Case Dismissed!

Yes! After a long wait charges against the club have been dismissed! We can now breathe a huge sigh of relief, though if we believed what Mel Morris had consistently stated from the start, we would have been confident of the outcome!

Fans from rival clubs are up in arms and making a lot of false claims in their attacks on the panel and its decision.

There has been much sniping and jealousy from fans of other clubs ever since when Frank Lampard was boss! Ashley Cole signing attracted some snipes!

Wayne Rooney signing really got others rattled and various claims being made that we were avoiding his wages being included in the accounts because he is registered as a coach! Wrong! coaches wages are included!

Next we get 32 Red are paying him and it's third party ownership which is against the rules! Wrong again! He's a club asset! 32 Red do sponsor the club very generously, but what Derby County do with the money is their business.

Now we have the warriors of the keyboard and smartphones whinging about us getting off with it and Sheffield Wednesday not!

Sheffield Wednesday weren't charged with regard to the sale of their ground, it was because they included it in the wrong financial year!

If full capacity crowds aren't allowed to return sooner rather than later, and that looks very doubtful at the moment, a lot of clubs will be struggling to make ends meet! The transfer window will be much quieter and maybe teams will have to start playing more home grown talent! Thankfully Derby have a glut of talented youngsters coming through!

Dave Marshall

 The first signing of the transfer window is goalkeeper David Marshall signed for a nominal fee from Wigan Athletic!

Marshall should prove to be a very good signing, he's very experienced at this level and rated as one of the divisions better keepers.

After starting his career at Celtic, he has played for Norwich, Cardiff, Hull and Wigan of course. He is also a Scotland international.

During the run in last season he kept ten clean sheets, but he is also well known for playing an absolute blinder many years ago against Barcelona of all teams.

Securing a new goalkeeper was high on theist of priorities and I believe Marshall will prove to be a good bit of business.

Most of the early feed back has been positive and Hull City and Wigan fans have been amongst those to praise Marshall.

Most of us like to check out new signings on YouTube. I've posted a link, but don't just watch the clips, look at the comments! 

https://youtu.be/hXx2U9XSHnM

What Lies Ahead?

 So here we are, entering another pre-season wondering what lies ahead for Derby County!

It's been very quiet on the transfer front with only the confirmed signing of Mike Te Weirik to report. We have known about his incoming since January and nothing else has happened apart from players who have left the club.

Chris Martin and Tom Huddlestone have departed after failing to agree to new contracts and Martin especially leaves a gap in the squad.

Fans haven't been slow to voice their opinions on the lack of signings, but theres different circumstances to consider this time around. First of all the Coronavirus has impacted heavily on the clubs income! In excess of five million pounds has been lost!

Secondly for the second year in a row we are left in limbo! Last season was the down out departure of Frank Lampard which left Philip Cocu with little time to prepare for the season and this time around it's awaiting to see if we are going to start the season with a minus points total! The independent panel are certainly taking their time to reach a judgement on the alleged P & S breaches.

There certainly are a few areas in the team that need addressing. Goalkeeper must be a priority! Last season neither Kelle Roos or loanee Ben Hamer looked good enough to start. In my opinion I'd go for experience should we manage to acquire a new shotstopper and play young Henrich Ravas in the cup games.

Another centre back wouldn't go amiss either. Andre Wisdom played well in that position and we have the signing of te Weirik as well, but Curtis Davies doesn't appear to suit the playing it out from the back style of play that we have. Krystian Bielik can play there, but I'd suggest his best position is in front on the back four, also he isn't likely to be back before October.

A good wide man I'd imagine would be on the shopping list as apart from Florian Jozefzoon we don't have any natural wingers around the first team. Tom Lawrence and Martyn Waghorn are not wingers.

We will also wanting another striker due to Chris Martin's departure. I think we will miss Martin! I feel he was greatly under appreciated by a certain section of the fans.

So even if Cocu has a shopping list of preferred buys, its going to be difficult to sign some players should we start on minus points.

The Left Back position needs sorting! In my opinion Craig Forsyth is still the best number three at the club. Max Lowe is now 21 and needs to make the position his! Scott Malone appears to have fallen down the pecking order and Lee Buchanan is now emerging to challenge the mew experienced players ahead of him.

Last season was a great one for youngsters breaking through into the first team. Max Bird, Jason Knight and of course Louie Sibley had very good campaigns. I believe the likes of Jahmal Hector-Ingram and Jordan Brown will become a regular sight on the subs bench in the months ahead. Morgan Whittaker and a few others could well join them.

Jayden Bogle completed his second season as a starter and injury stopped him making further progress. He has though caught the eye of other clubs and I believe he could be a prime candidate to be sacrificed for big money to give the boss more money to spend. Andre Wisdom is good in that position and Festy Ebosele looks like he won't be waiting too long to step up with the seniors.

There's a lot of different permutations and once this EFL charge is sorted then perhaps Cocu can get on with doing his job! It's dragged on for long enough!

Planning Ahead

With The Rams now out of the Play Off chase, Phillip Cocu can start making moves and start to implement his plans in the transfer market!

Centre Half Mike Te Wierik has already been added to the squad, but there a other needs as we look ahead to the 202/21 season.

Top of the list will be a goalkeeper. Neither Kelle Roos nor Ben Hamer who is on loan from Huddersfield are a long term solution. Both have made costly errors and a safe pair of hands is needed! I would suggest that two goalkeepers wouldn't go amiss! The back up has to be good enough to take over when the first choice is injured.

