The Reason Why...

[sage]

Well here we sit in 5th having played about 6 good halves of football by late November. 

How have we managed this miracle?

I think is the weakest Championship I have seen in years. QPR looked like a relegation team but sat 15th before they played us 

Other than Wolves I haven't seen a promotion team yet. Villa are slowly gelling and Bristol and Sheffield United are well organised. Cardiff, well Cardiff have Warnock.

I can't help but feel our Wembley team would smash the top 2 this year.

We are weaker now but so is the league. I've written off free flowing football this season but I haven't written off promotion because most of the others are worse than us.

 

[ViewsFromTheMiddle]

Agree that the league is weaker this season, but we are used to being in this position around now and know how it usually ends. 

A positive though is that we are competing with and beating teams around us away from home. 

No game is a given in this league but we've shown we can go anywhere and win. After Norwich, Leeds and Boro I believe we're capable of going to Wolves and Villa and doing the same.

Most teams rely on their home form but I can see us picking up more points away this season playing on the counter, while teams will come and play for a draw at Pride Park and we'll have to find a way to break them down.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

We are trying to move the ball forward more quickly with more intent and at a faster pace. Whilst doing this we are endevouring to be hard to beat. The style is different to mac1 and mac2 but our play does have a style and can be exciting. Personally I think the league is very competitive this season. Lots of clubs have more quality players at this level than ever before. 

[Ninos]

Why?

Because we are a tough tough bunch of dedicated players staff and dare I say fans too.

Because MM has put his faith in GR to do the right thing and he’s done the right thing and he’s instilled belief. He’s honest with players honest with us and the team is honest in its effort.

Because we’ve unleashed on our opposition the player Curtis Davies just called the best attacker that he’d ever played against in this division.

Because the spineless side of the past is a long gone memory.

Because it’s a new Derby County who are growing in confidence and getting better by the game 

[SSD]

The only time I thought the top teams in the Championship era were quality was our last Wembley final where if it was any other season we'd be 2nd at least. Think we've been spoilt compared with some of the tripe Championship team's fans have had to endure. Actually even most of the division winners in recent previous seasons don't exactly set it alight apart from Leicester who were unstoppable. Newcastle didn't look amazing last season, weren't destroying teams every week. Got the job done. Why can't we do the same? Personally I just want to keep winning regardless, have another crack at the Premier League

[Leicester Ram]

I think a large part of it is the comparative stability at the club and the confidence that encourages.

A lot can be said for Rowett's apparent man management and work with the teams ethos but by no means is he a tactic revolutionary. He's put a very clinical striker in a system that gives him the opportunity to score goals and built a very solid defence. Both of those have come at the cost of the midfield, which now can't dominate another team, but a cautious style that's makes the front two extremely efficient has been established. It's not a style that you'd see in the Premier League but it's gets a lot out of a little.

But I think the real thing I've noticed that's different about the club that's not been around since the last time we were doing this well is the sense of stability around the club.

For the first time since December 2015 we're genuinely good and I think it's the environment that creates. For one thing the team is built to a managers criteria and system again, probably more than it ever was for Clement, which is getting the best out of players.

The stability with the manager is the best it's been since 2014. I think we all know he's got all this season and probably next to get something done as far as a promotion/play-off final is concerned. Players being brought in are finding it easier to settle and the starters in particular are confident about their job security. The players who aren't starting are likely seeing the teams success and are more desperate than ever to get in the team.

That breeds confidence and we all know confidence can be just as important as skill. Let's be honest, we're one of the biggest clubs in the league, even if people don't rate our players I don't think we have any players who aren't capable of playing in a top 6 team. They're all talented enough. That's a massive part in the mental side, even though I hate using those masculine buzz words, we do seem tougher than ever. It's easier to commit yourself to a team when you're confident you have a long term future there.

