Three consecutive defeats for the first time since John Eustace’s first three games in charge; this is the lowest ebb of the head coach’s Rams tenure. His side end a bruising week with two losses. To ten-man West Brom, who had not won at Pride Park in 23 years, and Birmingham City, in what was just the second loss in seven games where Eustace has faced a club he previously managed. That is not to say that the 46-year-old’s job prospects are terminal – he has brought Derby

Given his surname, maybe it should not be surprising that the way James Morrison’s Baggies side shut up shop on Wednesday night was supremely impressive. There was wave after wave of Derby pressure, with no real threat to Max O’Leary’s goal. West Brom remained steadfastly alert off the ball despite being a player down for over an hour. Unfortunately for John Eustace, possession does not win you points; 78 per cent in the second half would have easily secured all three if it

After Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at West Ham, John Eustace called for his side to have more belief. What better way to cultivate that than with a rallying cry as in Monday’s pre-match press conference? In the opening month of the season, the Rams boss has spoken regularly about the need to build confidence and chemistry in his ranks. After a tough afternoon in front of more than 60,000 fans in London, a week with back-to-back home games against West Brom and Birmingham City repr

Leading The Rams on their first trip to the London Stadium, it looked as though John Eustace had one plan in mind: keep it tight. Facing West Ham was always going to be a tough task. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side possess two starting centre backs bought for a total of £60m, and the Championship’s most expensive import after they signed Celtic’s Belgian midfielder Arne Engels for £25m. Then there's Jarrod Bowen, who really should be playing European football this season. But un

How’s that for a response? After the depths of Saturday’s dismal defeat to Swansea and fears of regression if new faces did not arrive Tuesday brought a glorious fightback. John Eustace’s “true warriors” secured a 2-0 win over Portsmouth. Nobody at Fratton Park embodied that spirit more than Lars-Jørgen Salvesen. He scored within three minutes of coming off the bench, just hours after rejecting a loan move and opting to fight for his place. Eustace told BBC Radio Derby:

What’s Welsh for Blaugrana? Between Swansea’s deep blue and red away kit, and the way they effortlessly knocked the ball around amid Derby’s calamitous defending, watching Vitor Matos’ men was like watching Barcelona. Okay, not quite. But witnessing the way that The Rams were toyed with on a grim Saturday afternoon will have left many fans at the end of their tether.

Steve Bloomer’s watching and not even gravity can hold us down. Back at Pride Park for the first time since Turki Alalshikh’s takeover collapsed, David Clowes is determined not to let that do so either. A blame game surrounding what Derby County’s reluctant hero called “the ultimate bombshell” which left the club “stunned” and “dazed” will not happen – “it serves no purpose”. His message in the first programme of the season: it is business as usual, he will back “ultimate p

For 15 excellent minutes, Derby were in complete control. Joe Ward was delivering dangerous crosses aplenty in acres down the right as Charlton struggled to keep the ball for more than a few seconds. Even when the next action was fluffed or deliveries were cleared, Derby simply recycled, dominating duels on the edge of the box. In that time, a lovely bit of link-up between The Rams’ front two as Sam Szmodics found Carlton Morris, who took a delightfully deft touch to return

John Eustace told Rams TV on Saturday that bringing Sam Szmodics back to Derby County was “not rocket science.” His goal though, was a spectacular lift-off to his second spell at Pride Park. After a dismally dreary first 45 in front of a crowd of just over 11,000, it could have been the launchpad from which The Rams fought back. From which they showed Lincoln City that it would take a whole lot more to compete in their first season back in the second tier’s stratospheric he

That’s a wrap on the 2026 Derby County reunion tour. But whether in the presence of Jake Buxton, Nigel Clough, or as at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, Rotherham United technical director Steve McClaren, The Rams’ performances haven’t exactly been vintage. Though, in fairness, that is not the point of pre-season friendlies. They are simply the warmup gigs. The opportunity to tweak the set list, fine tune the staging or test out new equipment. Finding the optimum set-up takes

