Where do you think we'll finish this season?

[May Contain Nuts]

1 hour ago, David said:

Which is never accounted for with those that prefer to view the world of Derby County under dark clouds. 

Wasn't long ago where we were being told there isn't enough time now to catch the front runners yet here we are, Wednesday morning needing only to better Portsmouth in one game and win the game in hand, top 2 is then in our own hands.

Absolutely no reason why any Derby fan can't just sit and enjoy the rest of the season, whilst not mathematically there, play off place barring an absolute disaster looks secure which means we have a real chance of promotion.

Realistically that's all you can wish for, that chance. 

Anyone demanding promotion, will be the ones viewing the club under the dark clouds, which is their own personal choice. 

Paul Warne is crap, can't sign decent players, has no pull, look at the crap he's signed.

Lose a game with said crap team, my next-door neighbour could get this squad promoted, we should be running away with the league.

Which is it?

Anyhow, we will lose another game and the Out Out will rise from the pages, highlighting the pain and suffering we are going through.

I watched Saturday's game via Charlton TV, their co commentator had a cheeky pop at Derby fans complaining and how hard life must be in 4th (at the time). We must, and I say we as a bundled in Derby County fan must look a bit bonkers from the outside world.

You're conflating a number of different issues there.

If anything the people who 'view the world of Derby County under dark clouds', IMO, are those who constantly bring up the restrictions, talk of shopping in the bargain basement, harp on reminding people we were in administration 2 years ago, say things like "we're a League One club with League One standard players" (or even making out people would laugh at how average our squad is) and use other teams' failures as reason we shouldn't expect success ourselves, even though every club is approaching the season from a different perspective and with their own challenges to face. It's those who treat ambition as arrogance and entitlement.

The work we put in behind the scenes immediately following coming out of admin, and the squad we assembled in that short time (plus our 'leftovers'  Bird & Cashin who are very clearly Championship quality players) have put us in a better stead to go at a quick return to the Championship than many other teams, regardless of what they themselves do. The fact that we managed to secure a manager with Warne's record speaks volumes, but he does need to live up to the hype he was imbued with upon his appointment. Currently the results are doing that, but it's not a particularly convincing watch.

Peeple 'demanding promotion' (who exactly is demanding promotion?) would be doing so because they can see that we are, or we should be, capable of it.  People react to bad results because they fear we might mess the chance of promotion up - and a chance as good as this season is unlikely to present itself again anytime soon. It's a s*** league, and we don't have to be much above average to get out of it.

As for the team and the signings being crap, I don't believe anyone actually thinks or has said that individually any of Warne's signings are 'crap' players (if anything, the players who've had the most individual criticism have been Hourihane, Bird & Collins), but even so you don't have to be a crap player to be a poor signing, just as you don't need to be an outstanding player to be an excellent signing.

It's all about the blend of the team, but our over-reliance on one or two players pulling something out of the bag for us has been evident all season, and until the signing of Adams we haven't really come close to getting that balance right, despite the results.

Quite frankly anyone who thinks we have a crap squad is talking out of their arse, even some of our, ahem, 'less glorified' players have certain qualities which are fit for the league above even if their general play and/or age prohibits them from playing there regularely.  We have a great amount of experience running through the squad which may be the reason we're not choking (and hopefully don't go on to chopke) in the same manner that others are.

It's all sunny from my perspective - aside from not rating the manager! (in terms of long term suitability)

Edited February 7 by May Contain Nuts

[Day]

7 minutes ago, May Contain Nuts said:

You're conflating a number of different issues there.

If anything the people who 'view the world of Derby County under dark clouds', IMO, are those who constantly bring up the restrictions, talk of shopping in the bargain basement, harp on reminding people we were in administration 2 years ago, say things like "we're a League One club with League One standard players" (or even making out people would laugh at how average our squad is) and use other teams' failures as reason we shouldn't expect success ourselves, even though every club is approaching the season from a different perspective and with their own challenges to face. It's those who treat ambition as arrogance and entitlement.

The work we put in behind the scenes immediately following coming out of admin, and the squad we assembled in that short time (plus our 'leftovers' Knight, Bird & Cashin who are very clearly Championship quality players) have put us in a better stead to go at a quick return to the Championship than many other teams, regardless of what they themselves do. The fact that we managed to secure a manager with Warne's record speaks volumes, but he does need to live up to the hype he was imbued with upon his appointment. Currently the results are doing that, but it's not a particularly convincing watch.

