ilkleyram

1 hour ago, Mucker1884 said:

Focus man.  FOCUS!  👀

1 hour ago, Mucker1884 said:

Focus man.  FOCUS!  👀

Perhaps he needs his eyes testing. Now where’s a Soloptical when you need one? 

1 hour ago, FindernRam said:

If you can afford to shop at Waitrose........you can afford a personal shopper. Mine's called a Wife--other options are available

A wife or the wife? 

I thought it was usually on a Friday 

3 hours ago, Gritstone Ram said:

Are these new rules or rules that haven’t been enforced. I’m sure most are already in the rule book. Like you say come September and it will all be forgotten.

I don’t think - I’m sure someone will confirm it either way - that these are new laws of the game as such. Rather it’s the authorities (fifa presumably) telling referees to clamp down on, amongst other things, time wasting and dissension/abuse of referees.  The first of those seems to be an attempt to keep the ball in play for longer - adding time on for goal celebrations/stopping teams from slowing the game down by kicking the ball away/taking undue time over free kicks/goal kicks etc.  I don’t think these are new laws just telling referees to interpret the laws in a particular way

If players were sensible they would avoid appearing to slow the game down and thus avoid large amounts of extra time. It depends on whether refs will continue what they started this weekend.

I see that the usual culprits from the pfa and epl are moaning on. What none of them seem to clock is that if the players didn’t constantly kick the ball away (Korey…), or go down as if shot after being breathed on or kick off quickly after a goal is scored or didn’t delay free kicks, throw ins or goal kicks then there wouldn’t be any time added on.

Trouble is that it’s ingrained behaviour now and referees have a history of enforcing new rules for a couple of weeks and then forgetting that the rules are in place, just to make their lives easier. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes. 

11 hours ago, David said:

Look, I'm a cultured man, it's not to everyone's taste. Now on a proper Belgium larger.

Looks the same size as that madri thing to me

5 hours ago, BLB said:

Would say ITK haha. Blackpool offered more money and didn’t train today. This has come from a youth player at the club. 

Not itk about anything but logically Waggy wouldn’t be training on a Friday before a match unless he was going to be in the squad, so if the deal isn’t done then he wouldn’t be there. It doesn’t mean blackpool haven’t offered more money but that might not be the only thing he’s considering and maybe he wants the weekend to think about it. Can’t blame him, it’s an important contract for him.

18 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

actually I like the warnock/sam a bluffness - they have an authenticity that softens the blows and even allows them to work well with gifted temperamental players. I don’t find PW’s approach to be genuine by comparison. Not least because it’s all too much about him. That’s why I say I don’t think we’ll recruit or retain stars  

Clough may indeed be amongst the greatest ever, but do you think his approach would work with the entitled spoiled mega stars of today? Didn’t even work with the Leeds stars of the 70s

Oh I think - hypothetical though it may be - that Clough would still be a great today with the same approach and that players today would love to play for him.  His failure at Leeds said more about particular circumstances, the (poor) leadership of the club, the players themselves and his own ego (which made him what he was) than it ever said about his managerial skills. Shankley would succeed today, so too Stein; Ferguson would succeed in 25 years time. They’re the greats. But we’ll never know so it’s all rather pointless.

Your first paragraph makes me wonder what point you’re actually making. Warnock (who succeeded at huddersfield last season) and Allardyce (who failed at Leeds last season) are the original half time tea cup throwers. Both have more qualities as managers in the modern game than they’re probably given credit for but their approach is similar to Warne’s from the outside - they set standards, let players know what’s expected of them and then hold players accountable. It’s about them and their standards, their way of working. Players fit in with them not the other way round. Soft is the last adjective you would apply to either.
What is Warne doing that’s any different? 

