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Reply | The next 9 games will define our season.
at 18:02 10 Jan 2015
After today (Ipswich) we've had four wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. That's 13 points from 6 games. That leaves 5 points from 3 games equivalent to 1 win and 2 draws. Two wins and we've exceeded Owderrammy's target.... |
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Reply | RamZone Remembers Steve Tickle
at 17:51 10 Jan 2015
I was a columnist before working in Swaziland and I always enjoyed being part of the team which included Steve writing 'Tickle Tackle'. When I read this news I was shocked and saddened. I'm glad that there's been this tribute to him. Thank you. |
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Reply | Clough?
at 21:17 29 Sep 2013
Agree with this totally. Which is why I'm worried. Will they jettison the re-building for a quick success and then sell, but leaving a shell of a club behind? One of the good things that Clough managed was to eventually consolidate us as a mid-table team but with lots of potential which is what I bought into as a dream. It sometimes feels like that we, at Derby have had more than our fair share of crap managers who one way or another have left us worse off - even the revered Bald Eagle eventually lost the plot and we ended up with journeymen aplenty. Clough offered a way out by building up the academy again and we are now in a far healthier state than the two previous incumbents left us in. Is this going to be built on or trashed - that is the big issue for me. |
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Reply | Clough?
at 21:28 28 Sep 2013
I'm worried now. I know Clough annoyed a lot of people but he re-built this club from bottom up. He may have been overly cautious, but some of us could see steady improvement season on season in different ways, and there was always a glimmer of hope.
I wouldn't want a long ball merchant like Pulis, and I would want the club to keep progressing with the academy instead of just focusing on the first team which so many people want. The reason I say that is because we are a small city club and the only way forward is through young players coming through like Southampton who used sales like Bale and Chamberlain to build their first team.
I have to say I'm disappointed because right now, I just can't think of a manager who I rate to take over. Names like Di Matteo, Pulis are floating about, but can they build a club - I doubt it? Look at their legacies - nowt. |
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Reply | Wee Billy still spouting
at 21:17 5 Sep 2013
All I can say is that I'm so relieved that he's not with us any more. He upset so many people, focused on short-termism at the expense of building a club, the horrendous consequences of which we are only just leaving behind.
Nigel may be as boring as watching paint dry, but at least he is building a club - not just the first team. I did a quick trawl the other night (sad little f**k that I am) of where players were from in the Under 17s Under 21s and guess which club had the highest number in the squads - yes, us. And I didn't see any Florid (as in red - geddit?) players either.... |
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Reply | QPR article
at 10:58 2 Jun 2013
One of the most sensible contributions I've read all season. There's a lot of people in the trade looking at us with envy: Academy development, pretty sound financial base, hard-working and committed squad who tend to play more on grass than air. Yes, I'd love more excitement but I'd rather we build on rock than sand. Been there with Davies and Jewell and I still remember the sense of utter desolation of watching my team fall to pieces - not even playing any kind of football - just sheer dross. Under Clough I'm enjoying watching my team playing with spirit and honest effort. And of course, there's always some hope that it will keep on improving. |
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Reply | Can we have some reasoned debate please?
at 15:55 3 Mar 2013
I agree with a lot of what Davram says. Like him, I cheered in the days of Clough and Taylor, those were thrilling afternoons and nights. I also cheered when we went up and I stood aghast at the aftermath. That's why I think we are steadily improving rather than treading water. The club then had no youth system (neither Davies nor Jewell believed in young players), the finances were dire, the squad was bloated beyond belief and full of players who couldn't give a toss whether they lost or not. The squad we have now work their socks off, and compared to last year, we have far more possession and we play better football and the youngsters are still maturing. Yes, it's akin to watching paint dry and I think for Clough this is the real test. He's rebuilt the squad, he's created a terrific team spirit and in the last international break, something like 9 or 10 went off to their respective countries. Now can he improve on this? To get us into the play-off spots, he needs to. And he may need to spend some real money to make that happen - so once again I agree with davram - over to you Mr Rush. |
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Thread | Can we have some reasoned debate please?
at 17:00 2 Mar 2013
I come to Ramzone to read contributions that have some thought and some understanding of the difficulty of building a club. When I want to read comments by wrist slashers. WUMs and serial moaners, I go on other sites because sometimes they make me laugh with their crass stupdity.
But recently all I'm reading here on this site are similar comments - Clough is useless, the Board are skinflints, certain players couldn't kick their way out of a paperbag. It's becoming a deluge of misery and negativity.
My view is that things are steadily improving - we have a young and enthusiastic team, our youth team has just beaten the millionaires of Man CIty, we are in no danger of becoming insolvent and doing a Portsmouth and some of the football I've watched this season has been the best for a very long time and certainly much more enjoyable than watching the MoTD feature of Manure (which I now avoid watching). Yes - I would like us to be pushing for top six, but I think that will happen next season not this.
So am I swimming against the tide by being mildly and quietly hopeful that we are on the right course? |
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Reply | Well done lads!
at 22:26 30 Sep 2012
I also thought some of the Forwst people went to ground suspiciously quick like Barcelona's do - looking as if they had been seriously injured only to get up after a few seconds when the ref ignored them.
