Anag Ram

I’m afraid I still think that Collins, whilst a great team player, isn’t the natural goal scorer we need to elevate us. However, he has been in need of a partner who can score goals and who has more guile. If TJJ can stay fit then we might be a force to be reckoned with, especially with the support of Wilson and NML. I really can’t see a place for Hourihane in our best XI because we’ll need Fornah’s energy to protect the back four and keep the flow forwards. Not getting carried away by wins against lower opposition but it’s much better than a month ago.

It felt like a friendly. Derby played quite well at the beginning and end but took their foot off the gas in between. Fleetwood had quite a lot of possession in that middle section but their end product was woeful. Fair play to Collins who poached his goals well. TJJ looks exciting. He made his goal look easy.

Bradley and Marriott

The Sky documentary on Lockerbie is brilliant. Tragic story of the crash itself in episode one followed by the story of who was responsible and how the warnings were missed/ covered up. Gripping TV.

Sounds a pretty tenuous link. We’re in the also interested category in an article designed to boost his potential value.

The players looked genuinely pleased for him when he scored. Let’s hope he’s enjoying his time here and might be inclined to stay.

Do we think FL might be a target again in January? Ipswich are flying and he’s not a regular.

Strangely excited about this fixture all of a sudden. It’s Saturday and I’ve just done Stroud market followed by Homebase. T’aint right!

Foul play should be reassessed. Hand ball was brought in to stop players deliberately using their hands to stop the ball. Offside was brought in to stop a forward seeking unfair advantage. Fouls are deliberate or mistimed physical interventions to stop a player advancing. Football has misinterpreted the clear and obvious error clause. In cricket, if the umpire has said not out for an LBW and the ball was only clipping the stumps, the decision stands. In football it seems we want perfection. A player one millimetre closer, to the goal isn’t gaining a meaningful advantage, and if the human eye couldn’t possibly make the determination the decision should stand. Similarly, a referee can often determine better than technology whether a foul has been committed because he/she can hear contact or not, and can gauge the reaction of the ‘fouled’ player. A dive is often more obvious when you’re close up. We have to discourage the habit of hooking your foot around a defender (who isn’t moving towards you) in order to then fall over spectacularly. The forwards are cheating, not the defenders. And handball has got ridiculous. Defenders are soon going to have to wear straitjackets.

Gwyneth

Almost certainly it won’t be rugby fans. It’ll be the morons who see Ingerland on the tellybox, half listen to criticism of Pharell or whatever his name is, then use technology to threaten a pretty tough guy. Really gets my goat

In both cases we were doing just fine in defence then the introduction of Bradley (no offence to him) meant a reshuffle which was unnecessarily unsettling. I’m not going to knock PW this week though because the introduction of TJJ was great 😊

Well played Phil!

Tyrese a jolly good fellow Tyrese a jolly good fellow etc

Yeah, I wasn’t suggesting you were having a dig and I’m often frustrated as many others are. We see a player get to the byline and we’re all preparing for something exciting and then all too often it falls flat. If we can find a finisher we will fly into the autos.

It’s boring football because it’s a ‘boring’ league. The lack of real quality means the ball spends a lot of time in the air. However, we wouldn’t be calling it boring if we had someone up front or running from midfield who could put away some of the crosses put in by Wilson, NML and Co. The fact they are headed or hoofed away leaves the spectator disgruntled.

1Wildsmith 6 24Nyambe 7 7Barkhuizen 6 35Nelson 8 6Cashin 8 3Forsyth 6.5 4Hourihane 6 17Sibley NA 2Wilson 7.5 22Fornah 7 8Bird 6.5 11Méndez-Laing 6 5BradleyNA 9Collins 5.5 19John-Jules 6.5

Battling performance similar to Saturday. Hope Wilson and Fornah keep their places. Well done chaps!

Or Wanghorn

At least his ears are easy to grab 🏆

Rooney Ate My Stepmum

Tired of endless replays for VAR? No longer enjoying goals for fear of them being ruled out seven minutes later? Then come to Pride Park in good old League One! Rediscover the joy of calling officials a cant, a nib jacky or a winker as they make good old-fashioned mistakes. No sign of technology being used, except from the morons who forget they’re at a live event and live their life through their phones. No place here for Lineker and his tired old chums trying to decide whether having your shorts flap slightly closer to the goal gives you an unfair advantage. Gasp as the ball reaches some eighty feet in the air, revel in the expert time-wasting and become one of many fans more expert than the managers. You’ll never go back to Premier League and its robots.

I think he tried to put it through the keeper’s legs. He failed and so it looked like he hit it straight at the keeper. Small margins. I hope the lad makes it because his heart is in the right place and we’re not exactly awash with goalscorers. However, much like a lot of the squad, we may find he is replaceable. I’ll always cheer for him when he plays.

We arguably need a new CM if Bird stays. If he goes I’d say we need two. Smith’s not good enough for a top six team, Hourihane is conserving energy and Fornah hasn’t quite established himself as a must pick (he may, in time, when he can control his aggression a little better). Our midfield lacks real drive, creativity and goals. It would be good if we could pick three that stay a little closer together.

Wildsmith Nyambe Nelson Cashin Forsyth Wilson Fornah Bird Sibley NML Waghorn