, then he turned up against Villarreal like he'd just had a week long sleep. 

[Shuff264]

There's lots of little things Clement has done that has made us a bit more 'on the ball' for want of a better phrase. 

McClaren was a good coach, but he liked to have it comfortable. It was telling when the defence became disjointed, he couldn't rectify it and openly said: 'we know what we are' which pissed me off immensely. 

With the new signings, I like the experience and the balance. I like the strength in depth and I like the competition for places. I know it will be harder as the season goes on to keep players happy, but at the minute, I think everyone of them, bar the youngsters, know they have a chance of starting. 

Hughes and Hendrick look in their best shape ever, fitness wise, and we look a lot more mature. 

I'm very optimistic, and I think our first two games will tell us a lot. 

I agree with pretty much all of that except that last bit, I dont think we'll have seen enough till two months in rather than two games

[Kernow]

It's embarrassing the quality of teams we can put out in my opinion. Of course that doesn't guarantee a good season but the signs are very promising. The result midweek is testament to the quality we have. The additions seem to have mostly slotted straight in to the fold.

I was expecting us to start slowly due to the numbers of players we've brought in, but from what I've seen of us this pre-season, it doesn't look that way. We look like a team, not just 11 players put together. They definitely don't like lads who some have only known for just over a month. With our early season games, I don't think a slow start is acceptable. Other than Boro they're teams we *should* be beating if we want to be in the top 2, so no complacency please, lets start in style.

[Alph]

I'm excited as every year. 

But I was never more confident than after we signed Thorne. We were so fast and frightening coming off the back of that season. Felt like a real desire to go and show how cruel that Play Off final was.

Who was left to keep us outside the top 2? 

Brighton? Nah, destroyed them and beat them 4 times. Norwich? Maybe. Fulham? Wigan? Couldn't see those forcing us outside the top 2. We had a reputation and going into the season it became clear that a draw at the ipro was considered a great result by other fans. 

Thorne would be back in the new year. Between old reliable Eustace, who was fine for the majority of the season before, and a Real Madrid youth I thought we'd manage ok. Cyrus Christie was comparable to Wisdom. Not as good but he looked close enough. 

To not even get in the top 6?!

I'm cautious this season. I'll be happy to be in that top 6. More reasonable expectations this year.

Teams aren't going to stand back and admire us. We're a big game now. When you play Derby then you have to step up. Just like we have against Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham, Forest when they were expected to be successful.  

You set up to stop them. You grab a point or 3 and everyone says "if we play like that next week" ( But you don't. You go and play a boring 2-0 defeat at a midtable side) 

This why coaches say the best don't kick back. You have to work harder than everyone else. You have to have more answers. You drop to 70% and you lose because everyone brings their best out for you. 

And this is the Champ. The level between us and our rivals isn't as big as the gap between  to top PL sides and their rivals. They can get away with 70% sometimes. 

[StringerBell]

If Thorne can stay fit, I honestly struggle to see how we won't finish top two.  The lad is moisteningly* good. 

 

 

*no it's not a real word.

Well if you keep saying it there's hope

[harbourram]

Yes and no. Our attack is immense but apart from Shackell and Buxton we don't have any players that can defend. Statically we only had the 14th best defence in the league last season. I'd still like to see another defender arrive, maybe a right back. 

[Ambitious]

Yes and no. Our attack is immense but apart from Shackell and Buxton we don't have any players that can defend. Statically we only had the 14th best defence in the league last season. I'd still like to see another defender arrive, maybe a right back. 

That's still my favourite made up stat of the summer. 

Statistically, we have the best strike force in Europe and the best midfield outside of South America... Statistically. 

[Kernow]

Yes and no. Our attack is immense but apart from Shackell and Buxton we don't have any players that can defend. Statically we only had the 14th best defence in the league last season. I'd still like to see another defender arrive, maybe a right back. 

You and that bloody made-up statistic again.

[AmericanRam]

Yes and no. Our attack is immense but apart from Shackell and Buxton we don't have any players that can defend. Statically we only had the 14th best defence in the league last season. I'd still like to see another defender arrive, maybe a right back. 

Ffs how much longer will you keep on saying this? 

 

[Derbados]

So far I am very, very happy. I was very interested to see what kind of manager clement would be. He seems to be an astute tactician, calm and calculated and not only does he have a plan B he seems to have got plans C,D,E,F and G!!. His constant drive for standards and discipline on the pitch impresses me immensely, even today after the Burton game he gave some criticism and drove home maintaining the standards for the full 90 minutes. He sounds like someone who oozes class and won't take excuses for poor performances. 

