Ramarena

Back on topic.... the one thing I find baffling about the arguments on Sibley from a defensive standpoint is isn't the whole point of playing a 4231 as a system is that you play two defensive midfielders to give the attacking 3 midfielders substantially more creative freedom and less defensive responsibility ?

Agree completely,  like you I think there is a limit to how far you can go trying to control games with Shinnie in the heart of midfield and that we probably need to move past him (especially if we rigidly stick to a 4231).
What I will say though is I actually think some of the issues with him would likely be alleviated if we switched to a 433 and unlike what a lot of people suggest, push him into one of the more advanced positions with a ball player behind him as the deepest player. If he was playing that role he wouldn't have to look to get on the ball as much as when he playing in a double pivot, he'd have to worry less about his positioning (which is only fine both attacking and defending) and he can focus on creating space on the ball with his running and aggressively pressing when we lose possession. We've seen him do this as well for example in the games against Swansea and Birmingham around xmas last year and honestly I thought they were probably the best performances we'd seen from him.

My problem with Rooney’s treatment of Sibley is not that he doesn’t play every minute, it’s more that previously he would be given 10 minutes in a game and be expected to do something within that time to justify him getting longer next time.
It would almost be a self fulfilling prophecy whereby Rooney doesn’t trust Sibley so doesn’t play him often enough, then when he does play Sibley is overly keen and perhaps gets involved in things he shouldn’t which in Rooney’s mind would justify him not trusting him.
So I was glad to see him get 40 minutes on Saturday and hope that that continues or that he gets a start soon. Couple of silly fouls one of which was in a dangerous area but also caused them more problems than anyone else did. Watson may provide more discipline but I can’t say I saw much to justify him being over Sibley on Saturday.

Sibley’s game is built on his ability to break into the box. I don’t think he has the discipline to sit in a central midfield role (yet) and I’m not sure it uses his best attributes to do that either. You want Sibley just behind the main striker, as he’s one of the only players we have who can get up with and go beyond the striker.
Morrison is more of a 10 who stays in the hole, but needs a more free role to be able to make things happen. Neither are suited to be one of the 2 centre Mids in our setup, as it stands. It could work having them both on if we’re chasing a game though, but probably not to start a game

As mentioned on the Huddersfield thread I missed the game down to Our son being born. I’m glad to say he’s home well and healthy! This will be his first game he will be watching along a lifetime of fun and pain that is the normal of following Derby County. 
 
Also had my Father purchase a Derby County baby grow just before my Mrs tried to slip any Villa stuff on him (The same was applied with my other lad) ?
 
Ps thank you for all the messages and well wishes on here ???

Yes @RoyMac5, I did acknowledge that but I want to see WR progress this and impose his style like he said he's going to. Fortune favours the brave. Look at the garbage that resulted from Southgate's lack of testicles. ?

But it's reactive not pro-active. In the final analysis, WR has said he wants the players to be more courageous, so he has to demonstrate faith in their capacity to be brave by modelling brave decisions himself. OK, for game one given the frantic and frenetic build up just to get a squad together but I want to see courageous management going forward. Talk the talk and walk the walk. Football is 90% confidence, but to be confident sometimes means finding confidence from the courage of your convictions not waiting for things to go your way. 

Well me and Steve have at least one thing in common then. 

You lot are something else. ??
Appreciate all the messages, especially the one that said I’m young. Whilst I hear all the you have nothing to apologise for messages, I feel I did and couldn’t just swan back in here like nothing had happened.
Now I have addressed it and the football is back, hopefully we can all draw a line under this episode and move on.
This is a time when we all need to be together right now.

This (upward finger emoji).
The whole structure put all attendees in an invidious position - David may say it wasn't the club's fault but it's hard to see how it can't be given the way it was structured. As others have said, it's only football and certainly no attendee (even Mel) should be personally abused for what was said or happened there. But I do hope those in the club have taken a moment to consider this wasn't the best idea, wasn't handled in the best way possible and certainly was a bit of a hospital pass to those who were then asked to report on it.
But, mostly, to @David sorry to hear that this has impacted you so personally over the past week. Hope you are getting to a place where you can put this behind you and move on to more important things in life - like trying to stop people subvert the swear filters (have to end every post with a silly comment emoji).

We shouldn't even be entertaining this. He was great last season, and in a relegation dog fight, he is the exact player you need. Bags of character and commitment to the cause. 

You can afford to have a Shinnie in your team if you have creative players around him. He stands out because we don’t.

We’ve all seen @David’s apology, in my humble opinion do not take it on your shoulders. I have put my own thoughts in that topic but just wanted to show the appreciation for him by dedicating a topic to him. 

Top bloke who I believe always acts in the best interest of the forum  keep your chest pushed out and your head held high. With no David there would be no forum and for that alone I am grateful.
This should probably be in another thread but I’m guessing this is the most popular and where it will get the most views. 
 
Thanks for all you have done and continue to do. ??
Olly

The club should not have been putting this upon @David and the others. 
If they wanted to get the information/their side of the story out there they have established channels to do that, without putting attendees under the inevitable pressure and scrutiny!

The club should not have been putting this upon @David and the others. 
If they wanted to get the information/their side of the story out there they have established channels to do that, without putting attendees under the inevitable pressure and scrutiny!

A decent manager wouldn’t put up with this………..so you’ve got me instead!!!!!!!
???

The club should not have been putting this upon @David and the others. 
If they wanted to get the information/their side of the story out there they have established channels to do that, without putting attendees under the inevitable pressure and scrutiny!

The club should not have been putting this upon @David and the others. 
If they wanted to get the information/their side of the story out there they have established channels to do that, without putting attendees under the inevitable pressure and scrutiny!

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.
The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.
When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.
Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.
I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.
Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.
On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.
Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.
With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.
As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.
I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.
I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!
Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.
On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.
Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.
I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.
They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.
Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.
No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.
Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.
A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.
I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.
Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.
Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.
I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.
Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.
I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 
David
 

Had a quick exchange of messages with him earlier today, so he's hopefully okay.
(Nothing to do with this, btw, before you all start trying to extract information!) 

You have never lived in Stoke on Trent.

I think he is best as a box to box midfielder. A number 8 not a 6.

FTFY ......Wellies , too big for their wellies ....don't forget how Agricultural they are !!

The EFL aren't coming out of this good at all are they.