OK hands held high! I was one of those maoning about team selection last week. I felt that Sibley, Whittaker and Knight should have been with the Under-19's in the UEFA Youth League and a stronger team put out in the FA Cup v Manchester United.
Cocu proven right though with his selection as Sibley was actually suspended from the Under-19 game and played very well in the cup game.
Sunday afternoon I wasn't in a confident mood prior to the game with Blackburn. No Holmes, Lawrence or Rooney!
Enter Louie Sibley into the ten role and the rest is history. An excellent game where we destroyed Blackburn who were looking at gatecrashing the top six had they beaten us.
A fantastic 3-0 victory now sees us only five points outside that play-off zone! How crazy is this division?
Feet need to be kept on the ground this weekend though with a visit to Gary Rowett's Millwall. The Lions destroyed our near rivals last Friday night and Rowett has certainly had a decent start at The New Den.
If the game should survive the Coronavirus scores its a game where we will need to be patient and try and not succumb to the well known tactics of Rowett. He's a wily old Fox and I'm sure every single Rams fan will want to put one over on him.
Wednesday 11 March 2020
Monday 2 March 2020
Martin & Forsyth
Derby came away from Hillsborough with an impressive 1-3 victory on Saturday and again we saw another very good performance from Tom Lawrence. I have been amongst those who have been critical of him in the past, but credit where it is due and he has certainly been one of our better players in recent matches.
Max Bird again put in a very competent display playing alongside Wayne Rooney.
Whilst we aren't yet out of the chase for a top six place, I prefer to think we are lying some very good foundations for next season.
The summer will give Philip Cocu a chance to make more of his own additions to the squad though we may be limited on what we can actually spend due to P & S constraints!
Much of the talk recently has been about certain players who will be out of contract over the summer. Chris Martin is one of those! He has been the biggest bargain of a signing for what must be fifteen years or more.
Nigel Clough brought Martin to Pride Park on a free transfer from Norwich City after a thirteen game loan spell in 2012/13. He scored 25, 21 and 14 goals in his forst three seasons before being loaned out to Fulham where he hit double figures.
Unproductive loan spells at reading and Hull saw him back with us for this season and he has not only scored goals but last Saturday came up with three assists. there was many fans writing him off earlier this season and to be quite honest some comments went beyond disrespectful!
I am all for giving him at least a one year extension, but so far there has been no news of any new contract being offered.
Craig Forsyth was another Nigel Clough signing and joined us from Watford as a left sided midfielder. He was converted to Left Back and he has come back from serious injury three times now! That is the mark of a good professional.
Forsyth for me is still our best player in that position though Max Lowe is now starting to challenge that status. Both of them appear to be ahead of Scott Malone in the pecking order.
Like Chris Martin, I believe Forsyth deserves a new contract!
There are fans who will say that we should be looking to bolster the squad, but we can't guarantee that we can actually bring in players who are better than what we have already got!
To better our squad in these areas will cost big money and although Mel Morris may be wealthy, the rules will prevent him from splashing out!
We have many bright young prospects now moving on to the first team squad and the areas that need addressing appear to be goalkeeper, centre half, and a good wide man! Anything else will be a bonus! There is so much potential within the current roster of players that we may have the core of a good team already!
Max Bird again put in a very competent display playing alongside Wayne Rooney.
Whilst we aren't yet out of the chase for a top six place, I prefer to think we are lying some very good foundations for next season.
The summer will give Philip Cocu a chance to make more of his own additions to the squad though we may be limited on what we can actually spend due to P & S constraints!
Much of the talk recently has been about certain players who will be out of contract over the summer. Chris Martin is one of those! He has been the biggest bargain of a signing for what must be fifteen years or more.
Nigel Clough brought Martin to Pride Park on a free transfer from Norwich City after a thirteen game loan spell in 2012/13. He scored 25, 21 and 14 goals in his forst three seasons before being loaned out to Fulham where he hit double figures.
Unproductive loan spells at reading and Hull saw him back with us for this season and he has not only scored goals but last Saturday came up with three assists. there was many fans writing him off earlier this season and to be quite honest some comments went beyond disrespectful!
I am all for giving him at least a one year extension, but so far there has been no news of any new contract being offered.
Craig Forsyth was another Nigel Clough signing and joined us from Watford as a left sided midfielder. He was converted to Left Back and he has come back from serious injury three times now! That is the mark of a good professional.
Forsyth for me is still our best player in that position though Max Lowe is now starting to challenge that status. Both of them appear to be ahead of Scott Malone in the pecking order.
Like Chris Martin, I believe Forsyth deserves a new contract!
There are fans who will say that we should be looking to bolster the squad, but we can't guarantee that we can actually bring in players who are better than what we have already got!
To better our squad in these areas will cost big money and although Mel Morris may be wealthy, the rules will prevent him from splashing out!
We have many bright young prospects now moving on to the first team squad and the areas that need addressing appear to be goalkeeper, centre half, and a good wide man! Anything else will be a bonus! There is so much potential within the current roster of players that we may have the core of a good team already!
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