Morgan Fox the former Sheffield Wednesday Left Back has been rumoured to be on Derby's radar and already people have been asking why we would need another player in that position. Well the fact is Craig Forsyth has had some off games since the return though he has done tremendously well coming back from a third ACL injury. Max Lowe still hasn't made the position his and Scott Malone would appear to have dropped down the pecking order.

A winger will surely be on the list of needs. Florian Jozefzoon has failed to impress again and could be heading for the exit door.

Uo front Chris Martin has yet to sign a new contract though I believe he will, but Jack Marriott has struggled with injuries and failed to make much of an impact. Another striker is desirable!

Og the youngsters that have made it through from the Under 18/23 teams Max Bird, Louie Sibley and Jason Knight look to have made valid claims to be part of the first team squad when we restart.

Morgan Whittaker is highly rated, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him loaned out to gain some experience. 

The EFL charge of us exceeding P&S limits is unlikely to be concluded before this season ends and if Mel Morris's claims are correct I see us avoiding a points deduction. If the decision goes against us and we start on minus points that will obviously have an effect on which players will sign for us.

Fingers crossed all will end well.

New Contract for Martin?

Earlier this season many Rams fans were discussing about whether Chris Martin should be given a chance to win a place back in the Derby County side.

Some fans were in favour whilst others weren't and some of the negative comments were quite derogatory to say the very least! This for a man who has been our best striker many times.

Martin originally arrived on loan when Nigel Clough was in the managerial hot seat and played thirteen games scoring a couple of goals. His performances were steady but not spectacular.

Martin became a full transfer prior to the commencement of the 2013/14 season and it he was signed on a free transfer from Norwich City. I for one really didn't know what to expect from him, but in those days we usually bought from the bargain basement. 

To say his first full season was good would be massively understating it! In fifty one official appearances he managed to rack up twenty five goals! He had started well under Clough and when Steve McClaren took over, he flourished! Not only did Martin come up with the goals but he also had a hand in setting up players for many more! He got noticed for his hold up play and he showed he could also take a pretty mean free kick too!

the following season he grabbed twenty one goals in forty two games and the year after fifteen in forty nine games. Obviously these figures include cop games and play offs.

After McClaren and then Paul Clement had come and gone, Nigel Pearson took the reins and we entered a period with some of the worst football I've ever seen by Derby County sides. Pearson signed Matej Vydra who I'm convinced would thrive playing off Martin like he did with Troy Deeney at Watford, but Pearson let Martin go out on loan!

Vydra struggled in the loan striker role and wasn't a success til the next season when he played alongside David Nugent, but Martin had started well at Fulham.

There's many figures banded about and some suggest a hefty loan fee was paid by the Cottagers for Martin's services. He seemed happy and settled and then things changed!

Fulham had been given an option to buy Martin at the end of the loan spell. I believe they would have bought him too had it not been for one thing! Steve McClaren was starting a second spell in charge of The Rams! He didn't waste any time in stating that he wanted Chris Martin back at Pride Park!

Obviously this didn't go down too well with the Fulham hierarchy who dug their heels in and kept Martin for the remainder of the season despite McClaren persuading him to extend his Derby contract! Not the greatest lesson of diplomacy!

McClaren was dismissed for a second time before he got the chance to use a returning Martin and Martin himself was frozen out of the first team squad for two seasons.

Two unproductive loan spells at Reading and Hull City followed and his goals return was very low! Now whether it was because those sides weren't playing him in his familiar role or the fact he was fighting colitis I don't know! Its a horrible disease and would certainly have a bearing on his physical output.

Philip Cocu gave Martin a chance this season to stake a claim for a team place and he has grabbed the chance! He's not going to score twenty goals but he is beginning to look more like the Chris Martin the Derby fans love. He has scored late goals against both Leeds and Forest which will always go down well and he's proving himself to be an asset to the club again.

Being out of contract when this season finally ends leaved us all wondering what will the next episode bring. I'm hopeful that something can be sorted out by the club and the player that means he will still be a Derby County player next season.

In my opinion this free transfer has been one of our best pieces of business in the last fifteen years!

Martin to the Rescue

In what one can only describe as a dull East Midlands Derby, we somehow managed to do a smash and grab for a point in time added on!

Despite dominating possession, we really didn't test our rivals for the majority of the game. Their football isn't very pretty, but it is effective. It's got a touch of the Billy Davies style about it. 

This was probably one of our worst performances of the season. Sure enough our passes in the main were finding white shirts, but when you are forced to pass back to the goalkeeper whilst in the opponents half, questions must be asked. 

Forest will be kicking themselves. They created chances only to see them squandered. Lolley scored a good goal to put them ahead, but I'm of the opinion that Hamer could have done better. 

It was the final third where we seem to have been stuck for ideas. Once we got into their half, they had 7 or 8 players back to block our crosses. They were then a threat on the counter attack.

Chris Martin has never previously scored against Forest which is quite remarkable looking at his record for us overall. He was there though when their keeper flapped right at the death to touch the ball over the line.

It's a bit of a head scratcher that we were so poor yesterday as earlier in the season when we weren't playing well, we were unfortunate to lose at their place.

Martyn Waghorn will now be missing for three games after receiving a red card for a foul on Yates. Lawrence and Wisdom both likely to be missing on Wednesday night at The Hawthorns. Lawrence definitely will be missing as he serves the last game of a three match ban. 

