It Could be us!

The mood has now changed a little after a run of victories has seen us clinch a place in the end of season lottery that is the Play-offs. 

Following up from the 4-1 thumping of Bolton we have recorded two victories on the road against struggling teams. Not that I am going to sneer at that!

We have now shown a bit of fight and saw off a determined effort from Charlton and an equally determined Bristol City who had beaten Sheffield Wednesday in such convincing fashion. 

We are now left with three matches and two of those against possible play-off opponents Brighton and Wednesday. 

What has been evident in the last few games is the importance of an on form Craig Bryson. His influence has been very valuable. This with an in form George Thorne will, in my opinion be vital to us as we enter the post season knock out tournament. 

The third midfielder will obviously be between Butterfield, Johnson (If fit) and the returning Will Hughes. Giving Hughes a few minutes here and there in the run in should determine if he will be ready to make an impact to help us reach the promised land. 

We need all players on form and giving it 100%. Nothing less! 

There has been a distinct upturn in form during the last few games, but where does the credit go? Is Darren Wassall finally finding his feet in soccer management or has Harry Redknapp been a positive addition to the back room staff. 

On to Saturday! Come on you Rams! 

Keep on Running

Well what a nice change to be able to fill a post with positive comments. 

Last nights match v Hull City saw arguably our best performance of the season. The whole team played their part and we were treated to four goals. 

Hull are acknowledged as one of the better teams in the division yet somehow we have had our two best games whilst playing them. 

It is so good to see Bradley Johnson at long last having a good game and chipping in with a couple of goals too. It's fair to say that he has been off firm for a while. Get him playing like he did for Norwich last season and we could be in for a treat. 

Craig Bryson for me was the man of the match. Never stopped running all night and demonstrated why he is still one of the most important players at the club. 

Chris Martin scored his 15th goal of the season and that is very impressive after his run of games without a goal. 

What we need now is to see more of this. Often teams who enter the play offs in form find the momentum to get them through them. 

On Saturday we host bottom of the table Bolton. We need to use this game to keep the form going and help us gather pace for the final few games. Nothing short of a comfortable victory will be accepted by the fans!

Meanwhile season tickets continue to be selling well. Over the 19,000 mark already. A good end to the season could see the sold out signs up at the ticket office. 29,000 on a Tuesday night versus Hull City is once again testament to the fantastic support the public is giving the club. 

Loyalty from the Fans

This morning it was announced that so far 19,000 fans have renewed their season tickets! That's just 5,000 short on this seasons figure of 24,000 and we have the summer break ahead of us. 

Of course some fans won't renew for work or personal reasons. Some will be reluctant to part with their cash after a season of poor football. Then again there is always a batch of new applicants too. 

Derby isn't a massive city and our support is fantastic. We attract higher crowds than Forest and Notts Vounty combined. Indeed we had higher attendances than Leicester before they gained promotion to the Premier League. 

The Derby County faithful are still turning out in their thousands despite a season that has seen some dreadful football. 

Yes will are still in the top six, however one must wonder how we are there! Another pitiful performance at Cardiff on Saturday sees us ever closer to dropping out of the play off zone. That could happen tomorrow night as we host a very good Hull City side. 

Unless we see some sort of miraculous turn of firm then I'm afraid we could see ourselves languishing down in around tenth place at the end. 

It is difficult to pinpoint just exactly where the points will be coming from in our final few games. 

For me it is time for a final gamble. Let Darren Wassall return to continue the excellent job he was doing at the academy and let Harry Redknapp take charge for the run in. 

If we don't go down this avenue it really does beg the question 'what exactly is Harry doing?'

Leicester City have this season shown what clubs of our size can achieve, however we are now no closer to promotion than two years ago. 

In fact I will go as far to say that firm wise we have gone backwards three years. Add the large wage bill and we are looking like a club during the Paul Jewell tenure!

It really is time for Mr Morris to make some serious decisions! He bought the club and it is his responsibility to sort it out!