Obviously the defeat to Crawley Town in the 3rd round of the FA Cup was a huge disappointment, more so because of the poor level of performance put in by the Rams players, but I don't think we should get too carried away by it or over react.
Yes it was a bad result, but Derby County have no given right to expect to beat teams like Crawley Town.
Cup shocks happen - there were plenty of giant killings in the 3rd round this time - and the Rams have themselves been giant killers in the past.
You have to earn the right to win any game of football and Derby County, quite frankly, didn't do enough on the night.
Had Kris Commons converted the penalty, had Chris Porter scored when he only had the goalkeeper to beat, then the result may have been different but, in all honesty, Crawley Town deserved their victory. The home side wanted it more, worked harder, passed the ball better, created more chances, and crucially scored more goals.
The important thing is how Derby County react to this and the away trip to Watford followed by a home game against Nottingham Forest are both winnable games.
Remember that famous Ronnie Radford goal for non-league Hereford United that knocked Newcastle United out of the FA Cup all those years ago? Well, in Newcastle's next game they went to Old Trafford and beat Manchester United 2-0 - the last time Newcastle United won there.
Let's not forget that the Rams are on course to improve on last season's position in the npower Championship and that would meet pre-season expectations. Furthermore the overall performances in the league have been much improved on last season. The current bad run of form looks worse because of the earlier good run that saw Derby County flying high in the playoff positions.
Derby County lost a cup tie against a team they should've beaten but it wasn't a complete surprise. The Rams are on a poor run and low on confidence, Crawley Town are flying high and their last defeat was way back in October. It was always going to be a potential giant killing and so it proved.
The Rams are low on confidence and booing (particularly during games) will not help the players grow in confidence. Now is the time for Derby County supporters to get behind the team and the manager and the coaching staff...