We are now almost officially a third of the way through the Championship season as we enter into November, so it is only fair that we take a look back on Derby County's opening foray of games under the leadership of Frank Lampard.
Chelsea and England legend Lampard was appointed Rams manager on 31 May, after Gary Rowett's decision to join Championship rivals Stoke City. The appointment was met with jubilation from Derby fans, tired of seeing one-dimensional and uninspiring football from Rowett the season before.
Lampard, 40, promised to deliver a different style of football at Derby County, promising a hard-work ethic and an aggressive, good, fast style of football. How this differs from the boring, defensive and negative style of Gary Rowett's team of 2017/18.
"I had a hard-work ethic, and I was given that by the football family I grew up in," stated Lampard.
"I want my team to have that as a base. I want them to be aggressive; I want them to play good football, fast football.”
Solid starts and fairytale endings
With the Rams currently sitting in sixth-position in the Sky Bet Championship after taking 25 points from their opening 15 games, it can be seen as a successful start to his managerial reign.
Lampard's team have had an indifferent start in terms of performances in the league, whilst impressing significantly in the Carabao Cup second and third rounds. In the league it has been a case of Jekyll and Hyde in terms of the performances from Derby, whilst results have remained, in the most part, consistent.
In the Carabao Cup, however, it has been a completely different story, with Derby overcoming Oldham Athletic in the second-round, followed by a trip to fellow Championship side Hull City, beating the Tigers 4-0 at the KC Stadium.
Following the emphatic victory over Hull, the Rams where handed an altogether tougher draw in the third round, away at Jose Mourinho's Manchester United at Old Trafford. This was the beginning of an incredible journey for Frank Lampard so early on in his managerial career.
The meeting against United at Old Trafford would mean facing off against Jose Mourinho for the first time in the dugout.
Mourinho is a man Lampard holds in high esteem, having led Chelsea to their first ever Premier League title, and first top division title in 50 years in 2014/15, with Lampard playing a significant role in the triumph from central midfield, scoring 19 goals in all competitions and finishing as the Blues' top-scorer.
It would be the ultimate fantasy battle of master versus apprentice, in which the apprentice triumphed, and in style too. Derby dominated the game after conceding an early goal, and went on to win the game 8-7 in a sensational penalty shoot-out.
Derby's victory against United set up Lampard's second fairytale tie in the Carabao Cup in just three games, having drawn against Chelsea and Stamford Bridge. One of Chelsea's greatest ever players returned to take on his old team as a manager, but despite another impressive performance good enough to win the tie, it would be the Blues who would snatch victory in a five-goal first half. Derby responded to going behind twice through Jack Marriott and Martyn Waghorn, but Cesc Fabregas' third for the hosts was enough to win it.
The cup run was over, but the Rams had proven themselves against two Premier League giants.
Not all perfect
As for league form, Derby's stats on paper have been pretty impressive. They currently sit sixth in the Championship, having won seven games out of fifteen played. For the statisticians amongst you, this returns an impressive win-percentage of 46.67% for Lampard and his team.
Performances however, have not all been so impressive. Derby's first game of the season against Reading at the Madjeski Stadium was far from impressive in terms of style of play, with Derby often getting trapped trying to play out from the back against a Reading team that pressed high up the pitch and stifled Derby's passing ability.
The Rams still had the lions' share of possession, enjoying 64% of the ball, although the stats do not show the number of sideways and backwards passes made by the team, which significantly out-weighed the forward, positive passes.
Despite the poor performance though, Lampard's men still conquered courtesy of Tom Lawrence's 94th minute winner in front of the Derby fans.
Any positivity from Derby's opening day victory where short-lived however, with the Derby finding themselves on the end of a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of bitter rivals Leeds United at Pride Park.
The performance was abject, poor and lacked quality in all areas of the pitch. Although, take nothing away Leeds where nothing short of sensational as they began to find their early season form under Marcelo Bielsa.
In terms of performance, there wasn't a huge difference between the victory at the Madjeski and the defeat at Pride Park, with Lampard learning that the Championship offers vast differences in terms of quality.