Rowett's working on making us a more dominant team but for now we're simply talented enough to do well when there's a competent manager working in a stable environment. He's getting the best out of certain parts of our team just not all of it yet.

A team can make the play-off's in this league if they're hard to beat. A team can win this league if they're hard to stop. We're somewhere in between. 

[ariotofmyown]

Is anyone worried about us having a "it's happening again slump"?

We might go on a run where we don't pick up as many points as we hope to and get overtaken from below. Maybe we'll struggle to score and pick up a few draws. This may even happen over the next 5 games as we play teams at home who may park the bus.

What I don't see happening is another mental breakdown where we throw away points after points and look mentally fragile. Where the only way we can stop the rot is to play wonderful attacking football even though our confidence is shot.

Gary will get us out of tough period by grinding out a draw or 2 and build confidence that way. That poor Reading defeat seems a long time ago now rather than the start of a horror show. His measure comments after the game were probably the same thing as he said to the players. And it worked.

[ariotofmyown]

8 hours ago, ViewsFromTheMiddle said:

Agree that the league is weaker this season, but we are used to being in this position around now and know how it usually ends. 

A positive though is that we are competing with and beating teams around us away from home. 

No game is a given in this league but we've shown we can go anywhere and win. After Norwich, Leeds and Boro I believe we're capable of going to Wolves and Villa and doing the same.

Most teams rely on their home form but I can see us picking up more points away this season playing on the counter, while teams will come and play for a draw at Pride Park and we'll have to find a way to break them down.

It's the old adage: draw your home games and win your away games.

[i-Ram]

8 hours ago, sage said:

Well here we sit in 5th having played about 6 good halves of football by late November. 

How have we managed this miracle?

I think is the weakest Championship I have seen in years. QPR looked like a relegation team but sat 15th before they played us 

Other than Wolves I haven't seen a promotion team yet. Villa are slowly gelling and Bristol and Sheffield United are well organised. Cardiff, well Cardiff have Warnock.

I can't help but feel our Wembley team would smash the top 2 this year.

We are weaker now but so is the league. I've written off free flowing football this season but I haven't written off promotion because most of the others are worse than us.

Didn’t have you down as one of the misty eye brigade in respect of 2013-14 Sage 

l don’t think personally the league is any weaker now, or that our team is. They are both just different.  I can understand your loss with regard to freeflowing football but l think this season will be just as exciting as it progresses.  

I also don’t think there is any miracle either. Rowett has taken what he inherited, and added a few pieces of his own, and assembled a very functional organised team prepared to work hard for each other. We have some flair upfront, but l accept generally to date that it has not been particularly pretty to watch. I am interested to see who we might try to add to the squad come January, and who he try’s to sell (other than the obvious ‘frozen ones’). Rowett needs another window, probably two, before judgment is made on him being anti-football.

Bottom line we are beginning to function like the 2013/14 Burnley - who achieved promotion. 

[DRBee]

Surely whatever else might be said, Rowett has got the defence much more secure than some previous seasons and that has contributed to improved results. The Reading nightmare could be attributed to loss of Keogh and individual errors rather than failure of the defence overall.

[thederbyram]

26 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

Bottom line we are beginning to function like the 2013/14 Burnley - who achieved promotion.  and are now established there

FTFY

[RamNut]

1 minute ago, DRBee said:

Surely whatever else might be said, Rowett has got the defence much more secure than some previous seasons and that has contributed to improved results. The Reading nightmare could be attributed to loss of Keogh and individual errors rather than failure of the defence overall.

Loss of keogh was a factor but Reading tore us to shreds at the back. They exposed a vulnerability that comes from from pushing Forsyth up. It was a lesson of the risks we face with a slow defence when facing a team with pacy attackers. 

The biggest improvement is the fact that we no longer seem to concede from corners (famous last words esp v ipswich). I think huddlestone has contributed to that. 