In terms of signings I feel we have hit the right areas with the right personell. The spine of our team is rock solid, and that is so important. Shackell is a leader and a bloody good CB to boot! He will bring organisation and discipline to that back line. Baird for me will be the key signing we made this summer, he's another great leader, an upgraded, more versatile Eustace, a Eustace Mark 2 shall we say, he will be fantastic for us.  And then we have the likes of Ince, Weimann, Russell and co who will give defenders at this level sleepless nights weeks before we play them (good luck marking Weimann this season with that pace, seriously, I feel for you!) and that's before we get to our 20 goal a season striker and our ex England international up front! 

Did I also forget to mention we have a certain albino lookin fella in midfield to? He's rather good!

And last but certainly not least there is St George. If he can manage anything close to a full season then we will be frightening!

all in all if, and I mean IF! We can keep everybody fit then I feel we will be top two, make no mistake there will be twists and turns, but with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard graft there's no reason we can't do it, we're good enough. It's like Mr Ramage always says "something specials Happening here!"

im confident, COYR!

 

[Pearl Ram]

@harbourram, hopefully now we've got a coach that doesn't think "we are what we are" and can identify and fix the problems you remind us of repeatedly, relax mate, new season new optimism.

[Heisenberg]

Absolutely.

Maybe a little too over confident, but feck it, we've had a good summer in terms of signings and bringing in Clement and after some of the crap we've had to put up with as a club in the past, if you can't get excited with how the club is moving now, I doubt you ever will.

Embrace it, enjoy it and bring on next weekend!

[Alph]

That's still my favourite made up stat of the summer. 

Statistically, we have the best strike force in Europe and the best midfield outside of South America... Statistically. 

What is it based on? The defence stat. Where's he got that from? 

 

[DesertRam]

Quietly confident, I like the way we are going to rotate players more, depending on the formation, and Home

vs Away etc..I can see us dominating alot of matches, with the Ipro becoming a real nightmare destination

for some clubs.

[uttoxram75]

PC seems a very serious guy. I get the feeling that keeping players happy is something he can handle with his experience at Madrid, Paris and Chelsea. He's done a fantastic apprenticeship, learnt at every step, and is now ready to prove himself at Derby.

I don't expect us to win the league by the end of August , end of April will do me!

 

[Kernow]

What is it based on? The defence stat. Where's he got that from? 

 

He says it was based on the table for defensive statistics, so that proves that.

[Rampage]

If we are short of cover in any position, it is pretty obvious that we will get a replacement. I would have replaced the back five from last season, we have done better than that in that we have 'replaced' four players and kept the others, who know how to play well and now have serious competition.Whoever plays best gets in the team. I will give it six games to let the team gel and hopefully we are not adrift by then. However, there is no reason why we cannot get off to a flier and dominate the league.

[Old Spalding Ram]

 

With the new signings, I like the experience and the balance. I like the strength in depth and I like the competition for places. I know it will be harder as the season goes on to keep players happy, but at the minute, I think everyone of them, bar the youngsters, know they have a chance of starting. 

Hughes and Hendrick look in their best shape ever, fitness wise, and we look a lot more mature. 

I'm very optimistic, and I think our first two games will tell us a lot. 

Ambitious Posted 17 July · Report post

I think we will need a full pre-season to even get close to speed, in fact I wouldn't at all be surprised if we started really slow. I hope I'm wrong but I can see a lot of bedding in issues.

66/1 to be bottom at the start of September looks a good bet. 

Last time I follow your betting tips!.................

 

[Van der MoodHoover]

I was expecting us to start slowly due to the numbers of players we've brought in, but from what I've seen of us this pre-season, it doesn't look that way. We look like a team, not just 11 players put together. They definitely don't like lads who some have only known for just over a month. With our early season games, I don't think a slow start is acceptable. Other than Boro they're teams we *should* be beating if we want to be in the top 2, so no complacency please, lets start in style.

All astute points. But I don't see why we shouldn't expect to beat boro any less than other teams. 

[Kernow]

All astute points. But I don't see why we shouldn't expect to beat boro any less than other teams. 

What I mean is of our opening games only Boro would be expected to finish anywhere near the top 6