Peeple 'demanding promotion' (who exactly is demanding promotion?) would be doing so because they can see that we are, or we should be, capable of it.  People react to bad results because they fear we might mess the chance of promotion up - and a chance as good as this season is unlikely to present itself again anytime soon. It's a s*** league, and we don't have to be much above average to get out of it.

As for the team and the signings being crap, I don't believe anyone actually thinks or has said that individually any of Warne's signings are 'crap' players (if anything, the players who've had the most individual criticism have been Hourihane, Bird & Collins), but even so you don't have to be a crap player to be a poor signing ,just as you don't need to be an outstanding player to be an excellent signing.

It's all about the blend of the team, but our over-reliance on one or two players pulling something out of the bag for us has been evident all season, and until the signing of Adams we haven't really come close to getting that right, despite the results.

Quite frankly anyone who thinks we have a crap squad is talking out of their arse, even some of our, ahem, 'less glorified' players have certain qualities which are fit for the league above even if their general play and/or age prohibits them from playing there regularely.  We have a great amount of experience running through the squad which may be the reason we're not choking (and hopefully don't go on to chopke) in the same manner that others are.

You must have seen the comments I'm referring to, barely spend much time on here myself yet I've seen the signings are crap, the league is crap, we should be walking it. I'm not just pulling random crap out my arse here and it's not merged with comments from Twitter/X, don't even read replies to anything or view hashtags.

This forum, the comments are there, even the Forest forum has referenced said comments.

The Charlton TV co commentator, he was referencing fan podcasts, not sure which one(s) 

The reaction to even drawing a game is way way over the top, we can literally not drop any points whatsoever without Warne having his balls under threat from the pitchforks.

[On the Ram Page]

44 minutes ago, David said:

Don't get me wrong, it won't be a doddle, we will be games where we have to dig in, find a way to put more points on the board than the others.

It's just....we're up there and in the mix, not that you would believe it if you read other topics on this forum. I refuse to blame the lack of a positive atmosphere on Warne and style of football.

I have an alternative theory in that, it's just not that exciting getting back to the division which many fans of my own age and younger will have seen the club for the majority of their lives. 

Same manager, same football, same league position, 16 games away from potentially Premier League football, this forum would be a joy to be on. 

You have the power to ban some of the doom-mongers before they rear their ugly heads again! Only joking……

[Foreveram]

4 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

You have the power to ban some of the doom-mongers before they rear their ugly heads again! Only joking……

[Day]

Banning would be more extreme than the comments.

I just wish it didn't feel like I was logging on to a Derby County forum where the club were in 10th place and 6 points outside the top 6.

That's pretty much what it feels like.

[On the Ram Page]

27 minutes ago, May Contain Nuts said:

You're conflating a number of different issues there.

If anything the people who 'view the world of Derby County under dark clouds', IMO, are those who constantly bring up the restrictions, talk of shopping in the bargain basement, harp on reminding people we were in administration 2 years ago, say things like "we're a League One club with League One standard players" (or even making out people would laugh at how average our squad is) and use other teams' failures as reason we shouldn't expect success ourselves, even though every club is approaching the season from a different perspective and with their own challenges to face. It's those who treat ambition as arrogance and entitlement.

The work we put in behind the scenes immediately following coming out of admin, and the squad we assembled in that short time (plus our 'leftovers'  Bird & Cashin who are very clearly Championship quality players) have put us in a better stead to go at a quick return to the Championship than many other teams, regardless of what they themselves do. The fact that we managed to secure a manager with Warne's record speaks volumes, but he does need to live up to the hype he was imbued with upon his appointment. Currently the results are doing that, but it's not a particularly convincing watch.

Peeple 'demanding promotion' (who exactly is demanding promotion?) would be doing so because they can see that we are, or we should be, capable of it.  People react to bad results because they fear we might mess the chance of promotion up - and a chance as good as this season is unlikely to present itself again anytime soon. It's a s*** league, and we don't have to be much above average to get out of it.

As for the team and the signings being crap, I don't believe anyone actually thinks or has said that individually any of Warne's signings are 'crap' players (if anything, the players who've had the most individual criticism have been Hourihane, Bird & Collins), but even so you don't have to be a crap player to be a poor signing, just as you don't need to be an outstanding player to be an excellent signing.

