Jourdan

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?

I am not sure what this thread was really meant to achieve.

It strikes me as poorly timed and entirely designed to galvanise a certain section of the fanbase and sustain anti-Warne sentiment from self-appointed Warne sceptics.

We’re in the middle of a run where we have lost six in 12 and five in our last eight and we’ve dropped from 4th to 7th.

That sounds a really sensible time to give fair and genuine appraisals, doesn’t it?

Not in seven games’ time when the season is finished and we’ll know our fate, of course.

If it was May and we had finished 7th or 8th, take aim. But we still have seven games to go (potentially 10) and can still have a successful end to the season, why not let things play out?

Forest Green 1-2 Derby

Hourihane

4 hours ago, Foreveram said:

Bit late with this, but for anyone interested.

Tickets for Bristol Rovers and Exeter went on sale at 10 am this morning.

Currently this is what’s left.

Bristol Rovers, 153 seat tickets, 45 standing.

Exeter, 109 seat tickets, 201 standing.
 
 

 

Thank you for this, @Foreveram!

Does it look like tickets are being released in small blocks similar to what happened with Plymouth away?

16 minutes ago, TomTom92 said:

Think not bringing in a striker was unbelievably poor, I reckon there was someone out there to at least Osula’s quality. That said I’m not saying that would’ve saved the season.  
 
But massively frustrating having to watch us toddle around the pitch with no threat. I feel like if this season is going to be salvaged then we need a Mason Bennett freakesque goal to give us a kiss of life. Although we don’t have a mason mount to come back in to the team but instead a Tony Springett.

In the position we were in, we would have had to take a chance on a player and likely one with next to no experience of senior football.

Maybe Warne felt the risk wasn’t worth it in our position or perhaps he thought given McGoldrick’s form at the time, we would cope without one.

I think it’s hard to be too critical.

1 minute ago, TomTom92 said:

Says he’s aware that the squad needs some surgery but didn’t have this view (in public) in January. 
 
Our poor performance in the transfer market really has bummed us. 
 
Yes I know we can’t pay fees but still our lack of movement was disappointing. Said it earlier in this thread, Warne doesn’t seem to have to a silver tongue regarding transfers. 
 
He needs us to win a few before now and the summer or his job will be close to untenable. Providing he does this then he’ll need to get us playing in 4th and 5th gear regularly next season when at the moment we can’t get out of 2nd.

January is always a difficult time and it was especially in our situation.

We were riding a long unbeaten run and the team were performing at a high level.

Would we have liked a striker? A centre back? Natural full backs? Almost certainly. In ordinary times, you can bet we’d have signed 5-6 players in January in an attempt to go from strength to strength. But times are different now and we have to be more selective.

Was there good value out there? Was there something workable within our restrictions? Was there a risk of upsetting the balance of a small, high achieving squad? These were all considerations we had to make.

This is a season of learning lessons in that respect.

17 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

If Warne picked Sibley as an attacking midfielder our goal threat would be consistently transformed. For once it's not rocket science.

Sibley is an exciting player on his day but again he’s also frustrating and inconsistent.

It’s probably why he can’t get a run in the team in his natural position.

11 minutes ago, NottsRam77 said:

Genuine question jourdon, as i like ur posts and think u always give good reasoned points no matter ur if i agree or not

if we dont make the play offs .. then what?

would u want warne out? 

 

Personally, no. I don’t see the point in giving Warne a long term deal and pushing him out before he’s had a chance to build his own team.

I do think not making the play-offs would put him under pressure though.

He would have to get the summer window right and start next season well and show signs of the team evolving.

12 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Yet another week when you see the starting line up and can't see where the goals are coming from and are forced to ask why Warne doesn't try to use our creative, threatening players. From 2pm this game had Derby nil written all over it.

I think Warne felt the pressure of the run we’re on v the run Ipswich are on and tried to set up more conservatively.

It didn’t really work.

In terms of goal threat, I am not sure what you are expecting.

If McGoldrick isn’t on it, all of our other options are quite inconsistent. So there is no guarantee they’d have made a difference.

2 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Shall we all blame the ref and give Warney a night off 😁

I just think we came up against a better, more balanced team today and a team who are flying and full of confidence. No shame in that.

I look at the next six games and believe this is where Warne will be judged.

We’re out of the top six on goal difference. If we can’t salvage the season from here, then serious questions would have to be asked.

Ipswich were deserved winners.

They have such a good balance for this league - pace, power, physicality, height, tenacity, a command of the dark arts, but also the capability of playing some good, fast, attacking football.

They are what Rotherham under Warne might have been if he’d had a bigger budget.

I can understand the disappointment. It’s an awful run we’re on. But I don’t think there’s much point digging into Warne or the team.

