silhillian

I'm a reasonably diplomatic, boring, steady middle aged bloke.
I'm reasonably well educated and can write reasonably well so try to choose words on this forum that express an opinion that may be different to others, without deliberately causing offence. I certainly don't have 'poor writing' or 'poor vocabulary' as anything like an excuse if I were to cause offence.........but, without being patronising, I do understand not all so-called offensive posts are intended to be offensive.
However, it's apparent that I'm not alone in finding it tiresome that almost every single thread deteriorates into a game of point scoring, oneupmanship and, increasingly, forum archeology, in order to be unpleasant to one another.
There seems to be, in equal measure, deliberate attempts to cause offence and seek offence and it's just not great reading. I'm not in the slightest bit supportive of closing down debates or censoring differences of opinion but the number of personal spats with unpleasant language is getting beyond a joke.
I can't blame the mods because, individually, most of these posts fall below the threshold of complaint but, collectively, they make this forum so much worse than it could be.
I came to this forum for camaraderie when we nearly went under as a club - and it was a source of great comfort, information and humour.
It's got to the point where I'm considering signing off and and using the Telegraph and Radio Derby as my main non-matchday links - they have limitations but they are civil.
Any ideas what we can do?

So emotional today, hearing the applause ring out for Daniel. I was very heartened to read that both RamsTV and Radio Derby mentioned him in their commentaries. 
Thanks, @Owen87ITK.
If anyone has either snippet, those of us at the match would love to hear them. 
The moon rose over East Stand this evening in his memory.
B4 will live long in our memories. Go well, young man. 🐏⚽️🖤🤍

Too late.
Transfer window closes in Janvier.

Oh my goodness, what a response!
Hello everyone, I’m Claire, Daniel’s (B4) sister. I am overwhelmed by your kind words, support, and the memories you have shared.  Thank you so much for the kindness and love you have all shown to Daniel over the years. My parents are working their way through all of the posts and will offer their own thanks in due course.
I wish I knew about the scraves, flanges and ballions before now. I wouldn’t have let Daniel live that down at home. This made my husband and I laugh this morning.
I will be wearing Daniel’s shirt and keeping his seat warm at the Bristol match. Really looking forward to hearing a big cheer and round of applause in the 38th minute, a goal at the time would be perfect!  Do please continue to share the picture with details of the applause. Let’s raise the roof for Daniel!!!
Thank you all again ❤️
#BeMoreB4 

I have some very sad news this evening.  Daniel (B4) died earlier this week. He was just 38.
As you know, he has been battling numerous health conditions for a long time, but always remained cheerful  and was the most loyal supporter of his beloved Rams, home and away.
He was at the match at Crewe and gave his full support as always. 
Daniel leaves behind a grieving dad, mum and sister. Our thoughts go out to them and we only hope they get a little comfort from knowing how well loved Daniel is by all who know him. 
Here are a couple of photos that his dad agreed could be shared. I'm sure many of you have others, as Daniel loved a selfie at the game.
David is hoping to arrange a more fitting tribute in time, but for now please raise a glass in his memory and a good Derby win today. I am sure that's what Daniel would have been doing tonight.
 

First and foremost, my thoughts are with Daniel's friends and family, I cannot imagine what they are going through right now.
I heard the news last night and it came as a huge shock, B4 as we knew him so fondly by will be a huge loss to the forum.
He was Mr Positivity, Derby County's biggest cheerleader, even during the bad times his positivity would shine through.
I know his Dad was at the game today with a scarf on his seat, whilst we haven't closed the gap on Portsmouth in Daniel's final rallying call on this forum, I'm sure he will be over the moon with the 3 goals and 3 points today.
DCFC Fans will be honouring Daniel in time to ensure he remains in our memories, we will also be contacting the club in due course to see what can be done during a game.
Suggestions are welcomed as we all come to terms with the loss.
Rest in peace Daniel. ❤️🐏

Weston looks like a better prospect than Brown to be in and around the first team. Been impressive tonight. 

Emergency meeting happened this morning, got the vibe from my source that were going to be looking for a new manager soon

To be fair, he's not talking about his signings. 
He is talking about Bird, Hourihane, Sibley, Smith, Barkhuizen,  Mendez-Laing, Cashin, Fozzy. 
They'll all be gone at the end of the season and then we'll see what a Warne team is really like.
I'm not looking forward to it. 

Well, what a shitshow that was from us. I don’t know what’s happened to us but we were awful from minute 1 to minute 95. I thought you looked like a side low on confidence but who actually played quite well, you pressed us well and had done your homework to know that’s all you need to do. The personality we showed at the start of the season has disappeared, we’re in real trouble and should have lost by more.
Was impressed with your fans, after Shrewsbury I thought you might have been more negative but the South Stand were positive throughout, lots of supportive chants. You were a bit quiet considering you were 2-0 up, but that’s understandable after recent results. I also thought the ref was excellent.
No bright spots for us City fans I’m afraid, other than Demi Mitchell who will leave in January no doubt. A mini-slump has quickly turned into a relegation battle and none of us can work out why. We’re capable of being much better than last night but you wouldn’t think that. Calling us poor, inept and crap is actually kind, we were worse than that.
Anyway, good luck for the season, hope you go up. Despite singing ‘How s*** must you be, you’re still in league one’ last night, I hope you get promoted, your club is better than this.