Not a great match but immensely satisfying. |
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Thread | Optimism?
at 22:34 2 Sep 2012
Having watched the Rams against Wolves and Watford, I must say I am really excited about the future. At last we can see some fruits from Clough's work - the ball retention in both games was fantastic, 500 passes against Wolves and 61% possession against Watford. Compared to last year when we hung on to win grittily but without any panache whatsoever, we are playing with style and trashing other teams for parts of the match or for the whole match. Yes, there's another 40 odd games to go, but last year we all knew that the bubble would burst at some point as we weren't good enough; this year I can't see how we can lose the performance level that we have (barring injuries). Anyone out there who feels like I do? |
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Reply | Goalscorer?
at 10:11 27 Aug 2012
When I found out about Sturridge's remarks, I too reacted with astonishment. It is quite clear the man knows nothing about football. On the other hand, I have watched it many years, both live and on the TV and can claim to have a thorough knowledge of the game. I am therefore eminiently more able to pass judgement than Mr Sturridge. |
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Reply | Review of season !
at 21:13 25 Apr 2012
I am continually surprised at how short people's memories are. Clough inherited a squad of overpaid and demoralised players who were also looking at their 30th birthdays either just before or after. It's been a painful process clearing all the dross out with very few exceptions like Commons who wanted away anyway. Then we had that horrendous injury list when everytime a player sneezed, they ended up in the ITU. Then we had people like Leacock who we couldn't fit into a Kelloggs cornflake packet to give away - we only just managed that a few months ago. And Priskin seems to be the last person through the never-ending revolving door called ' short loans', whihc means that we are finally using our own players instead of someone else's cast-offs to make up the numbers.
And at the beginning of the season we won several games that we had no right to win - Watford was dire apart from a glorious strike by Savies for instance. And it's only in the third end of the season that we have started to play properly as a team. My view is that given all the changes this has been a very successful season in more senses than one, nearly all the players are now performing to much higher levels (that doesn't mean that they are playing better football), there's an obvious team spirit, and we don't collapse every time someone says 'Boo!' at us. We also have people who can come on and do a job from the bench - only last season we were putting people on to make up the numbers. All I can say is that I think we will see another improvement next season now that we have the basics in place. |
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Reply | Shackell?
at 14:20 2 Apr 2012
Paper talk - that's what my granddad used to call it. Victor Railton in London used to conjure up all kinds of rubbish in the Evening Post or whatever it was called in those days. My attitude is that I know Nigel keeps fairly quiet until it's a done deal or the player has made it clear they want to go. Until then I don't give any credence to a comic like the People which is designed to keep all of us braindead. |
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Reply | PLAY-OFFS!!!
at 09:42 18 Mar 2012
I have a different take on this: "not many" comment. What it looks like to me is that Clough feels that the major re-building job is over. The dross has been shipped out, the desperate loanees to cover a gap here and there is now unnecessary, the silly little injuries have been mainly sorted and it's now the serious ones that you can't avoid that we are getting now. The team ethos (which includes everybody in the squad) prevails over everything else, everybody must do their stint, and no-one is allowed to "quit" - if they are, they are shipped out. The Academy is progessing well. Now for a bit more improvement here and there which means maybe two or three players who can improve the squad and share the culture of team and "not quitting". Certainly those fans who look for a glam signing to set the pulses racing are going to be disappointed. Anyone expecting a fabulous surge up the table and us playing football a la Swansea is also going to be disappointed - this is the Championship after all where most teams focus on stopping you play. Another season of slight improvement beckons. Don't believe me? Look at what Clough and his team did at Burton and learn....(or despair). |
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Reply | Bad feeling
at 22:56 13 Mar 2012
Well - there'll be plenty of people with nothing to grumble about, and worse, they can't moan about Jake Buxton. The rest of us can be happy that we won and that it was one of our lads who always gives 100% that scored.
I'll be sleeping with a smile for sure.. |
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Reply | Rams vs. Forest - Independent Article
at 15:59 5 Feb 2012
It's a good analysis and the reason why waiting for Derby to improve is like watching paint dry - agonisingly slow - until you start considering all the things that have improved: the academy, the reserves, the mind-set (which includes the concept that you do not quit), the whole system geared to playing the "Derby County" way and finally the finances. But of course some want jam today, even knowing that tomorrow will bring ashes.
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Reply | SISU Shaft Coventry...
at 08:16 27 Jan 2012
I think we are at the end of the beginning. All the deadwood gone (more than 50), the Academy revived, the reserves doing decent, the first team working as a team and for each other, finances on a stable footing ready for the FFP (or whatever) - AND we didn't go down despite the damage left behind by Davies and Jewell. I shall be very surprised if we start to go backwards now that the hard work has been done - most fans seem to be loking forward to the rest of the season and if we can add a bit of quality here and there, dreams of play-offs (only a couple of points away) will come up. |
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Thread | We beat Arsenal!
at 11:01 15 Dec 2011
Our under 18's beat Arsenal! The potential that Clough and his backroom team are now developing beggars belief. After years of ageing and over-paid dross from top to bottom, it looks like we are now creating a new pipeline of talent that will serve us well in years to come. We are never going to beat the Big Four with spending, but if we can develop our own talent than we can move forwards. Am feeling really chuffed this morning - anyone out who agrees with me? |
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