Cocu's options are reduced, but it would just be the Derby way to go and win there!

Its that time again!

Derby continued their winning run with a fine 0-1 victory at Deepdale and now sit in seventh place just one point outside the play off zone!

However, it now time to get to the main event o0f the week! The third East Midlands Derby of the year! Following two losses 3-0 in the League Cup and 1-0 in the league, Philip Cocu and the team will be eager to stop our red rivals from completing a hat trick of victories in one season.

To be fair the league match at The City Ground was a tight affair that could have gone either way and it was a defensive error that gifted them a winning goal.

Full credit to the new regime acrid the A52 they have turned the club around and seem to have at long last found a good manager in Sabri Lamouchi.

I would Arte their current team as the best they have had in twenty years. We will have to be on the top of our game!

Key players to watch out for are Ben Watson in midfield who we will have to keep quiet, Joe Lolley who has been a bargain signing and of course Lewis Grabban. Grabban scores a lot of goals from close range, but the point is that he is there to knock them in.

They are strong in taking chances, very good on the counter attack and also at set pieces. Their only real weaknesses are they are often caught offside and they aren't the most dominant in the air.

This is a game where studying footage of their past games will be vital for Cocu and ensuring he sets up to exploit any weaknesses he can spot!

I would probably go with a similar line up to the game at Preston. Hopefully we can see a similar sort of performance! 

The Return Part Three

The Rams gained another three points on Saturday by seeing off Reading 2-1. A superbly worked team goal with a move started by Andre Wisdom and finished by Tom Lawrence was the highlight of a scrappy game. 

Wayne Rooney slotted home a penalty to give us a two goal advantage before our visitors pulled a goal back in the second half after a poor punch out from Ben Hamer.

On Wednesday we travel to Deepdale to face Preston who sit immediately above us in seventh place due to the fact they have a better goal difference albeit by one goal.

When we played them earlier this season it was one of our better early performances. A game where we dominated them on the ball.

Alex Neill's side are very dominant in the air and a lot of their play goes down the right wing. They play long balls and are very strong at set pieces. They are though vulnerable in facing free kicks.

The big question for Rams fans is who is going to replace Tom Lawrence? Picking up a silly red card after the final whistle on Saturday means Philip Cocu will have to make adjustments to the side.

Florian Jozefzoon could come into the equation, but his preferred side is the right. He has failed to impress in games played so far and therefore I would suspect that Jason Knight may get the nod!

All of our remaining matches are against sides in the top seven places and the games only get harder on paper in the coming weeks.

What has been noticeable in the games played so far since the return of league action is Andre Wisdom has picked up from where he left off before the enforced break. He was the pick of the players on Saturday with a masterful performance.

Max Bird also put in another impressive shift.

Louie Sibley didn't get on the scoresheet against Reading, but he did provide the lay off for Lawrence's goal. No doubt teams will now plan to restrict his chances and that could be the key on Wednesday!

A Royal Visit

Reading visit Pride Park on Saturday, but The Rams will be determined to keep pressure on the top six. Our visitors have won a few times when they have visited us, but they are having a bit of a mixed season. The currently have 49 points, two places and five points behind us!

Joao will be missing on Saturday and he will be replaced by Puscas who is their leading scorer with 9 goals. 

Their style of play is to sit more in their own half where they are strong and invite the opposition to attack them. They have relied on moments of individual skill to score goals but they are effective with doing range shots and from direct free kicks.

They are weak against the counter attack and struggle against set pieces. What could be music to Rams fans ears is the fact that they struggle against skilful players in their own box! This could be an opening for Louie Sibley to demonstrate again why everyone is talking about him. I'm sure that Philip Cocu will have that in mind when selecting his starting eleven on Saturday.

For me we must try and tighten up a bit in defence and retain possession as much as we can. Hopefully we can put together some nice passing moves together like we did last Saturday at Millwall. 

I would pretty much expect a similar starting eleven to last Saturday perhaps with the exception of Waghorn moving out wide and Martin starting up front. I think this game could be more suited to Martin playing the striker role and the likes of Sibley could thrive with Martin playing through balls.

Hopefully another three points will be banked and our rise will continue!

Is Sibley the Best?

A return to action for The Rams on Saturday come away with a very satisfying away win at Millwall. The start of the show being a certain Louie Sibley who marked his second league start with a hat trick!

Sibley's performance couldn't have been much better! He showed energy, composure and hunger in front of the Millwall defenders.

Despite going 1-0 down to an early Matt Smith goal, we were very good value for all three points. The whole side had a good game overall. Big shoutout again for another young player Max Bird! He looks like he's been in the side for years with another confident display.

Wayne Rooney was exceptional in midfield with a tremendous display of passing, his leadership is proving to be very valuable to the team.l 

We can't go OTT, but we now find ourselves in twelfth place but only three points behind sixth. I'm still not going to dare dream of play offs just yet!

The arrival of Sibley will not go unnoticed by the bigger clubs as it was rumoured he was being watched before being brought into the first team. No doubt if he carries on as he has started then bids will come in for him sooner rather than later. I do hope though that he stays around so we can watch him progress and help him improve rather than he gets sold to a Premier League side to sit on the bench or in the reserves.