We are evidently still a work in progress.

Ipswich have a more balanced side than us, which is understandable given the different parameters we are working to.

Ipswich can spend big on fees and wages, whereas we are having to work under restrictions and with a squad that has a few glaring holes.

Warne experimented with the starting XI. It hasn’t worked on the whole. Let’s see if he can change things up in the second half.

Ipswich have won six in a row and their team is full of pace, height and physicality.

It’s clear to see why Warne has tried something different. It could be a masterstroke, it could be a disaster.

Time will tell, but you can’t blame him for trying.

For weeks, we have had posters on here saying that Warne is tactically inept, so you can’t be surprised he’s trying to be more proactive.

Derby 1-0 Ipswich

McGoldrick

1,311 allocation for Exeter away

1,299 allocation for Bristol Rovers away

Here’s hoping at least one of them reaches general sale! 🤞

Collins is obviously a confidence player and is obviously used to being a big fish in a small pond and having a team built around him and having everyone’s love.

We’ve built our team around McGoldrick and I would say this has affected Collins.

He will obviously want to play and he will obviously want to make a difference. With him, you feel he’s likely trying too hard to make an impression.

He’s becoming much maligned because he is everything that McGoldrick is not.

Why is everyone so worried?

Virgin will be round on Monday to fix the Internet in the Warne household.

Just in time for him to read the forum, learn how to manage second halves, and guide us to an 11-match winning run.

See you at Wembley, folks.

Peterborough 2-2 Derby

McGoldrick FRGS

13 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

"not losing both" might not be enough. Imagine if we lost at Peterborough then only drew against Ipswich 

Time will tell.

Peterborough 66 Wycombe 66 Derby 64 Bolton 64

Even if it looked like this at 5pm on April 1st, we would still have 7 games to put things right.

No need to panic. Now if we lose the next three, different story.

11 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

So we beat Morecambe 5-0 at home. It's been the suspicion for some time we are flat track bullies. So we then play 4-2 4 against Wycombe away, with two midfielders at full back. And get overrun in midfield. Because Wycombe are not Morecambe. 

You see Warne is dammed if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

Let’s say he had gone 3-5-2 and we lose 1-0 or draw 0-0. People would have said he’s too negative and too cautious.

Again, I think you are being harsh.

Just now, PistoldPete said:

So we beat Morecambe 5-0 at home. It's been the suspicion for some time we are flat track bullies. So we then play 4-2 4 against Wycombe away, with two midfielders at full back. And get overrun in midfield. Because Wycombe are not Morecambe. 

What would you have done differently?

Bear in mind, we have played midfielders at full back because we have lacked natural full backs of a necessary standard and have been stretched by injuries.

Bear in mind, we played a midfield two of Knight and Hourihane because we have limited options and are restricted in who we can sign. Bird was injured and the other options were White and Sibley, who are young and inexperienced in this position and would not have helped us in a physical battle.

3 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

No, as I say the rot set in at Wycombe the team selection was wrong for that game and then he picked the exact same team against Lincoln and surprise surprise we were poor then too. 

Surprise surprise?

Just before Wycombe away we had won six in a row and were 15 unbeaten.

Just before Wycombe away, the same XI had beaten Morecambe 5-0.

But OK, clearly you know better than the manager.

I think you are being very harsh on Warne and the players.

6 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

No. What I find alarming is Warne's reaction and excuses. I agreed with your previous (ages back) comment about Warne seemingly knowing what was needed and what worked, but today?

I am not defending today. But prior to today, I think you can justifiably defend what he has done.

1 minute ago, PistoldPete said:

No not at all. The first alarming result (and performance) was defeat at Wycombe. Our first real test and we blew it. Ditto Barnsley. Ditto Plymouth. We had a goal ruled out for offside against Lincoln, but the goal we scored was offside. We were playing against 10 men. At home. To Lincoln. No excuses this is shambolic. 

Shambolic? Making excuses?

Did you expect us to romp away with the league and never have a loss, or a bad, uncharacteristic performance?

During this run, we’ve come out on the wrong side in three tough games, two of which we could have drawn on another day.

We’ve dropped points in three would be routine home games, two of which we could have won on another day.

Yes, we have to improve but save the hyperbole for May, please.

51 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

I know we're not yet in "must win" territory but I can't help but think that a defeat at Peterborough could leave us in trouble. Even a draw leaves us vulnerable.

Peterborough and Ipswich will be really tough.

But provided we don’t lose both, things should still be in our hands.

Even then, we play MK Dons and Burton at home and Forest Green, Exeter and Bristol Rovers away in the five games after that - which are awkward but all winnable if we play anywhere close to how we know we can.

Today was a bitter pill to swallow but we are still in control of our destiny.