Thoughts from a Half-Fan

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20 minutes ago, cheron85 said:

Pretty football please

If I'm buying a season ticket and paying train fares up from London every other week I'd really like the football I watch to be enjoyable at the end...

But that's just me... Other than that completely agree with your points...

I would love that too, the problem is the personnel, I heard Frank McClintock on talk sport about a year ago saying that lots of clubs throughout Europe were trying to emulate this 'Spanish' way of playing, and the problem is that unless you have the likes of Messi etc it can lead to a side dominating possession, especially in the 1st 2 thirds of the pitch  but having no end product in the final third.... which is ultimately frustrating and boring to watch. So, it depends on ones description of 'pretty' football, and whether exciting football is the same as pretty ?

I can't wait to see what NP's side eventually delivers ?

[jono]

This is a very good thread. 

To add to Mostyns point about fans .. The players do feed off us, we are a 12th man. It doesn't always have to be rousing songs but we need to respond as positively as possible to things on the pitch. They players get bursts of adrenaline from it. We are a catalyst and at a certain point we can create an exothermic reaction. Anyone remember Ipswich and 4-4 .. The fans infected the players and they dragged themselves out of the pit ... but we started it.

[Comrade 86]

47 minutes ago, LesterRam said:

I love you, can we have babies together

I absolutely love bullet points, all it needed was a pie chart and I would have been in utopia.

Sorry petal, I'm taken 

[SaintRam]

13 hours ago, 86 points said:

I've been on this forum for a season or so now and I don't claim to have the encyclopaedic knowledge of many. I don't have a season ticket and only make half a dozen games a year these days so nor do I claim to know more than those who fork out hard-earned to support the team they love, home and away. Props to all of you. I don't pretend to understand better than the gaffer or the season ticket holders what formation we should play, nor can I claim to know who is capable of playing 'the right formation' whatever that might be. But this is what I think, for what it's worth.

• Chris Martin is a quality striker. He's proven in that he scores plenty and creates a good few too. Those who criticise him for being sulky when things don't go his way are missing the point. Why should we expect him to grin like an idiot when things are going wrong?  
• Tom Ince has mad skills. He smiles plenty when we play well and as with Martin, I'd worry more if he wasn't grumpy when we don't.
• In Olsson and Fozzy we have two of the best LBs in the Championship.
• Bradley Johnson is not a bad player.  He's massively short on confidence and struggling badly but cheering when he's subbed doesn't help. Perhaps he'll never prosper at Derby but the vitriol directed at him is over the top. 
• Keogh is a fighter and those who feel he 'always has a mistake in him' would do well to point out a defender who doesn't. When a striker makes a mistake it doesn't cost a goal. He's a heart on sleeve type of player and some of the bile directed at him on this forum must hurt.
• Jeff Hendrick has not achieved what he should with his ability but he just might if we get behind him. His performances for Ireland show what he can do without the weight of expectation on his back.
• Will Hughes is pure class.  I'd not swap him for any player in the division, biased or not. I genuinely believe he could play any position on the pitch so let's not assume he can't play in a 4-4-2 until proven otherwise. 
• We did not overpay for Jacob Butterfield. After a tricky start where he looked a little overawed and a season where IMO he was massively underused, he's come out swinging. I respect that and have a hunch that he could silence the doubters in true style this year. Expect 8 to 10 goals from him this season if he's a regular starter.
• Craig Bryson is not 'past it'. It's harder to get match fit as you get older but he just might show us the Bryson of old this season.
• Nigel Pearson is not a fool. In weaker Championships we've been found out playing 4-3-3 so let's make up our minds.  Pretty football or promotion? Boro, Burnley and co have shown that expecting both might be unrealistic. To expect him to have the team flying in a 4-4-2 after pre-season and one game is just plain silly.
• The team will play better if we get off their backs and support them rather than jumping on every mistake. Being hyper-critical does not and never will improve our performances on the pitch.
• Mel Morris is a Godsend, end of.

Folk pitching FF, Chester, Kodija and Wells forget that Ince scored 11 in 18 games first season and that Martin has notched 52 goals in 3 seasons and cost us nothing, whilst Keogh, who has endured some properly low-rent abuse (likewise his wife), was our POTY and has stayed loyal nonetheless. While I would agree that the squad can be strengthened I feel that the existing roster with guidance and staunch support can give anyone in the division a game. I'm equally certain that self-entitled bitching will only create more pressure for a team that needs a bit of love. After the follies of last season we simply must be certain that anyone we bring in will add to the team. Equally, we should be sure that anyone we let go will not.

Big up you fellow Rams fans. 

