OoooMarkWright

Rotherham’s next 3 aren’t too bad on paper. I can see them picking up 4 points as a minimum. Would be tough for them to win 2 out of 3. Wednesday will beat Forest. We have to get something from Swansea. I imagine they’d want to avoid playing Brentford in 3rd in the play offs. Very close between 4th, 5th and 6th. They’ll want a win against us as they have Watford last game. I can see it coming down to the Sheff Wed game - I hope folks blood pressures are all OK, this is gonna be so so tight!

2 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Ah the much maligned Rowett who has a load of League one players, our cast offs and Wallace whose pretty decent in 9th place.

Glad he's not here anymore.

Apart from being a donut and snaking it to Stoke, oh and Will Hughes, I liked Rowett. Would have him back in a heartbeat. Would be ideal in our current situation. Never going to happen - desperate times. 

Decent interview in The Athletic about Lowe. Quite honest, positive about Cocu. Still a Derby lad and holds club dear to him. Gonna be a dad in August, newborn will have a Derby shirt! 

6 hours ago, angieram said:

Not tried that one but will do next time I am in a pub. 

Aye Ups a lovely pint. Always on at the Silkmill and Exeter. Goes down a treat! 

42 minutes ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

Nobody wants this to be a failure but many people do care about things away from the pitch. And why shouldn't they? It's certyainly not pathetic to ask questions. I would still like to have a club to support long after this new lot have gone the way of Gadsby, Capn Bob, Lionel, GSE et al.

Fair enough. I agree. I just don’t care where the money is coming from. Or his political beliefs. Or who the main backer is. As long as he can provide the tools on the pitch. Towards the end of Morris’ tenure this wasn’t the case. 

3 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

I think the questions are mainly around "can he provide the funds for wages/incomings". You say "as long as he has these funds", which suggests you have similar questions yourself.

Why do you consider yourself pathetic?

No. My point being I don’t care where the money comes from or who is the main backer, unlike some. As long as the money is there, then it won’t affect on the field matters. Pretty simple to understand I’d say. 

7 minutes ago, Leeds Ram said:

According to someone who Simon Jordan knows he's a canny operator despite the fact this guy has never fully ran a football club before and was essentially fired from his previous position at Sheffield Wednesday. He also comes with a whole host of question marks and utterly unknown backers. 

Since when did football fans become so precious? What right do we have as fans to know how this guy is being financed? Who cares. As long as he has the money and can fund wages/ incomings I couldn’t give a monkeys where he gets the money from.

All I care about is what happens on the pitch. I’m finding all these question marks pathetic quite frankly.

2 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

Exactly - not a fan of Conway but he does have contacts and does seem to be right more often than he's wrong. Maguire seems to trawl google and social media for his inside track.....

May I ask why you are not a fan of Conway? He seems to have great sources around the club, and some of his articles about Derby have been to a very high standard and provided great insight on a variety of topics. The only thing I don’t like at times are his ‘tactical’ pieces. It’s a shame local journalists don’t go into the same depth that he does.

Just to bring it back on topic, the article also mentions looking at the way the club look at recruitment!

Summary of Athletic article:

Pride Park included in sale.

Alonso family form part of consortium along with several others.

Dad was on Real Madrid board.

Family have experience of football business/ marketing

Morris likely not to be involved moving forward.

Formality it seems of passing EFL test.

Not part of VOX.

Role at Sheffield Wed involved engagement/transparency with fans.

Another good article by Ryan Conway, sounds promising.

https://theathletic.com/2463267/2021/04/08/erik-alonso-Derby-countys-proposed-new-owner-and-what-it-means-for-mel-morris/

When the story first broke in The Athletic, they stated that no debt or borrowing is said to be involved in the deal. Sounds promising in regards to their financial clout, and quite rare for recent takeovers - look at Burnley as an example. The Athletic clearly know what their talking about and have good sources - they even named the No Limits company. 

No one really knows what Alonso will bring to the table, even Wednesday fans know little about him. May as well give him a chance, we’ve been a shambles off the pitch for years, so hopefully he can’t get worse. 

