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Derby fans, as many are no doubt aware, are drawn from two camps – the ‘blind faithers’, for whom the glass is always half full going on brimming over, and the ‘wrist-slashers’ who reckon that, irrespective of the volume contained, the stem will break any second. There is seldom any overlap – wrists, once slashed, stay slashed.
Blind-faithers of a certain age can trace their residence in that camp back to the day that Brian Clough left for pastures new and Dave Mackay achieved the impossible – in the short-term anyway – of actually improving upon perfection. This last eleven months, though, has left even those of insanely cheerful and totally unrealistic optimism severely strained.
An awful lot of league matches have been played since that glorious Pride Park evening in September 2007 when The Rams signalled their real arrival in the Premier League with a thoroughly deserved 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, thanks to a quite wonderful volley by Kenny Miller. Since then – a big fat nothing. A handful of draws, a league cup win and more unwanted records than you can shake a stick at.
Discarded piles of multi-coloured underpants, a distinct tic upon catching sight of a solitary magpie and changing the sequence in which Rams badges are pinned to bobble hats in a vain attempt to halt the dreadful sequence are the standard stock-in-trade of the disillusioned blind-faither. Temporary relief comes from watching ‘Groundhog Day’ more times than Bill Murray has had February the Seconds, and almost as many times as Derby have played since that last league win.
For those who have never seen the film, Murray’s character Phil Connors is an arrogant, self-centred and extremely cynical TV weatherman who is cursed to live the same day – Groundhog Day – over and over again. He wakes up in the same hotel room at the same time on the same day to Sonny and Cher’s “I got you, Babe” dirge, irrespective of what he may have done the previous day. Even death brings no release – the next morning, he is resurrected.
Connors gradually starts to change aspects of his character, but progress is slow – the easy option is taken too often and disaster follows. Every morning he wakes up as before – in the same bed to the sound of the same inane
chirping from the disc-jockey on his radio alarm clock calling all and sundry to Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney to witness the Groundhog - and he experiences that same terrible, sinking feeling that it is just impossible to shake off.
So it is with Derby fans at the moment – an endless cycle of misplaced optimism, disappointment, disillusionment and despair. So much has changed at Pride Park since the last win – and so little. A new manager has taken up residence as has a whole raft of new staff, a new board of directors, a busload of new players, new sponsors, new shirts, new beer, a re-laid pitch, the stadium has seen a lick of paint and some fans have taken to ‘encouraging’ the team by booing at least one of them even before a ball has been kicked. For all this, nothing seems to have changed where it matters – on the pitch.
Phil Connors eventually looks inwardly, hates what he sees and decides to try his guts out at absolutely everything he does, to do the best he can in all circumstances, putting himself on the line in order to help others without fear of the consequences. Eventually he succeeds and February the Third arrives. The added bonus is that he wins the heart of Rita (Andie MacDowell).
Derby’s players could do with taking on board a similar attitude, although Ms MacDowell is probably unavailable. There is no point whatsoever in playing with fear – as opposed to fire – in your bellies. That’s the way you have played for the last 35 games, and it’s won you fame for all the wrong reasons. It is irrefutable that Derby have more skilful players than Saturday’s opponents Barnsley, but skill is utterly useless without effort. In order to earn the right to use your skill, you have to out-fight the opponents from start to finish on every blade of grass.
Fight for yourselves, fight for each other, fight for the manager, fight for the supporters – but above all, fight for the shirt. The loyal fans of Derby County will be behind you every step of the way, but you must want it more than anything you have ever wanted in your life before. Show the appropriate effort, wear your heart on your sleeve and you will be roared home. If you don’t, it will be Groundhog Day – again! To join RamsTrust, go to www.ramstrust.org.uk or write to RamsTrust, PO Box 6377, Derby DE1 9XP or telephone 0870 4321871 and leave a voicemail message.
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