Jourdan

2 minutes ago, Sheepdog said:

We’ve been in Devon since Friday. Staying in a little place called Wimple about 10 miles from Exeter.

Looking forward to having a few beers in Exeter centre before the match  

In case you missed this...

Look out for The Turk’s Head (High St), the Ship Inn (Martin’s Lane), the Old Firehouse (New North Road), the White Hart (South St) and the Exonian (Fore St).

If you are on the Quay, the Prospect Inn is a local favourite and if you are near St. David’s, the Mill on the Exe is another.

Another one I forgot to mention is The City Gate by the Iron Bridge.

Exeter also has an interesting set of independent cafes for anyone who arrives mid-afternoon.

Zuki’s is an Italian-Turkish cafe with good coffee and interesting treats. The Exploding Bakery is also highly rated. Both are near Central Station. Chococo on Gandy St is fun if you have a sweet tooth. 

The Tiny Tasting Room near the Ship Inn is quite nice to stumble upon. Eat on the Green has a prime location right opposite the Cathedral but also the prices to match.

My personal favourite is Grow Coffee House on South St. It has a nice outdoor terrace if the weather’s dry. It’s a good stop off too if you are either coming back or heading towards the Quay.

5 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

It's also really expensive 😜

I wouldn’t know. My loyalty is to Strawberry Fields.

12 hours ago, angieram said:

Quite a few of us have just stayed down here! We've been scattered across the south-west. Bristol, Bath, Exeter, Paignton - that's us lowering the tone at the end!

Darts Farm is near Exeter.

It’s a really beloved and really extensive farm shop with excellent local produce.

My mother-in-law recommends going in the morning and having breakfast there. 

2 hours ago, Foreveram said:

Spoons in Exeter, a pint of Guinness and a pint of Doom bar £5.63.

Locals call it the Chev. My fiancée says the shots are wonderfully cheap in there.

Exeter has some nice old pubs in the city centre.

Look out for The Turk’s Head (High St), the Ship Inn (Martin’s Lane), the Old Firehouse (New North Road), the White Hart (South St) and the Exonian (Fore St).

If you are on the Quay, the Prospect Inn is a local favourite and if you are near St. David’s, the Mill on the Exe is another.

Guys, there’s no point embarking on the four hour drive.

We’re getting absolutely tonked. It could be double figures.

Warne will be sacked at the final whistle.

Millennium Ram will name his first child Nombe.

You heard it here first.

Exeter 4-1 Derby

McGoldrick

7 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

I'm not and with a few games to go and maybe 3 more to get promoted they shouldn't be either.  If they are, it's a big worry going forward.  Playoffs are strange.  I've seen both Huddersfield and Palace get promoted in them without actually scoring a goal in open play.  The billy Davies side we had was in abject form prior to beating Southampton Bale, Rasiak and all.  They need to get their arses in gear all round as every team is this league is pretty average and well beatable.  The supersonic all conquering Ipswich with a defence tighter than a gnats chuff were abysmal for 8 games in a row 5 weeks ago.   

You are right. I guess it’s just the after effects of yesterday. It was a tough result to take!

2 hours ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

I’ve not given up on this season yet but apart from that I’m exactly where you are. The last line of your post is key, his work is only about to get started. It’s impossible to judge him when he’s inherited a small unbalanced squad with a couple of top players who have got us into contention, and only had January transfer window which we may as well write off as that window in particular is impossible due to the restrictions we are working under.

Next season is the only time to judge him and if we don’t get promotion the knives will be out for him for sure.

I’ve not given up per se. Yesterday was just deflating and the kind of result that makes you feel like the writing is on the wall.

I’ll be going to Exeter on Tuesday and maybe like you say, a good win with an encouraging performance is all everyone needs.

1 hour ago, Rammy03 said:

Couldn't Sheffield Wednesday say exactly the same thing? Don't think we should be throwing the towel in when the possibility of promotion is still there for us.

Well, I suppose the difference is that Wednesday have the safety net of the play-offs.

