Comrade 86

Anyone having advocated for Bradley this season, would likely having been feeling pretty let down by him after the Northampton debacle, but he's been excellent today. A brave call from Warne (not one I'd have made!) and great to see the player working hard to redeem himself. 

Big 45 minutes ahead, but it's been quietly impressive so far. More of the same please!!!

Owen sounding as excitable as us lot, which is endearing. A good foil to Barker, who always sounds like he's commentating from his bed, bless him. 

A decent game today, with conditions better than of late. Movement off the ball really good, with everyone showing. A controlled, confident and disciplined performance thus far. 

Elsewhere, Posh seem to have shot their bolt so if we maintain this level (and don't return from HT half asleep), it'll likely be down to a straight shootout between us and Bolton for 2nd place, the slight concern being whether Posh will still be up for Bolton.

Always liked that Sonny Bradley 👀

25 minutes ago, B4’s Sister said:

I used to be a PA to a Bishop, I’ll forgive your sins on the big man’s behalf and cc him in 😂

Bless you Claire, that neatly circumvents a deal of unnecessary awkwardness 😂

I hope you and the Beavis clan have a lovely day celebrating Dan's birthday today. I'm (mildly) confident that his beloved Rams will oblige with the gift I suspect he's most wanting today too, which would certainly be the icing on the birthday cake.

🙏🐑

6-1 nipped out to grab lunch bits for tomorrow and phone kept pinging every 5 minutes. GF demanding to know who it is that's so anxious to speak to me 😂

Now then B4, I know we've begged a few favours already, so I've waited until we really need it to beg another, but if you could give the boss a nudge for us and tell him I'm sorry I've not been to church for 20 years, I'd be obliged. A win today would most certainly restore some faith and I'll book myself in for confession at very least, though I might well need a 2 hour slot!

12 hours ago, i-Ram said:

Difficult for me to say C86. I have not watched many of our performances of late, other than highlights, but notwithstanding I wouldn’t hold Paul Warne to account for any specific game in isolation, whether it Wycombe (A), Northampton (A), or Charlton (H). All 3 of them poor performances recently, with vital points lost, when a win could have created real pressure on teams around us.

I think he had really limited options on Wednesday, but part of that I feel is because he ‘breaks’ players. How many players have we had on the treatment table this season with niggling injuries to soft tissue, hamstrings, calf pulls, etc.  He works players too hard in my opinion, prioritising stamina and athleticism over ball retention and passing finesse. Fortunately we have a good, deep squad funded by Clowes, because we need it to cover for the number of injuries that are being sustained. Didn’t I read that he was saying on Tuesday how the players didn’t look right, and how some were jaded on Wednesday evening. I wonder whether he ever thinks it’s because he wears them out with his demands.

A not unfair take to be honest, though we don't really know how hard he trains the lads in comparison to other teams. Seems to me that there is a greater focus on athleticism, pace and stamina as you move down the leagues, with the players having more natural ability being priced out of range by Champ and Prem outfits. I did note from Barker's interview prior to the game that the squad had been given time off and returned to their families during the break between Pompey and Wycombe and I do wonder whether the rigours of a 50 game season on some pretty poor pitches (our own at times!) might have more to do with the injuries than a martinet's approach to training. In any case, hopefully we put it all together for the next 3 games, as I'm not sure anyone wants another season of L1 football irrespective of whether Warne is still the incumbent.

Slight tangent, but I was sorry to read that 2024 has proved difficult for you and yours thus far. Hopefully a resounding win today signals changes sooner, rather than later.

22 minutes ago, Abu Derby said:

Joe Ward the latest - could be out for the season. 

Why is it always the in-form players? If we didn't have miserable luck in that regard, we have none at all 😔

27 minutes ago, DiggerB said:

Or we fail miserably and he comes in next season in L1 and lights it up!

Let's hope not eh, the failing bit, not the lighting it up thing, obvs!

The backstop date for Forest's appeal hearing is apparently May 24th but it's rumoured that the PL are to try to resolve this prior to season end. I've been trying to find the articles suggesting that Forest's belief that they had nothing to lose with what I view as a spurious appeal, is potentially a serious misunderstanding of the process and the link below is the the one I managed to find again.

In a further twist, that really ought to set alarm bells ringing, the PL have stated that they retain the right to force a single arbitrator to make a final call should the appeal not go the way they would like. Bear in mind the 8 point penalty they originally sought. Perhaps I'm reading too much into that statement, but it suggests to me that they want to see the penalty increased and will challenge the appeal outcome if additional points are not deducted.