Derby's adventures in the Carabao Cup began on August 14 with a 2-0 victory against Oldham at Boundary Park. Little did Frank Lampard know that this would lead him on such a fairytale run in the latter rounds of the competition.
The following weekend saw Derby travel to the New Den and take on a Millwall side struggling to live up to the hype of the previous seasons achievements, which had heightened expectations for Neil Harris' side. Nevertheless, they managed to overcome Lampard's stuttering Rams side 2-1.
This was a game that Derby absolutely dominated from start to finish in terms of possession, but failed to make their 72% advantage count where it really mattered in front of goal.
David Nugent pulled back what turned out to be a consolation goal in the 73rd minute, but the stats don’t lie, Derby where very wasteful. 12 shots on goal and only four on target showed that Lampard's boys where simply not sharp enough in the 18 yard box.
Lampard himself knew of the troubles of his Derby side, blasting the performance from the first-half of the game where Millwall scored their two goals.
"The first half was slow, a terrible first goal because we should be dealing with balls in the box, we know they’re coming at Millwall," Lampard told BBC Radio Derby.
"You can’t turn up at half-time and win games in the Championship," he explained further.
Derby made amends for their defeat at Millwall just three days later by dispatching an impressive Ipswich side 2-0 at Pride Park, courtesy of second half goals from Joe Lesley and Tom Lawrence who continued his impressive start to the season. Both sides were poor in a dour first half of football, with Derby prevailing in a second-half improvement. This began a run of four wins in a row in both league and cup for Lampard's Derby side, who looked to be finding their feet under his leadership.
Derby went on to beat Preston, and Hull twice in the winning run. Frank Lampard, Jody Morris and co looked to be finally laying a foundation for Derby in terms of playing blueprint and results that was paying dividends on a Saturday and Tuesday.
That was until Derby faced Rotherham at the AESSEAL New York Stadium. On a rich run of form, facing a struggling Rotherham side with no expectations for the season, many would have expected Derby to overcome them easily and gain three points. The truth however, was that Derby were again wasteful in possession, in front of goal and were not helped in their cause by the sending off of in-form Tom Lawrence for a professional foul on 58 minutes.
The Rams again dominated possession, but failed to make it count, the story of the beginning of the season for a side still being built and adapting to a new coache's mentality.
Lampard felt like his team had been hard done to in terms of refereeing decisions in the game, but was quick to remind his players that a chance of correcting things wasn’t far away.
"We didn't need a reality check, this is the Championship. The beauty of the Championship is that there is a game in a few days," said Lampard when speaking to the BBC.
Lampard was right, the chance to put right the wrongs of Rotherham lay just around the corner, with a home game against Blackburn Rovers at Pride Park on the Tuesday night. This was again another frustrating night for Rams players, management and fans alike, with a 0-0 draw all the Rams could muster.
Derby dominated the game, again possession was high at 63%, but once again failed to convert possession and chances into goals against a team there for the taking. Blackburn could only conjure six chances during the 90 minutes, compared to Derby's astonishing 22 shots, with only three on target.
Lampard however was pleased with the performance from his side, telling BBC Radio Derby;
"The performance was very good and the first half was spectacular, because it should be three goals and then it would be spectacular.
"We hit the post, had balls blocked on the line and the keeper was saving everything. Our creativity on the ball, the way we created chances and the way we worked hard to win the ball back was what I am asking for."
The highlight of September came against Brentford the following Saturday at Pride Park, a game that signalled not only Derby's intentions to compete at the top of the Championship, but their intentions to do it in style.
Despite the lack of possession from the Rams, they were slick and dynamic in their efforts and finally started to take the chances that they were creating, with young loanees Harry Wilson and Mason Mount getting amongst the scorers alongside the ever-improving David Nugent to seal an impressive 3-1 victory at Pride Park.
The penalty shoot-out victory at Old Trafford came next, followed by three disappointing results and performances against Bolton, QPR and Norwich respectively.
Expectations were heightened by the impressive display at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but Derby were unable to capitalise on their confidence once again giving fans doubt about their promotion expectations.