It's all about the blend of the team, but our over-reliance on one or two players pulling something out of the bag for us has been evident all season, and until the signing of Adams we haven't really come close to getting that balance right, despite the results.

Quite frankly anyone who thinks we have a crap squad is talking out of their arse, even some of our, ahem, 'less glorified' players have certain qualities which are fit for the league above even if their general play and/or age prohibits them from playing there regularely.  We have a great amount of experience running through the squad which may be the reason we're not choking (and hopefully don't go on to chopke) in the same manner that others are.

It's all sunny from my perspective - aside from not rating the manager! (in terms of long term suitability)

Please send me the address of Cloud Cuckoo Land , as this is obviously where you live. I will try to avoid visiting.

[May Contain Nuts]

33 minutes ago, David said:

You must have seen the comments I'm referring to, barely spend much time on here myself yet I've seen the signings are crap, the league is crap, we should be walking it. I'm not just pulling random crap out my arse here and it's not merged with comments from Twitter/X, don't even read replies to anything or view hashtags.

This forum, the comments are there, even the Forest forum has referenced said comments.

The Charlton TV co commentator, he was referencing fan podcasts, not sure which one(s) 

The reaction to even drawing a game is way way over the top, we can literally not drop any points whatsoever without Warne having his balls under threat from the pitchforks.

I didn't say comments don't exist or that you're 'pulling random crap' from Twitter.

The point is you're making it sound like  "the signings are crap", "the team is crap" & "we should be walking this league" are all coming from the same source, and that they're mutually exclusive.

As I said above, the league IS poor this season, we don't need to be much above average to get out of it, and this is reflected in our league position being so high despite faltering performances where we have that little bit of extra quality over others to see us through. That's not me saying we should be walking it, that the squad is rubbish or that Warne is a disaster in the transfer market, it's just a fair reflection on what we've seen this season.

People who solely attend home games have had a bit of a raw deal this season, and seen us at out least inspiring (as the atmosphere will attest to)  whereas those who've been to most of our away games have probably had a great time, and will be more willing to overlook those home performances.

And yeah I know you're not on here much, which is a shame, not only because you've always put out strong & sensible posts but because by only reading half the posts you're only getting half the story.

There was a thread title out there the other day something like "does Warne deserve the VITRIOL aimed at him", which didn't really reflect the content of what was being posted by 95% of people, but if you've not actually read the forum in the lead-up to it you have no way of knowing whether the mood of the forum was vitriolic or otherwise (it wasn't).

Edited February 7 by May Contain Nuts

[May Contain Nuts]

9 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

Please send me the address of Cloud Cuckoo Land , as this is obviously where you live. I will try to avoid visiting.

Respectful of others' opinons as ever.

I sense you're closer to the clouds than I am, tbh

 

[MadAmster]

1 hour ago, David said:

Don't get me wrong, it won't be a doddle, we will be games where we have to dig in, find a way to put more points on the board than the others.

It's just....we're up there and in the mix, not that you would believe it if you read other topics on this forum. I refuse to blame the lack of a positive atmosphere on Warne and style of football.

I have an alternative theory in that, it's just not that exciting getting back to the division which many fans of my own age and younger will have seen the club for the majority of their lives. 

Same manager, same football, same league position, 16 games away from potentially Premier League football, this forum would be a joy to be on. 

Lots of life left in this roller coaster, indeed.

[MadAmster]

59 minutes ago, Turk Thrust said:

Er, well yes we are

Indeed, Pompey when we play them. Win that and our game in hand and we have our fate in our own hands.

[Day]

5 minutes ago, May Contain Nuts said:

I didn't say comments don't exist or that you're 'pulling random crap' from Twitter.

The point is you're making it sound like  "the signings are crap", "the team is crap" & "we should be walking this league" are all coming from the same source, and that they're mutually exclusive.

And yeah I know you're not on here much, which is a shame, not only because you've always put out strong & sensible posts but because by only reading half the posts you're only getting half the story.

There was a thread title out there the other day something like "does Warne deserve the VITRIOL aimed at him", which didn't really reflect the content of what was being posted by 95% of people, but if you've not actually read the forum in the lead-up to it you have no way of knowing whether the mood of the forum was vitriolic or otherwise (it wasn't).