There has been much discussion about him with BBC Radio Derby commentator Ed Dawes reportedly saying he reminds him of Will Hughes.

he is blonde like Hughes and shows the same confidence as a young Hughes did, but for me thats where the similarities end! Sibley is a more attack minded player with more goals in him. That's not to put down Hughes who broke into the team at fifteen years old, whereas Sibley is eighteen.

So next up we have Reading who nearly always prove to be awkward to play. Hopefully Cocu can work his magic again and we can make another point or three towards that important top six.

Down at the Den

Derby have a very tricky looking run-in as we finally get the chance to finish off our season. Saturday afternoon a trip to The New Den against a very awkward Millwall side rejuvenated by Gary Rowett.

Our last half dozen games against The Lions haven't been very productive winning only once in the last six meetings.

Millwall are very strong in the air and very good from set pieces. They can counter attack very well which is something we often struggle with.

It will need an effort with great resilience too! They defend set pieces very well and are very strong in the opposition half!

Whether playing behind closed doors will make much difference to either side is anyones guess. What we need to do is carry on from where we left off!

Team selection will be key and my own preferred line-up is as follows.

Ben Hamer takes the goalkeeper spot. I believe he is marginally better than Kelle Roos. Its a department that needs to be seriously looked at once the transfer window opens again.

Jayden Bogle for the Right Back spot. His runs forward could be very vital if we are to gatecrash the top six.

Andre Wisdom and Matt Clarke get the two central positions. Wisdom's form has been a revelation since he returned to the first team and Matt Clarke has improved as the season has gone on. They look very comfortable playing together as well.

Selecting Left Back is where I will be interested in Philip Cocu's pick. Both Craig Forsyth and Max Lowe have merit and It really wouldn't worry me who gets the nod! Personally I'd maybe just go for Forsyth, but I'm splitting hairs. Scott Malone is another option, but I think he's not in our top two at the moment.

In front of the back four Wayne Rooney and Max Bird is a no brainer! Bird has made fantastic progress since Rooney joined the team and looks a star in the making. Looking vey comfortable on the ball and with some classy touches too!

I think the wide positions pick themselves. Martyn Waghorn and the back in form Tom Lawrence should start! Playing behind the striker we have several options, but I'd give a start to Louie Sibley! An absolute star last time out and boy! This lad is going to be some player.

Chris Martin I'd expect to keep the striker role. Written off by more than a few Derby fans, he's been a big plus this season.

We now have a bench of nine players with permission to use five during the game. Pretty much all first team squad members will be involved unless of course youngsters like Joe Bateman, Jordan Brown and Jamal Hector-Ingram edge them out of the nineteen. I'd be very surprised if Hector-Ingram at least doesn't get a slot!

The Return!

This week the Championship returns after the enforced lay off and we should be in for a treat over the coming weeks! 

West From and Leeds will be favourites to take the automatic promotion spots, but Fulham are snapping at their heels should they slip up!

To be honest think that the current top two will stay there though there will be big pressure on Marcelo Bielsa to come up with the good this season. Failure again will no doubt see claims that his teams burn out being mentioned again!

I think Fulham have the players! Mitrovic, Cairney etc are as good as they come, but do they have boss with the tactical know how? When they visited Pride Park I didn't see them as good as the Jokanovic side from a couple of years ago. They will surely though end up in the play off spots.

Brentford are as good as any of the top six on their day and would be fancied by many to make it through the end of season mini tournament! 

Our rivals have been up there for most of the season and have some very good players in their squad. Grabban has scored, Lolley has excited and long Worral has improved. They have a very poor play off record so can they change things?

Preston and Millwall are also there or thereabouts and to be perfectly honest, all of the top dozen clubs still have a real chance.

On our day we can compete with any of these, but five points may prove to be just a little too much to pull back. We need to be out of the blocks quick if we are to make a late push!

I predict Leeds and West From to take the top two places with Fulham, Brentford, Forest and Millwall completing the top half dozen. Fulham to beat Millwall at Wembley in the final!

What's your thoughts?

BBC Radio Derby

Like many fans I mostly here Ed Dawes commentary as a playback after the game whilst driving back to Lincoln. On the way back we hear the highlights of the game we have just witnessed.

Ed has his own style of commentary and commentators are much loved and by some loathed, but that is all opinion. The radio commentator has far more to say than those on tv due to the obvious fact that they have to provide a more in depth description.

BBC local radio presents partisan coverage and the broadcast team live a game as though they are part of the club. Enjoying the highs and living the lows like all of the paying spectators.

My earliest memories of Radio Derby was back in the days when the programme known as Sportscene was fronted by Colin Gibson and with Graham Richards behind the microphone with Ian Hall giving a summary of the action. That team was a long time together.

Graham Richards also knew how to fill in the gaps when there was a break in play with his trivia questions. He also provided some very memorable commentaries. Who will forget the wins against our red neighbours and such gems as "Forest are in ruins" or his response to Dean Saunders scoring a winner "Pick that one out of your net Mark Crossley, not a chance!"

Of course Graham eventually decided in 2003 that he would be retiring and Ross Fletcher took the mic from him assisted by Ted McMinn. Ross was there when we put Southampton out of the play offs and many will recall his "This is so Wembley" shout when Idiakez missed the vital penalty for the Saints.