Looking at his sports agency business, no one stands out player wise, Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo are on the coaches/DOF list though! 

As for politics, not arsed at all. It’ll have nothing to do with the football side of things. 

23 minutes ago, DCFC1388 said:

Just noticed how difficult Cov's games are in April. Below are their games and what I predict for them, granted this is the Champ so anything can happen but it does look a tough set of games.

QPR (A) - Lose

Bristol C (H) - Draw

Bournemouth (A) - Lose

Rotherham (A) - Lose

Barnsley (H) - Lose

Stoke (A) - Lose

Preston (H) - Draw

That’s a relatively mediocre set of fixtures. Wouldn’t say it’s overly tricky. Whenever your bottom 5 future fixtures all look tough, they always will, your playing against better teams. 

2 minutes ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Great Interview I agree. Our best player and he’s a Derby lad hope we can enjoy him for a while yet.

Howevet he Hasn’t done anything to justify being played at 10 this season until tonight. 

Rooney doesn’t need to learn any lessons with him, he’s managed him right and he’s just the person for Sibley to learn from. He (Sibley) was also complimentary of the coaches in his interview. He’s still learning his trade.

Hopefully Sibley goes and smashes it now for the rest of the season - I think he will 

Mmmm I think there was a frustration in Sibleys interview, he obviously wasn’t going to slag off the coaching staff but his frustration was obvious. I wouldn’t say Rooney’s managed him right. I’d have played him weeks ago. We’ve struggled all season to create. Struggled with movement. Barely create anything down the middle. Knight has played as a 10 more than Sibley. I’m sorry, but that makes zero sense when Sibley is on the bench. 

Sibley hasn’t had a chance in the 10 position, so not sure how he’s not shown enough. He’s barely played. Last season was enough for me. In a team that’s struggled all season, I fail to understand why he’s not been utilised more/better. Anyway, fingers crossed he gets his chance and shows his ability. 

Great interview with Sibley after the game. Criminal that he hasn’t played more in the ‘10’ position.

I’m not having this as Rooney being proved correct in his motivation for Sibley. Apparently he’s not been involved due to conceding silly free kicks and being too desperate to make an impression. What do you expect when he has 10-15 mins a game out of position? You build teams around Sibley, he’s that good. Hopefully we see more of that in the remaining games and Rooney sticks to that second half formula. With Roberts, Sibley and Lawrence we will hurt teams. 

Sibley has a nasty side to him, I love that about him. I remember an U18 game vs Arsenal, we smashed em and Sibley celebrates the winner in front of an Arsenal defender, goading him. I’m sure Sibley has learnt a lesson these past few days, I hope Rooney has learnt a bigger one. 

31 minutes ago, Andicis said:

I honestly think Rooney has treated Sibley very very poorly. 

Disgraceful comments from Rooney. What good will this do? A side and player low in confidence calling him out publicly is pathetic. Especially when you consider our atrocious attacking play this season. This is a major alarm bell for me. Rooney’s handling of Whittaker with the sub was questionable but possibly understandable. This is plain stupid. He’s annoying me recently. Claiming Buchanen is England potential (ridiculous claim) and now this. Sort it out Rooney. 

Roos is a decent keeper. You won’t find a better no.2 in the league. If Derby fans hadn’t ruined his confidence, he could be even better. Lampard and our negativity are more to blame at Wembley than Roos. Glad he’s doing well. 

Didn’t make any rash/ throat high tackles that people seem to think he’s capable of on here.

Jozwiak is offering nothing. Needs to play. Creativity lacking, give him a chance!! 

7 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

No chance. We’re absolutely miles off having a squad with enough quality to challenge for the title. It’s going to take a few years to sort our mess out. Next season will be about getting back into the top half, so we’re back to looking up rather than down.

Disagree. Fine margins in this league.

No doubt the squad needs work, but this gradual progression rubbish winds me up. It’s hard to build gradually in this league, failure to go up in a year or two means your best players bugger off. Add 3-4 right players, confidence high, big work ethic, togetherness, unity, strength, power,  anything can happen. 

