8th Ocober 2014

George on the mend….

During the League Cup ( I find it difficult to call it anything else , mainly because of the bewildering turnover of sponsors….Milk Cup, Rumbelows Cup, Carling Cup, Coca Cola Cup…..) win over Reading I was chatting to the chap next to me about George Thorne.

 He had happened to bump into the injured midfielder in the car park at the iPro and was recounting with a smile the news that Thorne was hoping to be back in training by the New Year.

 These darkening evenings of October seem an age away from the summer time when us Rams, smarting from that mugging at Wembley, sought to “take the positives” (as that awful phrase goes) by trying to do our bit to ensure that George Thorne signed up permanently from the Baggies.

 That was an unusual and fevered time as twitter accounts of all and sundry, the player himself, Brett Wilson, John Vicars were bombarded with tweets encouraging the deal to be done.

 For a while it looked as if the Rams were getting into a battle of wills with the Baggies and this was a concern remembering how they responded to Peter Odimwinge wanting to join QPR. Holding him to his contract and forcing him to cool his heels at the club until eventually selling him to Cardiff City in the next transfer window did not bode well.

 However the Rams managed it, and at a guess money had quite a bit to do with sealing the deal, this was a crucial transfer for Derby not withstanding the shock of hearing about George’s cruciate knee ligament injury sustained against Zenit St.Petersburg four days after signing.

Considering how important he is to the structure of the team the Rams have coped well without him to reach this international break in 4th place with 20pts from 11 games. His ability to pick a pass from the base of midfield as well as breaking up opposition play was key to our push to Wembley last year and he also proved he had an eye for goal as well scoring against both Doncaster & Brighton.

 If we are to see George Thorne back in the team at some point during 2014-15 it will feel like a new signing again….again. As admirably that John Eustace has covered for his absence thus far and as promising as Omar Mascarell is, the prospect of seeing Thorne back in action is both hugely encouraging and would be a boost to our hopes of promotion.

 Get well soon now George….