Warren Blufitt

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

I'm at the stage where I don't care who the first signing is. I just want to be informed on the morning of the first day of the transfer window, that we have signed a player. Quickly followed by the announcement of at the least 5 or 6 more signings.

I don't want to see weeks of speculation on who's coming or more worryingly going. I want us to have our squad sorted with the exceptions of a few loan players before they report for preseason training.

It’s all very well hoping that but players often don’t want to sign until they’ve listened to all offers and potential moves, especially the sought after ones, so whilst I’m sure the manager would want to get all his business done early it’s not always in his hands.

51 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

Reading, Wigan and Blackpool going down, two of those sides are in financial trouble.

Hopefully Sheff Wed go up.

Then next season we can be genuine top two contenders with Barnsley, Bolton, Blackpool and Posh the likely challengers.

A few improvements this summer and next season could be a memorable one.

Don’t forget Pompey and probably Charlton too as they’ve regrouped this year and Oxford and Fleetwood may surprise as well as Leyton Orient coming up. Whoever gets out this year it’s still going to be a tough gig next season so take nothing for granted.

Unlucky guys, I genuinely couldn’t see you slipping up but sadly that’s how it goes. Hopefully Posh can do Wednesday now and if we do similar to Barnsley we won’t have to worry about the hoardes of Rams or Owls fans we’d face at Wembley because I don’t think many Wanderers fans can afford two trips to Wembley in one season. For what it’s worth it may not be a hardship for you leaving it another year to get up. You were limited in the players you could sign and late in the season it’s showed but give Warne a chance to build and you’ll certainly be pushing for the automatics next season and with a much stronger situation behind you. We’re also being pretty pragmatic about the play offs and it may also be a year early for us too so we may be challenging again next year also. Not much coming down so if it is Wendies going up it’s all to play for for both of us. Hopefully we’ll make it, on our day we can beat any of the others so we’ll just wait and see. Sorry you missed out this time but best of luck for next year, you’re far too big a club to be kicking round this level. 😉

Posh also held so all to play for next week.

Bolton 2-0 up now!

Fleetwood down to ten men against Bolton!

Well done today guys a very important 3 points for us both today and that defeat for Posh must deflate them and with two tough games to come it looks like you and Wanderers in the play offs. We just need to win our game in hand against Accy on Tuesday and it puts us 5 points in front of them with two left. Not completely done yet but good as so looking forward to meeting you at Wembley. 😉

12 hours ago, LeedsCityRam said:

I think Bolton will be fine, all 4 of your games look very winnable even if the opposition are likely to park the bus at the Reebok. Suspect you'll book your playoff spot with a game or 2 to go. Guess the question is more which of Barnsley or Sheff Weds you would prefer?

Whilst Burton tomorrow looks a winnable fixture on paper, they're very local to us & will be desperate to put one over Derby...imagine is the equivalent of you playing Accrington. Obviously the game at Hillsborough could decide Wendies' automatic promotion fate so not many holding out hope for points there. Therefore we will probably need Peterborough to drop points to make the top 6.

Thanks for the good wishes by the way, fair to say Bolton have had a very similar trauma to ourselves so good to see you on the up. Big fan of your manager too.

Well LCR, games that look winnable can sometimes surprise when the pressures on. You’re right about Accy, similar to Burton for you as is Fleetwood for us who we always seem to struggle against because as you say they park the bus and we’re not brilliant at unpacking it. I actually think you’ll be ok, Burton are decent going forward but I thought a bit weak defensively and we really should have won on Tuesday the chances we missed. In fact that’s been our problem all season, too few goals and we’ve had to rely on the defence but of course all our first choice central defenders are out injured and we’re having to make do. I think you’ll be fine against Wednesday because I don’t think they’ll make the automatics by your game so will probably rest key players for the play offs. I expect us both to be there if Ipswich do the job on Posh today which I think they will and frankly I don’t care who we play after that, just glad to be there. Considering your restrictions I think Warnes done a stellar job getting you where you are so let’s hope he can get you one step further then who knows? 😉

A lot of it’s about nerves and expectations at this time of the season. Because the points are so important the tension rises, especially at home in front of a big crowd and it grows as the time runs down and you haven’t scored. Teams come to places like Derby and Bolton and park the bus and try all kinds of shytehousery to run the clock down. Sometimes I wonder if it’s not better to play away as teams open up more at home. Wanderers have 3 home games now which on paper should be realistically straightforward wins but it’s never as simple as that. I think we’ll beat Shrewsbury tomorrow but Accy are fighting for their lives and Fleetwood are on a good run so you can see potential slip ups there? Similarly you should comfortably beat Burton tomorrow and posh should lose to an in form Ipswich but I wouldn’t bet on the results going like that. As games run out the nerves get bigger, so close yet so far. I’m going to wish you luck tomorrow because I’d rather see Derby have a chance to progress than Peterborough. After what you’ve been through, like us you deserve it too. Looking forward to meeting you at Wembley then? 😉

You need to be on it with this one. They were decent when they came to the UniBol on Tuesday and probably deserved their point overall. They surprised in that they played more football than I expected and less high balls. They attack quickly so your defenders need to be on their toes. I can see why they’ve done well against the better teams and if you’re not careful they may well do it to you too? 😉

You guys need a win tonight, no less because although having tough games themselves if Posh or Wanderers get anything from their games it’s going to be a tough ask for you with only 3 games left. The win for Wanderers at Oxford on Saturday was a big plus given yours and other results but it could completely reverse tonight if you and Posh deliver. I really don’t fancy our chances tonight at Burton without our key central defenders, we know they’ll just throw everything into our box but we held out at Exeter, Oxford and almost against Cambridge so hopefully we will tonight. PW sounded a little down in his pre match talk and as if there might be a little unrest in the camp with some players which can’t help so maybe you might need a rebuild in the summer, get his own players in and go again?

