OoooMarkWright

10 minutes ago, admira said:

259. This guy was missing from my usual source so slightly different format just for today.

Graham Harbey

9 hours ago, plymouthram said:

That AVERAGE Ipswich team are 13 points clear of us.

Obviously I was referring to their performance on Friday night. 

Sibley was brilliant under Cocu. He burst into the scene better than Micah Richards ever could! 
Since then Rooney ruined his confidence and he hasn’t looked the same, he’s had glimpses but little consistency. 

I actually disagree with some posters. I feel Sibley plays better when he’s on the edge, when he’s aggressive, a menace. He’s a shadow of that player at times. It’s been coached out of him. Yes, it’s important to be disciplined, but Sibley almost needs that aggression to be at his peak. Players like David Speedie, Dickov, Rooney they played their best on the edge. Sibley seems to have focussed so much on his discipline that he’s lost that edge. It’s like he plays within himself. I want the Sibley back that is a menace, that went toe to toe with McTominay. He can still be a key man this year. He’s one of our best attacking threats. Play him central and release the Sibley fury. If he gets sent off and misses 3 matches so be it, it’s better than 10 games of Louis playing within himself. 

25 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

I mean, define average? We are in League One. They and Plymouth are by far the best teams I’ve seen Derby play this season.

They were very good League One standard sides. 

Plymouth and Ipswich both looked fitter, stronger, more organized and above all better on the ball.

I saw a gap between us. A gap we aren’t going to close this season.

Still, I’m not writing the season off. Automatic promotion may be beyond us but I see no reason not to challenge for a top six spot.

Portsmouth and Posh know their way around this league. Sheffield Wednesday will be top six too.

But that leaves a spot. Bolton, Charlton and Barnsley will probably be contenders but I see no reason why with a decent January we can’t finish above them.

I don’t think Ipswich we’re all that last night. Nothing special. Fit, strong, organised. Key attributes for this league obviously. But, they didn’t threaten or cause us many problems on the ball. We were poor on the ball. 
I’ll be disappointed if we don’t make top 6. Especially given the managerial change. Rosenior had us 7th and sacked, so the target must be one better. The quality is poor. We aren’t great either which is the issue. 

2 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

 

The mistake cost us. But that was down to Ipswich’s organized pressing.

Jeez you sound as bad as SKY’s awful analysis post game. They were waxing lyrical about ‘the press’ and the great finish - into an open goal. Awful.

Someone closed down a short back pass. Bugger all that is genius about that. I was raging at their attempts to make it summat it wasn’t. Basic football principles. Let’s stop trying to make Ipswich out to be something they weren’t. They were average, we were worse.

Wildsmith 7.5 Solid hands and kicking. Another penalty save. Good signing.

Chester 7 Solid, coped with anything his way.

Davies 5 Poor mistake for the goal.

Cashin 8 Brilliant. Defensive masterclass. Stopped everything.

Mendez-Laing 6.5 Not his position but covered well and tried to do bits going forward.

Smith 6.5 Looked tidy before tiring

Sibley 5.5 Started well but went missing second half.

Bird 5 Very poor. Did nothing. Needs to show more as he has the talent.

Barkhuizen 4.5 Did nothing all game but give the ball away.

Forsyth 6 Didn’t have much time to make an impact.

Dobbin 6 Some good runs but little service.

McGoldrick 5.5 Didn’t really effect the game much. 

Osula 5.5 We had zero attacking threat but needs to hold it up a bit better.

Hourihane 5.5 Not much time to do much. 

7 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

“The only real difference” ??? We were crap. The only difference is one of the sides looked like winning and the other didn’t. 

Until Davies mistake Ipswich didn’t look like winning either. I don’t know why people are saying Ipswich are the best team we’ve faced this season. They were bang average. 3 shots on target - 1 was the goal which we gifted them and 1 a penalty. They didn’t massively trouble us. Port Vale caused us more problems. We were terrible going forward, but looked likely to get a scrappy 0-0 until the mistake which I’d have taken pre game. 

16 minutes ago, vonwright said:

It's bizarre. Sixteen shots to three in a game we were 'chasing' for half an hour. No shots on target for us, and we never looked like having one. Eleven corners to three. In what world is that an evenly balanced game? 

It's just like the 'officials conspiracy' crowd. The referees aren't the problem here. 

