It’s always best for a football fan to be light on their feet as the fans’ life is full of surprises, and we must be able to accept them and move on.
For Rams fans, this year so far has provided a rich fund of surprises.
Rumours early in the year that Steve McClaren might be moving to Newcastle, a serious injury to Chris Martin, the team’s free fall from the promotion positions in the later part of the season, McClaren’s eventual removal from office and replacement by Paul Clement, high profile signings like Tom Ince and Jason Shackell, a long-term injury to Will Hughes, League Cup defeat at Portsmouth and a lacklustre start to the Championship season.
We have had to take quite a bit in our stride, and I’m sure that most of us remain optimistic about the season ahead and the club’s future. We are fans after all, and that is all we can do.
One thing in particular that has surprised me this season is something I was not expecting at all — not even a month ago; that something or should I say someone is Richard Keogh.
The Rams former Captain has been an ever-present in the Championship side so far, missing only the League Cup defeat at Portsmouth. The summer signings of central defenders Alex Pearce and Jason Shackell, both of whom seemed likely to have been signed as first choice players, looked to me to have left Keogh out in the cold.
Indeed, there was quite a body of support among fans for moving Keogh out, in order to replace as many of last season’s defenders as possible. We cannot know what the future holds, but for the moment Keogh looks to have held off the challenge, and seems ready to play his part in an improved Rams defence.
One reason why this matters to me is that I always like to see Rams players who have played truly significant numbers of games for the club; rather than the constant low appearance numbers that are the result of a constantly changing team.
The Rams players who are currently leading the pack in League starts are Grant with 155 (over his two spells), Bryson with 150, Keogh with 136 and Hendrick 135. Of these, Keogh is currently the only one appearing in the first team due to injuries to both Bryson and Hendrick while Grant seems to have fallen from favour.
Where this longevity becomes important, is the creation of club legends and stalwarts; those players who seem to go on year after year, and become an integral part of the fabric and the history of the club.
With the Rams team being a revolving door of players over the last twenty years or more, a whole generation of fans has grown up without seeing any genuine legends created.
Over this period, not one Rams player has made it to 200 League starts for the club; Daryl Powell comes the closest with 187, and he played his last match for the Rams in 2002.
That said, it is pretty much impossible for a player to achieve legend status without playing an awful lot of matches for the club; and 200 matches is a rather lame total for a player who hopes to achieve legendary status — unless your name happens to be Raich Carter.
Keogh, of course, has a long way to go to get close to those sorts of numbers; but if he can stay healthy and maintain his form in a successful team, he could be closing in on 200 League starts by Christmas of 2016.
It has been far too long since the Rams had a player who stayed around for anything like that length of time. It now seems Richard may just turn out to be such a player and I for one am wishing him well.