Ghost of Clough

I think is a really effective protest actually. They embarrass Starmer, get their point across, and haven't disrupted or annoyed the general public in any way.  I trust nothing bad happened to the protesters once they were ushered out of the room.  
Starmer and the Labour Party certainly won't want this sort of thing to continue...so maybe they'll actually do something positive?  I'm probably being too optimistic with that last point. 

Bradley is replacing Davies, Stearman and Chester. The three of them made the equivalent to only 26.5 league games for us last season.

Bradley is replacing Davies, Stearman and Chester. The three of them made the equivalent to only 26.5 league games for us last season.

Bradley is replacing Davies, Stearman and Chester. The three of them made the equivalent to only 26.5 league games for us last season.

Callum Elder is the new SDSR

131 shots but 1 was a penalty (scored) and 23 were from indirect set pieces (1 scored), giving him an open play average of 1 goal every 9.1 shots. The season before, it was 1 in 5.
What those '131 shots' don't tell you, is that 46 of those were with his head, scoring 6. From his 71 left foot shots he scored 4, and from his 14 right foot shots he scored 3.
Head = 1 in 7.7 shots
Right = 1 in 17.8 shots
Left = 1 in 4.7 shots
Perhaps he needs to reconsider which his stronger foot is 😅 However, in 21/22, those figures were 1 in 22, 1 in 4.2 and 1 in 4 respectively.
Collins, Cashin and McGoldrick topped our charts for headed shots, with a combined total of 58. If we want to be better at set pieces, Smith is a very obvious answer as he had more headed shots than anyone else in the league last season. Interestingly, Collins ranked 9th overall and was 6th out of CFs.
Sam Smith - 46
Michael Smith - 45
Ellis Harrison - 39
Jonson Clarke-Harris - 39
Sam Vokes - 36
James Collins - 26

How many people said "no hard task" for you to state "some"?
The target this season absolutely should be top 2 and anything less would he a failure as far as I'm concerned.
The starting point is the performance of the squad last season. We were 4th highest placed out of the teams staying down (Barnsley, Bolton and Peterborough). A lot of that being down to multiple referee decsions.
Then there's the 3 coming down, two of those are in such a mess they'll be lucky if they finish top half. Add only Blackpool to the challenging group.
Portsmouth, Wycombe and Charlton are then next best placed to mount promotion challenges. However, they'd need to improve by 20-30 points on last season to be serious contenders. I just don't see that happening.
Our main list of challengers are therefore: Blackpool, Barnsley, Bolton and Peterborough.
Peterborough are trying to sell their top goalscorer, the only player they had who scored more than 10 goals, and are desperately trying to keep hold of their top assister. Two key players they need to replace just to stand still, after sneaking in to 6th due to a referee mistake in a different game.
Evanton has been at Bolton for 3 years now so they've had plenty of time to get the players in to suit his style. I didn't see anything last season which made me think they'll be pushing for the title next season. Trafford and Bradley were two of their most important players last season. Both were only on loan and won't be going back.
Blackpool. 6 players went back to their parents clubs when their season ended and 10 others didn't have their contracts renewed. A lot of players to replace, but they'll be up there.
6 players also left Barnsley to return to their parent clubs. They haven't lost anyone else they want to keep yet. They'll be fancying their chances of winning the league too.
 
We have by far the biggest budget in this league. We have more potential than any other L1 club. Warne has had a long time to prepare for this transfer window. We shouldn't have any excuses for failure this time round.

He has a decent record at U21 level, admittedly a good chunk of his goals will have come when he was 20+. I did consider him an option, but felt it was a bit risky due to failing to step up to men's football so far. If true, it would suggest we're looking to sign a starter (Washington, Smith, Ladapo, etc..) and a 3rd choice (Vale, Harris, etc...). Collins would remain at the club as 2nd choice.

