Stuniverse

Wednesday 5th October 2022 Middlesbrough 1-0 Birmingham City - Championship [Note: I was actually at the Riverside Stadium to check on Krystian Bielik, our player who is on loan to Birmingham. Krystian put in a solid, if unspectacular performance. He looks to have completely recovered from his ACL injury]. --

Tuesday 4th October 2022 Derby County 1-3 Cheltenham Town - League One (12) I'm starting to wonder how many mirrors I've broken or ladders I've walked under. I can't believe the last few minutes of that game. We started slowly, looked nervous and edgy, and Joe Wildsmith made a couple of fine saves, but then we eased into the game and took control. We took the lead on 34 minutes, David McGoldrick won the ball in midfield, Conor Hourihane's pass found Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who ran into the penalty area, looked to cross low for James Collins, but Taylor's attempted incerception sent the ball past his own goalkeeper (1-0). On the stroke of half-time we were so close to doubling our lead but, Southwood, in Cheltenham's goal, made an incredible double save to first deny Nathaniel and then Tom Barkhuizen. In the second-half we continued to control the game. Jason Knight hit the post and on 60 minutes, Max Bird threaded a pass through to Collo, who chipped Southwood as the goalkeeper dived at his feet, but the ball bounced back off the crossbar. 85 minutes and we got caught on the counter-attack and Olayinka equalised (1-1). We went more Attacking and changed to a 3-2-5 Wide. And then Louie Sibley had to go off with a twisted ankle leaving us with 10-men as we'd made all our substitutions. Conor Hourihane gave the ball away on 96 minutes and that cost us as Brown put Cheltenham ahead (1-2). We had to chase the game then and left ourselves short at the back when Sercombe added a third for Cheltenham (1-3). I'm not daft, I know that this is a results business, and a lot of eyes will be staring at us now. All we can do is work hard on the training ground at Moor Farm and do our best to turn our fortunes around.

Tuesday 4th October 2022 Pre-game: Cheltenham Town (Home) - League One (12) Of course, it's not helpful for a former Rams player to be criticising us in public but Paulo Wanchope is entitled to his opinion. He is right though, we do need to start turning these draws into wins or we will lose touch with the teams in and around the playoffs. Already we are four points behind the final playoff spot so it's important we start winning again, and winning soon. Our home game against second-bottom Cheltenham Town is a good opportunity for us to get a win but we will need to improve on our recent performances in front of goal. Injuries Lewis Dobbin twisted his ankle in training and faces a few weeks on the sidelines. Team News Craig Forsyth has hung up his boots and will be a big miss to us, but we are in talks to keep him at the club in some capacity. Jake Rooney and Will Osula still aren't ready to play a full 90 minutes. And, our recent free agent signings will be unavailable until we can register them on the 1st of January. All four of them got a run out in the U21s last match.

Sunday 2nd October 2022 Nunn snubs Maidstone

Saturday 1st October 2022 Buxton loan Ibrahim

Saturday 1st October 2022 Potential Bogle windfall awaits Derby

Saturday 1st October 2022 Cambridge United 1-1 Derby County - League One (11) Frustratingly, annoyingly, our games are starting to follow a familiar pattern. We score first, we create further chances but cannot find a second goal, then we concede an equaliser against the run of play. And it happened again against Cambridge United. We have to find away to break that pattern. We took the lead on 21 minutes, Cambridge cleared the ball long, James Chester won the header on the halfway line, Conor Huorihane played the ball out wide, Tom Barkhuizen crossed low from the right, and James Collins opened the scoring with a well-timed first time shot (1-0). 57 minutes, Ironside was played through, he ran between Chezzy and Eiran Cashin, and he slotted the ball past Joe Wildsmith (1-1). 66 minutes, Conor's free-kick and Barks's header grazed the top of the bar. 85 minutes, Lewis Dobbin curls a shot wide.

Saturday 1st October 2022 Pre-game: Cambridge United (away) - League One (11) Cambridge United are 6th, three points better off than us (although we do have a game-in-hand), so we'll be doing everything we can in an attempt to win the match and close that gap. Injuries It was a sad day for all of us when Craig Forsyth announced his retirement from playing. When he first did his ACL, for a mad fourth time, I tried to talk him into reconsidering. Craig's now had a few weeks to think about it, discuss it with his family and medical professionals, and I respect his decision. Team News With Fozzy retiring, we only have Curtis Davies on the long-term injury list as a number of players have regained their match fitness during our break from competitive action. We still have three who aren't ready to play a full 90 minutes yet. We were thrilled to welcome four new faces to the club but we won't be able to register them to play until the next registration window. So, for now, they will train with the first team and be available for the U21s. -- [Note: I assume the next registration window will be January to align with the next transfer window].