That was until, Derby faced top-of-the-table side Sheffield United at Pride Park on October 20. The ever-graceful midfield workhorse Craig Bryson opened the scoring for Derby after only 18 seconds of the first-half, the quickest goal in the Championship so far this season, before John Fleck somehow managed to maze his way through the Derby defence with ease before crossing for an unmarked Chris Basham to tap home a leveller.
With neither team taking the bull by the horns, Jack Marriott repaid Frank Lampard’s faith in him by slotting home the winner for the Rams, which propelled them onto another fine run of form.
The following Wednesday, Derby faced arguably their toughest test of the season so far, away at high-flying West Bromwich Albion managed by former Derby cult-hero Darren Moore. Few could have predicted the 4-1 score line and the fantastic performance that the Rams produced.
Derby dominated from start to finish, making West Brom look a very ordinary side on their home turf. After a rampant start from Derby, pressing the Baggies and making it unable for them to pass the ball out from the back, Derby took the lead when Jack Marriott pounced on a poor back pass and produced a fine finish passed Sam Johnstone.
Tom Lawrence doubled the lead with an emphatic finish from an acute angle, which left West Brom dejected and deflated. Derby finished off the first-half with pure dominance and the half-time whistle couldn’t come quick enough for the Baggies.
Upon the start of the second-half Darren Moore’s team talk inspired his side, in particular Harvey Barnes who scorned numerous chances to get Albion back into the game. West Brom where left to rue the missed chances when on 51 minutes Harry Wilson unleashed a fierce left-footed strike which left Sam Johnstone with no chance, giving the Rams an unassailable lead. An impressive performance capped off with a goal from left-back Scott Malone made it 4-0, before Albion pulled a consolation goal back through Jay Rodriguez.
A thoroughly impressive performance from Lampard's young side, further outlining the fact that they can actually play attractive football and take their chances. Despite the fact that Derby had just steamrolled one of the favourites to win the league, boss Lampard was not getting carried away.
"Best result, yes definitely. Performance-wise, I am not sure. There were aspects of our game I would like to be better.
"There were times we didn’t break as clinically as we could have done - but I am not upset with a 4-1 win at Wes Brom," Lampard said, which was perhaps a little harsh on his young side's brilliant performance.
With confidence high and Derby able to go top of the Championship with a win at the Riverside Stadium against Tony Pulis' Middlesbrough, fans' expectations heightened further.
A respectable 1-1 draw in which two own goals settled the game saw Derby end October in sixth-place in the league. If you had offered Derby fans the chance to be in sixth place, four points off leaders Sheffield United, I think Derby fans would have bitten off your hand.
Plenty of promise
Whilst performances have been indifferent, and Derby's ability to take the chances questioned by the fans, it has been overall a very impressive start to Frank Lampard's managerial career, and Derby County’s start to the season.
With two home games coming up against Midlands opposition in Birmingham and Aston Villa, followed by an away trip to the ever-inconsistent Sheffield Wednesday and the hotly anticipated game against Gary Rowett's Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium, Derby face a difficult November.
Whilst anybody can beat anybody in the Championship, Derby fans should be looking for the team to be in-and-around the top six come the beginning of December. It won't be the end of the world however if Derby are not in the top six after these games, with the Championship as tight as it is.
If I was to personally rate Derby and Lampard's start to the season out of ten, I would give it a solid nine. I don't think we can expect much more from a side that are still in transitional period. We have to remember that promotion isn't the main aim this season.
Whilst it seems like the best chance this season, with the tightness of the league and quality of loanee signings Harry Wilson, Fikayo Tomori and Mason Mount, who without doubt will not be with the club next season unless they are promoted, we need not get carried away and pile too much pressure on this young team's shoulders.
What we need to do is embrace the start of the season we have had, Lampard and co's passion for the club and ability to get the best out of a very young and improving squad and take every game as it comes. We are seeing a steady improvement in the side, and I for one get excited about watching the team play now, a very different story to this time last year under Gary Rowett.
Frank Lampard, and his staff have been a breath of fresh air to the club, and it is fantastic to see the feel-good factor back around the city.
Long may that continue.
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