I'm not sure who is advising the fat fella, but I think Forest appealing what was IMO,  a ludicrously generous outcome given the size of their overspend and the underhand way they went about masking it, was essentially an act of flagrant self-harm, akin to accidentally shooting themselves in the foot, then shooting the other one too so they have a matching pair.

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/nottingham-forest-ffp-appeal-points-deduction-fail-2964272

12 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

What about a league table after 9 games which I think was his point?

Regardless I'm not one to think past performances are the 'be all'..look at Schteve, shocking at times and a legend with us! 

@LeedsCityRam if this is the case then apologies as I thought your comment was in reference to the status quo and not Rosenior's reign. I too was massively frustrated when he was moved on as it struck me that we were just beginning to play some decent stuff. Did we not dismantle Wycombe in his last game? Irony overload, if so.

I also seem to recall you and I, among others, being taken to task (most often by the forum's most prolific poster who now wants us to believe she was in favour of Rosenior staying!) for suggesting that the style of play we would see under Warne would not necessarily please the masses. How quickly some forget! 

6 minutes ago, Rich84 said:

Rather have him in the squad than Washington tbh.

I know he's still developing but think he'd be a better option 

I've wavered on this as before we heard Collo had miraculously returned to training, I'd have said the same. The ideal world scenario though is that we get over the line by hook or crook without him and Dajaune shows the benefit of being left to continue to develop his game when he returns next season.

3 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

National League Player of the Month. Great showing young un.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2024/04/out-on-loan-brown-wins-national-league-player-of-the-month-award

With the form he's shown since being given a starting slot, I'd imagine it was a shortlist of one! Not often a kid who only recently turned 18 comes in and dominates teams the way he has. Hopefully he doubles down, works even harder, continues to listen to his coaches and in doing so maintains his current arc. He's a seriously exciting prospect for one so young and will surely be in and around the senior squad next season.

10 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Also true but the point was that the league table is misleading to qualify as a success. 

Apologies if I've misunderstood your point, but surely a league table encompassing 46 games is THE most accurate measure of success. What other metric is less misleading? it frustrates me that when teams finish above us it's always because they deserved to over the course of the season, but somehow this same rationale does not apply to us. IMO, if we do secure an autos slot, it's absolutely because we deserved it and by the same token, if we don't, then we clearly won't have. 

1 hour ago, Strider said:

Normally this kind of news would pass me by but I am genuinely delighted by this. My favourite kit is 97/98, still wear the shorts to bed sometimes 🙂 

When you feel lucky, perhaps? 😂

1 hour ago, Chester40 said:

I agree with your sentiments and you raise an interesting point.  I think with what we had available. ..he picked the right team. And in hindsight we were f***ing terrible.  

So where does that leave us.

Scratching my head. I think when it's a battle with teams who come onto us, or when our players are allowed to do what they want, they are good individual players, who work hard and for this level we have better than average skill levels and that generally sees us through. When we come up against teams who set up to negate us we have simple plans that if unsuccessful can unravel and then we look really ordinary,  lacking in runs/movement/passing that give us good opportunities to score. We start to force the same passes more and more, overhit them, become desperate with decision making and run into blind alleys as no one is making any different runs. 

That probably is a management issue? Not giving them the structure where players overlap,  pop up in different positions,  beat their man with a 1-2.... Cashin's long diagonal ball is as revolutionary as it gets. Constantly heading down the wing to two out or form players instead of turning inside and releasing the passes that Smith made to NML was noticeable on Tue. 

Earlier in the season IMO we weren't as poor as lots of fans were making out. We have forced our way to 2nd so Warne deserves a chance to see it through,  but our poor performances are getting worse which is massively worrying as he should be getting a handle on where things need to change and it feels like the opposite. 

I don't understand how professionals could look so clueless, abject and unable to do the basics. They were clearly trying but they appear too rigid and uninspired which is the coaching side of things that appears to be at fault??

Anyway..I'm just waffling and waffling on and clearing my brain of the huge frustration I felt on Tue.. before going again tomorrow.

Tis the life of a Derby fan.

