Ramming Our Way Back Among the Best: A Tale of the Rejuvenation of Derby County

[Jamesveekay]

James Kaligis Appointed as The Rams Manager

Due to undisclosed reasons, Steve McClaren has left his position as Derby County manager. The Rams chairman, Andrew Appleby, has insisted that there is no dispute prior to the former England national team manager's resignation, and all is well between McClaren and the Derby County board.

To fill the void left after McClaren's departure, Derby has made a truly unexpected move by appointing the relatively unknown English-Australian manager James Kaligis, particularly considering Derby is pushing for promotion in order to return to the Premier League after a lengthy period of absence. This is Kaligis' first step in football management but according to Appleby, Kaligis has the full backing of the Derby County board in bid for a successful pursuit of promotion, saying that they "wouldn't have chosen him if they don't trust his ability as a manager".

When asked about his thoughts on accepting the Derby job, Kaligis replied, "Derby County is a club that is undergoing a big project in progress, and I am excited by the prospect of what this club can achieve looking at the quality of the players and the backroom team. We can go far if we put our heart into it."

On the chances of Derby achieving promotion this season, he answered, "The season hasn't even started, so I wouldn't say whether we will be able to promote or not. All I can say is that we certainly have the quality to compete with this league's best and it's up to us to realise the potential that we know we possess. A playoff spot is certainly a realistic target; but if we can surpass it, why not go the extra mile?"

Derby would certainly hope this is the year they finally return to the Premier League after missing out on promotion despite finishing in third place last season. Whether or not Kaligis is able to lead Derby to promotion, only time can tell.​

 

[SamPeters]

It should be easy for you with Derby, they have a great squad and were so unlucky last season, they dominated us in the play offs and they also did it to QPR but good luck

 

[Jamesveekay]

It should be easy for you with Derby, they have a great squad and were so unlucky last season, they dominated us in the play offs and they also did it to QPR but good luck

Thanks! I surely hope it really isn't that hard since it's my first time managing a small team. I've actually finished playing the first competitive month and will be posting the update soon, but I'll post in chronological order.

 

[Jamesveekay]

Pre-Season

I have a really low transfer budget, with only 2.5 million to spend. Loaned Luke Garbutt from Everton as Derby only has one left back. Levi Ives is one for the future. Chris Eagles was available on free transfer, so I just snapped him up because he is a relatively better winger than what I have in my disposal. Loaned Blackett to replace Zak Whitbread as I don't think he's good enough. Josh Lelan is a young English defender but I don't see him as a part of this club in the long-term. Paul Coutts was one of the weaker wingers in the team, so he needs to go as I have Eagles as replacement.

The team was still shaky in the first two games, but finally found our game in the last 3 games, decimating our lowly opponents. If I learnt anything from the pre-season games, it's that Luke Garbutt is a more than accomplished crosser. His crosses are really accurate, finding his target more often than not. Will be using him as my first-choice left-back. Main goalkeeper Lee Grant was pretty unconvincing, but I will trust him as my number one for now. We only recorded one clean sheet throughout the pre-season, but ironically it was the one game where the backup goalkeeper, Kelle Roos, played. Johnny Russell and Leon Best impressed me, so I will be looking to play them as my main strikers throughout the season.

Shaun Barker, the original captain, will be out injured for the next half a year and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, I am switching the captaincy over to his vice, Richard Keogh. The new vice captain would be Craig Bryson.

All in all, I'm happy with how the pre-season went, and I'm ready to start Ramming ahead!​

 

[Jamesveekay]

August

Very pleased that we managed to avoid defeat the whole month, but worried by the fact that we squeezed out some of our victories and that we went behind first in a whopping FIVE matches out of seven. That may show our resilience to salvage something in matches but that also deprives us of clean sheets and if we want to cement our place among the top teams, we need to cut out the goals conceded because as they say, you won't lose if you don't concede. This month reminds me of 2012/13 Manchester United, the "comeback kings". Hopefully we can get our first official clean sheet soon.


Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 6-1 Rotherham United

What a start to the season. I really thought we were off on the wrong foot in the league when we concede within 10 minutes, but the lads showed incredible resilience to score 6 goals in response. Russell started at left wing but became more effective after being moved centrally when Leon Best was subbed off due to his lack of mobility that somewhat hindered our play. In a nutshell, brilliant performance.
Man of the Match: Richard Keogh, but Johnny Russell was given the same rating

Capital One Cup 1st Round
Chesterfield 1-2 Derby County

Tried Louis van Gaal's 3-4-1-2. Could have won with a bigger margin and really should have gotten a clean sheet.
Man of the Match: Jake Buxton

Sky Bet Championship
Sheffield Wednesday 1-4 Derby County

Great to see the brilliant goalscoring form of the club. Craig Forsyth is naturally a wing-back but I played him as a left winger. Had some great movement inside the box and connected well with Garbutt's crosses. Again, somehow a clean sheet eludes us.
Man of the Match: Craig Forsyth

Sky Bet Championship
Charlton Athletic 2-3 Derby County

An inspiring and enthralling come-from-behind victory. 2 goals down and subbed Ryan Shotton off at half-time due to his lowly 5.4 rating, we scored 3 in the second half to produce a valiant comeback. Russell finished off Garbutt's cross, Forsyth received a brilliant forward lob by Garbutt and crossed to Ibe at the far post, and Russell nodded forward Lee Grant's goal kick to release the unmarked Best who blasted a half-volley to complete the comeback.
Man of the Match: Michael Morrison (Charlton Athletic)


Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 1-1 Fulham

Conceded first once again. We finally dropped points for the first time this season as our lack of penetration and inability to finish off chances costed us 2 points that day. Down 0-1 by half-time, yet another brilliant cross from Garbutt found the unmarked Chris Eagles at the far post 7 minutes to the end of the match. Omar Mascarell, on loan from Real Madrid, was sent off a minute before the end of 90 minutes, but we managed to hold on to salvage a draw.
Man of the Match: Dan Burn (Fulham)

Capital One Cup 2nd Round
Derby County 2-1 Portsmouth

Too close. Way too close. Nobody scored until substitute Johnny Russell did at 68 minutes and we thought we were on the verge of progressing, but Ryan Taylor had another plan as he equalised in injury time and forcing extra time, to my disbelief. Striker Chris Martin (not the Coldplay vocalist) scored his maiden goal of the season 9 minutes into extra time to regain our lead, but the injury of Ibe and Bryson reduced us to 9 men since all 3 substitutions were made before extra time and my heart beat at its fastest for the entire second half of extra time. Well, we're still through. On to the third round. Against Middlesbrough, fellow promotion contender. Oh joy.
Man of the Match: Jeff Hendricks. By a mile.

Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 2-1 Ipswich Town

Another day, another comeback. Both goals were rebounds of Garbutt's efforts, so they were counted as his assists. Johnny Russell (who else?) cancelled out Kilgallon's opener through a close-range strike after Garbutt's long shot from outside the box ricocheted off the far post and fell to Russell's feet. Garbutt's free kick was saved, but the rebound fell to Forsyth, who sealed our win with his third goal of the season. Dominated the game thereafter, but the score stayed at 2-1 until the final whistle.
Man of the Match: Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)


Current Standings

Not a bad start considering the media predicted us to finish 9th. Norwich was predicted to win the league but have stuttered so far. Middlesbrough somehow manages to keep a clean sheet for all 5 league matches and hence, beating us to first place on goal difference despite scoring 4 less goals than us. Johnny Russell is the joint-top goalscorer of the league so far with 5 goals to his name along with 2 other players, and Luke Garbutt is the sole leader of the league assists chart with 5 assists.

Derby County
Player of the Month

LUKE SAMUEL GARBUTT
Average Rating: 7.70

It's been an incredible month for the 21-year old. He has provided 5 assists so far for his teammates and that has proven crucial in our bid for promotion. To me, he's going to be the next Leighton Baines and may be called up to the senior England national team sooner rather than later if he keeps his performance up.