It was revealed by @ExiledinDerby about 2 weeks ago and taken as fact due to them being #ITK regarding the academy.
How much of that was due to Lyons and U21/23 football?
A common theme for a long time has been a lack of U21/23 football before being promoted to the first team. Here are the number of U21/23 games played before their 10th first team game:
Sibley - 32
Tommo - 31
Lowe - 24
Bird - 24
Cashin - 19
Williams - 16 (only 9 first team apps)
Ebosele - 16
Plange - 15
Whittaker - 15
Knight - 14
Stretton - 13
Buchanan - 12
Bogle - 8
Ebiowei - 5
In a healthy club, your star players will only have 1 season at U21 level before moving up to the first team or being sent out on loan. If not the very best, you'd expect 2 full seasons. If fast tracked at a much younger age, this would still apply. This also applies whether we're talking about top PL clubs and low Championship clubs. A few examples:
Mount played 25 games and Tomori 33 for Chelsea U23s before their loan journeys began
Chilwell played 29 for Leicester before breaking into the first team
Campbell 38 games for Stoke before his half season at Shrewsbury
Spence 29 games for Fulham and Boro before breaking into Boro's first team.
As I said before, there's a lack of game time at U21 level prior to first team exposure. For the likes of Plange, Ebiowei and Williams, their introduction to the first team was due to off field activities. Bird and Lowe stayed in the U21 for as long as they did only due to the sheer number of first team players ahead of them blocking their paths. However, for the rest I put it down to being 'held back' in the U18s for longer than necessary, and partially due to a lack of quality in coaching and match management within the U21 setup.
Being held back:
A large part of the problem was a lot of 20+ players being used on U21 matchdays. For example, in the 19/20 season (18 league games), the equivalent to 95 games were played by players 20 or older, with 19.5 games of those played by overage players (over 23). That's almost half of the total game time at that level gone to players regaining fitness, or with a slim chance of breaking through to our first team. It's game time which could have gone to more promising youngsters such as: McDonald (410 minutes), Ebosele (309 minutes), Archie Brown (286 minutes), Tommo (246 minutes),  Wilson (56 minutes), Cashin (1 minute), Stretton (0 minutes).
In 18/19, there were the equivalent to 125.1 games played by those 20+ in a 22 game season. Buchanan (270 minutes), JBrown (262 minutes), Wilson (239 minutes), Knight (228 minutes), Whittaker (173 minutes), McDonald (90 minutes), Stretton 2 minutes)
Whilst not as bad in 20/21, there were still the equivalent to 87.6 games give to those 20+ (24 games in the season), with some promising youngster still not playing as much as they should have. Williams (728 minutes), Ebosele (646 minutes), Cashin (540 minutes), Cybulski (5 minutes).
U21/23 coaching and management:
To keep it simple, I've felt that players haven't improved from playing U21/23 football. They improve a lot in the U18s, stagnate in the U21s, then improve a lot in the first team. I feel the reason for this is a mixture of the quality of coaching and the ability when managing the team in games.
 
I can see the changes within the club addressing both problem areas.