I always try to strip away the dressing and focus on what I see. Had we taken any of the 3 or 4 gilt edged opportunities we carved out in the first 40, I think conversations on here would be rather different. As someone else said, fine margins. The second half I thought saw an emboldened Wycombe and I don't think that would have been the case were they 2 or 3 down. Likewise, when NML blasts the ball over the sticks, or CBT fumbles a sitter, can we seriously suggest that these are tactical or coaching deficiencies. With the amount of experienced players we had on the park, calmer heads should have prevailed IMO, though none of this negates the view that at times, PW has clearly got it wrong.

I've not reiterated my sense of it recently, as a pet hate of mine is posters who relentlessly post the same material, but whilst I support Warne currently (likewise the playing roster), I opposed his appointment and can also see how we'd likely need a very different formula to prosper were we to secure promotion. I have enjoyed some performances, Pompey only a game back, I thought was a fantastic game between two sides playing good attacking football, despite the atrocious conditions, but I'm not blind to the occasions where we've looked all over the place either. My view though, is that we are just a L1 side after all, despite being 'massive' and perhaps these inconsistencies come with the territory.

56 minutes ago, Alph said:

I listen to the podcast 'a Muslim and a Jew Go There' with Sayeeda Warsi and David Baddiel. 

She agrees with you that there's no better time to talk about a two state solution. The world has neglected this conflict for too long. 

You're probably right. I just don't trust the world (USA) to do what needs to be done. They already seem to be banging their war drums at Iran for daring to consider "a right to self defence". Likewise, Iran will continue to arm anyone willing to take the fight to Israel. I'm not sure they'll do anything directly but they will always threaten Israel. 

A Palestinian State coming out of this? I can't see how Israel or America could allow it. I'm not even sure they should now. That's what I mean by too late/too early. This state would be funded and motivated to attack Israel. It's fecked. 

It certainly seems like a mountain to climb, but the West (or the sympathisers therein) can't give up now. We can't just throw our hands in the air and say, 'it's too hard' as in some ways that lack of determination is what empowers Netanyahu.

It's also not lost on me that the assassinations on Iranian soil might be another twisted device to curry favour with the US at a time where relations are more strained than at any time I can recall. The enemy of my enemy etc.

I'm not convinced either that any Palestinian state would immediately look to attack Israel again. I think the Palestinians will feel they have suffered enough for their allegiance to Hamas, but I concede that the Israelis could quite easily instigate further conflict. 

10 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Oh.....

d'oh

 

https://www.planetf1.com/features/japanese-gp-data-mclaren-crucial-error-fernando-alonso-smart-tactics

 

Excellent stuff. Do they provide this type of analysis for every race? It's actually way better than the F1.com equivalent.

26 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

It is a very admirable quality. I would probably be very happy if Paul operated my Carehome, or the Day Nursery of my Grandchildren. I would probably be very happy too if he was manager of my small underfunded, lower tier football team. Time will tell if his qualities get us up a level, but I remain of the view that we are second in the league in spite of Paul’s tactics and team selection, not because of them.

In fairness and unlike some, you've been entirely consistent in your observations over the course of the season, but taking Wycombe as an example, what was wrong with the team selection? Was it not another occasion where he actually got it right, which I concede, he hasn't always, but was let down by a forward line who lacked composure?

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

You do realise I was saying Rosenior had us playing well? Whatever, you just delight in being rude to posters, what a sad life you must have. 😄

Try reading what I actually posted again. S-L-O-W-L-Y. 

Alexander (2004) - I don't recall why I didn't watch this at time of release as typically, I like Oliver Stone's movies, but OMFG this film should have been aborted, or at best strangled at birth. A bleached out Colin Farrell sounding for all money like he's just dropped in from Dublin, had me twitching only minutes into the film and inside a quarter of an hour I was done. 

The illegitimate lovechild of Mikkel beck and Abdul Camara / 10

Code: Feckin awful! 

12 minutes ago, angieram said:

Yes, I've seen comments on that. Tbf, it's a long stand with not very good acoustics and our end was pretty quiet. Maybe the commentary team were nearer the singers. 

Hope so or I'm hearing voices in my head. About 1500 odd 😂

13 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Oh.....

d'oh

 

https://www.planetf1.com/features/japanese-gp-data-mclaren-crucial-error-fernando-alonso-smart-tactics

 

23 hours ago, Bob The Badger said:

Well acted and filmed but utterly pretentious. 

23 hours ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

We watched the first episode afew days ago and are yet to return to it, which usually means we won't.

Is it really so bad? Scott seems very well cast and the only artifice I can see is that it's rather needlessly filmed in B & W, which detracts rather than adding anything.

You guys have me debating whether to go on now! 😂