Derby County secured promotion back to the Championship on the final day of the League One season and have had a busy summer in the window to ensure they kick on this season under Paul Warne, with Don Goodman confident that they can consolidate their place in the division with good home form.
Warne’s side accumulated their highest points tally for a league season in the process to secure a return to the division they were relegated from two years ago. Derby must now adjust to life in the Championship, having earned their return to the second tier.
Failure to return to the Championship at the second time of asking would no doubt have negatively impacted the club’s decision-making in terms of transfers, and which players they want to keep or move on during the coming transfer window.
Their financial issues are now largely behind them, and the points deductions, too, meaning Derby return to the Championship in better shape than they left it. They were finally able to start afresh under a new regime with David Clowes taking the reins as the club’s majority owner.
Warne knows that they required quality players to assure safety in the second tier at the first time of asking, with no fewer than 12 new faces in the door in an attempt to survive. However, the Rams have had a rather mixed start to the campaign in the Championship for the club.
Things did not start all that well in their first game of the season, as they were beaten 4-2 by Blackburn Rovers on the opening night at Ewood Park. Following that, they then responded in the Championship with a 1-0 win at home to Middlesbrough, in what was something of a backs-to-the-wall job for the Rams.
Another defeat on the road, this time to losing 2-1 at Watford would follow, before they went in to the September international break in perfect fashion after claiming a 3-0 win at home to Bristol City at Pride Park. With that win, they have ensured they will spend the break tenth in the early standings, with six points from four games.
| Championship standings 2024/25 (10/09/24) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Sheffield United | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Oxford United | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Derby County | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 4 | -2 | 6 |
| 12 | QPR | 4 | -1 | 5 |
| 13 | Norwich City | 4 | -1 | 5 |
| 14 | Bristol City | 4 | -2 | 5 |
Don Goodman’s view of Derby’s survival chances in the Championship
All of their points have come at Pride Park so far, where they have the third-highest attendance on average in the division with 29,357. Making that a fortress, as it was last season, could be the difference this season. We asked Don Goodman for his thoughts on their start to the campaign, particularly away from home, and whether he believes that they have shown enough to survive.
Goodman said: “Derby have lost both their away games. I was in attendance on the opening day against Blackburn, which wasn’t a good performance from them, and while the defeat at Watford was by a narrower margin, I think it was pretty one-sided.
“That’s why Paul Warne has said his team probably aren’t quite Championship-ready. But we’ve got to understand that they’ve come from League One and there is a difference in divisions. Ipswich were an extraordinary one-off, whereas Derby came up as a normal League One side which needed bolstering to help make the step up.
“Paul Warne won’t want to solely rely on home form, but he’ll be absolutely thrilled to have picked up six points from six at home. He’ll now be looking for them to prove that they can pick up points on the road.
“Home and away form is one of the biggest mysteries in football. It’s still 11v11 on a pitch which isn’t a vastly different size. It’s the crowd-factor which helps Derby County but it can always work the other way where away teams can turn the home crowds.
“Next they’ve got Cardiff at home, Sheffield United away, Norwich at home and Sunderland away. They’ll see both those home games as very winnable but it doesn’t get much tougher than those two away games, which are both really difficult places to go.
“They’ll fancy their chances of winning the home games against Cardiff and Norwich and those victories against Middlesbrough and Bristol City will have given them a belief that they belong and can compete at this level.
“I don’t think they’ve played particularly well in three of their four games, but to get two wins and play well against Bristol City will give everyone associated with Derby County a shot in the arm.
“Derby’s home form will be enormous for them and their away form doesn’t need to be absolutely amazing, they just need to be picking up points here and there because the goal for them is consolidation as a Championship club.”
Derby County’s hopes for the 2024/25 season
Derby’s focus must to be on the here and now rather than a bold play for the Premier League, even if a club of their size and stature will look to build towards that in the medium-to-long-term.
They need to be careful not to fall back into their dark days under Mel Morris, with his unsustainable ownership of the club nearly cost them everything. What they need now is sustainability and consistency, to help them slowly build back up before they can realistically dream of the top-flight again.
This year must be about consolidation, and their approach to the summer window appears to point in that direction. Goodman’s verdict on picking up more on the road is correct, though; we are already seeing evidence of two very different performance-levels between Derby home and away.
