Anag Ram

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Is Martyn Waghorn just a verrrrrry slow writer or is there some other reason we’ve not got this over the line?

Bird will only look good if the players in front of him make intelligent runs. If they stare blankly at him while heavily marked he’s going to look ordinary.
Any numpty can knock it out to the wings. 
Warne doesn’t seem to appreciate that knocking it wide and getting the big centre forward to bundle it in went out in about 1973.
We have built a club of good young footballers. All we needed was one or two tougher characters to solve the soft underbelly we sometimes showed in the past.
We seem to have thrown the baby out with the bath water.
Too many players slow in thought and deed.
Plan A should be on the deck. Plan B can be route one.

Bird will only look good if the players in front of him make intelligent runs. If they stare blankly at him while heavily marked he’s going to look ordinary.
Any numpty can knock it out to the wings. 
Warne doesn’t seem to appreciate that knocking it wide and getting the big centre forward to bundle it in went out in about 1973.
We have built a club of good young footballers. All we needed was one or two tougher characters to solve the soft underbelly we sometimes showed in the past.
We seem to have thrown the baby out with the bath water.
Too many players slow in thought and deed.
Plan A should be on the deck. Plan B can be route one.

When do we ever get best case?
Godden would be a great signing and Godden and Smith would be so much better than we have.

When do we ever get best case?
Godden would be a great signing and Godden and Smith would be so much better than we have.

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One of the things I noticed today was how half-hearted the half-time sub warm-up looked. 
Like a Sunday morning team. Walking around, tapping the ball to each other absent-mindedly. No one looked desperate to get on today. Thought it was odd that Wilson warmed up, stripped off ready to come on, then we conceded the second ( thus making improvement more important) and he got changed and stayed off. 
The substitutions were too late today. I’d have taken Bradley off(Cashin is the best footballer of the three), Hourihane was shattered, and Collins dropped deeper and deeper, thus leaving no one in the opposition box for crosses.
Appreciate Elder and Washington have been injured but neither set the pulse racing in their brief time on the pitch. Let’s hope they can establish some sort of presence.
Ward got some nice crosses in and Wilson briefly shone with some nice footwork but then had more failures than successes. The recruitment to date isn’t looking great but I’ll give it a few weeks before I write them off. 
Everyone at the club was saying that pre-season was great, morale was great, very exciting times etc. Today looked like the last game of a pub football tour.
Some home truths needed in the changing-room.
 

Agree on Smith. He’s a clever footballer. Trouble is, he, Bird and Hourihane all want to occupy the same space, neither progressive nor defensive. They like to sit about 40 yards out, passing in to the forwards.
We need to interchange them, not play them together. I can’t believe we made Hourihane captain because I wouldn’t play him in every game and would substitute him after an hour when he does play. There’s no doubt he is a good crosser of a ball, but his legs have gone and he can’t do 90 minutes.
We need two quicker midfielders, one a harrier (Woods?) and one an attacking midfield player.

1Wildsmith 5.5
35Nelson 5
5Bradley 4
6Cashin 6
14Washington 5
23Ward 7
2Wilson 6
12Smith 6.5
8Bird 6
4Hourihane 6
3Forsyth 6
Elder 5
9Collins 4
11Méndez-Laing 6
Thompson 6

Agree on Smith. He’s a clever footballer. Trouble is, he, Bird and Hourihane all want to occupy the same space, neither progressive nor defensive. They like to sit about 40 yards out, passing in to the forwards.
We need to interchange them, not play them together. I can’t believe we made Hourihane captain because I wouldn’t play him in every game and would substitute him after an hour when he does play. There’s no doubt he is a good crosser of a ball, but his legs have gone and he can’t do 90 minutes.
We need two quicker midfielders, one a harrier (Woods?) and one an attacking midfield player.

I’m all for a big number nine like Smith coming in but we have to have a Plan B.
We don’t have a single forward capable of turning defenders or beating them with pace. 
We’re assembling a team of slow players and hoping crosses will lead to goals.
As Wigan (and not Derby) showed yesterday, a well organised defence can deal with crosses from the wing.
Smith will help increase our chances of scoring. Collins seems a lovely character but I think even he knows he’s not a finisher.
But we definitely need a pacy 10 and a driving midfield player or we will struggle this year.
 

The system can work incredibly effectively. If it is coached optimally and we have the right blend of players. 
 
As has been mentioned repeatedly our midfield 3 are so similar but I’d start Smith every game because he’s the only one fuming at the team when they play a back pass when someone’s free further up the field. Love watching him shout at them for not being brave enough. 
 
Second big thing is the defence having some get out of jail free pace (obviously different level but the reason Southgate went with Walker as the RCB). 
 
We aren’t going to drop any of our 3 CBs - so that leaves us with 2 options: 
Option A) mac1 style - one wingback sits (creating a back 4) whilst the other attacks. This relies on at least 2 of the 3 midfielders being in the box to support the crosses coming in as you don’t have the wing back coming in at the far post. 
 
Option b) probably too complicated for a div 3 team but you tell the holder of the midfield 3 (Smith) that they drop in to cover the full back position whilst the centre backs shift 1 across so you’d end up with a back 4 of cash Bradley Nelsen Smith whilst attacking. 

Yeah, can anyone explain why we bought a roughty toughty 6’4” defender if he’s not going to take responsibility for a centre forward?

We are close to signing a centre midfielder, but what type that is, honestly is anyone’s guess. I’d say it’s like to be an industrious one rather than creative.
Sean Goss, Matty Longstaff, Cameron McGeehan, Sam Clucas, James McArthur, Dan Gosling and Daniel Batty amongst them out of contract. McGeehan and Longstaff are curious ones - Longstaff is a developmental option who could be a good player for us, but probably needs some coaching to get him back on track. McGeehan went to play in Belgium, already a proven player in League One. He might get a championship move, but we will see. He’s had ankle issues over the past couple of seasons which is a concern. 

I’m all for a big number nine like Smith coming in but we have to have a Plan B.
We don’t have a single forward capable of turning defenders or beating them with pace. 
We’re assembling a team of slow players and hoping crosses will lead to goals.
As Wigan (and not Derby) showed yesterday, a well organised defence can deal with crosses from the wing.
Smith will help increase our chances of scoring. Collins seems a lovely character but I think even he knows he’s not a finisher.
But we definitely need a pacy 10 and a driving midfield player or we will struggle this year.
 

I guess we just didn’t test Tickle enough.
 

I guess we just didn’t test Tickle enough.
 

It was like us trying to chase Wigan!

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Lost someone close to me recently.  
Mad keen football person. They loved it.
We have to enjoy it wherever possible.
It’s footy.
It’s fun.
Be passionate/angry/frustrated/delighted/ecstatic whatever. But enjoy it. Enjoy being part of something that is bigger than us as individuals. 
Its Derby County. 

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I was sat in the stands thinking I could offer more 

Yeah, can anyone explain why we bought a roughty toughty 6’4” defender if he’s not going to take responsibility for a centre forward?