Maybe the Nigel knockers will smell the coffee now , no money, no deadwood , good spirit , good footy , good future

Yanks out

Don't tell Dave, Nigel has Knockers.......

Jeepster

Smell the coffee? Why on earth do you try and antagonise people?

All you are doing is draw out the negative at a time when everyone wants to be positive! You should be ashamed of yourself and your "told you so" reactions.

I will say, now you've chucked the bait down, it's a 46 game season, where overall over the previous 3 seasons, and this one, we've massively underperformed under THIS manager, hence the reason people 'knock' Nigel... perhaps in the same way Nigel 'knocks' the players he feels are underperforming.

Give it a couple of weeks until Negative Nigel puts everyone behind the ball and we have another mini-plummet down the table!

Now look, you've set Mostyn off!

Anyone know who scored in the U18S?

Jeepster

And the club financially secure.

"Give it a couple of weeks until Negative Nigel puts everyone behind the ball and we have another mini-plummet down the table!"

Not the most positive statement from someone wanting to be positive.

The only people at the club who aren't positive are the board.

GSE OUT!!

Mostyn - you're "massively" exaggerating again!
Who says we have massively underperformed apart from you (and 666 of course)?
If you look at how much has been spent on players/squads at clubs above and below us, I reckon we are about where we should expect to be. Of the 11 teams above us, 9 have spent considerably more than we have on their squads with only 2 (Hull and Leeds) that I'm not sure about but are roughly similar to us.
Below us, Burnley Ipswich Forest and Portsmouth have squads which cost more than ours AND/OR are costing a lot more in wages.
All in all, while our season has certainly not been spectacular or an "over acheivement", it has been one of considerable progress at considerably less cost.
Only the most stubborn anti-Nigel campaigners would deny that.

If you put Forest, Palace and Doncaster together you probably couldnt get a team of 11 to beat say Southampton
When I hear Clough on about his target of 60 points it grates me! Why would anyone set a target to be average?!?!?
If you were able to ask Gus Poyet what Brightons target was before the season kicked off I very much doubt it would have been mid table
It shocks me to see how eaisily pleased some Derby fans have become when people get excited because were 12th in the secon tier

Iwas - I know what you mean but, as I've said before, we need to differentiate between GSE as day to day "financial directors" of the club and as a conduit for "investors".
On a day to day basis, they have put the club on a sound financial footing seen as a blue print for all Football League clubs to aspire to.
In spite of several gripes, I'd be happy for them to stay on as directors IF, that is, they are able to raise some more money from the investors which might allow Nigel a genuine chance to buy the 2/3 players we are short of - in time for next season hopefully!
This has been their shortcoming but, as the US/Canadian economy is supposed to be picking up and I dont think we need to spend stupid amounts to acheive this, I think we need to see the colour of their money sooner rather than later.

Bush

I think Clough was saying that the NEXT target from where we are now is 60 points. I doubt if that is the extent of his or anybody's ultimate hopes. If we are improving, surely that is a good thing, and hopefully we will improve some more.

Remember Peter Taylor coming to Derby as manager? He had the kind of ambition you like-he promised he would get us out of the second division in no time at all.

And he did.......

Vidal
It wasnt really hard to improve on the last two seasons. I'm not a want it right now kind of fan and I dont think I'm being unrealistic when I say that a club of Derbys stature with no debts other than the mortgage should be aiming for a top six finish

As for progress next season, I cant see it to be honest with no proven players being signed AGAIN, we cant even keep our own proven players in Green

I agree really with what you say, Bush, of course our aim is promotion, but realistically at the moment our only hope of achieving this is the slow brick-by-brick approach. Until we are able to shell out for quality we are relying on those players that we have continuing to improve, and the pace of this is bound to be slow.

I don't think it is a case of being "happy" or "excited" about it, just recognising the situation for what it is at the moment and taking some solace from those improvements to the club that can be seen.

Are we not supposed to bring better players in than we already have? Surely that's how to run a football team, and the way forward for promotion, but sadly we're not doing it!

Let's wait n' see (I am!)...we're not THAT far short - better left back and a "proven" goalscorer (though Theo & Davo do keep scoring...). I keep reading we need a MF general, who do people propose leaving out, Bryson or Hendrick?!!

The trouble is Mostyn , you have dug yourself a massive great hole you cannot crawl out of ,oh it must hurt to see the Rams doing well and the proper fans enjoying it !!!!!!!

GK: Fielding , Legzdins
RB: Brayford , Naylor
CB: Barker () , Shackell , O'Brien , Buxton , Addison
LB: ? , Roberts
RW: Ward , Maguire
CM: Bryson , Hendrick , Bailey , Hughes
LW: Tyson , B Davies
CF: ? , S Davies , Theo , Ball

The debate is about Nigel Clough and the great job he is doing , the fact we spend nowt is down to the bloodsuckers, give Nigel credit under the circumstances.

Yanks out

Clough has said he already has a centre-back in mind to bring in, maybe even two! Even when Addison leaves, we seem to have plenty of cover, especially when you think that Brayford has done well there previously. I suupose we are heavily reliant on Shackell as our main man in central defence, and if he were to get injured we would look distinctly lightweight with any combination.

Who do you think we might want as a centre-half? Chambers is available on a free Is he good enough to keep Barker's shirt warm until he returns?

Zak Whitbread FREE or Jody Craddock FREE

Craddock's a bit ancient, Whitbread's decent though.

Talikng of ancient, don't be surprised if Clough makes a FIFTH attempt to sign Big Steve Howard in the summer. We tried again in January, Steve wanted to sign but Pearson said no. If it happens, would this mean Ball being loaned out for a bit of regular footy?

And don't shoot the messenger, by the way.

One of them would do for me, Milfage. Or a young premier league defender on loan for the season to cover Barker until (fingers crossed) he's back. Similar to when we bought Tomkins in on loan.

Also I do think Roberts has been very solid these last few months. Funny his contract is up though...

I'm not convinced by Bryson to be honest. Everyone seems to rave about the lad, but he goes missing far too often for me.

Bryson goes missing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!

!

Surely, surely you jest Serial!

Nope. Don't get me wrong, the intent and commitment is there, but far too often he's chasing shadows.

I have no idea why he was MOTM against Forest. Utterly bizarre.

I think an experienced campaigner like Craddock would be perfect for us for a season whilst Barker gets fit.