roboto

It was a shaky start with @Diego almost forgetting to start some threads in time, but the team got into the flow and have looked solid since then

10 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

He's a big fan and stated when he signed a contract in the summer that the only team he'd love to play for would be Orient.  

He grew up in Leytonstone. The coach at my sons team down here used to play against Curtis back in the day (also on the same team as CKR for a couple of years).

All I took away from the original post is that we're now seeing automatic promotion form, but have a bit of ground to make up after a slow start to the season (understandable).

Hopefully, we've had our sticky patch and others will hit theirs in the second half of the season.

COYR

32 minutes ago, WamRam said:

How to take all the excitement out of a good draw. Cheers ITV

Who cares about excitement if we cash in on an extra £110k for the tv coverage?

We're on home turf and if we play like we have recently, then we can get a result. The confidence from the Liverpool fixture might serve us well too.

2 hours ago, ram59 said:

I've asked you to provide evidence to back up the above statement, which you haven't provided, probably because no other lg1 or even championship players were in the Poland squad. Please don't make up stories knocking Derby players, if want to make a point please back it up with proper evidence. For what it's worth, as a life long Derby fan, I'd have gone to Blues for one season, if it meant having a chance to play in the World Cup Finals.

To be honest, I don't believe that Bielik fits the mold for a PW player, he doesn't display the energy that PW demands. Even Hourihane has started to put a shift in, after weeks of training with PW. Bielik is much more a 'quarterback' style of player playing quite a static role.

The evidence would suggest that Bielik's wages are in excess of £20k per week, Blues will be a high proportion of this and Derby need to spend those wages more wisely. 

Agree with your first paragraph, but not necessarily with the rest.

As you mentioned, Hourihane has started being a lot more involved and getting around the pitch more in recent games. With the right training, then Bielik could do this too. However, I think Bielik would suit a back 3 in Warne's favoured 3-5-2 formation that worked for him at Rotherham and he tried early on with us.

Our back line has been steady and consistent because both Cashin and Fozzy are confident on the ball and can pick a pass when needed. I love Davies, but he struggles under pressure when passing around the back and will rarely make a forward pass or accurate long ball from the back. Same with Stearman. Bielik would be able to do this role and would be an asset to us if he was to come back (which looks unlikely this season).

Warney, gives us a wave.

Warney, Warney, give us a wave.

??? 

Pretty sure there are claims that the TMZ video of him and his wife slapping each other are a publicity stunt for this and it seems to be working.

Early on, I was a little skeptical with the appointment and wondered how it might work with a set of players who have been playing a slower and more possession-based game. The results were on and off and some were questioning his approach.

He seemed to stumble across a formation that worked for us due to injuries at CB and hopefully he sticks with 4 at the back, as we seem more comfortable with it and allows NML and Barkhuizen to be used as pure attackers instead of makeshift wingbacks.

The one thing that really has improved in recent weeks though is the overall fitness of the squad and we play with a high tempo for much longer in games. I think this was the missing ingredient when he joined and we can be confident that the squad fitness levels will allow us to control matches for longer, therefore creating more chances and defending more effectively.

Thought someone had badly photoshopped his head on at first.

Warne is a former fitness coach, so I’m sure he’ll have a good idea about what he wants or is looking for from a fitness coach. Did he have a dedicated fitness coach at Rotherham? Or did he look after that aspect himself?

Right. I'm going to have a go at answering some of these!

14 hours ago, Loughborough Ram said:

Sometimes, there are things in the game that really p*ss me off about football. Here are just a few to kick this off but feel free to add to it.

 

Referees have decided that tactical fouls aren't automatically a booking.

Players have reinvented socks, making holes absolutely essential.

There is no such thing as a foul throw anymore.

Nicknames on the backs of shirts.

Nobody is ever given a penalty for wrestling at corners.

Half time takes over 20 minutes.

Offside is only given when the ball gets close to the goal, never on the halfway line where the offside actually occurred.

 

Referees follow the updated rules each season and it takes a while for any minor changes to become commonplace and understood. The lower down the pyramid you go, the worse the standard of officiating gets. Our refs this season have been all kinds of rubbish, but I don't think refs are making up their own rules about tactical fouls.

Holes in socks. Does this really p*ss you off? There are actual good reasons for players to adapt their kit to aid performance or help reduce fatigue and/or injury. Almost all players will have their own grip socks taped under the main club sock. The only reason to keep the team sock is for the colours.

There are still foul throws and I think there was even one caught in the world cup final (or semi-final) and the other team got awarded the throw-in after.

Should we just go back down to no names on the back of shirts? Nothing wrong with players being able to choose if they like. They are their own brand these days. Brazilian players have been known by their nicknames for decades. Imagine making a chant for Edson Arantes do Nascimento!

Penalties are given for fouls at corners, but often the attacking team are also guilty so it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Again, refereeing further down the pyramid isn't as good as the elite levels.

With the speed of service at away end bars, I'm quite thankful for longer half time breaks tbh.

Your offside remark is also a bit wrong. I've seen numerous times this season offside decisions well up the pitch. Doesn't really matter though when it usually results in a quick free kick taken to keep possession around midfield/defence.

14 hours ago, Phoenix said:

Pink boots

Carefully choreographed but naff goal celebration routines

Alice bands

Time added on to time added on

Garibaldi red shirts

What's wrong with pink boots? You'll love the next adidas release in January ? There are tons of colour choices available and some more garish than others. Let players express themselves.

