It’s matchday at Pride Park again, where to the shock of some, John Eustace remains in the dugout. But the Rams head coach is “not surprised” despite going through a “really testing period”. Questions about his future continue to swirl and will surely only intensify if Bolton leave Derby victorious. But the 47-year-old has not had any conversations with anyone at the club about his position. Furthermore, Eustace has had no indication that the game is ‘must-win’. “Well, I

Sounding downtrodden and subdued following a 4-0 home defeat to Norwich, John Eustace could offer little assurance that he will still be in the dugout come Friday night. While he is “not a quitter”, the head coach conceded that, “We'll have to wait and see. The club's much bigger than me.” It was an utterly miserable birthday for the former Rams midfielder, whose side suffered their heaviest defeat since his first game in charge. With further injury blows to Ryan Hedges (ha

This could be a hugely consequential week for John Eustace and Derby County. Already four points from safety after 13 games, two home fixtures present a big opportunity to get their season back on track. They certainly cannot afford another hammering. Speaking to the press on Monday, Eustace said: “I think it's a big week for the football club. We're obviously all in it together and tomorrow night's the most important game. We're not worried about the one after that, tomorr

Deflated, dejected and drained, Derby left The Den defeated again. Derby fans left The Den asking, “Where were the spirit and the defensive discipline that we saw at Sheffield United?” Fundamentals basics of defending were absent from the off.

Derby may currently be “in a relegation battle” but after the spirited draw at Bramall Lane, John Eustace is upbeat. “I don't think the confidence has ever gone,” he told the media on Thursday, citing “lots of circumstances why we've let leads slip or conceded in difficult moments.” It seems fair to file Dion Sanderson’s sending off last weekend among those. Next to it, is a rather large file marked injuries. But the likes Jacob Widell Zetterström, Alex Mowatt and Max Joh

Photo: Joe Egerton Bravo to the travelling Rams fans who braved the yellow-warning-worthy weather to travel to Bramall Lane. If only Dion Sanderson had heeded his. A goal to the good thanks to Bobby Clark, Derby were relatively in control when the centre back went in on substitute Femi Seriki as he led a Sheffield United counter down their left. Some will argue it was soft, but with Ryan Hedges and Sam Szmodics covering, the challenge was needless. And it left referee Ste

Mo Fuseini sprints through the middle of the pitch following a Wrexham corner and finds Sam Szmodics. He might not have the same pace, but he oozes confidence as he connects with the pass across the inside-left, takes it around Zak Vyner to open up space and curls it into the top-left corner from 20 yards. Three weeks on the training ground brought a refreshed, better-drilled Rams side back to Pride Park. It is just a shame that Wrexham’s birthday boy Ollie Rathbone was int

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

As Birmingham come to town, the themes are familiar: patience, time and the need to build consistency and chemistry. It is, John Eustace says, “very similar” to last season’s start. Instability is the enemy for any manager, and Eustace is no different. It is difficult to manage a side who have lost thirty goals from last season in the shape of the injured Carlton Morris and Patrick Agyemang, as well as former loanee Ben Brereton Díaz. But he concedes that “people aren’t in

Derby County got their first point of the season yesterday, with goals from Carlton Morris and Bobby Clark helping them to a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City. While The Rams now have something to build on, much improvement is still needed. In that spirit, here are five things we learned from the match.

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

The new season is upon us, and before the Championship campaign has even begun, there has already been a huge story at Derby County. Four years on from David Clowes’ reluctant act of heroism, he looked set to and over a large stake of the club to Lion Sport. But unpredictable as ever, Saudi government official and boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh has now pulled out. It is clearly a blow to preparations for John Eustace and co., but now David Clowes and his team must leap into

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

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

Bearing down on goal, Bobby Clark takes a subtle touch to take the ball away from Middlesbrough’s Matt Targett. With Lars-Jørgen Salvesen having leapt out of the way, Clark lines up his shot and drills it low past Sol Brynn. A first league goal to start 2026 with a win. A moment of magic from the midfielder that decided a gritty, backs-to-the-wall display. Clark was billed as a creator, a playmaker, a technician. He is all of those things but also showed more grit and det

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

If Sky Sports’ chosen camera angle hadn’t already given you vertigo, checking the Championship table will. Derby County are up to sixth in the second tier after blowing away Bristol City. First to play this weekend, it may well be short-lived. For now, though, The Rams lead a chasing pack that is more congested than Bristol’s roads: City’s Sinclair Armstrong and Neto Borges both missed the start of the warm-ups due to the gridlock. But there was no such problem on the p

Despite his quiet, mild-mannered persona, one of the things that is coming to define John Eustace’s near year at Pride Park is a decisive transfer policy. After thirteen departures in the summer, this week it was the turn of the last two players of the season, Curtis Nelson and Ebou Adams. Two players Derby likely would not be in the Championship without. Ruthless Eustace is certainly getting the chance to shape this Rams squad in his image, albeit it has been a process d