I've got my toes and fingers crossed!!
6 defeats on the bounce. 5 of the opponents were Wednesday currently 10th. Bristol 8th, Watford 9th, Leeds 1st and Sunderland 4th.
Next up is Sheff U, 2nd, (H) and anything from that would be a bonus. After that we have 16 more games.
Norwich 11th
Oxford 16th
QPR 13th
Millwall 14th
Boro 6th
Blackburn 7th
Coventry 12th
Plymouth 24th
PNE 15th
Swansea 17th
Burnley 3rd
Pompey 21st
Luton 23rd
WBA 5th
Hull 19th
Stoke 20th
Not the hardest of runs in with just 4 of the top 10. Going on the basis of our having been in most games this season and only being crap in 4 or so, it's far from a lost cause. Salvesen provides a goal threat we haven't had so far this season. We still have to wait and see what happens in the transfer market between now and Monday evening. We'll then have a better idea of what the squad looks like. Even then, it will be pure speculation as we don't know if any newbies we get will fit in straight away or if we'll get more injuries.
Keep them all fit, get the rub of the green from refs and their assistants, have new players gel.... every reason to remain somewhat confident of survival. Of course, they could all get injured or suspended and we fall apart. We don't know. The Derby roller coaster thunders on and it has no idea where it's going and neither do we. Hop aboard and enjoy the ride.
I've got my toes and fingers crossed!!
Thought I'd have some fun and predict what Derby will get from these matches, anyone else is welcome to join in and then when we are celebrating having survived in the championship come may, we will see who got the most right.
I can't recall which are home or away, other than Norwich is away and Oxford home.
Norwich 11th - D 1pt
Oxford 16th - win 3pts
QPR 13th - win 3 pts
Millwall 14th - draw 1pt
Boro 6th lose 0 pt
Blackburn 7th - lose 0 pts
Coventry 12th - win 3pts
Plymouth 24th - draw 1pt
PNE 15th - win 3pts
Swansea 17th - win 3pts
Burnley 3rd - lose 0 pt
Pompey 21st - win 3 pts
Luton 23rd - draw 1pt
WBA 5th - lose 0pts
Hull 19th - draw 1pt
Stoke 20th - win 3pts
[QUOTE=swaledale;40652667]Thought I'd have some fun and predict what Derby will get from these matches, anyone else is welcome to join in and then when we are celebrating having survived in the championship come may, we will see who got the most right.
I can't recall which are home or away, other than Norwich is away and Oxford home.
Norwich 11th - D 1pt. A. L 0 pts
Oxford 16th - win 3pts H. W 3 pts
QPR 13th - win 3 pts A. D 1 pt.
Millwall 14th - draw 1pt H. D 1 pt
Boro 6th lose 0 pt. A. L 0 pts.
Blackburn 7th - lose 0 pts H. W 3 pts.
Coventry 12th - win 3pts H. W 3 pts
Plymouth 24th - draw 1pt A. D 1 pt.
PNE 15th - win 3pts. H. W 3 pts
Swansea 17th - win 3pts A. D 1 pt.
Burnley 3rd - lose 0 pt H. L 0 pts
Pompey 21st - win 3 pts. A. D 1 pt.
Luton 23rd - draw 1pt. H. W 3 pts
WBA 5th - lose 0pts. A. D 1 pt.
Hull 19th - draw 1pt. A. L 0 pts.
Stoke 20th - win 3pts H. W 3 pts.
There you go. Homes and Aways added. You reckon 26 more points (53) I reckon 24, (51). Touch and go.
Last edited by ramAnag; 04-02-2025 at 05:24 PM.
Positional updates..
Norwich 8th
Boro 7th
Blackurn 5th
Coventry 11th
Burnley 2nd
Pompey 20th
WBA 6th
Hull 21st
Stoke 18th
Without going into detail, we need a mid 20s return from these games. If we don't get that we're down and will deserve it.
Too soon to call, so many unknowns!
How well will the newbies integrate and adjust to the demands of the Championship, how long will it take to mould a revamped team, what will the injury situation be, can we up the goals for tally, will the fans stay patient if results stay iffy or will the anti Warne brigade turn the atmosphere toxic!
One hopes we can turn things around but history shows it ain't easy!
Looks very interesting with both ends of the table, Sheff Utd, Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have created a gap and only 2 from that 4 will get automatic slots. Then from Westbrom in the current last play off slot, right down to QPR there is only 4 points that separate 8 teams. So with 13 or 14 games to be played, there will be very few games classed as dead rubbers.
Looking at the fight at the other end, there looks like 9 teams that are currently in the battle to avoid the bottom 3 slots. With Oxford on 38 points to bottom club Luton on 27. Luton I feel are doomed, with 14 games left, the most defeats and 8 matches to play against teams all in with a chance of promotion. On top of this their goal difference is -22, which is like an extra point against them. Their away form will surely sink them, with 13 defeats and only 1 win. Plymouth whose form as picked up of late, still have the worse goal difference of -32. They have 7 of the top half teams to play and are still in the FA cup. Their next 2 games are Luton away and Cardiff at home and they still have'nt won away. Hull City have lost the most home games so far this season (8) and still have 8 away games to play out of their 14 remaining matches. Cardiff City who went through January undefeated in 7 games have now started to look vulnerable again. They have 8 fixtures against the half teams, 4 against teams in the top 5 slots and boast the 3rd worse goal difference -19. Stoke City have probably the hardest run in, with 9 games against teams in the top half which includes playing Leeds and Sheff Utd prior to their last game at Pride Park. And only Hull have had less home wins this season than Stoke. Portsmouth I feel are in a better position than their other relegation rivals, even though they have lost 11 away games I feel their home form will keep them up. But they still have 7 games against top half teams, so with a -14 goal difference they still need to find more wins. Swansea City seem to currently on a bad run of form and if it continues could find themselves in a battle to survive. They also have 7 games against top half teams in their 13 remaining matches. Oxford who have only won one of their last 6 matches and have also only won one away game, have 10 games against the top half teams in their remaining 13 matches. So they are not safe yet with their other 3 games against relegation rivals Hull, Cardiff and Swansea.
The RAMS Only have 13 games left, 7 home, 6 away but only have 5 matches against teams at the top half of the table. So it looks like their battles will be against the teams around them, with Plymouth, Swansea, Pompey, Luton, Hull and Stoke to get ***** points against.
I'm sticking with Luton and Plymouth to still go down, but the 3rd slot rests with any of the others. We need a win to turn our confidence around and with 4 of our next 6 games at home we need to take hold of our early season form now.
Last edited by MadAmster; 16-02-2025 at 10:14 AM.