Jourdan

24 minutes ago, Ram1988 said:

Surley you must acknowledge how well he has done and motivated the boys so far this season?

No one gave us a chance at the start of the season yet alone with our points dedication.

 

Who gave us no chance? Probably media types who don’t understand football at this level or those who wanted to feed the hysteria.

At this level, you’ve always got a chance. Wycombe, a club who don’t even particularly stand out at League 1 level, proved that. And so have countless others.

I am a supposed pessimist and I have predicted us to win several games this season.

The last two games were very impressive but overall 10 points from 24 is merely a decent return, one that could have been better given the opposition. We have dropped seven points from winning positions, let’s not forget.

Let’s see how the players respond on Saturday. A spirited performance would be so encouraging to see.

5 minutes ago, MuespachRam said:

By two takeaways from this drivel are…

one and only King Billy…. Oh sweet William…

and 

bagpipes….!?? Bagpipes.!!? Really ?

Drivel? I must have learned from the master of it. ?

4 minutes ago, MuespachRam said:

Give yourself a day off. 
the guy is speaking from his heart and making some pretty mature sensible and emotional points. 
 

I guess time will tell. Let’s hope so.

Lampard was also worshipped for a time and knew what to say and do to ‘work the crowd’.

How quickly that turned around.

29 minutes ago, Charlotte Ram said:

I doubt very much he is drawing a salary at the moment, but will be too modest to mention it, it must be very wearing for you to be so cynical with everything to do with Wayne

Football is awash with self-interest and you think Rooney is working for free.

It’s almost as ridiculous as your ‘Blame the fans’ thread.

It might be cynical. It might be spot on. Time will tell.

And for the record, I am as fresh as a daisy.

11 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

So you don't like him! No probs,

Lets all get behind him and the players, nothing else matters now if you love Derby. Our survival is at stake and Rooney is a leader I'd follow into battle.

It’s not about whether I like him or not. I don’t know him. None of us do. Nor do we know what is said and done behind the scenes. We only know what we are told.

If it was Cocu, Lampard, Rowett, or even the one and only King Billy, I would say exactly the same. They are just doing their jobs.

I am totally behind the club. At 3 o clock on Saturday, the boys will have my full attention, much to my girlfriend’s disappointment.

Yes, our survival is at stake. But choice words in a press conference won’t get us out of our predicament, winning football matches will.

If Rooney is a leader, let’s see him lead us to victories against all odds, and then we can get the bagpipes out.

21 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

So not Rooney himself, just his PR team?

Come on fella, give the bloke a break. He's acted with tremendous dignity throughout all this while giving his all to keep the players motivated. 

 

It was a tongue in cheek comment after my previous comments on Rooney and PR.

Acting dignified? Effort? Attempts to motivate players? Isn’t that the least you would expect from a manager in this position?

What is with the fanfare? He’s simply doing his job and what he is contracted to do. And he’s getting paid handsomely for it. He can’t really lose in this situation, so of course he isn’t going to walk away. I can think of 50,000 reasons not to.

No doubt he also knows the importance of getting the fans onside, so of course he will be aware of what to say to hit the right notes. Mel is public enemy 1, so it was an easy punch to throw.

But words are just words. Personally, I prefer to see a response on the pitch, not soundbites. If we see more spirited performances and results like the one vs Stoke, that is something to get behind.

But as it is, he is being given legendary status by some for making the brave choice to hand some bibs out, put a few cones down, answer a few questions, and pick up tens of thousands a week in the process.

Rooney’s PR team are good, very good.

I think the majority of the squad will be kept together.

I don’t see a fire sale happening because the finances of many clubs are still so tight because of the pandemic.

Clubs could have pounced in the summer if they had wanted. So you have to assume clubs are taking and will continue to take fewer risks in the transfer market, which is exactly what many of our players would be considered.

Take the young players, the likes of Buchanan, Bird, Knight and Sibley. They have all shown promise and flashes of quality but none of them have had a genuinely sustained run of starts and good performances.

Would they interest Premier League or fellow Championship clubs? In ordinary times, yes. But now? I think they would want players who are standing out week in, week out like an Eze or an Olise had been.