Like Wanderers you have lots of players out of contract that you could either keep or replace. Of course it depends on which division you’re in as to who might come. If we’re both still in L1 then it should be easier to attract good players with the facilities we both have, although we can’t match the wages you can as at Bolton our budget is smaller. Competition in the Championship would be much harder, especially if transfer fees can’t be paid, so would it be better to miss out and build a better, more youthful squad for another push next year? There isn’t much point going up if you’re just going to come straight back down again as there is a pretty big gulf between L1 and the Championship. I think we’re slightly further ahead than you on that as we’ve been out of our restrictions this year so have brought in some youth which is starting to show but I’m still not sure we have enough to be competitive if we did make it up. Still a lot to do for both yet and tough away games tomorrow so it’s anybody’s guess for the remaining games. Can’t wish you luck obviously but I still think you’re better than Posh and will pip them to the play offs as theyve still got Ipswich and Barnsley yet!!

Should be a walk in the park for you guys today but we thought that at Bolton and they did is 1-0. Complacency can be a dangerous thing!! 🥴

33 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

We should have had a peno against Bolton away. And we hit the woodwork. But gone a bit pear shaped for us recently. 

Ha, for both of us Pete. We should both have been way further up but recent poor runs have left us both short and allowed the others to make up ground. With the players we both have we should still be able to make top six and once you’re there who knows what can happen? I still think Ipswich might pip Plymouth for the automatics and if the play offs were you, us, Tykes and Plymouth I don’t see anything to fear in that and at least it’s four proper footballing teams without the shytehousery. 🤗

30 minutes ago, JPRamFan said:

Yes I am talking about the game in January, not the game at your place.

Fair do’s JPR, you were definitely the far better team in Jan. 😉

30 minutes ago, JPRamFan said:

Why did you leave out Bolton and Barnsley, who we totally outplayed in both games.

Actually you’re kidding yourself if you believe that. Can’t speak for Barnsley and you were far the better team at Pride Park where we were abysmal but at the UniBol we were much the better team but just wasteful in front of goal. You pinched that one but that was a big blow to both of us today, especially after your first half performance. Posh, other than playing Ipswich have a pretty simple run in on paper so if we’re not careful they could pip one of us for that top six spot. We seem to be just coming back to form now that we’re getting our injured players back so hopefully we can push on to consolidate. It’s going to be a tough month looking ahead and I think we both need to accept that it’s going to be a real fight from here on in? 

No good being on top if you don’t make the most of it and when you don’t this is what happens!!

You can’t seriously compare Rotherham with Derby though. Rotherham don’t have the financial clout of a Derby and have done brilliantly to get where they have under Warne but as with many clubs like them, they are forced to sell their better players when promoted as they did last summer losing Smith and Ladapo. They’re in danger again this year of going down and I’m not sure it would have been different under Warne but I’m sure if Rams do get up this year I’d be very confident he’d bring in better players to progress in the Championship.

Definitely need to get something today as Posh seem to have the easiest run in with only really Ipswich of any note. Don’t fancy Wycombe to get top six so I think it’s two from Rams, Trotters and Posh. 

Hi guys, Wanderers fan here, that’s the proper ones not the Wycombe imposters?. It’s getting to the business end of the season now and though the likes of posh and Wycombe are pushing I don’t see either you or us dropping out of the top six. We’re just coming back off a bad run following our Pizza Cup win to Wembley which seemed to unsettle us badly. We’re also getting our injured players back and were able against the Wendy’s on Friday to play nearly our strongest squad and it showed. We really should have won as we totally outplayed a very strong Owls team in the second half. We don’t play again now until April so there’s a chance for others below to overtake us but I’m not worried because once we’re back to it other than the Shews away and Plymouth at home we’ve no top sides to play and our last few are at home. Assuming we make the play offs, which I expect to be us, you Tykes and Plymouth who I think Ipswich will pip for the final automatic spot, I’m not really fussed who we play because the best four teams are all pretty well reasonably matched and can all beat each other on a given day. Past results are irrelevant and all four clubs have good managers so the fare should be football related rather than the shytehousery of some of the others the best footballing team should win? Seeing as we don’t play again beforehand I’m happy to wish all the best of luck to you for your remaining games. ?