One win in eight after 23 games unbeaten is quite the turnaround in form, but they would still back themselves to regroup and win the playoffs.

Of course, the play-offs are still a possibility for us. But I don’t think the belief and the appetite for it is there any more and you can see it and feel it.

From the manager, to the players to the fans, everyone is tired, frustrated and in need of a recharge.

32 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

We bring in a manager with an actual tactical plan beyond trying to outrun the opposition, who can build a squad over the summer.

Ask yourself this. You are a reputable manager with a good track record.

Derby have been out of administration for less than 12 months and have a business plan to follow for another 12 months - no transfer fees, a salary cap etc.

Derby have just sacked their manager and his staff less than 12 months into a four year contract, costing hundreds of thousands, cutting into an already limited budget and creating more instability.

Derby have six players out of contract and another five players returning to their parent clubs, effectively cutting the squad size in half. They also have three or four homegrown players who may push for a move during the summer window with no funds to replace them.

Would you look at the set of circumstances and think it’s an opportunity worth taking?

I would bet you good money any manager worth his salt would look at Warne being sacked and alarm bells would be ringing.

21 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

This is an important point.
 

Still time to sack him before he does too much damage

What do you expect to happen if we sack Warne?

After today, I think we may just have to lick our wounds and accept this year is not our year.

When we went on that fantastic unbeaten run, we did really well but also everything seemed to go our way and when things didn’t, we had the belief to shake it off and come back swinging.

Now we’re experiencing the opposite. We are on an awful run, nothing seems to be going our way and when things do, we still find a way to unravel.

It’s looking like one season too soon for us and there’s no shame in that. We didn’t start the season as a favourite for promotion, after all. Even at our very best in December to late January, there were still three sides comfortably better than us.

We have fallen victim to fine margins too many times in the last few months to feel like there’s going to be a happy, opportunistic twist of fate. 

Ipswich, Plymouth and Wednesday deserve promotion, but each of them had to suffer and lick their wounds before feeling the benefits they’re reaping now. In the same way that they did, we just have to clear our heads, take stock, learn lessons and come back next season stronger and wiser and more of a complete package.

I am of the mindset that we give Warne a full season and see what he can deliver with a full pre-season, a summer window with the ability to assess and reshape the squad and his own people orchestrating things behind the scenes and putting his stamp on things.

Don’t give up on Warne yet. His work is only really about to get started.

Bristol Rovers 1-2 Derby

McGoldrick

These awards mean very little.

Lifting the play-off trophy after climbing the Wembley steps is all that matters now.

Derby 2-0 MK Dons

McGoldrick

2 hours ago, CBRammette said:

Do you work nights, have a young child, care for someone, have insomnia or are a party animal? Sorry that sounds really nosey but they are very lucid posts for the time posted - so probably not the last option bearing in mind some early hours posts we get!

Being on holiday means my sleep patterns become lawless.

90% of posters when we win today:

10% of posters:

14 hours ago, IlsonDerby said:

I don’t disagree with Ambitious. Whilst I never felt that we’d get close to autos once we were 7/8 points clear of 7th place I said to my pals that only relegation form would see us miss out on top 6. 
 

Do we trust a manager currently managing us through relegation form to start next season? For me it’s a tough decision Clowes will have to make. His last 10 matches have been awful and he needs to change our fortunes before the end of the season. I don’t mean this in an entitled way but in a serious way. Look at how often relegated teams struggle the following season because they can’t shake off the habit of losing. We are currently developing that relegation form/habit of losing. Without changing around 60% of the squad (which will have its own drawbacks in terms of hitting the ground running) we’ll be left with a squad used to losing. 

We have lost less than 30% of our league games this season and you are worried about a losing culture being developed?

We’re on a bad run. All teams experience them. Let’s not overblow it. When we were 15 games unbeaten, we knew it had to end at some point. This is no different.

The summer will be an almost complete reset and so much will change that the possibility of us suffering a hangover from this season is almost slim to none.