Next Month...

Six more games await us. Four of them are played away from home, so we need to be at our best to gain as many points as possible as well as to progress to the next round of the Capital One Cup. A realistic goal for the next five league games would be at the very least 9 points, but we will, of course, aim to win every match.


Until next time, see ya!​

 

[Jamesveekay]

September

Five wins out of five in the league! Two of them are comebacks, and I still can't understand why my defence is still leaking. Is it my players? Is it my system? Well, I'll look at my team again and I'll try to figure out what's wrong because ONE clean sheet in THIRTEEN games is ridiculous, especially if I want to challenge for the title. Yes, the title. Looking at where we are at now, with only 2 points dropped so far in the league, you have to admit we're capable of being title contenders. We're out of the Capital One Cup, though, which is sad. There's still FA Cup, so I'm aiming for a decent run there.



Sky Bet Championship
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Derby County

Same old, same old. Another win from behind, and Garbutt's cross assisted a goal. Chris Eagles headed in that cross from point-blank range, and substitute Leon Best finished off a rebound from Craig Bryson's attempt from long range to bring 3 points to iPro Stadium. Lee Grant made some crucial saves in order to keep us in the game; he really have upped his game since pre-season. Chris Martin didn't look sharp today; not that he ever did. Probably I should have started Best to replace Russell, who just returned from injury. If he doesn't impress me soon, he's likely to leave at the end of the season.
Man of the Match: Craig Bryson

Sky Bet Championship
Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Derby County

This is actually my second time playing this match, the first time being before my house's electricity died. That ended 3-3, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise!
Anyway, Leon Best was ineligible as he was loaned from Blackburn. Two of my best players, Garbutt and Russell, underperformed tonight, but I believe they'll bounce back better than ever. Chris Eagles scored the only goal in the game through a beuatiful free kick. Blackburn could have equalised if Jordan Rhodes' goal wasn't ruled out for offside. Not the win I had in mind, but a win is a win.
Man of the Match: Chris Eagles

Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 2-1 Cardiff City

The team really need to step up their game because even though we've been winning, we've scraped most of them and I'm afraid that even a slight dip in performance will cost us points, and eventually the promotion. Leon Best opened the scoring by blasting the ball past David Marshall's near post in a really tight angle. Richard Keogh brought Kenwyne Jones down in the penalty box and Peter Whittingham successfully converted the penalty to equalise. Another brilliant Luke Garbutt cross found Johnny Russell, who nodded the ball in to seal our victory.
Man of the Match: Peter Whittingham (Cardiff City)

Capital One Cup 3rd Round
Middlesbrough 3-2 Derby County

Exactly what I feared. Our lack of ruthlessness in front of the goal caused us to crash out of the cup. Garbutt gave us the lead with his first goal of the season, but two second-half Middlesbrough goals put us on the back foot until Chris Martin's penalty forced extra time to be played. The foul leading to the penalty left Jamie Ward injured, so we played with 10 men for the entire extra time as all subs were used beforehand. Jordan Jones' goal was really a kick in the teeth as I feel we didn't deserve to lose. Well, this marks my first defeat as Derby manager, and I'll work harder to ensure that a second won't happen anytime soon.
Man of the Match: Dean Whitehead (Middlesbrough)

Sky Bet Championship
Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Derby County

These comebacks are getting old, aren't they? Craig Davies gave Bolton the lead two minutes after Luke Garbutt saw red, but Chris Martin saved the day by bagging a brace. He equalised four minutes after Davies' goal with a screamer from the edge of the penalty box, and his fluke goal 12 minutes later brought 3 points back to Derby. Even though winning with 10 men is nice, we really should have scored before the red card. All in all, a very unconvincing win.
Man of the Match: Chris Martin

Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 5-3 Bournemouth

This must be a really tense match for the neutrals. We scored 5, which is great, but conceding 3 against a team in the relegation zone is borderline unacceptable. We scored two quickfire goals in the first 5 minutes, which gave me a good feeling for the match, but Callum Wilson quickly pulled one back. After those three goals in the first 15 minutes, no goals were score for almost an hour until Wilson equalised and four other goals, including Wilson's third, soon followed. Our defence hasn't really performed up to standard, so if we do get promoted next season, I really need to bolster the backline to compete with the big boys.
Man of the Match: Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)


Current Standings

We're 5 points clear! Middlesbrough drew and lost once each this month, and I managed to get the full 15 possible points. I'm really excited about what this team can achieve and with the correct addition and sales next season, I'm pretty sure we'll do even better.