Ted McMinn was a pundit who didn't pull any punches and clearly saw things like a real fan. I recall his non complimentary words about a certain Marco Reich when he returned to Pride Park with Crystal Palace. Reich was booed off the pitch and Ted said "Yep, you'll no fool the Derby County fans"

Ross left Derby not long afterwards along with Ted and Colin Bloomfield with Dean Sturridge took over. Colin who tragically passed away after fighting melanoma was a nice guy. He was one of the good guys and actually an avid fan of Shrewsbury Town.

Dean Sturridge gave up the summariser role after the disastrous eleven point premier league season to concentrate on getting his coaching badges and was replaced by Gary Rowett who stuck around until he got the gig as Burton manager. Since then Roger Davies, Craig Ramage and Eric Steele have filled that role.

Colin Gibson must be the longest serving of match day staff, but he too eventually moved on to pastures new working for Rams TV, his successor Owen Bradley also taking the same route.

When the season was interrupted by coronavirus Chris Coles was presenting, Ed Dawes describing the action and Eric Steele with analysis of the game.

Personally I think the guys do a very good job, they must have the patience of job when presenting the  Monday Night Phone-in. Barry from Burton says........ Dave from Derby....... All opinions though and thats what makes it fun!

Players and Politics

As anyone who knows me, I am a former Labour Councillor and life time fan of Derby County! In fact one local authority I served on saw the father of former Rams Goalkeeper Mark Wallington, Keith in the blue corner.

Now I have many friends who support all three main parties and I always judge players on their actual contribution to football rather than which colour rosette they wear in the polling booth.

I think it's fair to say that most players don't reveal their own political beliefs.

Our best ever management pair of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor were known to be left of centre along with other greats such as Bill Shankly and Sir Alex Ferguson. Frank Lampard has admitted to being a Conservative voter whilst the likes of Mick McCarthy, Chris Hughton and Sam Allardyce are confirmed reds.

Gary Lineker and Gary Neville along with Jamie Carragher obviously lean to the left whereas Karl Henry and Sol Campbell are staunch Tories.

Quite vociferous in their support for Labour are Neville Southall and Joe Lolley. Stan Collymore also puts his X next to the Labour Party.

Derby County owner Mel Morris we would guess is a true blue after hosting Theresa may at Pride Park in her general election campaign of 2017.

Rams legend Alan Hinton is quite vocal in his support of Donald Trump. He has lived for many years in the USA. His support for Trump would make him a Tory over here.

Whereas Jonathan Walters and mark Bosnich have come out for the Conservative Party, one would have to make and educated guess that Paul Peschisolido would too knowing who his wife supports.

One I would have down as a possible swing voter though is Kevin Keegan. After kissing Margaret Thatcher, the minors son was seen a few years later playing head tennis with Tony Blair.

This column is just a bit of fun, do you know the political allegiances of any players?

Lockdown and Meltdown?

It comes as no surprise that during the coronavirus lockdown, teams are now negotiating with players to defer payment of wages. Obviously with very little income most are struggling to pay all of their bills.

It's no great secret that most championship clubs are paying out more in salaries than they are actually accumulating through income. The quest to pursue the Premier League dream comes at a very large cost! Obviously the clubs who were relegated from the sports top division have the advantage of parachute payments.

Marquee players such as Wayne Rooney will obviously be on massive wages in comparison to youngsters who have recently graduated through the clubs academy. Indeed all the experienced professionals will be on considerably more than those who are at the start of their careers.

Derby County have as we all know placed all non playing staff on the governments furlough scheme whereas they will receive 80% of the wages due from the government. It's also been announced that the Under-18 and Under - 21 players not on professional contracts will also be furloughed.

Due to the lockdown Derby County have taken advantage of the three month extension in submitting their annual accounts.

This is no surprise as it will actually be very difficult for them to submit accurate accounts should the league revalue the stadium at less than the sale price submitted in previous accounts, but with our owner requesting players to defer 50% of wages rather than 25% it does seem to suggest that we are staring at serious problems in balancing the books.

Henry Gabay was announced as a potential investor of the club and then Michael Dell (Though it has since turned out he is expected to be considering a £30m loan) and Mel Morris has been searching for investment for many months now!

I am sure that I am not alone in worrying about our future. To be honest if we remain in the current situation for many months many clubs will struggle to keep their heads above water.

The PFA are refusing to sanction large deferrals of players wages, but if Football doesn't restart very soon, many of the players they represent may find themselves without a club to play for!

The Coronavirus Pandemic has caused chaos for the game. Whilst everyone will acknowledge the fact that lives are much much more important than sport, it could have brought the game a reality check as something like this wasn't expected or planned for!

The game is going to need a lot of common sense from all of those earning a living from it otherwise the damage will be irreversible.

D for Docherty and Destruction

I am one of the lucky ones who as a young boy saw the great Derby sides of Clough and Taylor and then Dave Mackay. Such heights have never been reached again and the big question asked by many is where did it all go wrong?

Well the truth is not the appointment of Colin Murphy who took over from Mackay as a complete rookie in the managerial hot seat, but the man who replaced Murphy!

Firstly I have to say that Mackay's sacking was the second most stupidest act by a Derby County  board being beaten only by their acceptance of the resignations of Clough and Taylor.

We were going through a tough spell and a loss of form, but there was enough class in that squad to pull through it. Mackay nearly got us to league  champions  gain, but an injury to Charlie George left a big hole. We had covered well in 1974-75 when Roy McFarland had missed much of the campaign through injury as Peter Daniel stepped up to deputise magnificently. George we couldn't cover for.

