Where do you rate our team/squad

[davenportram]

the poll says most of us think our squad is mid table quality. how many of us would have been happy with that at thd srart if thd season? i would of

[Jayram]

the poll says most of us think our squad is mid table quality. how many of us would have been happy with that at thd srart if thd season? i would of

You've got to hand it to the board. They have done an incredibly good job of lowering expectations over the last couple of seasons, to the point where we accept the current status quo and actually think we are making progress by plodding around in the lower half of the table whilst getting regularly hammered by our rivals.

We are only hanging in there in lower midtable because of how poor this current seasons Championship is. If this league had a bit more quality as in previous seasons we would be up to our necks in it again at the wrong end of the table.

[RAMKING]

watford are skint, nearly went out of business a few months ago.

small crowds

inexperienced manager

look where they are.

[Alex W]

And were then saved, and didn't have to sell any players, so no real impact.

Small crowds make no odds at all.

Inexperienced manager, but one who knows the club inside out and much of the playing staff.

They're a decent side, and they've got a good set up going for them. We were doing far better than them beforehand though, we can do again.

[Duracell]

watford are skint, nearly went out of business a few months ago.

small crowds

inexperienced manager

look where they are.

Have you heard the atmosphere at Vicarage Road? I was watching this game there on the TV and legend has it that one of their fans actually sang a song. That's already infinitely better than Pride Park's atmosphere, which is simply dire.

What you are ignoring is that although Watford are skint, they're not having to cut. Cutting back whilst improving has proved almost impossible, whatever the club, whatever their financial outlay.

I'm not too sure that Clough's doing a very good job at the minute, but you can't compare us to clubs like Watford. Comepletely irrelevant.

[Zico]

I honestly don't think it's as bad as people think confidence is a massive thing and the Rams are lacking in it big time at the moment. If i were to alter things it would be get another decent keeper in Bywaters a great shot stopper but his distribution is woeful and i think he's in the comfort zone as if he has a bad game he'll still play the following week whereas when we had Fielding he commanded his box and it also gave Bywater something to think about.The defence wants a decent centre half and left back Barker since the ink dried on his contract has forgotten how to defend even the basics at the moment Roberts just isn't good enough in my opinion. I think the problem up front is just the lone striker system it really doesn't suit us someone bustling who puts themselves about is what's needed as for me Porter is lacking in pace and i can't honestly say he terrorises defenders.

[ESR]

Like I've said in another post, there needs to be some players shifted out and some players brought in, whether they cost money or not I just don't think we should concentrate on getting loans in unless it's to fill gaps where we can't get any players in for.

Some players who have been here a while need to go I think, Bywater, Leacock and Pearson spring to mind, I don't think they are good enough any more, Frank Fielding will be a great replacement for Bywater who I think is a liability now, and I think we should have atleast 2 players for every position instezd of shifting players around the team, which means Brayford stays at right back and and Green never has to play in defence

[SillyBilly]

I think lower midtable again. Going nowhere.

[Duracell]

I would have thought most people base quality on results.

That's irrelevant to the poll. The thread is about where we rate our squad on paper.

[SillyBilly]

That's irrelevant to the poll. The thread is about where we rate our squad on paper.

On paper I'd say we're about 8-10th considering we have Commons, Bueno, Barker, Brayford and Bailey. These are good players at this level, irrespective of form and not many Championship clubs could afford to buy them off us. I accept lack of depth in quality but Clough always said he wanted a tight-knit small squad, 22 players I think he said was ideal. I found this hard to believe considering the injury prone squad we have. It's hard to predict where this Derby squad went though.

[Drifter]

That's irrelevant to the poll. The thread is about where we rate our squad on paper.

The paper that I read this morning says we are 14th, we got hammered by Watford, Forest and Crawley and scraped past the team that currently occupies dead last place.

I really should change sunday papers.

[Gary Teale]

Watford have had to cut back though, they always sell there best players and don't spend the money, they sell to survive. They have sold tommy smith who was there best player, de merit left as they couldn't give him a new contract and can't afford ellington so they have to keep loaning him out. There side is full of kids and free transfers. They haven't spent 1 million on a centre half who has lost the ability to defend.

[Duracell]

Watford have had to cut back though, they always sell there best players and don't spend the money, they sell to survive. They have sold tommy smith who was there best player, de merit left as they couldn't give him a new contract and can't afford ellington so they have to keep loaning him out. There side is full of kids and free transfers. They haven't spent 1 million on a centre half who has lost the ability to defend.

All very good points there actually.

[EdinburghRam]

I would say there's quite a big gap between Mid table and promotion challenging and we're in that. I reckon we should be top ten, probably on the outer edges

[froggg]

mid table if continueing to lack investment:frown:

[Stimacked]

Back in October alot more people would be saying Promotion candidates.

Clough himself has recently said that the squad is not as strong as he thought it was. He also talked about going back to the drawing board and starting all over again, following the Forest disaster. We have played poorly since, despite the respecatable result against an in form Millwall,

we were a tad fortunate to get a point. The same could be said about the Preston win, as Doyle cleared off the line at 2-1 in the dying seconds.

On paper we still have injured players playing and sitting on the bench because Clough has been denied neccesary funds to strengthen the wailing squad. A squad which is playing with loads of confidence (Watford) looked miles better than one which is struggling for form and in meltdown confidence wise (Us!:frown:) On paper we are on a similar level to Watford

thanks to Clough`s enforced firesale of the higher earners and sub standard or temporary replacements.

Currently, we look like we are a team who are going down and not upwards. prevously we had a few key additions and confidence and we looked capable of a promotion push.

Goalkeeper

Bywater has never got anywhere near his best this season and now we have seen how good Fielding is, he looks very average and is even a liabilty, despite probably being one of the higher earners.

Deeney is obviously not rated by anyone and Atkins and Severn are still too young to be tested at this level

In defence, Brayford stands out. Barker is having a terrible season so far compared to last year. He is probably nowhere near full fitness.

Moxey has had some good performances, but has struggled recently

Roberts has been everybody`s scapegoat and seems like the weakest link that teams try and exploit of late. He never really seems to have had a chance to settle in the side and maybe his legs have gone.

Leacock was highly regarded by many but he has struggled of late.

Clough seems to have had enough, although he did better in the second half against Watford. We have seen nothing of Buxton and Anderson seems like he will never kick a ball anymore.

midfield

In midfield, many players are underperforming well at the moment.

Green is having a poor season so far, no wonder Clough has opted to drop him into defence. He has struggled to adapt to the 4231 set up.

We have an aging Savage who is looking over the atlantic and dreaming of other things

Bailey is young and after his great start, he is now struggling and looks like a division four squad player, that some feared he might be.

forwards

of the attacking midfield three, Commons has been our standout player

but looks like he has now started looking for greener pastures.

Bueno and Cwyka are both struggling to hit anything like their form in October and as the side has dropped into survival mode, they look like they have nowhere to hide. The fact that Doyle has made 4 starts just goes to show how short of options we are, he is not ready yet to make an impact at this level.

with no out and out striker other than perenial crocks, Porter (I swear he was not passed as fully fit yet)

and at a stretch Davies on the bench, we will be certain to under achieve rather than other achieve.

Its not looking great for the remainder of the season, but a couple of new arrivals and a few confidence boosting points and things could look a little better next month.