It was a familiar and circular phase of the pre-season cycle at Derby County, with the players reporting back for training for their first preparation stint under Nigel Clough. Meanwhile, the club launched the 2009-10 home kit, hoping for the usual rush of merchandise orders.

Manager Nigel Clough welcomed his players back on Wednesday and whilst admitting he’d have liked a few more new recruits signed up to join in on Day One, he was able to see several of his key players return to the fray after long-term injuries. Paul Green, Miles Addison, Steve Davies, Giles Barnes, Dean Leacock, and Chris Porter returned; newcomers Lee Croft, Dean Moxey, Jake Buxton and Ben Pringle joined a Rams squad for the first time.

Lee Croft is excited to join the Rams and thinks he’ll enjoy being encouraged to stay wide and serve up appetising balls to Derby forwards – so it’s up to his team-mates to provide him with plenty of the ball for him to prove his effectiveness. Dean Moxey couldn’t wait to get started and quickly realised that his career has been taken up a hefty notch in joining a club that operates on the scale of Derby County.

Dean Leacock, out for 8 months with a hip injury, won’t be rushed back. It might take time for his to regain his full capacity, says Clough - who hasn’t seen him play and so is yet to judge Leacock’s ability and suitability for his team. Leacock has shown quality, contributing well in the promotion season under Billy Davies. Clough will want him to recapture that form if possible.

Leacock, now 25, became another one ‘missing in service’ during the feeble Premier League campaign, with a mediocre showing at the top level. Some have yet to be convinced about his hunger and application and (like Mears and Barnes) is worryingly too fragile. To be an integral part of the first team he needs a long, impressive run in the team to re-establish his credentials. Central defence is still a big worry though we still hope for a ‘major’ signing to arrive.

Emanuel Villa moved back closer to home and joined Mexican club Cruz Azul for a fee variously reported as undisclosed, or £1.5m or £1.7m. After the scuttling Argentinean’s disappointing and largely unproductive English excursion, it is excellent business for the Rams in gaining a substantial sum to re-deploy. Good luck and thanks to Tito - a trier, but not a success.

He scored a Carling Cup hat-trick against Brighton and (like his fellow Argentine Horacio Carbonari) is a member of that select and revered band of Rams players that scored against F*rest - and an even more select band that managed to score for both teams in one game!

Tyrone Mears has gone to mighty Burnley, so has joined a smaller club with higher status. The player and Burnley boss Owen Coyle believe Tye could make an impression there; he needs to! Burnley are going to start the campaign as relegation favourites and Mears is now 26; he’s still not established as a first-team regular, even less so as a top-flight player - which says a fair bit about his ability, fitness, application and consistency. It will be a big test of his staying power.

The income from these outgoing players gives Nigel more room to manoeuvre in the transfer market regarding targets like Blackpool’s Shaun Barker and Crewe’s John Brayford; the boss still wants to add up to four more players whilst moving some others out as well.

He’s turned down two inadequate bids for striker Liam Dickinson from relegated Norwich City, whilst Clough will also hope that reported interest from Glasgow Celtic in forward Kris Commons or that the reports that Middlesbrough may bid for Rob Hulse’s services come to nothing. Young Welsh goalie Lewis Price may move on or go out on a long loan.

Perhaps Clough will renew his bid for Barker by offering Lewin Nyatanga in part exchange; Lewin is talented and experienced for his age but perhaps Lewin and Albrechtsen aren’t beefy or brutal enough for Clough - he doesn’t like ‘soft-touch’ defenders; Derby have plenty of those.

As reported in RamZone’s’ scoop earlier this week, it looks as if Martin Albrechtsen has departed the scene as well, with the player telling the Dutch press that he’s been paid off by Derby. http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.showNews.php?id=25412

If Albrechtsen is prepared to say what he has in the media, it can only be a matter of timing regarding severance by DCFC that there is official confirmation!

Fixture changes have soon followed with TV scheduling and other factors intervening upon the original fixture list recently released. Derby’s trip to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium has been switched to the evening of Friday November 20th because of an international rugby game on the original date; the kick off at home to F*rest on January 30th 2010 has been moved to 1.00pm, as has the home clash with Sheffield United on September 12th.

The Championship will be televised on BBC (for both live games and highlights’ programmes) and Derby’s home game vs. QPR game is live on BBC2 on October 24th with a 5.30 pm kick-off.

As soon as the guilty verdicts were given to the four felons in the Northampton Crown Court Derby County fraud case, ex-director of football Murdo Mackay was re-arrested and hence looks to be facing further charges. Happy days...

The new Rams’ Adidas home strip, on sale from 18th July, was released on Friday evening after the sun broke through above a thronging Derby Market Place in this perverse heat wave-then-flash-flood summer. The shirt is as smart as ever, if not hugely different from last year, as Robbie Savage, Rob Hulse and Stephen Bywater posed among the DCFC catwalk models.

A black swirl crosses the white Bombardier-sponsored chest from the round neck, to join a parallel black stripe in a sort of “liquorice toothpaste” effect, with 3 black stripes across the shoulders. The revised position of contrasting black stripes is the main distinguishing feature from last season’s home shirt.