COYR

 

 

 

I'm still waiting for the remaining 74 points.

[Comrade 86]

Just now, SaintRam said:

I'm still waiting for the remaining 74 points.

Very good Sir!

[Comrade 86]

5 minutes ago, SaintRam said:

I'm still waiting for the remaining 74 points.

Very good Sir!

[Comrade 86]

56 minutes ago, angieram said:

I'm a full fan so I doubly agree! 

I am hoping that the football will improve once the squad get used to what they are being asked to do.I'm also braced for maybe waving goodbye to some of my favourite players but looking forward to future heroes. 

So I will be encouraging the team, start to finish, tomorrow and throughout the season. 

Good on you Angie 

[SaintRam]

6 minutes ago, 86 points said:

Very good Sir!

 

1 minute ago, 86 points said:

Very good Sir!

Alright alright calm down

 

[Comrade 86]

55 minutes ago, cheron85 said:

Yeh I agree... Whilst I kinda understood where Mel was coming from when he sacked Smacca I still think that set us back massively... I think if we'd had him last season we would have finished higher...

I have to admit that I got that wrong. I was really pissed off that he seemed to be courting Newcastle, wanted shot of him as a result and enjoyed a certain amount of schadenfreude when it all went tits up, but looking back on his time here it's fair to say we played the best football we have in yonks.  Sorry Schteve!!

[Comrade 86]

51 minutes ago, jono said:

This is a very good thread. 

To add to Mostyns point about fans .. The players do feed off us, we are a 12th man. It doesn't always have to be rousing songs but we need to respond as positively as possible to things on the pitch. They players get bursts of adrenaline from it. We are a catalyst and at a certain point we can create an exothermic reaction. Anyone remember Ipswich and 4-4 .. The fans infected the players and they dragged themselves out of the pit ... but we started it.

Great shout Jono. Couldn't agree more! What's changed though and why? 

[needles]

2 hours ago, 86 points said:

Very good Sir!

 

2 hours ago, 86 points said:

Very good Sir!

 

Double fan.

[Rampage]

16 hours ago, 86 points said:

I've been on this forum for a season or so now and I don't claim to have the encyclopaedic knowledge of many. I don't have a season ticket and only make half a dozen games a year these days so nor do I claim to know more than those who fork out hard-earned to support the team they love, home and away. Props to all of you. I don't pretend to understand better than the gaffer or the season ticket holders what formation we should play, nor can I claim to know who is capable of playing 'the right formation' whatever that might be. But this is what I think, for what it's worth.

• Chris Martin is a quality striker. He's proven in that he scores plenty and creates a good few too. Those who criticise him for being sulky when things don't go his way are missing the point. Why should we expect him to grin like an idiot when things are going wrong?  
• Tom Ince has mad skills. He smiles plenty when we play well and as with Martin, I'd worry more if he wasn't grumpy when we don't.
• In Olsson and Fozzy we have two of the best LBs in the Championship.
• Bradley Johnson is not a bad player.  He's massively short on confidence and struggling badly but cheering when he's subbed doesn't help. Perhaps he'll never prosper at Derby but the vitriol directed at him is over the top. 
• Keogh is a fighter and those who feel he 'always has a mistake in him' would do well to point out a defender who doesn't. When a striker makes a mistake it doesn't cost a goal. He's a heart on sleeve type of player and some of the bile directed at him on this forum must hurt.
• Jeff Hendrick has not achieved what he should with his ability but he just might if we get behind him. His performances for Ireland show what he can do without the weight of expectation on his back.
• Will Hughes is pure class.  I'd not swap him for any player in the division, biased or not. I genuinely believe he could play any position on the pitch so let's not assume he can't play in a 4-4-2 until proven otherwise. 
• We did not overpay for Jacob Butterfield. After a tricky start where he looked a little overawed and a season where IMO he was massively underused, he's come out swinging. I respect that and have a hunch that he could silence the doubters in true style this year. Expect 8 to 10 goals from him this season if he's a regular starter.
• Craig Bryson is not 'past it'. It's harder to get match fit as you get older but he just might show us the Bryson of old this season.
• Nigel Pearson is not a fool. In weaker Championships we've been found out playing 4-3-3 so let's make up our minds.  Pretty football or promotion? Boro, Burnley and co have shown that expecting both might be unrealistic. To expect him to have the team flying in a 4-4-2 after pre-season and one game is just plain silly.
• The team will play better if we get off their backs and support them rather than jumping on every mistake. Being hyper-critical does not and never will improve our performances on the pitch.
• Mel Morris is a Godsend, end of.