6 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

yes i heard the interview. Fine for him to explain his thinking. I don’t agree with it. But as we heard, it was not an anonymous ballot so I suspect it’ll work out ok in the end  

The most worrisome thing about PW is his ‘honesty’ mantra. There’s a point where bluntness becomes destructive -  a little gilding the lily here and there may be what’s needed.  If you visit derby as a potential new star striker you are told ‘you do this on my terms, this is what you will need to do”. It’s not a good sell (unless perhaps the manager’s name is Wayne Rooney). We need a stand out striker because of the way teams set up against us at PP and PW’s  ‘you do this on my terms’ is not a good sell to most of them. The new culture is a good thing, we had lost the plot, and Warne has been a positive in that respect. But the idea that bluntness (‘honesty’) is a necessary part of the new culture is false but it reflects the way Warne operates. We need a star no 9 and many stars need their tummies tickling. I wish someone had tickled McGoldrick’s tummy a bit more 

The logical extension of your argument is that you want a manager who is not blunt and straightforward, one who is dishonest with the players he wants to come to the club or with the players already here. The very opposite of our greatest ever manager perhaps. And that despite the fact that only one person will get the sack should the players not perform. 
In interview after interview by players from every club you will get comments along the lines of: ‘I just want to know where I stand’; ‘I like manager X because he’s been honest with me’.  Every good manager in the history of football sets standards, lets their players know what is expected of them on and off the pitch. I can’t see that Warne is doing anything that players won’t expect or like in that regard and if he’s also upholding the standards he sets then well done him.

1 hour ago, Big Trav said:

I think it’s pretty simple. The striker market this summer especially is through the roof.

Which is probably what Rhodes and his agent are playing on. He knows he’s near the end of his career, that there are few strikers with his reputation and scoring feats about or available and he’s trying to maximise the deal. I’ve no problem with that but if he’s doing it having agreed a deal - and a medical suggests so -I hope Warne calls his bluff.

Onboarding is what new staff do when they join a company I work with. And it’s not a cruise line nor anything to do with boats. 

1 hour ago, maxjam said:

Dammit, I see Warne's been sacked again 😛

He took the photo

28 minutes ago, Gerry Daly said:

If that's the case then every other club in our division will be bankrupt this season. I've had this argument with people before, maybe you were one of them. Lets be clear, the EFL would not have agreed to a business plan that was based us making a loss. I'd be prepared to bet my money on that. We know that last season's business plan was based on conservative income assumptions which were comfortably exceeded and we also know that the EFL were very happy with the prudence we showed, hence a loosening of the controls in place for this season  

Nope, not me. We’ve never argued.  But I bet you’re wrong and that the business plan allowed us to make a loss. Two reasons why I would conclude that. 1) because even the efl would recognise that it would be impossible for us to suddenly decrease our expenditure and remain competitive (given that our main outgoings are players wages) to such a degree that we make a profit, which is what you’re suggesting and 2) because the EFL’s own ffp rules explicitly allow clubs to make a loss year after year after year. The rules just try to limit the level of loss. It would be perverse - even for the efl - if they suddenly insisted that any business plan was predicated on us making a profit in our first year out of administration.

we have been prudent; we have probably exceeded our income targets/plans; we have managed our budgets and persuaded the EFL that we are no longer a financial basket case. But I bet our expenditure exceeds our income.

3 hours ago, Gerry Daly said:

Exactly. So having banked a bit of money last season from gates well in excess of the business plan, season ticket sales much higher than our one or two closest competitors and seval times higher than most, plus fees for Bielik and Knight, plus savings in wages on both its time to get our hand in our pockets and pay a fee or two. I want to see a couple of young Bobby Davison type speculative signings where we back the judgement of our scouting team. Please NOT any more over the hill players such as Sharpe or Rhodes where we look to squeeze the last few drops, or journeymen players like Collins and Washington. Lets have some IMAGINATION 

And yet despite all the good news I would be prepared to bet quite a lot that our expenditure still exceeded our income and that our owner has needed to find ways of bridging the financial gap over the last year and probably next too  

 It’s not us who has to dig our hands into our pockets any more than we do,  it’s him. Even free transfers cost money. He’s being careful and thank the lord for that. 

1 hour ago, Srg said:

Probably just staff. Certain doesn’t look like he’s in shape if not 🤣

The mohican is a bit ropey

There was an interesting interview with Poulter and Westwood about LIV golf at the weekend.  Basically Poulter said two things: 1) noone has the right to tell him how much money in his bank account is too much and 2) on his death bed those gathered around him will only be thinking about how he provided for them, not about trophies and titles.  His only regret was not being able to play in the Ryder Cup, though I guess that’s still to be sorted

Those of us oldies will recall the years before the EPL.  At the beginning it was all light touch, putting more money into the hands of the already richest but not the excessive imbalance we now have that’s affecting all European leagues; few foreign players; TV that was innovative compared to the beeb and ITV but not dominating.