I also think these young players are more likely to want to stay and secure the club’s future having come up through our system.

I think the most likely outcome will be Jozwiak to go and possibly Bielik too pending a successful return from injury. I would also expect the departure of high earners or soon to be out of contract players such as Lawrence, Shinnie, Byrne and Marshall.

I don’t really understand Wycombe’s position.

Where is the injustice? It all seems rather desperate and lacking in substance.

Wycombe didn’t get enough points to stay up and we also had a better head-to-head record against them.

They didn’t do what they needed to do on the pitch. What we are being punished for is historical, and from a time when Wycombe were nowhere near the Championship.

You can look at as many spreadsheets as you want, but those facts will always remain.

Sheff Utd 1-1 Derby

Lawrence FRGS

3 minutes ago, Rev said:

Maybe, just maybe, he stands at the shoulder of those he's recruited, those he's bought in from the academy, and those players he's inherited from Cocu?

In short, maybe he's stands with his team, rather than our owner.

 

Maybe. Time will tell. Let’s hope so.

Blyth, here we come!

7 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

Why? 

Rooney had to find out the club was entering administration via Sky Sports News.

Does that suggest that Rooney has a good relationship with the higher ups, with open and ongoing lines of communication and actions that are supportive of the other?

Why would he willingly commit to spending thousands of pounds every few weeks to get Mel and the board out of a bind?

Everything points to their treatment of Rooney being so poor that there is not the goodwill or respect present that would compel Rooney to offer up some support.

1 minute ago, RoyMac5 said:

It must be very sour inside your head. I feel sorry for you that you doubt every good intention and always look for 'an angle'.

It is the life of a celebrity.

They have agents, they have management teams, they have advisors.

When you reach that status, your life is basically micro-managed to make sure you look good. Rooney only does what is best for Rooney, or at least that’s what his team will be thinking.

If he’s paying for away travel and accommodation out of the kindness of his heart, all credit to him.

But it wouldn’t really add up given his relationship with Mel and the board, would it?

Even I must admit that I am starting to feel sorry for Rooney.

When the points deductions are finalised, he will be left to do a job that is way beyond his current skillset and level of experience, and he has seemingly been left in the dark and the cold by the very people who brought him to the club.

Let’s see what he can produce moving forward and let’s see where he is 12 months from now. I don’t see that he has done anything out of the ordinary so far.

Staying at the club, and contributing to the costs of away travel and such things will surely reflect well on him and of course build goodwill.

However, let’s not forget - he probably will have been consulted by his agent or PR team on the best steps to take.

I think the next seven games will be critical. We don’t know when these deductions will hit, but we know they are coming.

So it’s all about setting ourselves a platform now. Look at the heartening response from Rooney and the players today - the emotion, the passion, the bravery, the desire. We have to bottle that and take it into each and every game.

If you look at the games up to the end of October, we have a chance to really whittle things down.

If we can be in a position where the deficit is wiped out with 30 games to go, you just never know.

All I want to see is us showing some pride and fighting until the end. Based on today, the signs are good.

8 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

plymouths a poo hole mate,home park is on the edge of the area where the hookers and the druggies hang out,and at the end of the road where the murders were a few weeks ago. probably an away day to avoid-i worked in plymouth for years and it makes chad look like kensington

Sorry to hear that. There was a 99 Flake with your name on it.

What a desperately desperate situation.

On the bright side, we could have Plymouth away next season.

@Jimbo Ram and @RoyMac5 making sandcastles - the pre-match entertainment we’ve all been waiting for!

5 hours ago, IslandExile said:

"An eye for talent"?

Both Cocu and Rooney have been praised for what they've been able to bring in.

Burley, "a prime example", had a fantastic goalscorer Gregorz Rasiak that would make a huge difference to the Cocu/Rooney sides. Idiakez scored regularly aswell. Burley had other quality players too.

I'll give you a better example - Brian Clough, simply the best manager our club has ever had. Struggled, certainly results wise, in the first full season until he was able to bring in his own players, spending money on fees, and mould the team the way he wanted.

