TuffLuff

I imagine it’s not a perfect science, you get a couple of players from each of the top three which fills in half of your 11 then it’s not leaving too much room for the rest. Hourihane has been an easy target at times but I think there’s mitigating factors to why that is (mainly that Bird is seen as a golden child). Thing is, if they can’t fit McGoldrick in (and they can’t not put in Clarke-Harris and Chaplin stat wise, and by all accounts Windass has had a very good season) then I don’t know who that player you could put in to represent Derby other than Hourihane? Cashin or Foz over who went in doesn’t seem quite right?

Let’s be right it’s just a bit of PR for the EFL

Scored a couple of important goals recently including a late winner against Burnley yesterday, which has just moved QPR away from the relegation zone enough although not fully confirmed yet. 

Full credit to Warne, i don’t think many of us would have combined Hourihane, Sibley and McGoldrick but I thought our best play came when those three combined. Hope he keeps playing them because they could be our best chance of competing IF we make it to the play offs.

Also was impressed with his game management. Second half I think we were all getting a little frustrated by our passing from one wing to the other but I think Warne, or someone, noticed how narrow Burton were in the first half. We went a bit wider and made them chase around from one side to the other at start of the second half and we had those 3 or 4 corners in a row where Hourihane and NML played it short and forced them out to chase again, which caused the penalty. Bit of luck maybe, but it’s smart play that our game in recent weeks has lacked

The one thing that impressed me last night was our tempo when in attack. If you want to get the best out of Bird, Sibley, NML, Knight and McGoldrick we need movement off the ball and to gamble on passes. Thought we were quite effective with that last night.

On 17/04/2023 at 12:54, TuffLuff said:

I’m still for Wildsmith, first proper season as 1st choice and 20 clean sheets. McGoldrick has done what I expected, he’s our most valuable player and has had a very good season but Wildsmith has exceeded expectations because he wasn’t even the confirmed no.1 at the start of the season.

 

Ok you can give it McGoldrick

40 minutes ago, sage said:

Some great beer opposite in Arkwrights

Thanks mate, we are staying near Matlock for the week with little one and grandparents so planning our night off here plus a few drinks in Belper before getting the train back so any recommendations are appreciated

50 minutes ago, David said:

Will she be alright with a plate of Lettuce, cucumber and tomato?

For £42 for 5 courses she better not be!

13 hours ago, Boycie said:

The place is tiny, and I don’t get this crowd funding thing, if they can’t afford it at the prices they charge for their 10 course meals in their other place then somethings obviously not working.

People will get their “investment” back in pizza’s once they hit their target. Unless I’ve read the bits I’ve seen wrong.

I hope they can make a go of it, but I fear there’s too much competition for a small eat in pizza restaurant in Belper that will want top end prices that will have people coming in and out all the time collecting takeaways.

In for that reason……

But good luck.

(this post has nothing to do with the fact they won’t entertain doing Gluten Free pizza from the new outlet) 😭

 

I get what you mean, but it depends how big they want the restaurant to be I guess. What I mean is lots of what were popular smaller breweries are in a tough position currently because they tried to expand pre pandemic and have been hit since because trade doesn’t match production (lots of reasons why this). So is it more sensible to keep a business making steady money especially at this moment in time. To be honest with the new venture I think they know what their audience is and are making something that should cater to that. I’m more than willing ti give them a go, and I’ve slung them £10 for a pizza from their new place in the hope that one Saturday driving back from Pride Park I’ll be able to go in and pick it up, atleast I’m getting something for the money in the end!

My partner is GF and I’ve made it clear on the meal booking that she will need alternatives where available so I’m interested to see whether they get back to me about it before we go. 

Old thread on this is closed so I’m starting a new one.

In May Im going to Arthur’s in Belper which Im really looking forward to. They are opening a secondary place which serves pizzas and currently have a kickstarter live if anybody fancies handing over somE cash for pizzas. The menu looks incredible.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scufflepizza/scuffle-a-pizza-place?fbclid=PAAaaPnKNgA1SlIZtxYvy_g8k48GyuzSlCXHa1DPSHIgLo24w8IXopH-ur10c
 

40 minutes ago, TuffLuff said:

My opinion from Saturday hasn’t really changed but I appreciate this view a lot better. The attacking player knows that he isn’t going to get a good connection either at goal or across, or at least doesn’t have the confidence to do so, so he goes in to make something out of it with Whyte and the ref fell for it hook, line and sinker. Don’t blame the player btw and genuinely think if Collins did the same there would be those on here crucifying him for play acting or whatever, but it’s smart play. It’s maybe a bit naive from Whyte, but refs do need to be smarter as to what a player is doing and why. It’s these decisions that have gone against us this season, an opposition player trying to get something because they are loosing the ball and refs being too eager to give a decision. 