In other news, Tyler Blackett and I received our awards!

For me, I'm sure this is my first of many, but I believe some of my players will win future awards this season.


Derby County
Player of the Month

CHRISTOPHER MARK EAGLES
Average Rating: 7.60

The Manchester United youth product has been superb this month. Contributing down the wing, he has scored 2 goals and made 3 assists this month. Currently one of my key players, I'm hoping of more of the same from him.

Next Month...

Only four games to be played, so we can finally get some rest in between matches and I can field a full team for each match. Is it too ambitious to aim for full points? Well, just to be realistic, I'll aim for a minimum of 9 points. I'm just hoping to cut out those comebacks and really dominate to win matches.

Until next time, see ya!
​

 

[Jamesveekay]

October

Perhaps aiming for full points was a bit overboard after all. We managed to reach our target of 9 points, though, so that's a good thing. Started off the month well but we were back to our decent-at-best performances in the last three matches. Injury was a big factor, though, as I had at least three players, aside from George Thorne and Shaun Barker who have long-term injuries since the start of the season, unavailable for most of October. Hopefully, everybody can return to full fitness sooner rather than later as I'm approaching the halfway point of the season.


Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 4-0 Millwall

Our second clean sheet and our third big win of the season. We only had 50% of ball possession, which is not a lot, but when we have the ball, we pressed forward with clinical passes and clever movements which gave the Millwall defence a tough afternoon. Chris Eagles' first goal was a brilliant team effort, as Jeff Hendrick played a lobbed pass to Craig Forsyth on the left wing, who then crossed to Eagles at the far post to finish from a tight angle. The penalty kick resulted from Millwall's Shaun Williams' shove on Johnny Russell as the latter tried to head the ball, and Mascarell struck the ball with venom to the keeper's bottom left corner. Shaun Williams' night went from bad to worse as he chested Garbutt's cross into his own goal. Eagles then wrapped up the match with a masterful free-kick from 25 yards out, earning the man of the match award.
Man of the Match: Chris Eagles

Sky Bet Championship
Reading 2-1 Derby County

Our first league defeat finally came. The forwards' performances left much to be desired as we needed to rely on Ryan Shotton to score the consolation goal. Reading were pretty rough on the pitch as they picked up four yellow cards, but that seemed to work for them, so they won't have any reason to change their play soon. Hal Robson-Kanu was simply too much for us as he scored a brace against our hapless defence.
Man of the Match: Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading)

Sky Bet Championship
Blackpool 2-3 Derby County

Instead of being a comeback win, I was actually worried that we would throw away a 3-goal lead and come home with less than 3 points. Until the hour mark, we completely dominated the match by fluid ball play from the midfield. Ibe opened the scoring by finishing a rebound from Hendrick's effort, which was saved by Blackpool goalkeeper Joe Lewis. After a few more attempts, Hendrick finally scored, also a rebound, but this time from Chris Eagles' free-kick which bounced off the crossbar. Jake Buxton scored a decent header from Eagles' free-kick past the out-of-position Lewis. As I thought it would be an easy 3 points for us, Blackpool scored 2 goals in as many minutes to leave us with a narrow win. A win is a win, as they say, but I'm still a little bit annoyed by those quickfire goals.
Man of the Match: John Lundstram (Blackpool), despite Hendrick having the same rating.