It was revealed by @ExiledinDerby about 2 weeks ago and taken as fact due to them being #ITK regarding the academy.
How much of that was due to Lyons and U21/23 football?
A common theme for a long time has been a lack of U21/23 football before being promoted to the first team. Here are the number of U21/23 games played before their 10th first team game:
Sibley - 32
Tommo - 31
Lowe - 24
Bird - 24
Cashin - 19
Williams - 16 (only 9 first team apps)
Ebosele - 16
Plange - 15
Whittaker - 15
Knight - 14
Stretton - 13
Buchanan - 12
Bogle - 8
Ebiowei - 5
In a healthy club, your star players will only have 1 season at U21 level before moving up to the first team or being sent out on loan. If not the very best, you'd expect 2 full seasons. If fast tracked at a much younger age, this would still apply. This also applies whether we're talking about top PL clubs and low Championship clubs. A few examples:
Mount played 25 games and Tomori 33 for Chelsea U23s before their loan journeys began
Chilwell played 29 for Leicester before breaking into the first team
Campbell 38 games for Stoke before his half season at Shrewsbury
Spence 29 games for Fulham and Boro before breaking into Boro's first team.
As I said before, there's a lack of game time at U21 level prior to first team exposure. For the likes of Plange, Ebiowei and Williams, their introduction to the first team was due to off field activities. Bird and Lowe stayed in the U21 for as long as they did only due to the sheer number of first team players ahead of them blocking their paths. However, for the rest I put it down to being 'held back' in the U18s for longer than necessary, and partially due to a lack of quality in coaching and match management within the U21 setup.
Being held back:
A large part of the problem was a lot of 20+ players being used on U21 matchdays. For example, in the 19/20 season (18 league games), the equivalent to 95 games were played by players 20 or older, with 19.5 games of those played by overage players (over 23). That's almost half of the total game time at that level gone to players regaining fitness, or with a slim chance of breaking through to our first team. It's game time which could have gone to more promising youngsters such as: McDonald (410 minutes), Ebosele (309 minutes), Archie Brown (286 minutes), Tommo (246 minutes),  Wilson (56 minutes), Cashin (1 minute), Stretton (0 minutes).
In 18/19, there were the equivalent to 125.1 games played by those 20+ in a 22 game season. Buchanan (270 minutes), JBrown (262 minutes), Wilson (239 minutes), Knight (228 minutes), Whittaker (173 minutes), McDonald (90 minutes), Stretton 2 minutes)
Whilst not as bad in 20/21, there were still the equivalent to 87.6 games give to those 20+ (24 games in the season), with some promising youngster still not playing as much as they should have. Williams (728 minutes), Ebosele (646 minutes), Cashin (540 minutes), Cybulski (5 minutes).
U21/23 coaching and management:
To keep it simple, I've felt that players haven't improved from playing U21/23 football. They improve a lot in the U18s, stagnate in the U21s, then improve a lot in the first team. I feel the reason for this is a mixture of the quality of coaching and the ability when managing the team in games.
 
I can see the changes within the club addressing both problem areas.

Didn’t understand any of that but I definitely agree with you 👍

It was revealed by @ExiledinDerby about 2 weeks ago and taken as fact due to them being #ITK regarding the academy.
How much of that was due to Lyons and U21/23 football?
A common theme for a long time has been a lack of U21/23 football before being promoted to the first team. Here are the number of U21/23 games played before their 10th first team game:
Sibley - 32
Tommo - 31
Lowe - 24
Bird - 24
Cashin - 19
Williams - 16 (only 9 first team apps)
Ebosele - 16
Plange - 15
Whittaker - 15
Knight - 14
Stretton - 13
Buchanan - 12
Bogle - 8
Ebiowei - 5
In a healthy club, your star players will only have 1 season at U21 level before moving up to the first team or being sent out on loan. If not the very best, you'd expect 2 full seasons. If fast tracked at a much younger age, this would still apply. This also applies whether we're talking about top PL clubs and low Championship clubs. A few examples:
Mount played 25 games and Tomori 33 for Chelsea U23s before their loan journeys began
Chilwell played 29 for Leicester before breaking into the first team
Campbell 38 games for Stoke before his half season at Shrewsbury
Spence 29 games for Fulham and Boro before breaking into Boro's first team.
As I said before, there's a lack of game time at U21 level prior to first team exposure. For the likes of Plange, Ebiowei and Williams, their introduction to the first team was due to off field activities. Bird and Lowe stayed in the U21 for as long as they did only due to the sheer number of first team players ahead of them blocking their paths. However, for the rest I put it down to being 'held back' in the U18s for longer than necessary, and partially due to a lack of quality in coaching and match management within the U21 setup.
Being held back:
A large part of the problem was a lot of 20+ players being used on U21 matchdays. For example, in the 19/20 season (18 league games), the equivalent to 95 games were played by players 20 or older, with 19.5 games of those played by overage players (over 23). That's almost half of the total game time at that level gone to players regaining fitness, or with a slim chance of breaking through to our first team. It's game time which could have gone to more promising youngsters such as: McDonald (410 minutes), Ebosele (309 minutes), Archie Brown (286 minutes), Tommo (246 minutes),  Wilson (56 minutes), Cashin (1 minute), Stretton (0 minutes).
In 18/19, there were the equivalent to 125.1 games played by those 20+ in a 22 game season. Buchanan (270 minutes), JBrown (262 minutes), Wilson (239 minutes), Knight (228 minutes), Whittaker (173 minutes), McDonald (90 minutes), Stretton 2 minutes)
Whilst not as bad in 20/21, there were still the equivalent to 87.6 games give to those 20+ (24 games in the season), with some promising youngster still not playing as much as they should have. Williams (728 minutes), Ebosele (646 minutes), Cashin (540 minutes), Cybulski (5 minutes).
U21/23 coaching and management:
To keep it simple, I've felt that players haven't improved from playing U21/23 football. They improve a lot in the U18s, stagnate in the U21s, then improve a lot in the first team. I feel the reason for this is a mixture of the quality of coaching and the ability when managing the team in games.
 