Please stop with the scaremongering, especially as we can still go on a winning run and we still have a shot at a Wembley promotion and a very successful end to the season. 

Now if we were to lose another 4-5 between now and May, then this kind of thinking would hold a lot more weight. But what is the likelihood of that?

12 hours ago, Ambitious said:

I wouldn’t say it’s a sense of entitlement, because I’ve seen how good this team is and how good they can be - this season. I’m not directing my frustration on the lack of quality within the squad, more so that as soon as the going got tough we have seemingly crumbled and the performance against Ipswich was as disjointed as I can remember seeing. 

Warne is a manager that I misjudged massively, in all honesty, because I assumed he would be a smart game manager and take a pragmatic approach. He does the complete opposite which is great when you’re winning, but just comes across as naive when you aren’t.

If we had been lower midtable and now looking to be in the playoffs come the end of the season, the view would be different (of course). However, from where we’ve been and how we’ve performed this season, anything other than a playoff finish would mean we’ve bottled it based on a run of games that has seen the likes of Burton and Cheltenham massively out perform us. Largely, in my opinion, not due to the quality of the team but the game management of the coaching staff. We absolutely battered Peterborough, the players on our team absolutely were superior footballers in every sense, yet we lacked any craft on the edge of the box and got caught with men over after our own corner to go 1-0 down.

Everyone will have their own standard and expectation, mine is built on what I’ve seen from us this season and what I’ve seen of the league this season. If I was being more honest with myself then I honestly have no idea how any decent manager could struggle to get this Derby team into the playoffs, honestly. I would be disappointed with anything other than a top 6 finish and really it would need to be looked at as to why we allowed a very comfortable position slip.

Your suggestion is that we have a quality squad being mismanaged, but are you really sure about that? Are you perhaps overrating the quality of our players?

I don’t think we have an outstanding team for the division, personally. I think we have a good team that can produce outstanding moments. That has been evident from day one.

We have won 4 out of 9 under Rosenior and 14 out of 30 under Warne. That suggests it’s a good, competitive team but very much in the top 6 to top 10 bracket. When I look at the make up of the squad, I don’t sense that it’s a top 2 squad performing at a top 10 level.

How many of our players have actually consistently performed at a level where you would say ‘X is too good for this league’? Disappointingly the only player who looks a different class is McGoldrick, to be perfectly honest.

Looking at the overall squad, it feels like a League One squad, it does not feel like a Championship squad playing below its level. We’ve won less than half of our games, after all. We talk about this squad’s quality, but are they actually just living off their reputations and relative big name status for this division?

Across the season, two of our other best and most consistent players have been Wildsmith and Mendez Laing. Remember these two weren’t wanted by Sheffield Wednesday because they wanted to push on and get back into the Championship. Quite telling now, isn’t it?

8 hours ago, S8TY said:

Let’s get this right …we are ONLY a league1 club because we are in league1 

we shouldn’t really be there if it wasn’t for the efl gangsters and we should not act like or be comfortable in league 1 

we are better than that and although what you say is true that we have to get out of it on merit …let’s not pretend we have to act like a league1 club 

 

Yes, but that’s like saying Brighton and Brentford shouldn’t be comfortable with being in the Premier League because their natural level in terms of club size and stature is probably lower Championship/high League 1. Yet they are in the Premier League, they are flourishing, and deservedly so.

If we ‘shouldn’t really be here’ and we are ‘better than that’, then surely we have to prove it and show it? It’s all hot air if we finish 8th. Perhaps that’s the problem - the reality of where we are and how good we are in football terms doesn’t line up with our long-held perception.

Yes, in size, stature and history, we are a Premier League club in the making. But if you strip all of that back and you are left with what’s on the pitch, it’s a League One squad looking right at home at this level. That’s what counts.

Yes, we have plenty of players with Championship experience, but I don’t think many (if any) of them have proven themselves week in, week out to be too good for this level.

So do we have anything to be arrogant about?