Sky Bet Championship
Derby County 2-1 Wigan Athletic

We could have won with a bigger margin if not for the great goalkeeping form from Wigan's Ali Al-Habsi. That aside, I'm happy that Russell scored again after registering only one goal in the previous six matches. Hopefully he still has a lot more goals in him, because he will be a vital part in our pursuit of the Championship trophy. Anyway, back to the match, Best scored an easy goal into an empty net as Wigan's poor clearance bounced off Jeff Hendrick and fell to Best when Al-Habsi and the defenders were still out of position. Then, Hendrick regained possession with a brilliant tackle and passed it through to Jamie Ward, who crossed to the far post where Johnny Russell finished with an acrobatic volley. Adam Forshaw pulled one back with a brilliant header from a corner kick, but it only proved to be nothing more than a consolation goal.
Man of the Match: Adam Forshaw (Wigan Athletic)


Current Standings

It's been a phenomenal run for a team touted to finish 9th, with only 5 points dropped out of a possible 42. We're 5 points clear at the top now, but there's still more than half a season to play, so there's no reason to slack off. Middlesbrough and Watford are diligently picking up points and are breathing down our neck, so we need to keep pushing for victories, no matter how ugly. There are still some injury problems to be solved, so until we're back to full fitness, the others must step up and claim a spot on my starting XI.


Derby County
Player of the Month

JEFFREY PATRICK HENDRICK
Average Rating: 7.53

What a month for the Derby academy product. he's been breathing down Craig Bryson's neck to be the team's main box-to-box midfielder. If he keeps his performance up, the vice-captain will have to settle for only a place on the bench. He's been so good, Sky Sports are pressuring the Ireland national team to call him up despite playing outside the top flight. As his coach who observes his every move in the club, I couldn't agree more. In his current form, he's probably good enough to play for a mid-table Premier League team.


Next Month...

Five league games are in store for us. Three of them are away games and one of those are against Watford, a fellow title contender, so we need to be at our best. I'd say we can realistically get 10 points out of 15 next month. It's been a great run, and I don't intend to hit the breaks yet. Hopefully we can maintain the form even with a few unavailable players.

Until next time, see ya!​

 

[Jamesveekay]

If there are people following my story, I apologise for the late update. I was just being a bit lazy even though I had nothing much to do.

Also, I'm thinking of changing the format of the updates. Until now, I've been updating on a monthly basis. However, I'm thinking of giving match-by-match updates in the form of match reports like those you see at Sky Sports, Bleacher Reports, BBC Sports, etc. because I wanna improve my article writing skills. A few people have been praising me for my introduction article and I'm thinking that that's what I want to work on. What do you think? If you think monthly reports are good enough, then I'll reconsider it. However, if you want to see more articles like what I wrote as my introduction, I'll change the format as described. There would still be a monthly summary, though, with the temporary league standings and player of the month included. Looking forward for your comments. Thanks!

 

[reubomad]

Boo!!!!
No but seriously good start, I will be following thins even if it pains me to do so ^^) I'm a forest fan if you're wondering!

 

[SamPeters]

Sorry just caught back up with this mate but for some reasons I cant see any of your screenshots? but looks like its going great so far

 

[Jamesveekay]

Boo!!!!
No but seriously good start, I will be following thins even if it pains me to do so ^^) I'm a forest fan if you're wondering!

Thanks! Hopefully Forest can get promoted along with us I just hope they won't prove to be a big obstacle in our bid for promotion!

Sorry just caught back up with this mate but for some reasons I cant see any of your screenshots? but looks like its going great so far

The pictures are displayed normally in my browser, so probably the problem lies with your computer? Sorry but i don't really know how to help you with this problem

 

[Jamesveekay]

Brentford 1-2 Derby County: Bees No Match For Rams

Man of the match Jamie Ward celebrates his goal with his teammates


Brentford has become the latest casualty of Derby County's incredible run in the Sky Bet Championship as two Derby goals either side of Tommy Smith's goal extend Derby's lead on top of the table to seven points. The game had had its rough moments, though, with each team picking up four yellow cards apiece.

The first half was goalless, but it was not for the lack of trying as both teams had their fair share of chances. Derby were saved from an early embarrassment as Tommy Smith's header bounced off the crossbar in the 6th minute, while Chris Eagles and Jeff Hendricks saw their effort saved by Bees goalkeeper David Button.

