There was a real irony for me in the Rams playing their first Championship match of the season against Rotherham, who are by some distance the least glamorous team in this season’s Championship.

Any Rams fan who had forgotten the outcome of the trip to Wembley in May would quickly remember on seeing our first opponents. It might even occur to such a fan that the Rams had been relegated. Rotherham: there’s no ring to it, is there? In contrast, this weekend, QPR - the beneficiaries of the muffed Wembley clearance - make a trip to Tottenham, and by mid-September will play Manchester United.

Since Rotherham, the Rams have had matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton, and this weekend will entertain Fulham. If the Rams defenders ever needed to be reminded of the consequences of a muffed clearance, they are getting it in the opening fixtures of the season.

One current Rams player who looks like benefitting from diverging fortunes is right-back Cyrus Christie. Christie has started well for the Rams, and will be looking to prove himself one of the better right-backs in the Championship by the end of the season. Meanwhile his former Coventry team mates are playing their home games at Nothampton’s Sixfields Stadium in front of a couple of thousand fans, with The Championship looking a loooong way away for them.

One of the biggest cheers of the summer for Rams fans was the news that Craig Bryson had signed a new five-year contract. By the time Bryson has seen this contract to the end, his play and longevity for the club could well have made him a Rams legend; something we haven’t seen too many of for too many years. Certainly, if he plays his cards right, he will have financial security for his family for the rest of his life.

But what of the other young Scotsman who came to Derby in June, 2011 looking for fame and fortune: Chris Maguire? He’s played only intermittently since then with various clubs, but did get a start for Wednesday in the recent draw. His prospects have never looked as bright as Bryson’s, but he may yet build a career in Sheffield.

Another player who may have reflected during the Owls match on what might have been would be Rams keeper Lee Grant. Grant should reach 150 League starts for the Rams this season — an achievement we haven’t seen for quite a while — but he has still at the moment played more games for Wednesday than for Derby.

If Grant dwells on the past, he might well think - as I do - that he should never have lost his Rams place to Lee Camp; in which case he could have been looking towards 400 starts for the Rams by now.

Meanwhile, as Lee Grant was playing for the Rams at Sheffield Wednesday, the man who was signed to be the Rams’ goalkeeper for the next ten years, Frank Fielding was playing for Bristol City against Colchester. Where did it all go wrong, Frank?

Of course, more thoughts of what might have been are going to come back to the holding midfield position. George Thorne was the man for the job, but isn’t any longer, so who gets to play in his place? Steve McClaren seems determined to play Bryson, Hughes and Hendrick in the same midfield, with Hughes in the defensive role. Who can blame him for wanting that? But it doesn’t look as though it will work, at least in the near term.

Mascarell has been used as a sub and looks promising, but will he work out for the whole season? For myself, I can’t help looking back at the line-ups for last season, and remembering that the Rams’ most consistently good runs of results came with John Eustace starting. Sure he’s getting on a bit and isn’t a long term prospect, but its all about getting things right for the next few matches.

Saturday will be a good opportunity to get it right, with a match against Fulham ‘no-points’ F.C. Here’s hoping they are still stuck on nil come 5pm Saturday!

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls