Matchday Thread: Derby v Cambridge

[MadAmster]

The shortsightedness of the average fan. We've brought in players with recent serious injury issues. Pre season before anyone had been signed there was a list of available players. I highlighted the injury issues and many thought I was being harsh. Elder now needs surgery. Embleton too. Others we brought in have also been injured again. Disallow Wigan's winner, and it should have been and grant us the 2 penalties were were, wrongly denied at Bolton and deny them their incorrectly given one and we would now be 3rd. Half the squad is new and it hasn't come together quickly whereas Pompey's 14 new signings appears to have gelled quickly. It happens.

IMO, we looked a team against Cambridge and it was the best 90 minutes of football we've played this season so far. However, it was a case of close but no cigar. They came with a game plan which they executed very well. Many looked at the fixture and thought we'd waltz over "little old Cambridge". They are behind us on GD and are not going to be blown away. There are those elsewhere on social media saying we should win the next 2 games easily. Cheltenham away on Saturday should be a win. They have just the one point and no goals. Typical DCFC banana skin but we should get the 3 points. Blackpool away tomorrow? They are a point ahead of us. Won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. That is not going to be the cakewalk many seem to think it will be (social media in general not specifically here). 4 points from the 2 games would be good, all 6 would be an excellent performance.

So many Derby fans need to have a good long think about where we currently are and stop expecting us to hammer sides who are around us in the table. This squad is still in the "slowly coming together" stage. 27000 gates don't mean you're going to hammer every opponent. Fans online seem to forget that there are 11 opposition players on the park who are intent on getting at least a draw out of the game. Big crowds or the fact "we are massive everywhere we go" don't guarantee a win or a performance.

Realism seems to have died out.

[Ramshank72]

I’m honestly not sure why you’re ‘okay’ with a ‘mid table finish’. That’s going backwards.
PW said he regarded last season as a ‘failure’ and only last week he suggested he didn’t want us to have to travel up to Carlisle again next season.
If he’s going to share such raised expectation he surely needs to back it up with evidence of some progress. There’s plenty of time to turn this season round so it’s not all doom and gloom. Just one chance taken yesterday and things might look a whole lot different, but to me it’s the same two problems that were identified months ago...lack of a finisher and a leader.

I'd already mentally prepared myself for it. I respect that I may be in a minority.

[Geoff Parkstone]

The shortsightedness of the average fan. We've brought in players with recent serious injury issues. Pre season before anyone had been signed there was a list of available players. I highlighted the injury issues and many thought I was being harsh. Elder now needs surgery. Embleton too. Others we brought in have also been injured again. Disallow Wigan's winner, and it should have been and grant us the 2 penalties were were, wrongly denied at Bolton and deny them their incorrectly given one and we would now be 3rd. Half the squad is new and it hasn't come together quickly whereas Pompey's 14 new signings appears to have gelled quickly. It happens.

IMO, we looked a team against Cambridge and it was the best 90 minutes of football we've played this season so far. However, it was a case of close but no cigar. They came with a game plan which they executed very well. Many looked at the fixture and thought we'd waltz over "little old Cambridge". They are behind us on GD and are not going to be blown away. There are those elsewhere on social media saying we should win the next 2 games easily. Cheltenham away on Saturday should be a win. They have just the one point and no goals. Typical DCFC banana skin but we should get the 3 points. Blackpool away tomorrow? They are a point ahead of us. Won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. That is not going to be the cakewalk many seem to think it will be (social media in general not specifically here). 4 points from the 2 games would be good, all 6 would be an excellent performance.

So many Derby fans need to have a good long think about where we currently are and stop expecting us to hammer sides who are around us in the table. This squad is still in the "slowly coming together" stage. 27000 gates don't mean you're going to hammer every opponent. Fans online seem to forget that there are 11 opposition players on the park who are intent on getting at least a draw out of the game. Big crowds or the fact "we are massive everywhere we go" don't guarantee a win or a performance.

Realism seems to have died out.

Well said

[Andy_Faber]

The shortsightedness of the average fan. We've brought in players with recent serious injury issues. Pre season before anyone had been signed there was a list of available players. I highlighted the injury issues and many thought I was being harsh. Elder now needs surgery. Embleton too. Others we brought in have also been injured again. Disallow Wigan's winner, and it should have been and grant us the 2 penalties were were, wrongly denied at Bolton and deny them their incorrectly given one and we would now be 3rd. Half the squad is new and it hasn't come together quickly whereas Pompey's 14 new signings appears to have gelled quickly. It happens.

IMO, we looked a team against Cambridge and it was the best 90 minutes of football we've played this season so far. However, it was a case of close but no cigar. They came with a game plan which they executed very well. Many looked at the fixture and thought we'd waltz over "little old Cambridge". They are behind us on GD and are not going to be blown away. There are those elsewhere on social media saying we should win the next 2 games easily. Cheltenham away on Saturday should be a win. They have just the one point and no goals. Typical DCFC banana skin but we should get the 3 points. Blackpool away tomorrow? They are a point ahead of us. Won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. That is not going to be the cakewalk many seem to think it will be (social media in general not specifically here). 4 points from the 2 games would be good, all 6 would be an excellent performance.

So many Derby fans need to have a good long think about where we currently are and stop expecting us to hammer sides who are around us in the table. This squad is still in the "slowly coming together" stage. 27000 gates don't mean you're going to hammer every opponent. Fans online seem to forget that there are 11 opposition players on the park who are intent on getting at least a draw out of the game. Big crowds or the fact "we are massive everywhere we go" don't guarantee a win or a performance.

Realism seems to have died out.

You're talking optimism/whatifism not realism

Whats real is that since March my season ticket has bought me 7 goals in 10 games, thats getting on for £50 a goal, and that's both sides of the McGoldrick era. PW's now had two windows to get it right

[Geoff Parkstone]

You were lucky. Look on the bright side Andy. Chelsea fans have barely seen a goal since Christmas and their season tickets cost nore than double your one

[ramAnag]

The shortsightedness of the average fan. We've brought in players with recent serious injury issues. Pre season before anyone had been signed there was a list of available players. I highlighted the injury issues and many thought I was being harsh. Elder now needs surgery. Embleton too. Others we brought in have also been injured again. Disallow Wigan's winner, and it should have been and grant us the 2 penalties were were, wrongly denied at Bolton and deny them their incorrectly given one and we would now be 3rd. Half the squad is new and it hasn't come together quickly whereas Pompey's 14 new signings appears to have gelled quickly. It happens.

IMO, we looked a team against Cambridge and it was the best 90 minutes of football we've played this season so far. However, it was a case of close but no cigar. They came with a game plan which they executed very well. Many looked at the fixture and thought we'd waltz over "little old Cambridge". They are behind us on GD and are not going to be blown away. There are those elsewhere on social media saying we should win the next 2 games easily. Cheltenham away on Saturday should be a win. They have just the one point and no goals. Typical DCFC banana skin but we should get the 3 points. Blackpool away tomorrow? They are a point ahead of us. Won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. That is not going to be the cakewalk many seem to think it will be (social media in general not specifically here). 4 points from the 2 games would be good, all 6 would be an excellent performance.

So many Derby fans need to have a good long think about where we currently are and stop expecting us to hammer sides who are around us in the table. This squad is still in the "slowly coming together" stage. 27000 gates don't mean you're going to hammer every opponent. Fans online seem to forget that there are 11 opposition players on the park who are intent on getting at least a draw out of the game. Big crowds or the fact "we are massive everywhere we go" don't guarantee a win or a performance.

Realism seems to have died out.

I’m sorry MA (and GP)...I ALWAYS take notice of what you have to say about DCFC and I’m not sure if you’re criticising my (and AF’s) opinions or those from other areas of social media which I don’t follow.
I appreciate that you spend an enormous amount of time and money following Derby however what you, GP and (I think) Swale have in common is that you actually attend Pride Park relatively rarely...maybe half a dozen times a season between the three of you.
I’m not criticising any of you for that, it’s entirely circumstantial, but maybe you could all spare a thought for the long suffering faithful at PP for whom the last 7-8(!) months have been pretty dire.
What you’re talking about isn’t ‘realism’...it is, as AF suggests, ‘whatifism’. IMO there is no reason for a place within the top six not to be a ‘realistic’ aspiration this season. We are, or were, the bookies favourites and we have a manager who repeatedly talks up the the possibility of promotion.
Unfortunately I am getting to the stage where I can only whole heartedly agree with AF’s definition of ‘reality’. I really want things to work out under Warne...sadly, throughout virtually the whole of 2023, I just haven’t seen much/any evidence of that being likely to happen. Happy for anyone to provide grounds for optimism.

[MadAmster]

You're talking optimism/whatifism not realism

Whats real is that since March my season ticket has bought me 7 goals in 10 games, thats getting on for £50 a goal, and that's both sides of the McGoldrick era. PW's now had two windows to get it right

No, Andy, I'm not talking "optimism/whatifism". I'm talking about the masses on various social media sites complaining because we didn't hammer Cambridge. A team who are only behind us on GD. They executed their game plan very well. They were expecting us to give Cambridge a good whupping. Very good team performance that only lacked goals. Those same folk are now expecting us to walk all over Blackpool tomorrow. A team who are 1 place and 1 point above us in the League who won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. They certainly forget that the opposition has 11 players hell bent on doing their level best to, at the very least, not lose to DCFC. Hammering teams you are level with is not something that happens that often. The fact that we have Moor Farm, which is a great place to train and coach, and a cracking ground with a class pitch does not guarantee us 3 and 4 goal wins. The people to whom I refer expect exactly that.

[MadAmster]

I’m sorry MA (and GP)...I ALWAYS take notice of what you have to say about DCFC and I’m not sure if you’re criticising my (and AF’s) opinions or those from other areas of social media which I don’t follow.
I appreciate that you spend an enormous amount of time and money following Derby however what you, GP and (I think) Swale have in common is that you actually attend Pride Park relatively rarely...maybe half a dozen times a season between the three of you.
I’m not criticising any of you for that, it’s entirely circumstantial, but maybe you could all spare a thought for the long suffering faithful at PP for whom the last 7-8(!) months have been pretty dire.
What you’re talking about isn’t ‘realism’...it is, as AF suggests, ‘whatifism’. IMO there is no reason for a place within the top six not to be a ‘realistic’ aspiration this season. We are, or were, the bookies favourites and we have a manager who repeatedly talks up the the possibility of promotion.
Unfortunately I am getting to the stage where I can only whole heartedly agree with AF’s definition of ‘reality’. I really want things to work out under Warne...sadly, throughout virtually the whole of 2023, I just haven’t seen much/any evidence of that being likely to happen. Happy for anyone to provide grounds for optimism.

Read my reply to AF. Very many fans on Social Media have lost all touch with reality. Decent performance from us at the weekend. All that was missing was a goal. That was caused by Cambridge defending very well, very organised and very disciplined. Our best 90 minutes of the season IMO. Those complaining on several platforms are aghast that we failed to hammer a side only below us in L1 on GD. They are saying the team was awful at the weekend. I totally disagree having seen it live on RamsTV. It fell down on an old Rams disease, the lack of the right final ball. The rest of our game was good. 3rd clean sheet on the bounce. Defence sorted. Now to sort the rest out. Not going to be an easy job but things are looking up.

Disallow Wyke's 2nd in the Wigan game, give us the 2 penalties we weren't given and relegate theirs to the free kick outside the box it should have been and we would be 3rd now rather than 12th. Despite some iffy performances which haven't been helped by injuries meaning regular changes in team selection we have done enough to be at the sharp end. Two refereeing "performances" have seen us down at 12th. Had those decisions gone our way, as they should, the moaners would, in the main, be shouting "Derby are massive everywhere we go" from the rooftops. The margins are fine and many simply don't appreciate that. When we're crap, I'll say so and have done on a couple of occasions this season. I'll repeat, IMO Saturday's game was our best 90 minutes of the season thus far. It's not all sweetness and light and I don't claim it is but it's also not the doom and gloom FB, X etc are full of...