I do agree with the goal celebration thing. The brazil ones in the world cup were pretty cringe. Especially when the manager got involved.

Alice bands. Keep the hair out of the players face. Not everyone walks around with a short back and sides these days.

Would rather have time added on to time added on especially if some terrible time wasting has been occurring. You should be able to see the match out without taking forever to get the ball back in play.

Agree on the red shirts...

6 hours ago, Dimmu said:

Corruption
FIFA, UEFA, FA's, EFL etc.
Money laundering
Sportswashing
Human trafficking
Some fans behaviour
VAR
Players and owners lack of class and sportmanship
And soooo much more.

Yeah, I'm done with "professional" football.

Agree with all your points, but that's not all of professional football. Thankfully.

6 hours ago, InstaRam said:

Getting a corner in the 85th minute with a one goal lead and taking it short to waste time defending the corner. Absolutley zero entertainment value and show a lack of confidence. Love it when the team doing that concede in the end though!   

Just a bit of gamesmanship. Better than overplaying and losing on the break. Could've helped us in the past if we'd been better at ball retention and getting it to the corners.

5 hours ago, TimRam said:

The same teams in the Premiership always winning ('big' six). Are their fans bored yet? Glad Newcastle are bucking the trend.

Newcastle? Oh yeah, they're so plucky with their Saudi oil money... Big six is becoming more of a myth. One or two of them seem to be having an off season every season, allowing other entries into the top rungs. While the premier league is dominated by money, it will be hard for any other team to get involved. Arsenal are doing great this year and are possibly the lowest net spenders of the "big six"

4 hours ago, Chellaston Ram said:

Using towels at throw ins

Deliberate time wasting at goal kicks and throw ins.

Yes to both of these, but it doesn't make me hate football

4 hours ago, Ewe Ram said:

Commentators saying ‘he’s won a free kick’ or ‘he’s won the penalty’.  
 

What do you want them to say? It's quicker and easier to understand than the defending team "conceding a free kick"

All in all, I think some of you are getting annoyed by some of the smaller details too much. The game is evolving over time and not all change is bad. To say you hate football because of some of these things is a bit of an over reaction methinks. There's still plenty of great things in the beautiful game.

Can't believe some people think Cosgrove is better than Didzy...

Also, the point would be that Bielik is miles better than Cosgrove, so the deal looks even worse in that case. Birmingham won't want to give us any money. I'm not even sure they have any unless Bellingham moves in January and they get a big sell on fee.

11 minutes ago, Srg said:

Warne already discussed evaluating loans. Expect him to be going back to West Ham and an outfielder to come in.

Got a feeling we might be able to make this a free transfer if West Ham don't need him any longer and they don't see him progressing with them. Which would mean we have competition for Wildsmith and a loan spot available in the squad.

29 minutes ago, richinspain said:

I would assume that debt free means that we aren't in arrears. I don't think that we will have paid his full fee (however much it is) yet.

Could it also be that the player value in the books is at a higher value than the amount we still need to pay to Arsenal?

His first hat-trick was all right foot finishes. His second hat-trick, all left foot.

Looking forward to his hat-trick of headers later in the season.

Imagine what that nice Ashley fella could've done to us...

I think DRS had its benefits when the cars couldn’t follow each other close enough for more than a few corners (or max a couple of laps) without ruining their tyre strategy. Now we have ground effect and the cars can run closer it makes sense to remove DRS or reduce how often it can be used on tracks where there are plenty of overtake options.

Iñigo Idiakez ??????

about time!

@Diegonew match thread time?

23 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

If we don't lose, does @lukerobinshave to start the next match thread? Has @Diegoflown off to Qatar and forgotten to do this first?

Away fan sabotaging the match thread... 

9 minutes ago, David said:

Bigger balls than the FA

could've cropped out the gammy foot... ? 

4 minutes ago, David said:

So, after threatening players with a booking as they enter the pitch, the FA has bottled it in a non alcohol bottle of course.

 

FIFA need to get their head out of the sand...

It would've been nice if these football associations were brave enough to test the water. I still imagine it is possible for the captains to wear the One Love armband if they want to, and deal with the repercussions. Did Neuer get booked during Euro 2020 for wearing the armband? No.

It would be some statement if Kane wore the armband and the referee was lenient enough to let it slide.

12 minutes ago, ilkleyram said:

But there’s no film of who actually provided the sample, just film of someone, allegedly, swapping the bottles. Your assumption is that it was the same person. I’m glad you know the origin of the sample because I don’t and neither (and this was my point) does the goalie. Nor does he know whether the sample was produced 3 months ago or 3 minutes before the swap. Nor does he know what it contains. He’s right to be concerned until he knows differently. Slim chance is not zero.

The point about the ethnicity of the local population - as someone who actually lives in the area - was to make the point that a significant proportion of the local population have strong connections with and travel regularly to and from an area of high risk. Three of my friends are currently in pakistan visiting their families 

Otherwise I’m glad we agree.

 

I assume we can agree that there is a higher chance that the man in the film making the swap has a higher chance of providing the contents of the bottle than a random person from Bradford, regardless of their ethnicity or their recent travel history.

The point I was trying to make is that it doesn’t matter who did it and what their background is. There is always a small risk of infection with exchange of bodily fluids. The main issue is that someone has done it and they deserve a lifetime ban regardless of any illness that may or may not be caused by their actions.

First rigged moment of the World Cup so far… offside? Can’t see it on the replays…