Many boxing fans have long praised prospective Derby investor Turki Alalshikh for making huge fights happen. While many of the Pride Park faithful are hoping for a similarly big impact, head coach John Eustace seems more cautious. In his first media interview of the season, Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby after Saturday’s 1-0 Bass Charity Vase defeat to Burton Albion. He said: “Obviously I’ve spoken to the club and they’ve mentioned that there is a takeover, but I think

It may soon be known as the Liam Thompson Derby, but this was apprentice versus master. In the first of two games in 24 hours, John Eustace took on the man who brought him to Pride Park twice, Nigel Clough. The former Rams boss has transformed Mansfield Town into a stable League One side, now sporting a strike partnership which Paul Warne likely dreams of: 2022-23 Rams player of the year David McGoldrick, and perennial target Michael Smith. Thompson was nowhere to be seen

Friendly, what friendly? After a quick glance at the surroundings, it was easy to see why Bundesliga outfit SC Freiburg have adopted the Austrian town of Imst as their pre-season base for two decades. But neither they, nor Derby were there to relax. Among the idyllic coniferous trees and mountains, there was more than a fitting amount of needle. As Julian Schuster’s side took to the pitch for the first time since their Europa League final defeat in May, you wondered if Cr

The Rams got their pre-season started on a glorious evening in Derbyshire (Photo: Archie Brown). From Argentina to Alfreton. The Atlanta Stadium to the Solana. England may be out of the World Cup (who cares about the third-place play-off?) but Derby County are back. First half goals from Joe Ward and Bobby Clark saw Derby through, and fortunately, they didn’t unfurl a banner claiming ownership of the Amber Valley town. This was professional football at the other end of th

If you could bottle the feeling inside Pride Park during the opening ten minutes on Saturday for The Rams to sell, they would not be worried about the financial incentives of promotion. In stupendous sunshine, the Derby faithful rocked as John Eustace’s side flew out of the blocks against Sheffield United knowing a win and a bit of luck would be needed for a top six finish. Within sixteen seconds, Joe Ward shot low, his effort on the turn gathered by Adam Davies in net. M

In his post-match interview with Rams TV, John Eustace echoed the away end in bringing back a phrase the flock have used a lot over the past few years: “We fight to the end.” That was the sentiment four years ago, almost to the week, when the administration-stricken Rams were relegated at Loftus Road. Again, last season during The Great Escape. Even after the nightmare start to Eustace’s tenure that was the 4-0 defeat at the same ground 14 months ago. Reflecting on that g

When Jacob Widell Zetterström dived down to his left to push away Mohamed Toure’s poor penalty after eight minutes, Derby should have woken up. The opening stages had been nervy, sloppy even. The Rams’ number one had already had to dash out of his goal twice, first to beat Liam Gibbs to a loose ball, and then to clear Sondre Langås’ weak backwards header. Making his first start in nearly three months as Dion Sanderson was given a night off playing through the pain barrier

Travelling 70 yards in eight seconds, Jaydon Banel executed Derby’s only successful dribble of the first half. It was more than a dribble. Released by Sam Szmodics on the edge of his own box following an Oxford throw, the Dutchman motored majestically from coast to coast, cutting inside two defenders and drilling the ball through Myles Peart-Harris’ legs and into the bottom-left corner. It surely got the approval of his compatriot Robin van Der Laan and his former Rams

Southampton already know they’re off to Wembley, but Derby’s hopes of playing under the famous arch this season now hang by a thread. John Eustace has been keen to keep things in perspective, talking about the progress of his side – recently with a view to next season. But after defeat at St Mary’s, his frustration was palpable. “It’s too easy from the free kick, organisation [was] not good enough and we’ve got to improve on that,” he told BBC Radio Derby . Eustace was of

The flock are ¡Olé!-ing in the Easter sunshine. In cruise control, Derby are taunting Stoke as they look to see out a fifth-straight win at Pride Park for the first time since October 2019. And then the goal that Carlton Morris had so deserved. At last, an 11 th of the season, nearly four months since he previously found the net . Unlike his goal in Staffordshire , this was not just a neat bit of individual quality, but a sublime team move. Starting with Morris flicking