Ghost of Clough

102 corners, 35 found a Derby player. 140 freekicks, 98 found a Derby player (including short freekicks in our half). We've had 61 shots from a total 242 set pieces - 25% chance of a shot. Generally speaking 1 in 3 shots is on target, so roughly 20 this season = 8% chance of a shot on target 5 goals from 242 set pieces = 2% chance of a goal. As things stand, we average 8.7 shots per goal from open play, and 12.2 shots per goal from set pieces.

It's not easy to stay switched on for 80+ minutes and then make your first save of the match. A well deserved win to finish off a fantastic week for the academy lads. 5 of tonights squad played for thr first team in midweek, and 7 from those who featured tonight are still only 1st year scholars.

Thought it was odd. KRobinson is playing, not DRobinson

Couldn't be much stronger. DRobinson in there is a big surprise. I'm guessing KRobinson and Davidson have picked up knocks? 4231? JThompson Perry DRobinson Cox Gill Eames Hawkins Osong Allen McAndrew DBrown

No, we're joint 7th for goals directly from corners and freekicks.

Joint 7th most goals would suggest you are wrong

I guess it depends what the xF (expected fee) would be

Full draw:

4 goals and 5 assists, plus 1 goal in the FA Cup. 10 goals and 1 assist in 19 games last season as they narrowly avoided relegation. I know how much a lot of people love xG (🤐), but he currently ranks 3rd in L2 for xG per game and 5th per 90 (out of those playing 50%+ mins). He's a good all rounder - pace, dribbling, heading, link play, etc... Whilst being about as good as McGoldrick in front of goal, he's creating almost twice as many chances despite being in a midtable side rather than one competing for automatics. He's also only 21.

The starting lineup is difficult to predict. Whilst DBrown is eligible, I expect him to be part of the first team squad tomorrow so won't feature. From those available, I would go with something like this: JThompson Osayande KRobinson Cox Perry Hawkins McAndrew Gill Allen Wheeldon Davidson Subs: Shattell, Banks, Gough, Tola, Eames, Oguntolu, Simons

Washington is offside roughly 1.4 per 90, Collins 1.1

A problem caused by being limited to offering players a maximum of 2 year deals last season, and only 1 year deals the season before. I'm hopeful that most youngsters have 1 year extension options on their deals though.

You also forgot about John-Jules' loan expiring and cashing in on Sibley

I believe it would be lots of little niggly fouls, which is what I would think is typical for a side which wants to press. Offsides aren't counted towards the foul count, where we rank 2nd. Offsides committed by: 1. Collins - 10 2. Washington - 8 3. Mendez-Laing - 6 =4. Bird, Barkhuizen - 3 6. Sibley - 2 =7. Elder, Hourihane, Forsyth, Nelson, Wilson - 1

Ours was still lower - £22.191m vs £30.872m

Set pieces Set piece goals: 5 (=7th) Set piece xG: 5.41 (4th) Set piece shots: 61 (5th) Key passes from set pieces: 25 (4th) Aggression Fouls: 166 (17th worst) Cards: 31 (7th best)

Not according to club accounts. Our wage bill for 02/03 (13 months) was £18.986m, Aston Villa's was £32.310m (12 months)

Played on trial, then we went into admin a few days later. I'd be surprised if we decided not to keep an eye on him, and even more surprised if he wasn't on our current watch list. I would be surprised if he goes for anything close to £1m+ though

Did you rate him based on his warmup? 😉

Williams went to Chelsea in the January we were in administration, but he was a regular part of the matchday squad at that point. The players who went to Man Utd were Scanlon, Sharpe and Kaba, but they all moved on months before we entered admin.

Collins to be rewarded for his hattrick. Elder to drop to the bench after completing the full 90, but to come on in the 2nd half. Wildsmith Nyambe Nelson Cashin Forsyth Bird Hourihane Wilson Sibley Mendez=Laing Collins Subs: Bradley, Ward, Elder, Smith, Fornah, Barkhuizen, Waghington

Both left before admin. Delap was summer 2019 (2 years before admin), whilst Kaide Gordon was just after the Jan transfer window closed in 2021 (still several months before admin). To be fair, Scanlon, Sharpe and Kaba weren't lost during admin either - they left around the same time as Gordon.

Playing Elder, Wilson, Sibley and Collins ensured we met the qualifying criteria. The rest of the team could have been made up from a bunch of toddlers and we would have been fine.

I've always had a view that the administration card was played too easily. Weston was an U21 singing, so I won't include him in the academy discussion. Based on year of being a 1st year scholar: 2021 Played last night: Fapetu (CM) and DRobinson (CM, but played CB last night) Lost during admin: Ryan (CB) to Brighton) and Eze (AM/W) 2022 Played last night: Cox (CB), DBrown (CF), Wheeldon (CF) Lost during admin: Kellyman (AM/W), Sharpe (RW), Scanlon (AM) 2023 Played last night: Osayande (CB), Allen (CM) Lost during admin: Kaba (CF) Out of all of those who have left, only Kellyman would be closer to the first team than DRobinson. In defence, Ryan would have been about on par with Cox (despite being a year older) and with no change to Osayande's game time in the U18s. On the wings, there isn't much between Richards, Davidson, and Sharpe. In midfield, there isn't much between Fapetu is further ahead in his development than Eze, Scanlon, and Allen, with him being the only one playing regularly at U21 level. I would also pick Allen as the one with the most potential. Upfront, DBrown is the pick of the bunch, with neither Wheeldon nor Kaba playing U21 football on a regular basis. We also lost Williams (2020 intake), who was on the fringes of the first team , as well as Buchanan (2017), Ebosele (2018), and Ebiowei (2021) who all left when their contracts expired. However, none would have been part of the U18/U21 squad at this point in time. The goal aside, Collins was poor in that first half too as the balance wasn't there. It was no surprise Collins looked better in the 2nd half when paired with someone who naturally plays a bit deeper. It's a sham Brown hasn't had the opportunity in the first team to play with someone other than Collins.