No vendetta against the club by the way, but maybe there’s a mentality that these decisions are easier to give against a bigger club? Purely speculating there but I think if the ref thinks about that for one moment, or consults a linesman, then he probably doesn’t give it.

Just want to add a few bits to this, mainly because I’ve watched it a few more times to check on a few bits and my overall opinion is that it’s very inconclusive and I don’t think the ref has enough to go on to give the decision but it’s very very inconclusive.

The biggest indicator to it being a pen is Whyte’s positioning, he’s trying to catch up with play rather than being in line.
 

On the flip to that to me is the attackers run towards Whyte and arguably away from  a position to get to a header. I think this is difficult for the ref to say but the linesman should be aware of it. The other thing is I’m not sure if the ref actually sees a clear foul for giving the pen so quickly, the player isn’t dragged to the floor by Whyte, no shirt pull etc. 

The rest is inconclusive, does the player take a look at Whyte and stop playing for the ball? Or Vice versa? Does Whyte trip unaided? It’s all really hard to see.

Point is that I don’t think the ref has enough to go on to give it as quickly as he does. I’m not sure now, and I’m looking for something clear to indicate why he gave it! Said it in my previous post but it’s these rash decisions by the ref, like the Cashin disallowed goal a couple of games back, that are going to be the ones that have an impact on our season

3 hours ago, Crewton said:

 

 

My opinion from Saturday hasn’t really changed but I appreciate this view a lot better. The attacking player knows that he isn’t going to get a good connection either at goal or across, or at least doesn’t have the confidence to do so, so he goes in to make something out of it with Whyte and the ref fell for it hook, line and sinker. Don’t blame the player btw and genuinely think if Collins did the same there would be those on here crucifying him for play acting or whatever, but it’s smart play. It’s maybe a bit naive from Whyte, but refs do need to be smarter as to what a player is doing and why. It’s these decisions that have gone against us this season, an opposition player trying to get something because they are loosing the ball and refs being too eager to give a decision. 

No vendetta against the club by the way, but maybe there’s a mentality that these decisions are easier to give against a bigger club? Purely speculating there but I think if the ref thinks about that for one moment, or consults a linesman, then he probably doesn’t give it.

I’m still for Wildsmith, first proper season as 1st choice and 20 clean sheets. McGoldrick has done what I expected, he’s our most valuable player and has had a very good season but Wildsmith has exceeded expectations because he wasn’t even the confirmed no.1 at the start of the season.

I think the one big positive to come out of Saturday is Barkhuizen’s assist, especially as I made a point about our attacking players needing to contribute more after MK Dons and so that’s something for him to build on. If he does that a few more times then we get to the play offs no problem. Need TB and the rest to be more clinical in the upcoming games and not rely on McGoldrick

16 minutes ago, Curtains said:

No way in my eyes will Posh beat Ipswich and Barnsley.  So that gives us a chance. 

I know this is maybe stretching the positives too much but considering the season we’ve had and the last run of games Id rather be chasing than sitting in the play offs. We now have four cup games, style and everything else is going out of the window and it’s about winning games  to get in to the play offs. Then we have two more cup semi-finals and potentially a final that we have to scratch and claw to have any hope of winning. It’s better having that mentality now than trying to find it in a few games time

37 minutes ago, Red_Dawn said:

Bar a few goalmouths scrambles from set pieces, we didn't do much. Easy win for United, who under ETH look a class act. 

I think Cooper reminds me of Steve McLaren (the Derby version, not whatever the heck he was trying to achieve when he was with you), in that when everything is working well he comes across as a genius and they enjoy the plaudits and that feel good atmosphere. Problem is when things start to go wrong and whether they’ve got enough mentally as a manager to get their team through it. Cooper was like this at Swansea too, great when your winning games but struggled when the opposition found a way to stop them.

