It is odd how we remember little inconsequential things that have happened, even decades later, when we have forgotten most of the important things we probably should recall.

One of those random memories came flooding back to me recently, an incident that took place probably in the late 1980s. It was a pre-season match at the Baseball Ground, with the Rams playing Chesterfield; possibly it was the Derbyshire FA Centennial Cup.

The Rams would have been either in the old second division, or it could possibly even have been the first; Chesterfield likely would have been in the old third division and the Rams would have been expected to win fairly easily, although the result was not too important.

The match kicked off in bright early season sunshine, in front of a crowd of no more than a couple of thousand. Scrappiness reigned, and nothing much happened for the first twenty minutes or so. There then came a deathly silence, which can happen even in a large gathering; there was no specific reason but everyone went quiet.

The silence was broken almost immediately by the Rams captain, the late, great Rob Hindmarch yelling, in a voice that carried all around the ground; “Come on Derby, this is not good enough!” It brought a laugh and was certainly the most entertaining thing that had happened in the match up to that point.

Such a comment from the Captain would be more than appropriate to the current Rams team but there is another aspect to it; what happened to the shouting, the encouragement and berating we should be seeing on the pitch?

I get the feeling sometimes that the Rams could play their matches in a library and not get shushed by the other patrons. Has the presence of the manager or coach in the technical area eliminated any need for players to shout at each other?

Are low-decibel performances just symptomatic of a lack of passion in the team? Is it the style of play, which under Clement was more reminiscent of chess than the more blood and guts style we associate with football outside the Premier League? Whatever the reason, the Rams need to bring back the passion to their play.

Looking through the Rams’ line-up for the MK Dons match, I am struck by how much talent the Rams have at their disposal.

How many Championship teams, already missing the likes of George Thorne and Will Hughes could afford to leave out Jacob Butterfield?

How many Championship teams have enough firepower that they could leave out both Darren Bent and Nick Blackman?

How many Championship teams have so much ability in defence that they could afford to loan out Raul Albentosa, Ryan Shotton and Alex Pearce?

How many Championship teams, having such an obvious surplus of talent, would lose at home to MK Dons?

There can be little doubt that the Rams have more potential talent than perhaps any other team in the Championship this season. If the players were simply told to go out onto the pitch and enjoy themselves, results would likely be better than they have been.

Without a doubt, coaching has been detrimental to the Rams this season, reducing what should be close to, if not the best team in the division, to (at the moment) also rans.

It is common to blame the manger when things are not going well for the team but I cannot think of another time in the club’s history that supporters could say with a straight face that, without the manager we would be a very good team.

And so, it is on to Brentford on Saturday. Brentford’s results have been poor lately, but unlike us those bad results have been achieved mainly against good teams. They recently appointed Dean Smith as manager, a bloke who built a solid reputation at Walsall. Despite having lost a lot of talented players recently, the Bees still have the foundations of a decent side.

Brentford do tend to lose a lot at home and have conceded far too many goals, two facts that you hope a Rams side in dire need of confidence, could take advantage of.

This is the perfect opportunity for the Rams to shake the monkey and get back to winning ways; let us hope that they take it.

Photo: Action Images

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