Folk pitching FF, Chester, Kodija and Wells forget that Ince scored 11 in 18 games first season and that Martin has notched 52 goals in 3 seasons and cost us nothing, whilst Keogh, who has endured some properly low-rent abuse (likewise his wife), was our POTY and has stayed loyal nonetheless. While I would agree that the squad can be strengthened I feel that the existing roster with guidance and staunch support can give anyone in the division a game. I'm equally certain that self-entitled bitching will only create more pressure for a team that needs a bit of love. After the follies of last season we simply must be certain that anyone we bring in will add to the team. Equally, we should be sure that anyone we let go will not.

Big up you fellow Rams fans. 

COYR

 

 

 

Great post, 86 points, you have hit the likes motherlode. 

86 points what a likeable guy!  

[Rev]

3 hours ago, Mostyn6 said:

@86 points has many valid points, and even though I disagree with what many think about Keogh, I cannot really argue with the simple facts you put forward.

I'm with you in so much as this club needs the 'feel-good factor'. Without it, we won't succeed.

That feelgood factor is the difference between "encouraging" Ince/Johnson/Russell etc when they try something special but get dispossessed, and "groaning" when they try but lose the ball.

The best fans in the country, like it or not, are Man United fans, and they encourage their players. When the likes of Giggs all those years back, and Lee Sharpe before him, were trying to take on a man, they didn't ALWAYS get past the man, but United fans didn't groan the way Derby fans do when Ince gets tackled. It's shameful.

The Derby fans of that back half of 2014, when McClaren had us playing sexy football, were amazing. Even when things didn't work out, the fans applauded, the fans encouraged, the fans were grateful for the effort and excitement. This last 15-18 months or so has seen a change. 

No longer do fans appreciate effort, they criticise effort without success, and this is detrimental.

Yeovil at home that season was a case in point, 0-2 down at half time, one by the Forest loanee who's name escapes me.

No booing, at half time the concourse chat was how we'd turn it round 2nd half.

What followed was special, us fans and those players as one relentless in pursuit of victory.

I have my doubts we could do it now, or indeed since.

[Mafiabob]

16 hours ago, 86 points said:

I've been on this forum for a season or so now and I don't claim to have the encyclopaedic knowledge of many. I don't have a season ticket and only make half a dozen games a year these days so nor do I claim to know more than those who fork out hard-earned to support the team they love, home and away. Props to all of you. I don't pretend to understand better than the gaffer or the season ticket holders what formation we should play, nor can I claim to know who is capable of playing 'the right formation' whatever that might be. But this is what I think, for what it's worth.

• Chris Martin is a quality striker. He's proven in that he scores plenty and creates a good few too. Those who criticise him for being sulky when things don't go his way are missing the point. Why should we expect him to grin like an idiot when things are going wrong?  
• Tom Ince has mad skills. He smiles plenty when we play well and as with Martin, I'd worry more if he wasn't grumpy when we don't.
• In Olsson and Fozzy we have two of the best LBs in the Championship.
• Bradley Johnson is not a bad player.  He's massively short on confidence and struggling badly but cheering when he's subbed doesn't help. Perhaps he'll never prosper at Derby but the vitriol directed at him is over the top. 
• Keogh is a fighter and those who feel he 'always has a mistake in him' would do well to point out a defender who doesn't. When a striker makes a mistake it doesn't cost a goal. He's a heart on sleeve type of player and some of the bile directed at him on this forum must hurt.
• Jeff Hendrick has not achieved what he should with his ability but he just might if we get behind him. His performances for Ireland show what he can do without the weight of expectation on his back.
• Will Hughes is pure class.  I'd not swap him for any player in the division, biased or not. I genuinely believe he could play any position on the pitch so let's not assume he can't play in a 4-4-2 until proven otherwise. 
• We did not overpay for Jacob Butterfield. After a tricky start where he looked a little overawed and a season where IMO he was massively underused, he's come out swinging. I respect that and have a hunch that he could silence the doubters in true style this year. Expect 8 to 10 goals from him this season if he's a regular starter.
• Craig Bryson is not 'past it'. It's harder to get match fit as you get older but he just might show us the Bryson of old this season.
• Nigel Pearson is not a fool. In weaker Championships we've been found out playing 4-3-3 so let's make up our minds.  Pretty football or promotion? Boro, Burnley and co have shown that expecting both might be unrealistic. To expect him to have the team flying in a 4-4-2 after pre-season and one game is just plain silly.
• The team will play better if we get off their backs and support them rather than jumping on every mistake. Being hyper-critical does not and never will improve our performances on the pitch.
• Mel Morris is a Godsend, end of.