Jamie Ward broke the deadlock at 53 minutes with a brilliant team goal involving Mascarell, Eustace, Garbutt, and Russell. The left winger beat the offside trap, received Russell's pass, and blasted the ball past Button to give Derby the lead. However, despite saving Harlee Dean's long-range shot at 80 minutes, Derby 'keeper Lee Grant was unable to prevent Tommy Smith from scoring the rebound to equalise.

As Derby fans thought they would leave with a second draw of the season, Ryan Shotton came to the rescue as he connected with Eagles' corner kick and shot the ball in with 5 minutes remaining to bring 3 points back home.

Elsewhere, Middlesbrough returned home with only one point after a goalless draw against Rotherham United while Watford ran rampant as they demolished Millwall 5-1 with Troy Deeney bagging two goals.

This leaves Derby with 40 points, seven more than both their main rivals, Middlesbrough and Watford, who have 33 points each, with Middlesbrough ahead on goal difference.

MAN OF THE MATCH: JAMIE WARD​

 

[Jamesveekay]

Derby County 4-2 Huddersfield: Rams Came From Behind to End Terriers' 9-Match Unbeaten Run

Leon Best has now scored 7 goals in 8 Championship games


Leon Best and Chris Eagles both bagged a brace to mark the sixth match in which Derby clinched victory after conceding first. Derby has only kept a clean sheet twice this season, and their defence still looked unsure at times against Huddersfield.

Nahki Wells had Huddersfield's first real chance but his free-kick flew above the crossbar at 8 minutes.

Huddersfield immediately pressed again after Lee Grant's poor goal kick was intercepted by Danny Ward and Derby was forced to concede a corner, but Danny Ward headed Radoslaw Majewski's corner kick wide.

Chris Eagles then had the chance to put Derby in front after receiving a brilliant through pass from Jamie Ward, but his shot fell straight into the hands of Alex Smithies.

Jacob Butterfield then gave Huddersfield the lead with a powerful shot into Lee Grant's near post after Sean Scannell's pass beat two Derby defenders.

Craig Bryson then had a crack from outside the box at the 15th minute but his shot went wide.

John Eustace was brilliant again at the base of the midfield, recycling possession and provided a free space for Jeff Hendrick to control the ball and find Leon Best, who equalised with a shot from the edge of the box, beating the hapless Alex Smithies.

Seconds before the half-time whistle, Richard Keogh's clearance started a counter-attack, which ended with Hendrick finding the unmarked Chris Eagles, who scored to put Derby in front.

At 63 minutes, however, Lee Peltier finished off Paul Dixon cross through the confusion in front of Derby's goal to equalise.

Eagles then regained the lead with a fine piece of skill to get past Paul Dixon after receiving a pass from Leon Best, beating Smithies one-on-one.

Eagles then returned the favour by providing a brilliant cross which Leon Best finished to kill off the game.

With Middlesbrough drawing and Watford losing, The Rams are now 9 points clear on top of the table.

MAN OF THE MATCH: CHRIS EAGLES





​

 

[Jamesveekay]

First of all, if anyone is still following my story, I apologise for the inactivity of this thread. I've now finished the first season, but I won't reveal the result until later in this post to keep the suspense​

 

[Jamesveekay]

Oh man. This sucks. This really sucks.

I spent 4 hours typing that last post and when I clicked "submit reply", but what's above is the only thing posted. Can someone please help me with this? If not, I would have to retype the whole thing again.

Does anybody know what to do? Either way I would still post another one, whether I need to retype the whole thing or not. Thanks guys.

 

[DreamTempest]

Oh man. This sucks. This really sucks.

I spent 4 hours typing that last post and when I clicked "submit reply", but what's above is the only thing posted. Can someone please help me with this? If not, I would have to retype the whole thing again.

Does anybody know what to do? Either way I would still post another one, whether I need to retype the whole thing or not. Thanks guys.