Very well done today guys thoroughly deserved the win and really it was men against boys. Your physicality, nouse and experience completely undid us. To be fair we’ve been like this all season, pretty football but no cutting edge and we need a couple of old heads to lead the kids. Unfortunately Evatt is so far down his moneyball route trying to find young players to sell on he completely ignores the fact that you need some grey hairs in the team who’ve been there and done it, unlike your man who knows exactly how to do it and is doing a cracking job. There may have been a few questioning his appointment but I think he’s more than answering them now. I think you’ve every chance of making the top two now if you keep up performances like todays so best of luck for the rest of the season. ??

10 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

You seem to have ruffled a few feathers mate.  Too be fair, I can't see you've said much wrong, other than making your own point and are a saint compared to an a******* we had on here from Norwich a few years ago and a t*** from Leicester that was quickly sent packing, both whom thoroughly deserved a verbal thumping.   We have been in a European cup semi final though- robbed by a paid ref- and a few FA cup finals, We've also been League runner up on two other occasions so I think we're better.

 

We’ll I didn’t mean to SCREAMER, just to talk about the match not get involved in a “my balls are bigger than yours discussion” so I’ll keep it to that now!! Like I said you’ve a proud history, we both have and lots of fans of other clubs will be taking an interest in our game today which says something about us. There’s no question you’ve signed some quality players and they’re starting to perform for you now which is good. We’ve gone the other way with mainly young players and they also are starting to come good so it should be a cracking match. We really need to win this to make up for your game in hand and that’s what we’ll be coming to do so whilst it might be tight I think there will be chances at both ends and will come down to who takes them. Let’s just hope it’s the players who decide it and not the officials because we’ve also suffered from them this season. Enjoy the game even if you don’t get the points. ??

23 minutes ago, ram59 said:

And we all know that Man U fans don't come from Manchester, so the Mancs must support someone else.?

I think you’ve been listening to too much media rubbish 59. Of course the majority of United fans that attend games come from Manchester but United have fans from all over country, indeed the world and obviously some attend games periodically. The simple fact is that United get more fans through the turnstiles on a bad day than the likes of Wanderers and Derby get on their best days. I think history is much more relevant than gate sizes when judging clubs. Under Cloughie, my personal ever favourite manager, you won two Championship titles 50 years ago but other than that you’ve won nothing other than one FA Cup in 1947. We’ve never won the league, runners up twice but have 4 FA Cup wins. We have spent the 12th most years in the top division in our history and you’ve spent the 15th most so I’d say we’re both pretty successful and should be proud of that. If we were the only club in Lancashire we’d arguably be getting average gates in the mid twenty thousands like you but we’re not and aren’t likely to but it doesn’t take anything away from the fact Wanderers are a club with a long and proud history and so are Derby. We’re both fortunate to have clubs with a rich history to support since we formed the original league all those years ago and that’s what makes the game tomorrow so special not the fact that one gets a few more thousand than the other through the turnstile. Actually to put it in perspective, we’ve just lost our best player Dapo Afolyan to a German club St Pauli who are fighting relegation from the Bundesliga 2 and their average gate is over 30k!! Beat that. ?

1 hour ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

Warren, it's strange that you think we are obsessed with attendance yet on your own forum there are dozens of posts about selling out your allocation. What's the difference? 

Ha, hung by my own petard Scarlet. ?

Maybe it’s because like you we almost lost our club recently that we’re just glad to be there at all. In fairness we’ve always had better support than the other Lancashire clubs, especially away support and even now with both Blackburn and Preston both pushing for promotion they can’t compete with us. Obviously the competition for fans is far more acute where we are with Man United, City, Blackburn, Preston, Wigan, Burnley and Blackpool all within around 15 miles max of Bolton plus others like Accrington, Fleetwood, Stockport and Rochdale. You really only have Chesterfield so I think comparing gate size is somewhat irrelevant but I accept it’s good to be well supported and you are.

5 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

This is indeed a very strange matchthread, as our visitors have pointed out. I'm reminded that the better you get at golf, the more boring it becomes because you're always hitting it from tee to fairway to green and then holing in two putts. And maybe when we have a more settled team and way of playing, and are unbeaten for a long time, the football discussion has become dull too? We all pretty much know what the team will be and hope it will prove another especially good day for McGoldrick at top and Wildsmith at the back. And with Knight's energy there'll be more of a contest in midfield as well as us threatening down the flanks. After conceding a couple of goals, I'm certain the defence will be annoyed and want to get back to clean sheets.

A thread's started on the Bolton forum: https://forum.boltonnuts.co.uk/t24950-derby-v-bolton

Should the worst happen and @Diego's run comes to an end, can we borrow Natasha to start our next thread?

Wouldn’t bother with the Nuts thread, Wanderersways is the biggest forum and much more informative. There are a few idiots on there as I imagine there are on here but you just ignore them. Looking forward to a cracking game which I suspect could go either way. After a poor November we’ve really gelled since and I think overconfidence could be your downfall if you rely too much on your recent past results. Evatt was partial to chopping and changing previously but has now hit on a settled side and we’re looking much better and more of a team for it and I expect that to continue tomorrow. Whoever wins tomorrow will deserve it and a draw wouldn’t be a bad result but if we can keep McGoldrick quiet I think we can come away with all the points.