"Absolutely criminal" - Decision Frank Lampard made at Derby County still shocks to this day | OneFootball

The Rams were within 90 minutes of a return to the Premier League in 2019

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Every fan will have their own personal gripes against their football club, whether it be a reluctance to field a certain player, a transfer that didn’t happen, or major off-field updates that effect the future of the club.

Derby County are no different in that regard, having been on the cusp of a return to the Premier League five years ago, before dropping down into the third tier a matter of years later.

The Rams have had many ups and downs in recent history, but look to be back on an even keel with Paul Warne leading the club back to the Championship, where they look capable of holding their own from the early evidence.

But things could have been so different for County if major decisions had bee made differently, and we spoke to Football League World’s resident Rams fan Shaun Woodward about which decisions the club could have done differently in the past.

Frank Lampard, Jack Marriott playoff call still baffles to this day

There were a number of miffed County fans when the team sheets came out for the 2019 Championship playoff final against Aston Villa, with boss Frank Lampard opting to field Mason Bennett up top under the Wembley arch.

As good as the academy graduate had been throughout the season, the Rams had a player in form in the shape of Jack Marriott waiting in the wings on the biggest stage, who could have made a big impact when his team needed it most.

It was down to Marriott that County had even made it to the showpiece event, as he inspired a dramatic comeback against Leeds United in the semi-final, before being put back on the bench for the grandest occasion.

Lo and behold, Villa took a two-goal lead before their marksman was unleashed on the hallowed turf, with his late strike proving to be a consolation, and Woodward still holds it against the former England international to this day.

The County fan said: “The one Derby decision - well to me it is a Frank Lampard decision - to not start Jack Marriott, and to have him and Martyn Waghorn on the bench was just absolutely criminal.

“That left Mason Bennett up front on his own, a player who has scored about three goal in his whole career.

“Especially, after what Jack Marriott did against Leeds in the semi-final when he came on, to not start him… and then funnily enough when he does bring him on, as he did in the semi-final, he scores a goal and looks brilliant.

“We will never know now what might have been, but to me it was an absolutely crazy decision by Frank Lampard, and I would love to know what his thought process was behind that.”

Chris Kirchner near-miss still haunts Derby County

The Rams suffered with major financial issues between that playoff final defeat and the current day, with a lack of funding off the pitch leading to their demise into the third tier.

Within the prospective buyers of the club, Chris Kirchner placed a bid to buy the Rams out of administration in 2022, but scrapped the plan when the funds needed for the purchase failed to clear.

Since then, the US business tycoon has been jailed for fraud and was sentenced to 20 years in a US federal prison, with Woodward lamenting the fact that the criminal ever got close enough to buying his club.

He continued: “So that was his decision, not necessarily Derby’s, so for Derby, it would be almost allowing Chris Kirchner the chance the buy the club.

“He was almost there, and the fact that he has been done for fraud and has gone to prison now, we were so close to having someone like that owning the club.

“It is unbelievable how we got so close to him owning the club, so that is a decision that the club made that I can’t believe how bad that would have been for Derby.”