I can't really remember much about the first time I went to Pride Park. I know the Rams were in the Prem at the time and it was an afternoon game. I specifically remember standing outside and looking around at the much larger scale of everything, especially the stadium which was so much grander than the old BBG.
There was so much more space and so many more club employees, from car park attendants to gatemen and stewards. It was the money that must be involved in such an operation, that so impressed this accountant's mind as I could almost sense it flowing out of the club's coffers.
The costs of doing business can't always be reduced as quickly as revenue drops off. I remember with absolute clarity the thought that jumped unsolicited into my head, taking me completely by surprise: "If we ever get relegated, we're in trouble."
Unfortunately DCFC was relegated but Prem contracts still had to be paid, even when all the Prem paying spectators are no longer coming through the gate and TV money is not flowing in like it once did.
Make no mistake; the Rams set up is designed for Prem football and because of that we are losing millions every season that we play in the Championship.
There is only one solution that is palatable to Rams fans and to the board as well: the Rams have to get promotion; sooner rather than later. It was never stated of course but I think that for the board this is the season the Rams have to go for it.
Even before the Forest game there must have been an uneasy sense that one more season was about to slip away; that the incremental year after year improvement approach was not bringing promotion much closer.
Clough must have been skating on thin ice for some time; things happened too quickly after the Forest match for it to be otherwise; and unless there was a sudden and dramatic improvement, the change would be made.
After the Forest defeat Clough had to go.
It was already decided that Steve McClaren would be the new man. Some fans complained about the way the sacking was handled but there is really no way to elegantly sack a high profile football club manager. Not when several million people around the world are aware of the Clough name.
It was a shock to me, just as it was to every other Rams fan, but it quickly sank in that the board had done the right thing and it pretty much had to be this way.
Will McClaren take the club to where Pride Park dictates that it has to be?
None of us know.
The season itself is now beginning to look quite a bit more interesting, although at 1-4 last Tuesday evening, there was plenty of room for doubt.
But after the impressive victory over Leeds on Saturday, I for one am a bit more hopeful.