Noted. 

However without wanting to call out individual members, I would say some do give off that mutually exclusive tone.

Granted there are others with singular issues, I mean on the the signings we have a current topic on if Clowes has lost faith in the recruitment process!

Not wanting to throw Sage under the bus here, as I say, not wanting to call out individual members I don't have him down as we should be walking the league type, even if I think it's a little extreme of a question to put out there.

Barely spent any money whatsoever and sat 2nd, some signings maybe haven't shown their worth as yet, show me any club that has a 100% track record. Fergie may have signed Ronaldo, also signed Bebe. I would think Clowes maybe sat in his office rather pleased with how it's all going and justified in not bowing to calls to give Warne the boot.

It just drains you a bit, there has been times like under McClaren where the forum added to the overall feeling, was a fun place to come on and spend time. Draw our next game, you can guarantee there will be calls for Warne to be sacked like there was the other week when others were having to defend their opinion of now isn't the right time. 

[Sweetness34]

I think the top 2 will be Bolton and us, with Peterbourough just missing out and pompey 6 or 7 points adrift.

I've always thought there was not much difference between winning the league and coming second but I've changed my mind this year and would like to see us be champions.

Optimistic? maybe but I feel like we can do it!

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

I think we'll finish third for what it's worth.

[Carl Sagan]

30 minutes ago, Sweetness34 said:

I think the top 2 will be Bolton and us, with Peterbourough just missing out and pompey 6 or 7 points adrift.

I've always thought there was not much difference between winning the league and coming second but I've changed my mind this year and would like to see us be champions.

Optimistic? maybe but I feel like we can do it!

Interesting point - wouldn't that be lovely? The bookies are all over the show (as Graham Richards might have said) about this, which suggests just how tight at the top it is. According to Oddschecker:

• To win the league: Portsmouth and Bolton are joint favourites (11/4) then Derby at 3/1. [Peterborough 6/1 then Barnsley 28/1]
• To get promoted: Derby are favourites at 8/15, with Portsmouth and Bolton joint second at 8/11. [Posh 5/6 then Stevenage 10/3]
• To finish top 2: Portsmouth (10/11) then Derby (evens) then Bolton (11/10). [Posh 2/1, Barnsley and Stevenage 12/1]

So the money is saying it's a four-horse race but, after last night, Peterborough are outsiders with nothing to call between the other three.

 

[Sweetness34]

2 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Interesting point - wouldn't that be lovely? The bookies are all over the show (as Graham Richards might have said) about this, which suggests just how tight at the top it is. According to Oddschecker:

• To win the league: Portsmouth and Bolton are joint favourites (11/4) then Derby at 3/1. [Peterborough 6/1 then Barnsley 28/1]
• To get promoted: Derby are favourites at 8/15, with Portsmouth and Bolton joint second at 8/11. [Posh 5/6 then Stevenage 10/3]
• To finish top 2: Portsmouth (10/11) then Derby (evens) then Bolton (11/10). [Posh 2/1, Barnsley and Stevenage 12/1]

So the money is saying it's a four-horse race but, after last night, Peterborough are outsiders with nothing to call between the other three.

 

This is why I love footy, it's almost impossible to call yet we do it anyway, and even argue about it 😄

Interesting Bolton are joint favourites to win it and only thrid favourite to finish in the top 2, I just can't get my head around that one!

As for Peterbourough being outsiders, this is true after last night's results yet there will be bad results for everyone and who can guess how many times we'll all take it in turns at being the outsider between now and the final top 2 being established?

Can't wait for spring and the nice weahter and clarity of who will finish in the top 6 it brings

[YorkshireRam]

1 hour ago, VulcanRam said:

First point - it has to be a large contributing factor in my mind, only because of my own experience. I'm in the South Stand, have always enjoyed the banter and enthusiasm. This season it's so quiet because games are just boring. Loads of people are just chatting among themselves. People are leaving 10 mins before the end of each half to either go downstairs or go home. At the Cheltenham game there were a few around us sitting down for periods, even though it meant they couldn't see the pitch. And that's down to the style of football - it might be effective, it's great that it's got us into the top 2, but it's not nice to watch for large periods. 