For full disclosure, I’d argue this is in part what Warne’s issue is with us right now.

For all Sky have said about this being an ‘exciting’ game, Forest haven’t laid a glove on Man United here. United never had to get out of second gear either

It’s worth pointing out that when Knight, Sibley and Bird first broke through that Cocu side was effectively set up to get the best out of the young players. The model was effectively what happens to Bogle, in that they should get a couple of seasons i and around the first team, be sold for £5million plus and we bring through the next player in that position. A lot of Sibley and Knight’s goals in that first season were about the movement or lay offs from Martin and Waghorn. The three young players were learning from the experienced heads around them. The problems started in that second season, Martin was gone and Waghorn was a shell of his former self. You could also argue that Rooney was probably too late in his career to effectively mentor Bird on the pitch before his retirement. The season had turned into a scrap and with it, any sort of ‘on the pitch development’ of these players went with it. Although we stayed up the season we were under these long term embargo’s and couldn’t bring anyone in who could mentor these three.

I think that’s where we are. They effectively lost two years of mentorship and with it Derby have probably lost £10million plus in revenue. So that’s another knock on effect of the Mel Morris mess!

I think a deadline was passed on any points deductions being applied for this season a few weeks ago? Not 100% on that but I remember there was a champ side (Huddersfield) contemplating when was best to go into admin this season and accept relegation or battle on, probably get relegated anyway and start on minus points. 

6 minutes ago, David said:

Interesting and important context when reviewing the season. 

 

To be honest I have, quietly, expected we’d fall away from the pack since Jan 31st and I’ve been trying to enjoy the season for what it is since then. That’s easy to say now but I had a sense of deja vu from the season before to be honest, we didn’t come out of that window any stronger and we’re arguably weaker. Not quite loosing Shinnie and Jagielka weaker, but we couldn’t address any direct problems we had in that squad because of our business plan. I’m not complaining about that, but it is what it is

We did well to maintain that run as long as we did, but it essentially papered over the cracks. Warne knew his issues from his first day, too many young players and too many old players with no players on their prime aside Wildsmith. That’s what was needed in January and we couldn’t land anyone, or at least a loan or two of 22-23 year olds who are coming to the end of their current contracts and have something to prove 

I’m not too big on statistics overall, but I have been looking at transfermarkt tonight which isn’t up to date after today but I think it helps show the picture. A lack of goals from defenders, our home grown talents haven’t positively contributed enough in a league you would hope they could dominate, not enough goals or assists from the wide players including NML. It’s stuff we already know I guess but I think it shows the issue as stark as possible
 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/derby-county/leistungsdaten/verein/22/reldata/GB3%262022/plus/1

19 minutes ago, The Last Post said:

Cracking game, Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2, Arsenals game to lose an almost did, 2-0, Xhaka gets involved with Alexander-Arnold it winds the Liverpool supporters up then Liverpool go and score, HT Linesman elbows(on purpose)Robertson on the chin for something(I guess)he said, Salah misses a penalty, Almost 90mins Fermino levels it, Ramsdale makes a world class save from Salah in added time, Then somehow Konate misses from a yard out only for Ramsdale to push it wide.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed an EPL game, Blood and guts, And Refereed by a quality Official...Paul Tierney 👏  

It was a great match and a fantastic statement for what Premier League football can be. It’s worth saying though, there’s no team as consistent as Arsenal who can deliver a top quality match for viewers over the time since the Premier League. They can be unplayable, they can be absolutely terrible, but very rarely have they not provided entertainment. Them against most top sides should be a guaranteed 4pm Sunday KO for Sky. 

I know we can all have different opinions on the incident but am I the only one who thinks tweeting this during a live game is a little out of order? Yeah I get he’s got a right to an opinion and expressing it, but it’s an incident that needs proper scrutiny and cooler heads to maybe dissect it rather than adding fuel to the fire.

Rant over, full disclosure that Ive always thought Carragher is a bit of a prat

Wrong thread!

5 minutes ago, JfR said:

Cracking assist from Shelvey for the first goal

 

That’s Derby County circa 2007-08 levels of defending

Getting down to the back end of the season so think it’s ok to start considering this.

Hard to look past Wildsmith for me, with McGoldrick and Forsyth not far behind.

Cashin for YPOTS