They didn’t look like scoring though. We gifted them the goal. Wildsmith wasn’t threatened, they didn’t create much of note. The stats are irrelevant, they created very little. So in that respect it was even. I’d have settled for a 0-0. The moment you concede in these games a half decent performance looks terrible as we had zero attacking threat.

Pretty happy so far. They haven’t really threatened massively, but either have we. Still not convinced by 3 at the back. Barkhuizen having a shocker, he’s given it away every time. Doesn’t suit him or NML. 

15 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

I don't know about this season,but certainly next.

The quality is poor in this league, I’d be disappointed if we didn’t make the play offs. That must be Clowes target too, we were just outside with Rosenior so you’d presume Warne was appointed to enhance our chances. 

Absolutely ridiculous saying it’s the worst performance/result in our history. Nobody cares about this competition, we had a weakened team out against a class U21 side. I’ll have forgotten about this result by tomorrow. It’s a nothing game in a shocker of a competition. It won’t even register. Far from an embarrassment. Move on.

6 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

Don’t know if it’s been posted elsewhere on the forum, but Nixon has said this morning that Darren Ferguson would have been in the running to get the job had we not got Warne.

Thank goodness for that. Don’t rate Ferguson one bit.

I imagine he’s just guessing. Picking the next League 1 promotion expert. I hope so anyway. I don’t know too much about Warne, but I hope he’s a better manager than Ferguson. 

8 minutes ago, admira said:

229. 

Ivan Calero

Just going back to Paul Williams. He was brilliant in midfield and defence. A shame he left how he did as he went on to become a bit of a hate figure from the PopSide. The reality is he was one of the best academy products we’ve ever had!

37 minutes ago, admira said:

226. 

Tony Dorigo

4 minutes ago, Dave Mackay Ate My Hamster said:

We all knew we had a fabulous squad for this division. I

I think we need to remain cautious in this point. A week ago our star man (Hourihane was under performing and calls to be dropped). Knight, Bird, Sibley aside alot of the squad is League 1 level. 
Collins, Wildsmith, Mendez Laing, Roberts. All Lg1 players previously. Chester - injury prone at Stoke. Davies - 37. 
I think we should be up there, but we need to be careful in overegging the quality of the squad. Other teams can say similar in this league. I wouldn’t say we should be walking the league with the squad we have. Top 6 definitely realistic. 

Good insight into what he looks for in a player and how he signs them. He speaks well. A qualified teacher too. Hopefully fares better than Clement. 

The news is very odd. I was in favour of Rosenior  and the style of football he was trying to play. I do think having that identity is a good thing long term and would likely have more long term success than a more agricultural approach. The away form was terrible and obviously needed addressing, as did the midfield balance. But all things considered he was doing a decent job. 
 

Warne has done a brilliant job at Rotherham. He’s a legend there and has been the best lower league manager in recent years. My worry is, he’s not done it anywhere apart from Rotherham. Can he do that at a bigger club? Can he win players over? Can he work with bigger egos? Can he manage a team with high expectations? Derby is a different animal and he doesn’t have the experience of this. It’s never dull, but in this case, I wish it was. I’ll reserve judgement until things are confirmed, but the news is odd.

12 minutes ago, FlyBritishMidland said:

 I don’t think we’ve replaced Shinnie.  Someone to inject a bit of life into the team and gee everyone a bit, make a full blooded tackle - that’s what other teams have in this division.  

Great point re: Shinnie. We definitely lack some tenacity in midfield. A shame he had to leave, I know he didn’t want to. He’d have been ideal in this league. 

7 minutes ago, Curtains said:

He’s already said he doesn’t look at social media.

He has no idea what anyone thinks and he just has his own ideas right or wrong 

 

Rightly so. I’m sure nearly all managers don’t read social media. It’s full of guff. He certainly shouldn’t change his ideas based on here or any other forum. 

16 minutes ago, Curtains said:

 

 

We are wasting our time posting as Rosenior thinks he has all the answers and doesn’t care what is said on social media .

He will carry on with same old same old. 
 

PS I thought he was the man for the job but I’m less convinced now as he’s as stubborn as anything 

Are you suggesting our manager listens to fans on social media?

3 hours ago, Ramarena said:

A few weeks ago we had two major problems:

- Fitness problems due to a squad being bought together last minute and starting pre-season late. 

- Awful midfield blend, Bird and Hourihane does not work, especially away from home, opposition teams are exploiting this weakness. 

