Stalemate

Well Burnley came and Burnley went away with a point from the iPro and saw off a spirited challenge from The Rams. 

The Clarets are another side that we don't have a good record against in the recent past and Monday night was not one where we were going to take all three points. 

Putting the result to one side, there were areas on the pitch that we can feel thoroughly satisfied with the performances. I for one have been a critic of Richard Keogh during his spells of indifferent form. This season his form has been good and against Burnley he was the standout player on the pitch. Keogh thoroughly deserving his man of the match award from the television company. 

Cyrus Christie had his best game since early last season and credit where it's due as he did struggle during last seasons run in. 

Bradley Johnson showed us some glimpses of what he's capable of. It's early days for our record signing, but two exceptional passes stick out in the memories of last nights game. 

Johnny Russell yet again ran his legs off! However, what was disappointing was the lack of goals. Make no mistake though we were against a very good side who no doubt will be up there at the end of the season. 

I felt that Tom Ince was missed on the right, but Andreas Weimann is not a Right Wonger. To be honest I'm struggling to work out where he fits in a 4-3-3 formation. To me he looks more like a second striker and I'm not sure that we can be very effective playing 4-4-2. 

We head out on to the road again this Saturday as we travel to Milton Keynes to play the Dons. We must come away with three points and a good performance now! Now is the time to get this season really moving. 

Thames Valley Triumph!

The Rams picked up three more points with a second successive away win this time at Reading. 

Our visits to the Madejski haven't always bared fruit but this time they did thanks to a second half goal by Tom Ince after our hosts had been reduced to ten men.

When you visit teams like The Royals, a win is welcome no matter how it comes. Despite being slow out of the blocks apart from last Friday nights thrashing of Ipswich, it's not an easy place to go and win at. 

Two wins on the bounce will only improve team spirit and confidence in the team and will put the players in the right frame of mind for our next home game against Burnley.

The players will get a couple of extra days rest thanks to the game being switched to a Monday night due to the demands of Sky TV again. 

A win against Burnley would be very big indeed. They have already begun to pick up and will be formidable opposition for anyone this season. They may have lost Danny Ings during the summer, but Sam Vokes and Andre Gray will provide enough menace to worry most championship defences.

Will Monday nights game see Joey Barton make an appearance? Whatever people's thoughts are on the often troubled player, he is a talent and an asset ability wise in this division. 

Paul Clement may have a few important decisions to make himself. As he has shown, he's not afraid to swap things around. Should George Thorne, Chris Baird and Craig Bryson be fit, he will have something Rams! tough choices to make in midfield. That said most people would be surprised to see Jacob Butterfiled and Bradley Johnson omitted from the starting line up.

One thing is for sure and that's that our defence and holding midfielder will have to be on top of their game. You can't afford to give players like Vokes and Gray half a chance.

Hopefully our next appearance in front of the TV cameras will end better than the last couple of times. You Rams!

Finally a Win.

The visit to Deepdale saw us finally pick up a win and get our season going. 

There was a lot if good football played in that first half and we deservedly led by two goals at half time. 

We won't see many better goals than the first. A superb pass by Johnny Russell picked out Chris Martin who slammed the ball into the corner of the net. 

The second was a brilliant free kick as Martin moved on to four goals for the season. 

Whilst it was great to pick up the three points, what we must remember is that we did allow Preston to get back into the game in the second half. 

Preston are a newly promoted side and we face much tougher tasks starting with an away visit to Reading. Also Monday next we host Burnley. 

What we achieve against these two teams will be a pointer towards how good our team really is. 

To have ambitions of automatic promotion wins really are what we should be aiming for. Although it's early in the season, failure will indicate that we still aren't at the level needed to avoid the play offs if we are indeed a top six side. 

Both Burnley and Reading will be in the mix at the end of the season and we don't have a great recent record against either side. 

We have a great squad on paper, but matches are won on the pitch. We usually dominate possession, but it's no use having the ball unless you are going to make it count. 

What will be interesting is to see who takes the holding midfield role with Geirge Thorne and Chris Baird unlikely to be available. Perhaps a chance for Jamie Hanson again?

Two very tough games, let's see if we are up for them!

Derby Delights

We my be enjoying an international break at the moment, but the club have been very busy in many different areas.

First of all local entrepreneur Mel Morris took full ownership of the club. The self made millionaire who is also a genuine fan, bought out G.S.E. to become sole owner.

G.S.E. have had their critics over the years, however most of us were eventually won over when they put the club back into a healthy financial state.

A special shout out to Brett Wilson who often interacted with fans.

The transfer deadline day proved to be one of the most interesting in years for Rams fans. Not only was the signing of Jacob Butterfield secured for £4m, but a bonus was the unexpected capture from Norwich of Bradley Johnson for £6m.

Mr Morris certainly hasn't wasted any time in opening his wallet. Such was the surprise in adding Johnson to the playing staff, Norwich fans were left agasp on social media and many vented anger at the decision to cash in on him.

