duncanjwitham

We don't actually have any clue what Robinson is like at League One level, because he's literally played zero minutes in that competition. So if you're a Derby youth player, and you're looking at stuff like that, and the way Weston was used (or wasn't used, to be more precise), then what are the pitfalls of leaving? You may as well go and not play for a Prem club's first team than stay and not play for a League One team's one. And the worst case, you end up out on loan like Delap and make a decent Championship career out of it. It's not even about whether Robinson is actually good enough *right now*, it's about giving him the chance to turn into a player that's good enough in the future. Max Bird's early appearances were pretty poor too, but we stuck with him, gave him chances, let him develop, and he's turned into an excellent player.

And it's not just the bringing an extra centre half on, it's all the other changes we seem to make at the same time to accommodate it - Niambe going across to left wingback, Sibley into midfield, Wilson dropping back to wingback etc. I know it was slightly forced due to Bird going off, but it just disrupts the entire backline unnecessarily.

Kaide Gordon has made as many senior appearances for Liverpool in the last 2.5 seasons as Darren Robinson has here. Liam Delap is a bit older, but has played more times for Man City than Darren Robinson has for us. Omari Kellyman has already played twice for Villa's first team.

It sounded like concussion from what Warne was saying after the game (he said Bird was “seeing things” 🤷‍♂️), which probably rules him out for a Tuesday.

Like I’ve said a hundred times on here, when teams stand off us, we pass it round a bit and look okay. The moment a team makes the slightest effort to stop us doing that, we immediately resort to the other stuff and look terrible. Crewe the other night being an obvious example. And by and large, teams at this level are going to be trying to stop us playing because we’re one of the biggest teams in the league.

It’s infinitely preferable (IMO anyway) to the aimless balls over the top, and quick passes out wide followed by crosses to nobody that dominate our play at the moment.

The fact he repeatedly goes on the radio and says he wants the ball playing wide as quickly as possible, the post Cheltenham comments about not wanting the ball played in the middle because it’s too congested, and literally watching the team play for the last year.

More than anything, just get your players doing what they’re good at. We’ve got arguably the best set of midfield passers in the league, and a manager that’s basically telling them not to pass it to each other. It’s no wonder they’re struggling.