Saturday 1st October 2022 Monthly Reports Results Board Finances Dynamics Supporters

Friday 30th September 2022 Maidstone take Robinson on loan

Tuesday 27th September 2022 Forsyth hangs up his boots

Monday 26th September 2022 Cove Rangers loan Lo-Everton

Friday 23rd September 2022 Derby sign free agent Robson-Kanu

Friday 23rd September 2022 Dixon joins Darlington on loan

Friday 23rd September 2022 St. Albans loan Solomon

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Wizz is back! Derby sign free agent Wisdom

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Derby snap-up free agent Gordon

Wednesday 21st September 2022 Hector-Ingram returns to Derby

Tuesday 20th September 2022 Derby County 2-2 Mabchester City U21s - Papa Johns Trophy Nortg Group F (2) Derby County win 9-8 on penalties That was an amazing game and I'm so proud of the players. To be 0-0 at half-time, to go 0-2 down just three minutes after the restart, you could forgive them for feeling sorry for themselves, but there was none of that, heads didn't drop, they fought back to 2-2, finished the stronger, could have won it. And then did win it in the penalty shootout. And what a shootout! We went first and scored nine out of nine penalties, Man City U21s scored eight out of eight before Joseph Anang made the crucial save to win it for us. The first-half was the opposite of a thriller, both teams cancelled each other out, and neither goalkeeper had anything to do. Man City U21s came out for the second-half like a freight train. Hamilton made it 0-1, then Charles made it 0-2. We made some substitutions to put a bit more experience on the pitch and we began to wrestle control of the game away from Man City U21s. 62 minutes Korey Smith passed out wide, Lewis Dobbin hit a low cross from the right, Collins scored with a clever shot (1-2). 68 minutes and Dobbs and Collo combined again for our equaliser (2-2). 82 minutes, Collo heads Joe Haigh's free-kick onto the roof of the net. 83 minutes, Haigh's cross, Dobbs heads wide at the far post. 90 minutes, Haigh's low cross, Osazee Aghatise shoots straight at the goalkeeper. And then there was that incredible amazing penalty shootout. 17 consecutive penalty goals and then Joseph saves Galvez's penalty and we've won. It was a very special evening for our young players. The only downside was losing Kwaku Oduroh to a shin injury, but he'll only be out for a few days. We now have 10 days until our next match, away at Cambridge United in the league, so we'll give the players a few well-deserved days off and then we'll go again.

Tuesday 20th September 2022 Pre-game: Manchester City U21s - Papa Johns Trophy North Group F (2) It's not very often we get to play a Premier League U21 team so this is going to be a very interesting cup game. As we both won our first Group Game - Manchester City U21s beating Grimsby Town 2-0, and us winning 2-1 against Mansfield Town - it means whoever comes out on top will be as good as guaranteed qualification from the Group. It's a game Kwaku Oduroh is really looking forward to as he joined us from Manchester City U21s in the summer. Injuries Team News We will also be without Tom Barkhuizen who is away on international duty with South Africa.

Saturday 17th September 2022 Derby County 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers - League One (10) Boy did we need a win... and I'm delighted that we were able to beat Wycombe Wanderers in front of our brilliant fans inside Pride Park. It was a tight, tense game. To be honest, I thought we were comfortable throughout, and Wycombe Wanderers didn't really trouble Joe Wildsmith in our goal but, because we didn't score the only goal until late on, you just never know. I thought the players were terrific today. They defended well. They created a number of chances. And they were patient, trusting that if they did the right things, and continued to do the right things, the result would come. And, fortunately, it did. In the first-half, David McGoldrick, James Collins, Conor Hourihane from a free-kick, Lewis Dobbin, and Tom Barkhuizen all had chances to score. Wycombe didn't create much at all and their goalkeeper, Stryjek, had to produce two great saves from Collo to keep the score goalless. After the break there were very few chances, at either end, and that's why I'm so proud of the players for remaining patient, trusting their instincts, and not panicking or rushing as time ticked away. Didzy had a good opportunity but Stryjek closed him down and bravely dived at his feet to block his shot. And then, 79 minutes, we got our reward for being patient and keeping plugging away. James Chester played the ball out wide, Barks ran down the right wing, struck a low cross into the six yard box, and James Collins right place, right time, turned the ball home. On 87 minutes we made some substitutions to bring on fresh legs and went Very Defensive. We kept Wycombe at arms length and nearly grabbed a second goal on 90+4 minutes, when Joe Haigh crossed from the left and George Nunn headed wide.

Saturday 17th September 2022 Pre-game: Wycombe Wanderers (Home) - League One (10) We need to get our league campaign back on track - particularly after our poor showing against Lincoln City in midweek - and a home game against Wycombe Wanderers gives us a great opportunity to do that. Although we're 13th, the League Table is incredibly close and a win would see us go above Wycombe who currently sit in 6th place, two points ahead of us. I understand there's been some bad relations between the two clubs in recent seasons, between Wycombe's owner and our previous owner, but that is all in the past and, I'm sure, will have no bearing on this match or its outcome. Injuries The bad news continues as Louie Sibley pulled a calf muscle against Lincoln City and Will Osula strained his neck in training. Team News All in all we have six players ruled out with injury and it's unlikely we'll risk Richard Stearman who's still recovering from a sports hernia. We're also a striker down as we agreed to loan Bartosz Cybulski to St Albans City before Will Osula strained his neck. So we're down to the bare bones again but will look to put together the strongest team and matchday 18 that we can. After the Wycombe game, we have our next Papa Johns Trophy Group game on Tuesday, but then we have a break of 10 days before our next game due to the postponement of the Cheltenham Town game. Hopefully that will give us time to get some of the walking wounded back. And who knows, we may even have some new faces in the squad by then as we're currently in talks with a few free agents.

Saturday 17th September 2022 Cheltenham game rearranged

Saturday 17th September 2022 St Albans loan Cybulski

Thursday 15th September 2022 Osula injured