7 points from 7 games isn't what any of us would regard as a good start in normal circumstances but given where the club is right now, it's far better than many of us feared.

Having unrealistic expectations will inevitably lead to being perpetually negative about the team's performance.

Name a "good manager", currently available, who you think would have us playing "attractive winning football".

Many that have voiced criticism of Cocu and others that didn't want Rooney as manager, suggested either Chris Hughton or Paul Cook would do a better job.....? 

Edit to add:

You say "An ability to manage in difficult situations?"...... Both Cocu and Rooney have managed the team with dignity (hotel rooms aside) throughout exceptionally difficult situations. To imply otherwise is very harsh.

We do this dance a lot. There are tens of managers out there who could get us playing good football and winning more than 1 in 7. 

The club is not in a position to sack the manager, so there is no point naming names.

Maybe Hughton or Cook would have done a better job. Who really knows? Does what they have done at Forest and Ipswich wipe out the rest of their managerial careers where they have done good work by and large? Now if they were consistently failing in their jobs, I could understand you. But even the very best managers will have blemishes on their records or take on the wrong fit from time to time.

As for recruitment, it depends on who you ask, doesn’t it? Some would say that Cocu and Rooney have brought in good players. Others would probably disagree.

Burley had a fantastic goalscorer like Rasiak and fantastic players like Idiakez because he had a canny scouting team to recruit such players.

Take Rasiak, he was signed on a free transfer. Idiakez too.

OK, the market is more limited these days but if under the Three Amigos we were able to unearth quality, why not now?

The players signed by Rooney may turn out to be fantastic, but they hardly required much imagination or research.

Perhaps 7 points from 7 is better than people feared, but what is there to fear? It’s the Championship. It’s wide open. Teams beat the odds all of the time.

Who is being unrealistic? No-one is expecting us to beat the likes of Fulham or WBA. It’s not as if I am saying it was two points dropped on Tuesday.

But personally I would expect us to fare better and show more vs the likes of Birmingham, Huddersfield, Peterborough and Forest.

2 points from 12, when one of those teams was in League 1 and the other three were fighting relegation last season, surely we ought to be kicking ourselves?

1 hour ago, IslandExile said:

I'd say what's common to both Cocu and Rooney is that - through no fault of their own - they inherited the worst squad we've had for years at a club in absolute turmoil, spiralling downwards.

To play "attractive, winning football" I would argue the manager needs a firmer foundation than this club currently provides.

Good coaching? An eye for talent? Tactical prowess? An ability to manage in difficult situations?

Does all of that count for nothing? Or can attractive, winning football only be achieved in optimal settings?

Now I totally agree with you that the club is in a far from healthy position, but we won’t be the first nor the last club in the Championship to face adversity, turmoil, and be disadvantaged in some respects.

Of course the working conditions for both managers have been far from ideal, but that is part and parcel of football.

Aside from Marco Silva at Fulham, I doubt there is a single manager in the Championship who is content with what they have, nor a single manager who doesn’t have problems to contend with.

The point is, good managers can find a way to make the best of a difficult situation and succeed in spite of their circumstances. Look at what Burley did here in 2004-05, as a prime example.

Clearly we have let our standards diminish when 7 points from 7 games is deemed a promising start and there is a widely held belief that this is the best we can hope for.

3 minutes ago, sage said:

The football we have played this season, bar the West Brom game, is about as attractive as you can get from these players.

Keep smiling 

I imagine the same was said in 2013 before McClaren took over from Clough.

It is pure assumption to say that Rooney is getting the absolute maximum out of the players.

Truth is you just never know what another manager could do. 

I just don’t see the point in getting worked up defending two managers who won’t live long in the memory where this club is concerned. Not in a positive sense, at least.

PS. Winning tends to elicit smiles, doesn’t it?

Cocu v Rooney is a pretty redundant debate at this point.

We have seen glimpses, flashes, moments of promise under both, but ultimately neither of them have been good enough over a sustained period of time and both have experienced particularly barren slumps in form.

I wouldn’t be in a hurry to defend either of them.

Imagine if we had a manager who played attractive, winning football.

Derby 1-0 Stoke

Morrison FRGS

WBA 2-0 Derby