Happened with me too though I "luckly" only lost an hour and a half. If it keeps happening I'd suggest you write your posts elsewhere (like Word) first and then just copy it over here. Can't help you recover it though.

 

[Jamesveekay]

First of all, if anyone is still following my story, I apologise for the inactivity. I've finished the first season, but I will only reveal the result later on.

Secondly, I don't think I can manage to keep updating on a match-by-match basis, so I will be reverting back to the monthly updates. If anyone liked the match report format, sorry; I have a life, too!


NOVEMBER

I know. I'm confused myself. How on earth did we suddenly lose twice in three games? To be fair, there has been many close calls and only a few games in which we really dominated, so the drop in form is somewhat expected. What I fear is, if we keep losing points, Middlesbrough and the other teams may just capitalise on that and grab the first place away from us. The fact that there hasn't been any game in which we didn't score is a bit of a relief, but we need to improve our defence soon or we're surrendering our position.


Player of the Month

JAMIE JOHN WARD
Average Rating: 7.30

Despite being a striker originally, I decided to use him mainly as a left winger with an Inside Forward role due to our lack of wingers. However, he has performed admirably with his movements on and off the ball. Whether he's cutting inside to score or staying out wide to provide crosses, Ward works diligently to help the team in any way he can.​

 

[Jamesveekay]

DECEMBER

Not a pretty sight, is it? Out of the same number of matches, we collected one fewer point than we did last month. Luckily, Middlesbrough didn't fare much better so we are still leading at the top of the table. Much work is needed, that's for sure; but with the second half of the season yet to be played, we aren't planning to give up the pole position. I know that much.

Player of the Month

JOHNATHON SIMPSON SNEDDEN RUSSELL
Average Rating: 7.20

He hasn't been that prolific in front of the goal as he did at the start of the season, but he is still an important member of Derby's offensive line by providing 2 assists in addition to his single goal in 4 matches this month. The drop in number of goals scored may be down to his role change from Poacher to Trequartista, but he has proved that as a striker, he is more than just goals. In a difficult month where most of us suffered, he emerged as the standout player.​

 

[Jamesveekay]

JANUARY

This month featured two FA Cup matches with distinct results but oddly, the same number of goals conceded. Bar that inevitable defeat against Chelsea, I'd say it's been a satisfying month after two months full of harsh results. As you can see, we've also kept our first back-to-back clean sheets, which is nice considering we only kept three in total prior to January.

Player of the Month

JEFFREY PATRICK HENDRICK
Average Rating: 7.48

The Irish midfielder has now officially kicked vice-captain Craig Bryson out of the starting XI, and rightly so. He has gone from strength to strength to be Derby's main box-to-box midfielder, and I can't see him dropping his form anytime soon. With three goals and one assist this month, he is in scintillating form.​

 

[Jamesveekay]

FEBRUARY

We started the month on the wrong foot, but a change from 4-3-3 DM Wide to 4-4-2 Attacking has worked like a charm bar the unfortunate draw. That 7-2 really came out of nowhere; Sheffield Wednesday didn't know what hit them. The addition of another striker has made our offensive line much deadlier, which is shown by the 21 goals scored since the change. However, I'm telling you; that last match was not healthy for my heart. I would've killed my players had they drop points from a 4-1 position. Luckily, Russell managed to keep their heads attached to their bodies.

Dude, I was kidding; don't take me seriously.

Player of the Month

JEFFREY PATRICK HENDRICK
Average Rating: 8.18

To be honest, the ratings this month are off the charts. Well, fine, technically they're still in the range, but just... just... okay??

There have been no less than 8 players achieving an average rating of at least 7.5, but Hendrick once again stood out among the rest. He is, at least to me, the epitome of a midfield dynamo; endless runs, great ball-winning skills, and an eye for long-range goals. You can say he's the Paul Pogba of Derby. He's already established himself as one of the first names in the starting XI, and at 23, he still has plenty of time to improve in the future, especially considering he would potentially gain Premier League experience. The question is, where's the Republic of Ireland national team?​