Have a look outside your living room window and see if you can see a short fellow asking his Boss where the plane is. 

Disappointed in the manager, disappointed in the coaches, disappointed in the players, disappointed not many of the managers signings are contributing enough, disappointed that fans and players argue, disappointed Blackpool wasn't the turning point, in terms of performances', disappointed in how i let the football effect my weekend, disappointed i feel i need to write this. 

I see your point that there’s aspects to his game he needs to work on. But there’s several counter points to that. He needs game time in his preferred role to improve those aspects, what he is good at is far superior to other options in similar positions and other players also have glaring weaknesses which don’t seem to be judged as harshly or given as short of a leash. 

Stay or go, I hope folks can see that he brings a level of ability to our midfield which is different gravy to anything else in the squad.

Sibley has been victim to being overcoached, not having a consistent run in the side and not getting a chance to play to his strengths. He definitely has got some quality and let's not forget, he's 22 and played over 100 matches. He can still grow to be a top player for the club. 
His first full season was the COVID era. The whole team struggled to adapted to playing with no home supporters. Second full season, Rooney kept playing his mate Ravel Morrison in Sibleys position and most of his appearances after the first 6 games were off the bench. I think he only played 4 or 5 full 90 minutes. Then last season Warne chucked him in at wing back with full knowledge it wasn't his best position. Played lots of games but rarely played further forward until the last stretch of games where he was excellent.
He has not had a fair opportunity to play in attacking midfield consistently since supporters returned after COVID. Simple as that. With some more confidence, I think he can offer so much more creativity. Warne keeps moaning about the lack of an alternative going forward. He's got Sibley right in front of his nose and flat out refuses to give him a chance up the field.
Feel bad for the lad, he deserves much better than this.

Nyambe, Bird and Barkhuizen in. Small outbreaks of football, chips, sausage and curry on the sea front, jumpers for goalposts 

Barks was class. Has the guile and control we need in attack.

I feel Warne basically plays it safe. He seems unwilling to drop the players he perceives to be his biggest stars, so NML gets more minutes than he can handle, and we know when Hourihane gets fit he'll be straight back into the team. 
He has also played Waghorn off Collins when he would really be better playing Washington or Sibley off one of them (not both.) 
He seems less bothered about letting down the younger players. Bird playing out of position for weeks before his injury, Sibley back on the left wing briefly today, before using him to fill in at left back. 
The test for me will be when he gets Tommo and John-Jules back fit. Will he have the guts to select them over more experienced players? We'll see. 
I don't think we're crap, but I don't think Warne has quite got the blend right. 

I’ve thought for a while that he’s not got the stamina to be effective for even 70 minutes and with his international call ups I’d imagine he will become more of a sub impact player.
He potentially could be playing against Notts County on 10th Oct then flying to the Caribbean and Panama to play on 14th and 18th to then fly back and be part of the team against Shrewsbury on 21st and Exeter on 24th.
Potentially 5 games in 2 weeks with over 24 hours of flying. No chance of any training or talking tactics.
It’s a weird one as many retire from international duty at his age, but I think he will likely keep going as long as they want him with the late call up and club football will take the back seat.

This is only my opinion before people shoot me down with the fact that he's our only pace option. However, I think Mendez Laing would be far more effective as an impact sub rather than starting. Now Barkhuizen is fit I'd rather start with him as I believe he's technically a better, cleverer player. NML is all explosive pace and burns himself out too quickly to be effective for long. Numerous times last season he'd end up giving the ball away leaving us exposed to counter-attacks and not bother to chase back. Again in the Carlisle match he tried his usual step-over, lost the ball and made no attempt to win it back because he's too knackered.  Also, the extra international matches are wearing him out. Would it not be better to use him more conservatively to get the best out of him?

This is only my opinion before people shoot me down with the fact that he's our only pace option. However, I think Mendez Laing would be far more effective as an impact sub rather than starting. Now Barkhuizen is fit I'd rather start with him as I believe he's technically a better, cleverer player. NML is all explosive pace and burns himself out too quickly to be effective for long. Numerous times last season he'd end up giving the ball away leaving us exposed to counter-attacks and not bother to chase back. Again in the Carlisle match he tried his usual step-over, lost the ball and made no attempt to win it back because he's too knackered.  Also, the extra international matches are wearing him out. Would it not be better to use him more conservatively to get the best out of him?

He didn’t disobey, he was moved there after Embleton went off.
We tried to move the balls down both wings, but the understanding wasn't great between Elder and Sibley, both of whom are very rusty. 
Wilson is very direct but he's always going to try and make something happen. He worked well with Barks as the latter is an intelligent footballer who adapts as he goes.
Smith also played some good through balls centrally, which didn't quite come off. Embleton is still building fitness but I thought showed his potential for us last night. 
This is a very churlish summary for a game in which we had 68% possession and a pass accuracy of 87%, 672 passes and 17 shots to their 4.

'Appen as maybe Mr Wilks !!

I didn’t know if it was a bit too obscure 😂.

One for us oldies.