[Mr Tibbs]

31 minutes ago, DRBee said:

Surely whatever else might be said, Rowett has got the defence much more secure than some previous seasons and that has contributed to improved results. The Reading nightmare could be attributed to loss of Keogh and individual errors rather than failure of the defence overall.

I thought that but a quick look at the past two seasons for the same point we're at:

15/16 - 11 goals conceded.

16/17 -  13 goals conceded.

17/18 - 18 goals conceded. 

I think overall we do look a better unit but seem to have had 3 killer off days this season (Sheff United, Bristol City, Reading) where most of our goals have been conceded.If we can stop those happening we're onto a winner but we're not there just yet. 

[Animal is a Ram]

5 minutes ago, Mr Tibbs said:

I thought that but a quick look at the past two seasons for the same point we're at:

15/16 - 11 goals conceded.

16/17 -  13 goals conceded.

17/18 - 18 goals conceded. 

I think overall we do look a better unit but seem to have had 3 killer off days this season (Sheff United, Bristol City, Reading) where most of our goals have been conceded.If we can stop those happening we're onto a winner but we're not there just yet. 

Those three games account for 11 goals. When our defence fails, it collapses.

However, two of the goals at the Blades you probably won't see again this season from Derby, and the third came from pushing so hard to get an equaliser. 

[sage]

10 hours ago, ViewsFromTheMiddle said:

Agree that the league is weaker this season, but we are used to being in this position around now and know how it usually ends. 

A positive though is that we are competing with and beating teams around us away from home. 

No game is a given in this league but we've shown we can go anywhere and win. After Norwich, Leeds and Boro I believe we're capable of going to Wolves and Villa and doing the same.

Most teams rely on their home form but I can see us picking up more points away this season playing on the counter, while teams will come and play for a draw at Pride Park and we'll have to find a way to break them down.

I agree that we are set up as an away team/home team that are leading.

[cheron85]

10 hours ago, sage said:

I think is the weakest Championship I have seen in years. QPR looked like a relegation team but sat 15th before they played us 

Other than Wolves I haven't seen a promotion team yet. Villa are slowly gelling and Bristol and Sheffield United are well organised. Cardiff, well Cardiff have Warnock.

I can't help but feel our Wembley team would smash the top 2 this year.

We are weaker now but so is the league. I've written off free flowing football this season but I haven't written off promotion because most of the others are worse than us.

Agreed - This year it looks like Wolves plus a series of okayish sides

We have the potential to be the second best side in this league though - If they can get us permanently playing the best of our football this season - Very good defence - Now a solid midfield - And we seem to eventually be pulling together the right style of play in attack

The second half against QPR (despite them being awful) showed serious promise for me - THAT side isn't as bad as I feared we were this season and can easily hit Rowett's stated top 6 with a top 2 challenge from the start of the season

[Rample]

Agree with OP,  despite huge sums of money in the championship now it's pretty mediocre. The supposed callibre, fees paid and squad depth of at Villa or Boro and you would expect a 100+ point season.  A few teams should be above Wolves, and at least half the division should be above Blades, Bristol and Cardiff.

I'd say surely those teams can't stay in the mix right up to the end, and teams with a bit more talent/depth will surge forward, but that apathy that has taken over top flight and national side seems to have trickled down, and as with those the equivalent Leicesters, Icelands and Costa Ricas will be around to steal some thunder.

[Curtains]

10 hours ago, sage said:

Well here we sit in 5th having played about 6 good halves of football by late November. 

How have we managed this miracle?

I think is the weakest Championship I have seen in years. QPR looked like a relegation team but sat 15th before they played us 

Other than Wolves I haven't seen a promotion team yet. Villa are slowly gelling and Bristol and Sheffield United are well organised. Cardiff, well Cardiff have Warnock.

I can't help but feel our Wembley team would smash the top 2 this year.

We are weaker now but so is the league. I've written off free flowing football this season but I haven't written off promotion because most of the others are worse than us.

 

[Colm]

.

[Colm]