1 hour ago, Ambitious said:

If we don't finish in the play-off positions then he's had an absolute s****** in his first season in charge, let's be honest with ourselves here. He will have the opportunity at Derby next season with a full pre-season, allowing him to bring some of his own players into the club, so he will be able to properly put his own stamp on things. 

Next season he will have no excuses for not getting this team competing at the top end of the division and that will have to be the expectation. This season is a free hit, but missing out on the play-offs would be concerning considering how comfortable we were. Nine points in nine games for a Derby County side playing in the third division should be embarrassing to him as a coach and the players, honestly - essentially 20% of our season in relegation form AFTER going nearly going 20 unbeaten. 

If we don’t finish in the play-offs, we just go again next year.

Let go of the entitlement you are obviously carrying and show the league some respect. Promotion has to be earned, not given.

You make it sound like every club of our size and stature dominates the division and goes up at the first time of asking and there are countless examples of actually quite the opposite.

We were in the top six from November to April and we are only out of it on goal difference. We have been competing at the top end of the division, but we are not the only good side in the division and it is no disgrace to be where we are.

Ask the likes of Darren Moore, Kieran McKenna, Steven Schumacher, Michael Duff and Ian Evatt to compete under our restrictions and the response you’d get wouldn’t be a kind one.

Just because we have the best stadium, the best training facilities and the biggest crowds doesn’t mean we are in the best position to succeed.

We are competing against sides who yo-yo between the Championship (Barnsley and Peterborough) and sides who have spent several years coming together (Bolton, Plymouth, Wednesday and Ipswich).

We have no divine right to success in this league.

The tide is definitely turning against them with that result. You look at their remaining games and it does look troubling.

Maybe a win v Southampton? Maybe a point v Palace? Maybe a point v Brighton? Maybe a point v United or Arsenal if they have an off day? I am struggling.

But credit where it’s due - they have kept themselves out of the bottom three for a solid four months and they are very much alive.

This was also against a backdrop of numerous players getting injured, new signings floundering, and the manager having to constantly look over his shoulder where his job security is concerned.

I wouldn’t write them off just yet and they’ve been sensible to keep Cooper in situ. Given how poor everyone else is, it only takes one surprise result and the entire picture changes.

6 minutes ago, IslandExile said:

As the Author of the poll, I can tell you what triggered me to post were the comments that I was seeing on the Academy Thread.

Every team hits dodgy patches of form - look at Manchester City and Liverpool. In our case, we narrowly escaped extinction. I think we only had five contracted players when Clowes and Rosenior managed to scrape together a squad, with no transfer fees and under spending constraints for wages, for this season. Warne was then brought in as manager - inheriting players not necessarily suited to his preferred style of play - and he has had only one transfer window BUT no money to spend. As I understand it, even selling players he would not be allowed to buy.

So, very definitely,  I can assure you that I am not trying to sustain any Anti-Warne sentiment on the basis of the difficult situation Warne has had to contend with or a - very understandable - dip in form. No, it's not that at all.

My concern is the bigger picture. The development, encouragement and fostering of the academy. The overall tactics and style of play if and when we get out of League One. That's what concerns me. It concerns me now as it did when he was appointed - and people warned then about tactics and non-use of the academy.

It's not just about where we finish in League One this season. Warne was brought in on a four year contract to build the whole club, not just to get us out of this division.

I hope that clarifies.

As an aside though: it's great that we have finally settled on a manager that you @Jourdan want to get behind 😉

Warne has been in the job for seven months. The club is still rebuilding after being on the brink less than a year ago.

He hasn’t had a pre-season or a summer window - the time you would expect a manager to sit down and assess the direction the club is going in and to analyse the bigger picture.

We need a settled club and a stable first team first and foremost. He’s contending with a lot to get the first team looking competitive.

Expecting him to focus on and integrate the Academy into his thinking and expecting him to have a uniform approach and style of play seems ten steps ahead of where we are. Once again this summer, we will have work to do to put together a competitive first team.

You surely focus on the Academy and the bigger picture from a position of strength and stability?