I admit that it is an ironic title - picked up from a radio commentator’s summary about another Championship club now making a charge for the play-offs. Is Derby County’s season effectively over?

How often do Rams fans have to watch their rivals in envy as the season-end unfolds?

As the 2012-13 Championship season runs into the final straight, a BBC match commentator (as Leeds United conquered Millwall recently), yelped: “The season starts here!”

He proclaimed that any well-placed team now putting a winning run together can remain in touch with the top six, so for them, it’s still an open competition.

We Rams are however looking over our shoulders at the wrong end of the table.

Competitive clubs face the challenge of a ‘mini-season’ of around ten games that will decide who gets the spoils at the end of the campaign.

Leeds are back in with a shout, as are the Red Dogs up the A52 who have sparked into life as the ‘business end of the season’ gets into full swing. Both clubs have managers with a track record of play-off qualification and promotion success.

The DirtyLeeds Whites and Forest Red Dogs may well both miss out, such is the intensity of competition in the top ten - but both have renewed their challenge at the vital time. Forest have stormed back into the top six as their results improved dramatically following the return of the irascible, mercurial wee Billy Davies.

Rams fans have that familiar feeling that their season is ebbing away into a ‘respectable’ finish, where fixtures come and go with little consequence - except, that is, for the opposition.

But hold on – the Rams’ season might ‘start now’, because if this afternoon’s results go against them and Derby do not get a result against Leicester City this evening, they will be dragged into the relegation scrap.

The Rams have lost to Brighton, Watford, Crystal Palace and Brum in quick succession (not to mention the FA Cup non-event against Blackburn Rovers) to mute any lingering optimism fans carried for expectations of a grandstand finish to the season.

The Rams are proving to be nobody’s chopping-block this season - things could be worse - but there is a gnawing disappointment about the past five seasons that is fast coming to a head. Much is made of the team spirit and work ethic at Derby, as we do have a young, spirited team.

Yes - that’s good and those qualities proved significant when the team mustered dominant performances that were converted into goals and points.

Clough emphasises good performances: “If we weren’t playing well I think we would be very concerned, but we just need to cut out the mistakes we’ve been making and make sure we take our chances”.

If you commit errors in both penalty areas and don’t compete, you’re a soft touch. When conceding soft goals regularly and missing key chances, it can only be argued that we are ‘playing attractively’ - but you don’t get marks or points just for style. Let opponents score easily, fail to turn possession into goals and points and simply, you are not ‘playing well’.

Despite our 110% effort and huff and puff, too many of our opponents are proving tougher and more powerful, especially considering Derby’s feeble away record. The Rams’ youth element sorely needs a better mix of experience, resilience and leadership to realise its potential.

New CEO Sam Rush has the task of re-igniting interest within the fanbase and providing the resources for Manager Clough. The first two months of Mr Rush’s tenure have been dominated by the club’s controversial 2013-14 season-ticket tariff.

Thumping increases on senior fans and especially the disabled contingent resulted in a strong reaction with widespread condemnation at the built-in discrimination levied at both those sectors, causing Messrs Appleby and Rush to dedicate time and effort placating aggrieved fans and damping down the negative publicity.

The bullish video defence of the 2013-14 ST tariff by DCFC directors on website ‘Freeviews’ has been quietly withdrawn and prices commuted down, even though disabled fans still face a price increase approaching 60%.

As has been said many times in many places, it’s not financially feasible to expect fans to significantly close that annual gap between the club’s revenues and outgoings and the whole exercise has been a PR disaster for the new CEO. The slump on the pitch has increased the displeasure and restiveness among the fanbase.

Time enough has been spent dwelling in a nether status. Year-on-year, modest clubs look down upon us from the top six and also from halfway up the Premier League table. Swansea, Fulham, Stoke, Norwich and West Ham currently hold that top-flight middle ground - why shouldn’t Derby be on a par?

A number of these clubs, rich and poor, big and small - have plunged close to the foot of the Football League in the past decade. Some of them recovered and then thrived; some carry the massive advantage of ‘parachute’ payments or ambitious ownership groups.

That puts Derby and other static Championship residents at a financial disadvantage - but that’s a constant and it is high time that Derby County became competitive on the pitch.

The manager has blooded more youngsters, whilst injury and burn-out has sidelined midfield starlet Will Hughes and continues to hamper other key first-teamers.

In a difficult spell for Nigel Clough, key defenders were absent but he failed to shore up a leaky, injury-ridden defence. Young Tom Naylor is out on loan so he could not deputise for John Brayford (perhaps out for the rest of the season) or Gareth Roberts at full-back. Academy boys are emerging to fill in - but a lack of defensive depth and experience arises again and again.

Messrs Clough and Rush apparently tried in vain to reinforce the defence during the transfer window. “All the clubs have something to play for”, said a crestfallen Clough, as club after club refused to release wanted resources. Well, fancy that!

Memo to Sam and Nigel: we’d like to have something other than pride (or a lower-table battle to play for! Available loan players will probably decline marking time every season at Pride Park Stadium - it’s a less attractive option than a top six challenge and other clubs are retaining their resources - or strengthening for the challenge - whilst our squad is threadbare.

WBA defender Craig Lawson has given Bolton a boost (with a few goals, too!), Peterborough’s talismanic midfielder George Boyd is an instant loan hit at Hull, Millwall have Rob Hulse (and Tyson!), Palace have taken the evergreen forward Kevin Phillips to sustain their challenge. He’s just the kind of finisher that Derby’s team has been crying out for.

Mr Clough let strikers Tyson and Robinson go out on loan, (Tyson is looking at the possibility of playing in Millwall’s Wembley FA Cup semi-final next month).

With top scorer Jamie Ward again troubled by thigh injuries, Clough secured Norwich forward Chris Martin, who is playing himself back to fitness as is our other loanee short of first-team action, Watford reserve Craig Forsyth. They will make a contribution but are short of match-fitness.

Is season 2012-13 a dead loss for Derby, apart from the progress made in bringing down the average player age and the wage bill? What will we make of our chances for 2013-14?

The Premier League television money-pot gets bigger with every renewal. Championship clubs are striving to break out of the restraints of low Football League revenue potentials and an inadequate income level and the primary goal must be to gain promotion. Some are striving harder than others and Derby need to run with the pack - and soon.

The Foxes, who visit Pride Park Stadium today (16th March), have won the last five games on the trot against Derby; they have spent lavishly but are sustaining their top six challenge.

At least we still have those excellent recent records against DirtyLeeds and The Trees to smile about - but Clough is desperate to end that dire Leicester sequence and halt the current slump.

Can Derby do it against Leicester and put some much-needed distance between them and the bottom three and stay in a ‘comfort zone?’ Will The Foxes and The Trees clash in the play-offs?

Next summer will be crucial. We’ve now had enough of hard-luck tales, flat draws and all those needless defeats. A more ruthless and ambitious outlook for a genuine challenge must replace the hackneyed assertions about future progress, whilst seasons just come and go.

It’s all about results - and Derby’s season is turning sour. Reaching last season’s mid-table, 60-points’ anonymity is the only realistic target left for Derby County.

For us, the sweet smell of success has to wait until the fresh hype of August when the 2013-14 campaign wafts our way.

Photo: Action Images

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