Charlie George made his debut at the curtain raiser of the 1975/76 season against West Ham in the Charity Shield and was a main player in the side and we looked good for another title and an FA Cup until he got injured. This left a big hole in the Derby attack and the season fizzled out.

We started slow in 1976/77 and the board made the blunder in sacking Mackay!

Mackay had inherited an excellent side that won the title for Brian Clough and Peter Taylor and made his own mark on it by signing the likes of Bruce Rioch, Francis Lee, Charlie George, Leighton James etc. He also oversaw a famous 4-1 thrashing of Real Madrid in the European Cup though due to some dubious refereeing in the return leg we went out 6-5 on aggregate. He definitely deserved much longer to get us back on track.

Just over two and a half years after winning us a second league title Mackay was gone!

Colin Murphy was appointed, though no-one believed he was going to be a long term appointment. No, Derby County were about to make their worst managerial appointment in history! Tommy Docherty!

Docherty had secured a return to the first division for Manchester United after their shock relegation and won he guided them to an FA Cup final victory.

 His past at Chelsea though had raised eyebrows when dropping several players who broke a curfew the Wednesday night before a game on the Saturday. That arguably cost Chelsea the league title!

He was sacked by Manchester United for having an affair with the wife of the club physio Laurie Brown! This after promotion and an FA Cup Final win.

He was appointed as Derby manager in September 1977 and had a squad that many managers would have been envious of! Three of the back four were England internationals! It wasn't long though before our best players were going through the exit door and Docherty was signing unproven and unheard of names.

Colin Boulton the clubs greatest ever keeper was soon discarded with! To add insult to injury his replacement John Middleton not only saw the exit of Boulton but also Archie Gemmill! The most stupidest of deals ever!! To our main rivals as well!

Leighton James was swapped for Don Masson and he was eventually swapped for Steve Carter from Notts County! Leighton James to Steve Carter in two moves!

Charlie George went as did club legend Colin Todd and that one really hurt|! Just tossed away like he was any old player!

Billy Hughes has started to show some real form up front and before you knew it, he was gone to Leicester!

Absolute shambolic transfer dealings! Gerry Daly who joined us from Manchester United before Docherty arrived was unsettled as he left United to get away from him, but fortunately he stuck it out. Daly was a fine player too!

Terry Curran arrived from Forest and had some good patches of form, but he lasted a season before being sold to Southampton. He went on to better things with Sheffield Wednesday.

Docherty brought back fans favourite Rioch from Everton, but second time around wasn't the success of his first spell.

The only signing that Docherty made that proved to be a long term success was Steve Buckley, a left back signed from Luton Town. He eventually replaced club legend David Nish and evolved into one of our best No3's ever behind Nish and John Robson.

Other signings weren't a success at Derby or any other top flight side! Vic Moreland, Billy Caskey, Jon Clark and even Gordon Hill the winger who was responsible for knocking us out of the FA Cup under Mackay when he was a Manchester United player. We had gone to signing unknowns and players who simply weren't up to the job.

Docherty also brought shame on the club off the field when he tried to sue Willie Morgan and Granada TV.

Morgan was on their soccer show Kick Off and stated that Docherty was the worst manager he ever played under. Docherty took exception to this and this led to a court case lasting three days where it was concluded that in giving evidence, Docherty had told a pack of lies!

Derby fans drew a huge sigh of relief when he finally jumped ship to QPR though the damage would take years to repair and much of it was irreversible.

Hands Up!

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.

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!

Wanted a Number One!

Swansea and Huddersfield aside our away form has been nothing short of atrocious this season. Yet at home we are top two material! How this is the reality is anyones guess, but if you are like me you'll be glad when tis season is over.

The big plusses have been Rooney and Max Bird establishing himself in the first team, but there are some gaping holes in the playing squad.

I'm sure that no one will disagree that a Goalkeeper must be the top of the shopping list during the summer! Kelle Roos has been a disaster and Ben Hamer has only been marginally better.

Now I supposed I am spoiled coming from an era when I saw the BBG's finest in Colin Boulton, but surely we can do better between the sticks.

I'm a firm believer in building from the back and when you remember such fine keepers as Boulton, Shilton, Poom, Steele, Wallington, Jones, Hoult etc. It is painful seeing are current goalkeepers struggle!

We have in Shay Given a goalkeeping coach that was one of the finest keepers of his generation, but either our men aren't bringing training ground form to the pitch or Given is banging his head against the wall.

Time after time we see our guys either dropping the ball, not coming out quick enough or getting beat at the near post!

Basics! Our keepers aren't getting the basics right! There must surely be a decent keeper out there for a reasonable fee! It's all very well that we strengthen our back four, but if the No1 isn't getting it right it'd like mending a puncture and then driving over glass.

Racism Rearing it Ugly Head Again!

I had hoped to concentrate mainly on Derby's on the pitch performances this week, but once again the subject of racism has hit the headlines in the game and unfortunately Derby County are now in the thick of it!

Former player and BBC Radio Derby summariser Craig Ramage was making his usual end of match comments on Saturday and criticising our young players. He used the term "Young black lads" referring to Max Lowe and Jayden Bogle. Why oh why insert black into the conversation? Max Lowe obviously hearing the comments than went on to Instagram to rightly express his anger at what can only be seen as racist comment!

