Shocking Rams hit new depths

On Saturday we decided to make a day of it and left Derby at 7.30 and headed for Blackpool. Whilst you were eating your cornflakes, we were playing beach football in force 5 gales.

As the incoming tide forced a premature conclusion to our game, we spent an enjoyable hour on the various amusements followed by one of the best seaside fish and chip dinners I've had for ages. We then set off for the JJB stadium and the day went downhill from there.   

Regular readers of this column will note that we've stopped writing too much about specific matches in recent months, preferring to focus on the bigger picture. Derby have been all but relegated since Christmas so we've tried to look at the bigger picture and focus on where it went wrong and how the future is pretty rosy for the Rams. However a performance like Saturdays cannot escape comment.

Quite simply Derby County were a disgrace. The game itself was awful but it was always going to be and thats not the point. Only Alan Stubbs and Roy Carroll came out with any credit as the Rams served up one of the most pathetic displays I have seen for a long time.

Some of our players just don't want play for us anymore (Barnes, Miller & maybe Ghaly), some were prematurely back form injury & at least 2 yards off the pace (Savage, McEveley) others are just plain not good enough (Fagan, Moore, Todd, Sterjovski). Based on Saturday, all of them appear not give a monkeys about Derby County or its supporters.

Everyone connected with the Rams wants this season over with ASAP. But there is surely a level of professional pride involved here. How can the same group who played so well against far superior teams in Man City and Spurs serve up such a shocking performance against a poor and nervous Wigan side that were there for the taking?  There's also the small matter of the 3,500 fans who probably spent £60 plus each travelling to see their team, but hey, who cares about them.

Getting back to beach football, in the final act of our game my mate spread the ball wide to my 6 year old son. He arrowed in a cracking first time cross which I let cross my body, before side foot volleying into the top corner. My son did a full body flip before I gave him a big ten. All outfield players then group hugged as the goalie retrieved the ball. If any member of Derby's team showed anything like this level of passion, we might be a bit better off.   

C Spaceram
www.ramspace.co.uk