Seriously contemplating going to Burton Rugby Club on the 14th to watch the game now the Charlton game is off. See some old teammates from school...

[swaledale]

Hang on...last year we finished a creditable, if ultimately disappointing in the circumstances, 7th. Even you have to admit that we are in a better financial situation this year, with fewer restrictions, than last...so how is it ‘realistic’ to accept mid table or, by implication, unrealistic to expect an improvement on last season?

I agree it’s good to see that we are no longer leaking goals and I’ll accept that successful teams know how to ‘win ugly’...we aren’t though...at least not at home...and that is the point.

No rA your point was we lack a finisher and I clearly explained that why we hadn't managed to get one in, or at least not one that has manged it consistently as yet. Yes we are in a better financial situation, but that guarantees absolutely nothing ( as not too distant experiences with Mel Morris's millions should tell you)and we are still not in a position to go out and buy a proven goal scorer at the £1-2 million that would entail.

I know I keep repeating the fact that it took Ipswich and Sunderland 4 seasons to get out of this league, without the financial restrictions derby are currently operating under, but I do it to stress the point that whatever yours and other fans expectations, nothing in football is a given and ultimately its a fine line between success and failure.

Is it unrealistic to expect an improvement on last season? Well the honest answer to that is I hoped for one, but wouldn't be disappointed if there wasn't one. I'm happy we have an owner who isn't making any rash promises other than to set the club on a financially sustainable footing and work towards getting promotion.

If your asking for a prediction, then I am confident that we will get in the play offs this year, some of those teams above us will fall away and I've seen enough to think we can improve and the run of injuries must surely end at some point.

By the way i think its 4 games unbeaten now, so a foundation is being built, we just need to start putting chances away.

[swaledale]

The shortsightedness of the average fan. We've brought in players with recent serious injury issues. Pre season before anyone had been signed there was a list of available players. I highlighted the injury issues and many thought I was being harsh. Elder now needs surgery. Embleton too. Others we brought in have also been injured again. Disallow Wigan's winner, and it should have been and grant us the 2 penalties were were, wrongly denied at Bolton and deny them their incorrectly given one and we would now be 3rd. Half the squad is new and it hasn't come together quickly whereas Pompey's 14 new signings appears to have gelled quickly. It happens.

IMO, we looked a team against Cambridge and it was the best 90 minutes of football we've played this season so far. However, it was a case of close but no cigar. They came with a game plan which they executed very well. Many looked at the fixture and thought we'd waltz over "little old Cambridge". They are behind us on GD and are not going to be blown away. There are those elsewhere on social media saying we should win the next 2 games easily. Cheltenham away on Saturday should be a win. They have just the one point and no goals. Typical DCFC banana skin but we should get the 3 points. Blackpool away tomorrow? They are a point ahead of us. Won 0-1 at Barnsley at the weekend. That is not going to be the cakewalk many seem to think it will be (social media in general not specifically here). 4 points from the 2 games would be good, all 6 would be an excellent performance.

So many Derby fans need to have a good long think about where we currently are and stop expecting us to hammer sides who are around us in the table. This squad is still in the "slowly coming together" stage. 27000 gates don't mean you're going to hammer every opponent. Fans online seem to forget that there are 11 opposition players on the park who are intent on getting at least a draw out of the game. Big crowds or the fact "we are massive everywhere we go" don't guarantee a win or a performance.

Realism seems to have died out.

I couldn't have put it better myself MA.

We are not doing as well as we might of hoped, but 4 unbeaten suggests we are getting the defensive side sorted (watch us ship goals now I've said that) and I'm optimistic that we will get the rub of the green, stop suffering injuries and start scoring goals.