RZ Editor Dan J wanted a full collar, however and there isn’t one; maybe I (admittedly unkindly) would like the policy-makers and manufacturers’ collars felt for foisting so many expensive replica kits so frequently onto the shelves of club shops! See more on the new strip (and do check out the excellent ‘Ramballs’ blog too), from this link:

http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.showNews.php?id=25442 

If you view the football replica style calendar in approximately 16-month chunks, you can nowadays typically see 6 new kits launched during that period from Derby County and many other clubs. Ohh, I forgot – better also add in a goalkeeper’s kit or two…this season’s is a rather bland all-green affair, which is a lot milder than Stephen ‘The Rat’ Bywater’s nutty personality!

This time last year, there was the first Bombardier black and white home strip, quickly followed by the ‘slime green’ away kit (either with matching slime shorts or with black shorts) and later, the throwback ‘Argentinian’ blue and white shirt was released.

For good measure in the 125th anniversary vein we had the (non-Adidas) amber, chocolate and claret inaugural shirt remake, as worn by Steve Bloomer and colleagues all those years ago. We’ll certainly have two kits before the August kick-off this year too, with staggered launches to provide the club with two revenue bursts from the sales clamour - and it would be a daft person who’d bet against another Anniversary edition or special issue for the Christmas market.

It’s only a few years since there was a tacit policy around football commercialism to keep every kit for two seasons, so giving lasting value for the fans - but that’s been brushed away during the rise of the commercial utilisation of club shops as clothing boutiques which are predominantly loaded, operated or even owned by international designer sports labels.

There’s a great deal of grim business-speak added to kit launches nowadays about synergies with main and secondary sponsors, mobile phone companies and global identification with famous designer sports kit manufacturers. It’s a requirement for wearers to become walking unpaid advertisements for several companies and not just be flouting their traditional club logo.

As appealing and trendy it is for supporters to have the very latest strip - however temporarily - to cement your identification with the club, in reality at £40 a throw and £30 for a nipper’s replica top (add another fiver more for long sleeves) there is far better value and comparable or superior quality to be had elsewhere.

Fans know that, of course - but each new replica kit still induces a magnetic quality which inexorably and routinely elicits the handover of hard-earned cash from supporters when it all comes round again at this time of year!

From a new arrival to the disappearing world, and the Rivals.net Derby website (Ram Arena) and national platform has ceased to be after Sky cut the operation from its portfolio on July 1st.

RamZone originator and former editor Arild Sand grew RZ strongly on the Rivals’ platform from 2000-2007 before moving to the new Club Fanzine platform - with the RZ writing and reporting team intact. The majority of Rivals’ webmasters have adopted the same action plan.

The lack of independent control and input on their own long-established Rivals websites from changes afoot under the Sky regime in 2007 impelled fans on Rivals to up sticks and move their sites to CF - and Arild’s move from Rivals to CF has been fully vindicated.

Also, The Burton Trader has ceased to be, having gone the same way as The Derby Trader did a while ago in the media group’s rationalisation. It’s one less media outlet for Rams-related articles and supporter opinion and so will be missed, making RamZone even more important for the circulation of DCFC news, features, reports, opinions and columns than ever.

RamZone welcomes new readers and posters and we want to encourage those interested to contribute to this website or to apply to join the RamZone team.

The wonderful Stefano Eranio was voted into the right midfield slot in the fans’ ‘All Time’ Greatest’ Rams team as the latest selection in our dream team.

I vividly remember the personable Stefano arriving at Derby to be introduced to the crowd on the day that the Queen opened Pride Park Stadium (July 18th, 1997). The accomplished Italian beamed and waved at a packed, excited stadium, enjoying the spectacular occasion and just saying: “Hello…everything!!” into the PA system.

Soon after, he weaved his splendid midfield patterns, thrilling the Derby fans in combination with other mercurial talents like Wanchope, Sturridge, Stimac and Baiano as Jim Smith’s Premier League team treated us to some of the best football in the club’s history.

Stefano was pure class without doubt but me being the rambling old git from a generation before that, I would have to put Archie Gemmill into that particular role. We saw greater achievements and longevity as a Ram from the tenacious little Scottish dynamo.

Next, it’s the left-winger…and why would I look further than Alan ‘Gladys’ Hinton for my vote?

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RamsWeek 27 in 2008 saw a rash of player movement, a collection of new sponsors and (of course!) the 2008-09-replica kit launch. It seemed like ‘in through the outdoor’ all week, as club activity on all fronts accelerated rapidly. As with this year,

Derby’s squad returned to training at Moor Farm (with a Dutch trip to follow) though I’d reckon it took an hour for the introductions, with nine signings so far and many more to follow!

Sponsors ranged from Derby’s train-makers Bombardier and a local mobile phone company, to environmental techy companies, plus a new caterer for good measure.

Defender Martin Albrechtsen joined Derby on a free transfer having left promoted West Brom; perhaps they’d like him back now? Stockport striker Liam Dickinson joined Derby with me hoping he would be ‘the new Roger Davies’ as a tall, rangy young striker who had done well at lower levels. Dohh!

Swansea’s superstar Ferrie Bodde was back knuckling down to training with the Welsh club as his transfer saga creaked onwards, Darren Moore joined Barnsley and Jason Beardsley went on loan to Notts County. Derby wanted WBA striker Kevin Phillips but alas, he was poised to sign for Brum.

Photo: Action Images

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