Second point, I totally agree, is also a large contributing factor. It's great to get promoted, but you're only going back to where you should be anyway. Just as an aside to your last paragraph - same manager and same football wouldn't, I imagine, lead to the same league position in the Championship at this stage of the season. Nonetheless, UTR!

 

 

 

Except this isn't a new thing... The home atmosphere has been dogsh!t for a while now, and I chalk it up to toxic expectation. I remember it really starting in 14/15, the first season people started assuming we'd finish top 2. It seemingly changed from unconditional support, to entirely conditional. The team has to do something to warrant cheering, rather than generating atmosphere to gee the players on.

I find it all very entitled. It's embarrassing when we come across as the fanbase that thinks they're better than they are. We should have a 'we're in league 1 so better roll our sleeves up and muck in'' whereas instead everyone is expecting champagne football and constant wins, and then literally boo'ing if we dare to have a blip... I think that reflects more poorly on our fanbase, than it does in any way on Warne or his football. 

[CapeTownRams]

2 hours ago, VulcanRam said:

First point - it has to be a large contributing factor in my mind, only because of my own experience. I'm in the South Stand, have always enjoyed the banter and enthusiasm. This season it's so quiet because games are just boring. Loads of people are just chatting among themselves. People are leaving 10 mins before the end of each half to either go downstairs or go home. At the Cheltenham game there were a few around us sitting down for periods, even though it meant they couldn't see the pitch. And that's down to the style of football - it might be effective, it's great that it's got us into the top 2, but it's not nice to watch for large periods. 

Second point, I totally agree, is also a large contributing factor. It's great to get promoted, but you're only going back to where you should be anyway. Just as an aside to your last paragraph - same manager and same football wouldn't, I imagine, lead to the same league position in the Championship at this stage of the season. Nonetheless, UTR!

 

 

 

Correction- where we should be is the Prem ! 😎 🐏 

[ap04]

15 hours ago, MaltRam said:

1 point from 9 for Posh? 

If we went on that run it'd be Warne Out, board out, tits out on here.

Posh last 3 xG 6.25-3.15 total shots ratio 62%

Derby last 3 xG 1.85-2.04 total shots ratio 51%

[CapeTownRams]

I just don’t get it- a forum is for chat- a place to exchange views- u explore views and , yes, oftentimes disagree with those same views.

But we are all fans of the same great Club and we all want the same thing for it. To my mind everyone who is a Rams fan is a soul mate of mine- I don’t care what they say or whether I agree or disagree with them.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and shouldn’t be shut down by others just because they are perhaps expounding a view contrary to what the majority feels. We can win and still play badly. We all want to see better football and success but I am sick and tired of how some folks want to say that fans offering a negative view on something are somehow ‘not proper fans’ (whatever that is supposed to mean).

Disagreement and debate is good but people need to show and speak with respect. There’s a few too many on here I have found that want to disagree through showing aggression or abuse. Nobody should be cancelled for their views … we are all Rams fans.

COYR 🐏

[CapeTownRams]

Look how often the top 7 play each , Hopefully this is right...

Pompey (5 matches out of 15 = 33%) -
Oxford (h)
Peterborough (a)
Barnsley (h)
Rams (h)
Bolton (a)


Derby (4 matches out of 16 = 25%)-
Stevenage (h)
Barnsley (a)
Bolton (h)
Pompey (a)

Bolton (6 matches out of 18 = 33%) - 
Barnsley (a)
Oxford (h)
Rams (a)
Stevenage (a)
Pompey (h)
Peterborough (a)

Peterborough (4 matches out of 17 = 23.4%)-
Stevenage (h)
Portsmouth (h)
Oxford (a)
Bolton (h)

Barnsley (3 matches out of 17 = 18%) -
Rams (h)
Bolton (h)
Pompey (a)


Stevenage (3 matches out of 18 = 17%)
Derby (a)
Peterborough (a)
Bolton (h)

Oxford (2 matches out of 16 = 12.5%)
Pompey (a)
Bolton (a)

 

Plenty to take from those stats….

Posh playing their few games mostly at home- but their pitch is crap like ours at the moment so that might not help them…

Bolton lots of games as expected…

Bottom line is that it’s all to play for and there will be many twists and turns….and we MUST beat Bolton at home and certainly not lose away at Pompey…
 

 

 

Looking at the above again I am not sure we want any of our big games to be at home- certainly not the way we are playing right now.

What u reckon ???