On 08/02/2021 at 17:36, Jourdan said:

Come on, Roy. Fans were calling for Cocu’s head in August 2019, notably around the time of that Forest game in the League Cup. Similarly he didn’t get any leeway at the start of the season either. Fans were right on his case early on.

Not that I am defending Cocu. As two of his most vocal detractors, we both know that he wasn’t right for us. I just think that people are dwelling on his time in charge too much and using it as a crutch for Rooney. I am sure Rooney wants to be judged on his own merits and his own performance and nothing else.

I don’t think anyone has been that harsh on Rooney either. I think many people have identified the good he has done but challenged him to do even better and win over those who doubt him. Rooney has been given a lot of sympathy and understanding over having to work through the off-the-field drama too.

For me, I think Rooney has done a good job but can he do even better? Absolutely. And that has to be the aim, surely?

Only a few donuts on here said about Cocu after the Forest game. A lot of fans were very sympathetic to the hand Cocu had been dealt. He was well supported throughout generally. 

If Rooney keeps us up, fantastic. He’ll be judged properly next year though. This year has been a car crash for so many reasons, it’d be too harsh on Rooney and too early to judge him on this seasons efforts. 

Really enjoyed both interviews. Thought Thorne came across well, although very different to the normal football cliches. Like a footballer revealing all over a pint, so very revealing. Thorne does come across a little arrogant, most footballers are! 

As others said, shocked he didn’t go on loan to League 1, better than the Under 23s, would maybe have sorted his career if he had done. Doesn’t sound in good nick now, but fingers crossed he gets his boots on for next season, too talented not to be in the game. Great player. 

3 hours ago, Hathersage Ram said:

£15000000 ? 

Based on his performances last season. Yeah. Minimum. Hat trick, 25 yard screamers. What a start to his career. Sibley will have been well known by all the top clubs as he’s destroyed all of there academy sides at youth level. 

Now, no-one really knows what is a suitable fee as the market is dead. With his lacklustre year so far, it’d be the worst possible time to sell him - typical Derby.  We must keep him, he’s the best since Hughes, and due to his attacking output, could be much more valuable. 

30 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

When was he injured? Dropped by Cocu after the Blackburn defeat, then dropped from the squad for 1 game as Rooney set us up more defensively.

He had a hamstring injury earlier in the season. Recovered towards the end of Cocu’s reign.  Has struggled this season, but the talent is obvious. Was class vs Brum, poor v Sheff Wed and hasn’t featured since. Would be a big player in the second half of the season. 

I’d be fuming if we sell Sibley.

He is the star of the academy. He was the top performer in the U18s top team. He was incredible last year, if we sold him last summer he’d have been worth 15 million plus. Was a revelation last year. A special talent. For whatever reason, injury being a key issue, it hasn’t worked for him so far this year. But Sibley is someone we should be building teams around, not selling.

If he goes, having an academy is absolutely pointless. We’d get bugger all compared to the summer if he was to go now. He’s not had a chance to fully show his potential, but he has got so much talent, with that nasty streak as well. Rooney I’m sure can relate to that. Fingers crossed it’s rubbish, I hope so, but as others have said, the vultures are circling. Sad times. 

No idea how these things work if he’s not a professional. If he is ‘the best 16 year old in the country’ Birmingham sold Bellingham for 25million when just a bit older. Granted he’d had many games in the first team, but just shows again how we really don’t make the most of our acdemy products. 

Considering we supposedly have a great academy- we never get game changing fees that others do. 

On 26/05/2020 at 13:57, Bob The Badger said:

The Gentleman  - Colin Todd out of 10

I thought it was just brilliant. Great acting and a fantastic script. 

Classic Guy Ritchie.

Hew Grant was absolutely outstanding as was Colin Farrell and Matthew Mcconaughey.

If you liked Lock, Stock and Snatch then you'll love this.

 

I watched this after your recommendation. Absolutely loved it. Better than Lock Stock for me. Very slick, stylish film, Guy Ritchie’s best. Probably the best film I’ve seen this year!