Away from the first team news, fans then were treated to the announcement and unveiling of a Dave Mackay statue. A special memorial to a man who was a legend both as a player and manager at Derby. Fantastic to see such a fitting tribute to the great man who passed away earlier this year.

Finally, the inevitable third kit was revealed to fans. A Sky Blue based outfit that has largely got the thumbs up from the fans. Do we really need one is the question that comes to mind when you see the colours of the away kit?

Frustrating Times

Well we head into the international break still waiting to record our first win of the season and hovering just above the drop zone.

Of course it's pretty pointless looking at the league table until a dozen games have been played and I suspected that we might have to wait until mid September before we saw the team start to play its best football. 

That said, the matches played so far have exposed a large hole in the squad that was created on opening day when Will Hughes got injured. We have so far failed to replace him and his contribution to our attack is missed more than many may have thought it would be. 

Without him we have looked pretty toothless going forward and we have gone from being one of the most feared teams going forward to one that has been easy for teams to contain. 

The Tiger has turned into a pussy cat! His link up play with our attack is being missed big time.

Since that opening day game at Bolton, we have failed in our attempts to bring someone in to fill the gap left by Hughes.

Obviously with teams knowing how much our needs are, prices will be inflated. Bids for Jacob Butterfield, Alex Pritchard on loan and Michail Antonio have been rejected. Antonio is never going to be sold to us by our biggest rivals anyway..

I would also suggest that maybe a right back should be on the shopping list. Chris Baird is better suited to the holding role in midfield and if George Thorne picks up an injury, that is where he will be needed. Neither Cyrus Christie or Ryan Shotton look to be a solution in that role.

Obviously our fans are getting very frustrated at the lack of a win and victory is a must over the next couple of games in my opinion.  Paul Clement couldn't have chosen a more demanding job for his first attempt at running a team. 

A club like Detby County where fans expect promotion from which is arguably the toughest division to get out of in Europe is in reality a real leap into the deep end. A win soon is a must because apart from expectations from the stands, the man himself needs that confidence booster.

We head into the international break and hopefully when we resume league action, a couple of signings will have been added to the squad. If not, we face a difficult run in the next series of matches. 

Draws All The Way

Since last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Charlton we have seen two more games finish with exactly the same scoreline. 

Both against Middlesbrough and at Birmingham we dominated possession but failed to capitalise on our retention of the ball. We are currently not clinical enough in front of goal and hopefully over the next few games our strikers can regain the touch that saw them filling their boots last season. 

Two areas of great concern is the Right Back position and midfield. With the season only just started we have seen Will Hughes, Craig Bryson, Jamie Hanson and Jeff Hendrick join the injured list. 

Chris Baird has subsequently moved into midfield leaving Cyrus Christie and Ryan Shotton to battle it out for the Right Back spot. 

Personally I can't see either of these two being the long term solution. There is genuine need for a quality player and until one is added to the squad we will struggle against pacy left wingers. 

Craig Forsyth has stepped it up in his last couple of games and for me there isn't even a question to be asked when it comes to choosing between Forsyth and Warnock for the Left Back slot. 

Obviously midfield will need addition(s) but our options up front should see us scoring more goals than at present. Darren Bent has yet to get going. Andreas Weimann is still settling in to a new club and Chris Martin is obviously a little rusty after missing most of last seasons run in. 

So far the big pluses for me has been the form of both George Thorne who oozes class and Jason Shackell who in my opinion will justify every penny spent on him. 

Tom Ince had a very good game at Birmingham and we need players like him to shine if we are to pick up a win when we face Leeds. 

Home Opener

Saturday saw our opening home fixture of the season against a determined Charlton side. Whereas many fans will be disappointed in only picking up one point in a match that we were for long periods the better side, a big plus was a much improved performance.

Jamie Hanson came into the side for only his third ever senior start and he didn't let us down.  In fact, young Hanson put in a very mature performance and was many people's choice as man of the match. That accolade did go to his midfield partner George Thorne in most newspaper reports and deservedly so.

A very commanding performance from Thorne showed us what we were missing last season. Hopefully he can avoid injury for the whole of this campaign as he brings so mch class to the team.

Jason Shackell again proved to be very solid in defence and it was great to see Chris Martin open his account by scoring the equalising goal after Charlton had gone ahead just after the break against the run of play. Th ball played through by Hanson was nicely tucked away by Martin whois now edging towards fifty goals for The Rams.

It will be interesting to see what line-up Paul Clement pick for the visit of Middlesbrough tomorrow night. Jamie Hanson certainly justifying another pick, but will he tinker with the attack?

Perhaps Andreas Wiemann may just get the nod ahead of Johnny Russell.

'Boro visit us having reacorded an emphatic 3-0 victory over Bolton on Saturday. They will include a certain David Nugent who does have a good record playing against us.

What on paper looks like one of our hardest home games of the season, has come early and we will have to be on our guard from the off. A victory against them will be a good pointer towards us having a good season. Let's hope that we are up for the challenge.