Now look at what has happened and is still happening. So too with Saudi/Middle Eastern involvement in football world wide. We ain’t seen nothing yet and anything will become possible because their money will talk in a sport now driven by greed for lucre. Football family? Pah.

1 hour ago, Archied said:

Jeez ,, why not go the whole hog and mention brexit 😂😂😂😂

Well he’s not a remainer, clearly 

49 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

It's only a letter of time apparently! 

 

Ironic really when one of their complaints was that we didn’t communicate our change in accounting policy clearly enough, iirc. 

32 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Any ringers? 😄

Well some people will be surprised to see footballs out in the first training session of a Warne pre-season, if that counts

18 hours ago, Danelaw Rams said:

Dark navy and nobody will even notice 😉

 

I do like how the ref celebrated Roy Mac's goal.  Wish some of today's lot felt so positive about us   🤣

6 hours ago, Rample said:

Good signing. Good age and experience.

I see what we're trying to assemble here.

I must admit that I didn’t know that Big Ron had gone back to Oxford.  Luckily he’ll be outside our age range now. Bit of a tank.

2 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

My cutoff is U18 summer intakes. A 16 year old joining a new club and being part of their U18 squad would eventually be an academy graduate.

A 16 year old joining another U18 squad half way through the season wouldn't meet my requirements.

Bogle is a Derby academy graduate. Brereton is a Forest graduate. Gordon isn't a Liverpool graduate. Cash isn't a Forest graduate. Plange and Ebiowei aren't Derby graduates.

Though I bet you that MOTD and Sky pundits will describe Gordon as a Liverpool Academy graduate when he starts playing in their 1st team regularly. Mind, that probably says more about their knowledge than anything else. We can just shout at the telly.

2 hours ago, Brailsford Ram said:

There's a lot on here being said by posters who never make a contribution or show an interest in the Academy Forum on here. The regular posters on there show an interest, watch the games and what they have to say about the academy is far more informed than what is being said on this thread. Unless you know a bit about what is happening in the academy stick to the first team or alternatively start watching the academy sides a bit more before giving the rest of us your 'informed' opinions. The academy is regarded as an asset and the recent appointments in terms of recruitment and management indicate it will continue to be regarded as such by the ownership.

It was due to the input of a lot of academy players who were thrown in at the deep end that our club was not relegated on the pitch but because of the administrative failures of the Morris regime. The academy has never let us down.

I agree with much of this and especially with your last sentence. I think you could argue even more strongly - that the reason we still have a club to support is because the sale of academy players gave us cash at vital moments to keep us going during the administration process never mind the players that allowed us to field a competitive first team. Last season’s under 23 results were a direct consequence and just sad to see. The players must have been disheartened by season’s end.

But it does make it strange that we have moved on - I presume forced rather than voluntary - one of the architects of the academy in Darren Wassall. Nothing wrong with that if we’ve brought in someone we think is better, or wanting to go in a different direction, but I’m still not clear what that different direction actually is.

7 minutes ago, Magicman said:

Wildsmith & Cashin are the only two must keeps for me. 

What’s happened to NML and Rooney since June 10th?

8 hours ago, i-Ram said:

Sorry, possibly my fault but that old duffer Brailsford started it 😉

Lets get back on track. I suggested last night, after a good few beers, that I was an anti-Warne’r - that’s not entirely correct. I was against his appointment, I am not keen on his tactics, and I would rather listen to 5 hours of the Spice Girls, than 5 minutes of his pre/post game analyses.
However, he should be given this season (by me, and others who have similar doubts) to prove himself to be a better coach/manager than we have him down for. So come on Paul Warne!  Prove me wrong, buy some decent players, forge a decent attractive team, and get us promoted in style such that our next season in the Championship will be a very successful and competitive one too.
Time to start being a Cox.

I can’t wait to see your description of a manager you’re really anti, good few beers or not 😉