Max Bird.

If I had to sum Max Bird up in one word...

That'd be impossible.

Intelligent. Focused. Determined. Skilful. Brave.

Rocked by the news of his father's untimely passing, fans rallied around him to ensure he had all of the support possible with a silent concern that he'd slip through the net of hundreds, if not thousands, potential professional footballers. But at the same time, at the forefront of everybody's minds, we somehow knew he'd pull through this and come out fighting to make his dad proud. Handed his first start just days later, Bird fought through a heavy defeat away at Villa Park where we lost 4-0 - again, we were concerned that it'd knock his confidence as the defeat was brutally humiliating with the away fans leaving at the halftime mark. But you can guess what happened next.

He came back fighting, again.

This boy does not give up, and 567 days later, he stands tall on the pitch at Kenilworth Road, having celebrated his 20th birthday just the day before. Alongside a team full of solid leaders such as former Groningen captain Mike te Wierik, ex Cardiff captain David Marshall, captain of a multitude of clubs in Curtis Davies and the self described Wayne Rooney - Max Bird stands out. Barely yelling, Bird glides side to side on the pitch and silently leads by example with the squad hanging onto every single word uttered by him. With the captain's armband wrapped around his bicep for previous fixtures that Rooney missed - a 0-0 draw with Barrow in the League Cup and a 2-0 defeat to Reading in the league opener - Bird has led the team to put in a, arguably, valiant performance that were ultimately proved to be vain efforts by the team's toothless attack after the departure of top goalscorer Chris Martin and other injuries that gripped the attacking options under Phillip Cocu's belt.

Perhaps a bit stony faced yet softly spoken, Bird has quickly gained the trust and respect of the squad as displayed by him scooping up a double at last season's end of season awards ceremony - winning both the Sammy Crooks Young Player of the Year Award and Players' Player of the Season.

Having not yet scored a goal for Derby doesn't bother Bird as he knows he can make up for it in other crucial aspects to his game such as keeping his composure under high pressure situations, controlling the pace of the game as well as using his positional intelligence to ensure he would be able to get others out of a pickle. Contributing with 2 assists from a defensive midfielder position, Bird works tirelessly in contributing with what he can; successfully passing the ball 1,280 times since becoming a regular from 26th December 2019 to play a part in clinching a significant 1-1 draw away to Wigan Athletic as well as 22 key passes (stats from @derbycountystudio on IG). He also had a 85% pass completion rate in the three games so far this season; in looking at his last 25 league appearances, he has a pass completion of 86.32% which is considerably higher than the average of Premier League's pass completion (81% right footed passes, 78.5% left footed passes are completed) and 19 clearances as well as 26 interceptions (statistics from Derby County's official website).

Joining Derby in 2010 as a child, 10 years ago, baby faced Max has always dreamt of playing in the first team . "Coming through the Academy, I have always wanted to be in the first team," Bird told the Derby Telegraph, and has recognised regularly that he will have to work hard both on and off the pitch. Winning the LFE Apprentice of the Year award in 2019 shows just how he has rapidly climbed the ranks at the club and will continue to do so with his head held high. He still acknowledges that he is not the final product, but will always take responsibility for both the good and bad and displaying his maturity; his physical game has been improving with every game and with a critical foundation of understanding and reading the game well already coming naturally to him, he has got all the attributes to be one of the top players to come out of Derby's academy. Already carrying a strong influence, Bird is also a qualified coach, having already accomplished his FA Level 2 Coaching badge and often going out into the community to coach primary school children under the Derby County Community Trust.

Max Bird is truly living out every single childhood Manchester United fan by playing alongside Wayne Rooney and being consistently coached by him day in day out - he is rapidly becoming one of the best midfielders in the Championship after just 39 senior appearances under his belt across all competitions. His development has been on a steep curve and I'm sure that everybody can and will agree that we are excited to see what to come of him in the future.

Coming to an end of writing this post, I realised the whole point of this post is literally nothing except for the fact that it is simply an appreciation post.

We lack to truly appreciate just how incredible his raise as a footballer has been and how he has matured into an intelligent young man that will represent our club in the best light possible.

Admittedly, results have not been the best nor what we have expected, but ultimately, we know Max Bird will come out... fighting.

"Look, I am far from the finished model, I know that, but I have grown over the last year or so and I have to keep working hard on and off the field, and hopefully I will become a better player."