Fast forward to today, the first problem shouldn't be such an issue anymore and the second issue is becoming even more apparent as teams know it's our weak point. 

We can also add in a third issue that's developing. We aren't adaptable in our approach to games, yes we have a footballing philosophy and that's good, but we seem to rigidly stuck in it. It does not seem to be working against a number of the teams we come up against. They seem happy to sit back let us have the ball and then punish us, wait for us to make a mistake, which we inevitably do given the pressure we put upon our defence/keeper. 

Time to look at the midfield and get the blend right, which means bringing in Knight at the moment and Smith when fit, it also could mean dropping one of Bird or Hourihane, whilst certainly look at changing the shape of the midfield, then work from there. 

I agree with the majority of what you say. Last night though, Lincoln didn’t sit back. They pressed well onto our full backs, Bird/Hourihane and NML. We couldn’t cope with it. 

I’m happy to persist with the passing/patient approach, but it requires a runner from midfield. A Bryson if you will. Or maybe a Knight!! I think it’s a dangerous game if fans want us to go direct. We were pretty direct at times yesterday and it was awful. It also relies on movement from the midfield 2. Movement needs to be better from Bird/Hourihane. They are too static. Again, I’m surprised with Bird on this. He is comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and can break the lines/press well. But he’s not doing it for whatever reason. We then become predictable relying on NML. He was off it at times and we’re done for.

Last night was very poor. Things need to improve, but I’d focus on personnel and balance before changing a complete philosophy. People harp on about ‘Plan B’. If Plan A is good enough we won’t need one. That should be the focus. 

Wildsmith 5.5 No chance with the goals. Kicking was dreadful though. Overcooked about a dozen kicks into touch.

Knight 5 Their left winger had him in toast. Sloppy passing. Looked like a midfielder playing right back for the first time this season.

Roberts 6.5 Looked alright, battled well. Came central a lot. 

Cashin 6 Not his best. Slightly harsh to blame him for the 2nd as he was on his arse from a header moments before and he’s blocked many like that previously. 

Davies 5 Looked like an old man who didn’t know how to kick a ball properly. Harsh, but very rusty.

Dobbin 5 Good positions 1v1 but final touch/pass not enough. A little lightweight.

McGoldrick 5.5 Didn’t effect the game like I thought he would do.

Sibley 5.5 Sloppy at times but involved in some dangerous attacks. Can’t have too many complaints about being subbed.

Hourihane 5 Same old. Odd nice touch but intensity/closing down was too much for him. Legs look knackered. 

Mendez-Laing 6 Verybpoor first half but most likely to get something in the second. Great ball in 2nd half which we should’ve scored from. Goal disallowed. Our best threat. Could have played a better ball to TB for the 2v1.

Bird ? 4.5 Very poor at times. The odd nice ball but like Hourihane, outmuscled and intensity too much for him. Thought he’d boss this league but he’s not been at it thus far.

Collins 5 Battled hard but feeding off scraps. Goal disallowed which was tight. Touch very heavy at times. 

Barkhuizen 5.5 Should have scored. Looked lively the first 10 but then the sloppiness of the team got hold of him too. Messed up the 2v1 attack. 

Osula 5 Didn’t do much but it was game over by then.

6 minutes ago, Jubbs said:

He's bang on. We are creating chances and we aren't putting them away. We have the 2nd highest xG in the league which proves we are creating chances, decent chances as well. Poor finishing is not Roseniors fault. 

Agree. I wouldn’t say our style of play is wrong. Some of the personnel are wrong. We need more energy in midfield, Hourihane and Bird aren’t right together. If he can find a way to fix this I think we’ll be much better. Tonight wasn’t about systems or styles of play - the players were poor, the intensity was poor, the passes were sloppy. Basics.

13 minutes ago, dcfcreece1601 said:

The most worrying thing for this season is rosenior saying that possession based football is his philosophy regardless of if it makes mistakes or not , because we just never look like scoring even when we have the ball 70% of the game 

I don’t think the philosophy is the problem, the execution is. We’ve gone long quite a bit tonight and it’s been poor every time. If we go direct and play percentages in this league, you’re lowering yourself to League 1 standards. We need to be sharper on the ball, Bird/Hourihane are having very average seasons so far which has been a major problem. I’m very surprised with Bird thus far. 

Difficult to rate so early in the season, but the early signs are very good. Personally, I don’t think it could have gone much better.