Yes they are racist comments because they were directed at certain players using their colour of skin. He could have easily made constructive criticism by using names, but chose ethnicity instead

The BBC recently broadcasted a programme that highlighted the problem of racism that still exists in the game. I see and hear it not only at professional games, but also at grass roots level where my youngest son plays.

We have well intentioned campaigns very year against racism at football league grounds, but the problem just won't got away.

Firstly the punishments are very soft! High profile footballers like Stuart Pearce and John Terry have in the past been guilty of making racist comments. Pearce now works for Talksport and Terry has a high profile job coaching at Aston Villa.

We live in a country where our Prime Minister has made many racist comments!

We had a national referendum on our membership of the European Union which brought out some of the most vile racist rants I've ever heard!

How do we address this? We may not be able to eradicate it totally, but surely in 2020 we can reduce it significantly.

Back with a Bang!

Whilst most clubs were conducting transfer deadline day business, Derby we're handing a recently rejuvenated Stoke City a real pasting under the lights, and in in front of the cameras at pride Park last night!

This was our best performance of the season and whilst it's wise not to get carried away, I think most Rams fans would have gone home very happy!

The whole side from Ben Hamer in goal to Chris Martin up front played their part!

I was particularly pleased for Chris Martin who had been written off by many on social media as past it! He certainly isn't and once again he weighed in with a goal! He cost us nothing in transfer fees and has always given his best in a Derby County shirt!

Martyn Waghorn though not quite hitting the levels of last season maintained his place at the top of the Rams score charts with the opener. His work rate was very impressive too!

Wayne Rooney rolled back the years with his perfectly taken free kick to score in the second successive game and once again was the controlling force in midfield.

Jayden Bogle showed his attacking credentials with a brilliant goal to put us four goals up!

Every single player had a good game, but for me the best out there was Duane Holmes! Always busy and looking to be an absolute bargain of a signing!

I have said it is impossible to make an accurate judgement on Philip Cocu as a manager due to the fact that he has had very little cash to splash, but every Derby County fan will want him to do well.

We failed to add to the first team squad during this window, but past January's have seen some dreadful business! We may not be promotion bound, but there's long talent within the squad and with a few clever tweaks in the summer, we might just have a team capable going for a top six place again!

Yes I am as fickle as the next fan! I have been very critical of the team, but it has proved that it can deliver and not wanting to get carried away, but we are only seven points from sixth place! The dreaded away form being our downfall!

We have another busy week ahead with the FA Cup 4th Round Replay against Northampton on Tuesday night and then a trip top South Wales to face Swansea on Saturday.

We didn't play well at The Sixfields, but I'm sure a certain Mr Rooney will be fired up to make progress with a trip to his former club at Old Trafford being the carrot!

Slip Sliding Away!

Last night saw yet another disappointing performance from Derby County! Let's be honest we have been awful this season and should the EFL decision to charge us with failing P & S be upheld and a points deduction be applied, we are in serious trouble! We are staring relegation in the face!

Relegation would be a disaster for the club! We are losing money hand over fist already and dropping to the third tier will only make matters worse!

Mel Morris has tried to get investment to the club, but it's going to be a very brave individual or indeed group that will invest into us at the moment.

Years of bad financial management is now coming back to haunt us! I really believe that administration is awaiting on one of the roads ahead! No owner can keep on sustaining losses like we are and who is going to buy what is fast becoming a basket case of a club.

There are very few players that would attract any large fees and the manager has yet again been unable to invest in areas that are crying pout for it!

In tow days the transfer window will be closed and it's my belief that a couple of incomings are needed to help avoid the drop into League One.

The performance at Northampton in the FA Cup was gutless! Last night we lost to a very poor Luton Town side and there was no excuses!

It is indeed worrying times for Rams fans and there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel! There's no escaping the fact that we are a very poor side and we have diddly squat to spend on bringing improvement to the squad! When Mel Morris says we are wanting to develop our own players and use them, what he means is that there won't be money for new players.

This club is in a mess both on and off the field! next up is a very tricky looking home match against a Stoke City side that has at last started to pick up! I am not optimistic about our chances.

FFP and EFL BS!

Obviously the big talking point not only at Pride Park, but within the division this week has been the EFL decision to charge Derby with making excessive losses and not meeting P&S rules!

Now I have been critical of Mel Morris during his ownership of the club and let's be honest money has been wasted on some very average players. The way in which we have been managed financially has been careless to say the least! However, for the EFL to sign off accounts, approve the sale of the ground and the amount its sold for and then to come back eighteen months later change their mind is bang out of order and speaks volumes about the incompetence of the league!

The club have acted in good faith and have since planned their financial projections based on accounts approved by the EFL!

Of course I am far from happy that the books shows us making big losses month on month after such good housekeeping by the previous owners GSE. Mel Morris though has acted in accordance with the rules and should the EFL dock the club points it would be nothing short of scandalous!

The EFL aren't the greatest governors in the world of professional sport. They have had such twits as Brain Mawinney being their vocal mouthpiece in the past. The Football League is the oldest and most recognisable brand in the world being the original professional league and what do they do? They change it's title!

My take is that this is a knee jerk reaction to threats made by the likes of Steve Gibson who after years of splashing the cash sees his own Middlesbrough club struggling on the field and with a half empty stadium too!

If Morris still has written proof of the League's approval of the ground sale and the figure (Which was adjusted after a request by the EFL) I fail to see how they can then move the goalposts eighteen months later!!