I can see the changes within the club addressing both problem areas.

How are Korey Smith & Robinson getting mixed up 🤣

In a division below. Forest Green won the league in 21/22 with their 2 forwards being instrumental as they gained 55 goal contributions between them. Come January, they were both sent back to League 2 to Walsall (1 loan, 1 permanent).

I was surprised to see people say he was a complete midfielder when he only scored 3 and assisted 2 last season, especially when Knight is criticised for having a similar record last season despite playing out of position for half of it, playing in a higher division, and being several months younger.
One thing he excels at is his defensive contribution. He makes 50% more defensive actions than our best midfielder (Tommo, Knight, Bird). Whilst the only thing he lacks is a final ball, he doesn't really have any other poor areas in his game. Pretty average shot and dribble occurrence, pretty average in the air.
Overall, he would be a considerable step down from Knight, and should only be 4th choice behind Knight, Bird and Hourihane. I would even make the argument that Sibley would be a better 4th choice in that position to offer something different. None of the other options match him in terms of creativity, shooting and dribbling.

Are you one of the two kids I saw driving passed sitting outside with their lunch obviously waiting for players 😂

Can potentially play anywhere behind the CF, but definitely best leading the line.
He was injured for the first half of the season. Came back into the U18 side and scored goals for fun. Played a couple for the U21s towards the end of the season and scored 1.

Can potentially play anywhere behind the CF, but definitely best leading the line.
He was injured for the first half of the season. Came back into the U18 side and scored goals for fun. Played a couple for the U21s towards the end of the season and scored 1.

Can potentially play anywhere behind the CF, but definitely best leading the line.
He was injured for the first half of the season. Came back into the U18 side and scored goals for fun. Played a couple for the U21s towards the end of the season and scored 1.

Can potentially play anywhere behind the CF, but definitely best leading the line.
He was injured for the first half of the season. Came back into the U18 side and scored goals for fun. Played a couple for the U21s towards the end of the season and scored 1.

Having May completely negates Warne's playing style of 'mixing it up', due to not being able to go long and battle it the air. McGoldrick won 47% of his 8.1 aerial battles per 90, Collins won 33% of his 7.7 per 90, and May 8 % of his 1.3 per 90.
The counter argument to having better players around him, is having more congested defences to score past. The opposition tends to set back against Derby a lot more than they do for Cheltenham.
He may be an improvement on what we have at the moment (ie no 2nd choice CF), but he likely will not be as good all round as the forwards we will sign instead.

Take away Hourihane's set pieces and he's on 5 assists from open play vs Bird's 6. With the addition of Ward and others still to join, Hourihane's influence over set pieces will diminish. I still believe Sibley take better corners too.
Bird is much better defensively, actually managed to assists more than Hourihane from open play in less minutes, and retains possession better.
Bird's still only 22, whislt Hourihane is 32. If we do sign another CM, as the season progresses, Hourihane's minutes should decrease as we build for the future.

He won't improve playing U21 football and won't get enough first team football with us.
Hopefully he does enough to earn a spot in the squad next season.