Folk pitching FF, Chester, Kodija and Wells forget that Ince scored 11 in 18 games first season and that Martin has notched 52 goals in 3 seasons and cost us nothing, whilst Keogh, who has endured some properly low-rent abuse (likewise his wife), was our POTY and has stayed loyal nonetheless. While I would agree that the squad can be strengthened I feel that the existing roster with guidance and staunch support can give anyone in the division a game. I'm equally certain that self-entitled bitching will only create more pressure for a team that needs a bit of love. After the follies of last season we simply must be certain that anyone we bring in will add to the team. Equally, we should be sure that anyone we let go will not.

Big up you fellow Rams fans. 

COYR

 

 

 

Totally disagree that Mel Morris is a godsend otherwise a very well put post. 

[jono]

2 hours ago, 86 points said:

Great shout Jono. Couldn't agree more! What's changed though and why? 

I don't think anything has changed fundamentally.

It is possible that ithe ray of hope that came when Steve Maclaren managed to make Nigel Coughs team play together as a unit, lifted hearts but has now dipped becuse the ultimate heights weren't reached. .. Possible but I don't think so. 

i think it is a club culture thing. I grew up as a Manchester United fan ( yes I was born there before anyone starts ) I looked back a while ago and as a half fan who mostly went to home games only and the odd near neighbour game as a teenager .( I am 57 now so a long time ago ) I reckon I saw them win 75/80% . Another 10% were a draw. .. That breeds self belief .. Your Saturday was going to watch goals scored and a win recorded ... You went thinking .. Big win, nicked win, scruffy goals or great goals .. How many times is is player X going to skin someone. ..

Consider what has happened to Derby over time, From Docherty to Maxwell to Billy Davies and the 3 amigos. It cements a  lap of the gods mentality blended with fatal resignation. Just as we get excited something happens to kick us in the crotch .. Lousy owner, lousy buy, silly mistake .. It's going to happen to us .. The gods have decreed it haven't they. ? We get cynical, we get angry our heads drop. With good reason I suppose ! My brother, a big fan of lower league football, grumbles on endlessly with comments like "can't be doing with fancy dans" .. You would never get that from a Manchester United fan. Ronaldo was a bit like Jordan Ibe when he went there ... But there was none of this "he hasn't got an end product" cr*p .. It was yeahhhh we got a a kid who can work magic. Attitude ! .. It's about attitude 

what does Tom Ince get ... about 50/60 % support but how many go "he is a gloomy sod, he doesn't smile, he doesn't get on with Martin, he's a fancy Dan."  We have to believe and we have to support and we have to dream. I am not really well placed to say much as I sit in the east stand and it is way too quiet but one thing for sure we need to change our heads and keep the negativity for forums and not the stadium .. Go quiet if you must, groan by all means, but to me you just ain't a fan if you boo in anything other than exceptional circumstances. And that "come on Derby" chant .. It sounds like a complaint not a cheer 

hope I haven't upset anyone .. Just how I am feeling at the moment 

[Alph]

The only thing I disagree with is that you cant get up doing what we've been doing. 

Teams have. And they've gone from strength to strength.

And we tried to 442 hard and fast and direct style quite a bit over the last decade. Mostly failure. 

There's no right way to win. No secret formation. No certain style. 

It's the best teams with the best players for the roles the team requires. It's balancing act. And a bit of luck.

[Comrade 86]

37 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

Yeovil at home that season was a case in point, 0-2 down at half time, one by the Forest loanee who's name escapes me.

No booing, at half time the concourse chat was how we'd turn it round 2nd half.

What followed was special, us fans and those players as one relentless in pursuit of victory.

I have my doubts we could do it now, or indeed since.

I'd forgotten this one.  Cracking game. As mentioned it's strange that things seem to have changed so much so quickly. Perhaps the expectation was created by this period when we were playing some lovely stuff.

[Alph]

We've got Leeds United syndrome. It's a fact I'm afraid. 

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, Mafiabob said:

Totally disagree that Mel Morris is a godsend otherwise a very well put post. 

Give him time Bob.  He's made some mistakes but for the right reasons IMO.  I've no doubt he cares deeply about the club and I'd be confident he won't make the same errors again.  

[Comrade 86]

57 minutes ago, Alpha said:

We've got Leeds United syndrome. It's a fact I'm afraid. 

This is probably going to sound a bit daft but I have a theory that when things are tough, only the true supporters hang in there.  Under Stevie Mac we looked destined for higher reaches and perhaps a more fairweather fan base evolved. Just a theory, mind!