An independent panel will make a ruling, but should this go against Derby County I would expect Mel Morris instructing his legal team to challenge this in the courts. This could drag on for months or even longer!

Should this end up in the courts, the league would be ill advised to apply any sanctions in the meantime! Imagine a points deduction, relegation and then Derby winning in the courts! A very large can of worms would be opened and then the EFL could see themselves paying massive damages.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and Derby County Football Club will move forward with new investment form Henry Gabay and a strategy to reduced losses! There is a at long last signs that the Academy is producing more goods and that within itself could and should ease the pressure on the finance department.

In the meantime all we fans can do is to keep turning up and cheering our team on from the stands! Being a fan of 50 years I can recall the days when we were minutes form going out of business. many fans will recall the days of the Three Amigo's! We have had bad dark days before and we were in a much worse place during those times! Get your backside to the games and keep the faith!

Team Selection and Transfer Window

Last Saturday saw us gain a valuable point at a resurgent Middlesbrough. After a very abject first half, we regrouped well in the second half to play some nice football.

Prior to kick off many fans, myself included though were questioning the team selection of Philip Cocu. Now I am a member of the jury that is till out on whether he will be a good manager for us. The time to make a sound judgement will be a few games after the summer transfer window, unless of course we went into freefall and was staring relegation in the face.

We have thus far signed no one in this window whilst Keiran Dowell and Jamie Paterson have returned to their parent clubs. Dowell has since been ;loaned out to Wigan.

We all want to see 2/3 new faces, but it is important that any such signings are in positions of need. We have many talented youngsters within the club now, but there is a feeling that Centre Half is a position in desperate need of strengthening.

Curtis Davies and Matt Clarke are our current central defenders and though are both capable and experienced, we would be in trouble should one of them get injured. Clarke has recently returned from injury.

With Krystian Bielik coming the latest member of the Derby ACL club and looking like being out for up to a year, the situation has become rather desperate! Craig Forsyth has filled in but his primary role is Left Back.

Filip Benkovic of Leicester City continues to be linked, but a loan is reliant on Leicester being able to recruit themselves.

It's likely that 2/3 is the maximum number of new faces that we can expect to see before the end of the month. Well that's what is being indicated.

I think with the influence Wayne Rooney is having on the team that 2/3 may just be enough to see us climb into the top half of the table. Although we are only eight points away from the play off places, it is still a task order for us to make the end of season knock out for a Premier League place. To do this we would have to go on a run better than what Aston Villa accomplished last season.

Getting back to team selection for the trip to the Riverside stadium I was very surprised to see Jayden Bogle selected ahead of Andre Wisdom. It was understandable for the cup game at Crystal Palace as we made nine changes, but I thought that Wisdom had earned his place in the starting line up!

Another surprise was the omission of youngster Louie Sibley from the eighteen, yet we had two left backs on the bench. Sibley would have started had it been me picking the team. Tom Lawrence though got the nod after returning form suspension.

Lawrence cost us a significant fee, but is still to show us any kind of consistency! I am in the camp who have completely run out of patience with him. I feel that he has now had enough chances and perhaps it's time to cut our losses on him.

There no doubting he has the ability, but for me he goes missing far too much.

It's a Thursday morning as I write this and our next home game is in two days time at home to Hull. There's no sign of any new faces and therefore I think Cocu will have to field his best eleven on form players this weekend.

Hopefully we can collect three points and extend our unbeaten run.

Into The New Year!

Well New Year has arrived and Wayne Rooney has finally made his debut for Derby County, but the fans still have plenty to chat about and that is the opening of the ~January Transfer Window.

Rooney will bring some much needed bite to the Derby attack, but it will take more than his influence to transform our performances.

The goalkeeping department is one area that many have claimed we need to make improvements and at the moment Ben Hamer is getting the nod over Kelle Roos between the sticks. In my opinion Hamer is a short term fix and we need to be looking for more experienced hands. Asmir Begovic has been mentioned by many sources as a payer who could be on his way into the club, but it remains to be seen if it's just idle gossip or in deed has substance.

In defence we are covered at Right Back by Andre Wisdom and current starter Jayden Bogle. Bogle is attracting the interest of several Pemier League sides. The Left Back slot is open to competition with Max Lowe looking favourite to be first choice if you are going by recent performances. Scott Malone and Craig Forsyth are also available, but the youngster for me gets the nod.

In my opinion we need some width brought to our attack and hopefully a recognised wide man can be amongst the deal that we conclude during the month.

Jamie Paterson and Kieran Dowell have returned to their parent clubs with Dowell then switching to Wigan and that gives us three loanee spots that are available to fill.

Many youngsters who have come through the clubs academy are now starting to break into the first team squad. Max Lowe, Jason Knight, Morgan Whittaker, Max Bird and Louie Sibley are now getting included in the match day eighteen. In my opinion it won't be long either before the likes of Jayden Mitchell-Lawson and Jamal Hector-Ingram also feature.

We have over the years borrowed many talented youngsters from Premier League Clubs with last season a prime example when Harry Wilson, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori all be came key parts of the Frank Lampard scheme, but do we need to borrow from other clubs?

Last season our own Under-18 team were National Champions so why not use our own youngsters?

Any loan signings that we do make I am hoping are experienced players rather than youth players. Mel Morris has poured millions into our academy and at long last it is looking like that may have started to pay off!