The lot of a football fan is not generally a happy one. In addition to all of the physical discomforts of following the lads, the best we can generally hope for is that the club — any club — will not mess things up too badly, and will keep the calamities that befall us to manageable proportions.
For this reason alone, Rams fans should be happy this week. Saturday was a good day; the Rams won a difficult game at Reading handily, while keeping another clean sheet. Forest and Norwich both lost against mediocre opposition, while Charlton also lost and Wolves could only draw.
Tuesday was another good day, with Forest drawing against Watford, Middlesbrough losing and Norwich only managing a draw. The result of this is that the Rams are top of the division for the first time since January 2007; the Billy Davies promotion season almost eight years ago.
Nobody needs me to remind them of the bad days during those eight years, but there have not been all that many good ones, so let’s enjoy this week. I’m not counting any chickens, or saying that promotion is assured; only that these are the times we should enjoy.
I was sitting at home after the Blackpool match and enjoying a couple of adult beverages, when an unfamiliar thought popped into my mind; Chris Martin is the best Rams signing since… who?
I’ve lamented a number of times in this column that the Rams have made a habit over the years of signing players who turned out not to be good enough. There have been an awful lot of them.
There have been some good ones, but in the last forty or so years, the Rams have signed few players that have electrified the team the way Martin has. The two names that occurred to me were Kevin Hector and Roy McFarland.
I’m not saying Martin does or does not deserve to be mentioned in that company; only that you have to go back that sort of distance to find a similar managerial master stroke. Certainly it has been a long time since we thought any Rams player was the best signing since more than a few months back.
While we are handing out plaudits, we should be sure to recognize again the contribution Steve McClaren is making to our club. Managers get sacked when things are not going well, and Nigel Clough’s dismissal was no different. Clough did leave a squad packed with talent, but it was seriously underperforming. Steve M’s accomplishment in reaching Wembley last season after a poor start, and in topping the table this season, should be cheered loudly and often by Rams fans.
So what of the Rams? How good are we and are we likely to stay in the top two until the end of the season?
Certainly this division is looking at the moment to be very different to the way it was last season. I don’t see any clubs dominating the table in the way Leicester and Burnley did last season, unless it were to be the Rams.
Watford, Middlesboro and Wolves all seem to have had a lot of draws and narrow wins. That said, the Rams have yet to play Watford, Middlesboro, Wolves or Norwich, so we need to play a few of those matches before we make any firm judgments. The Rams play Wolves and Watford in November, Middlesboro and Norwich by Christmas; so we will know a lot more in another two months.
On Saturday the Rams play Wigan, who have not won in their last eight league games. Wigan have scored only four goals in six away matches, so we can see where their problems lie. McManaman is their most likely scoring threat with four in ten starts. At the same time Watford plays at Middlesbrough which might tell us a bit more about both of those teams.
The Rams, of course have won four of their last five league matches, picking up 13 points and not conceding a goal. If the Rams continue to play as they have been, we should see a result and hopefully see a gap begin to open up between them and the chasing pack.