brady1993

11 minutes ago, Chris_Martin said:

no shinnie?

This might be controversial but in the last few games we've looked better without him and not at all looked like we've missed him. Thompson brings the same energy whilst being a substantially better footballer technically, he's making for a much better partner for Bird and has solved a fair issues we were having playing through midfield earlier in the season because of Shinnie.

It's less about but who I'd let go and more who I'd actively fight to keep. 

The battle I'd pick is trying to aggressively hold onto anyone who's come through the academy. If we can hold onto as much of them as we can they will give us a platform to build on top of next season that's cheap to maintain and will provide more much value down the road. We'd get an absolute fraction of what is possible to fetch in a stable state 6-12 months down the road. Money that could be propel us out of league 1 and eventually the championship.

Financially it just makes more sense to keep hold of that group provided two conditions; we are not completely forced by finances and someone isn't actively pushing to go.

26 minutes ago, TheHomunculusLives said:

Colin KR, Ebosele and Morrison have all made vital contributions coming off the bench in recent games. Each brings something different at a crucial stage in matches when they're won and lost, whether it be Colin KR's presence and goal scoring, Ebosele's pace and drive, or Morrison's guile and ball retention.

The question is, should some or all of these three be starting? Lawrence blows hot and cold, Knight and Jozwiak are hard workers but don't seem to offer much in the way of attacking threat right now.

In the last two games the combination of movement, pressing and ball retention from Lawrence, Knight and Jozwiak are a major part of why we've firmly taken control over the games at hand. With CKR, Ebosele and Morrison all coming on when the opposition has already been run ragged to battle against tiring player where their physicality (in the first two cases) and having more time  on the ball in Morrison's case can make a more telling contribution.

They wouldn't have been as effective from the start and if they started we'd have probably not got as firm a foothold on the games in question.

26 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

Maybe he doesn’t.

By the time he is fully fit, suitors will be queuing to sign him. Having a big star in this type of set-up might not be ideal. If he was a centre half or a centre forward, yes, but he’s another midfielder in a cramped department.

Do we drop a promising youngster who will stay with us in League One to accommodate him for a few months?

I’m not so sure.

I think there is some truth to what you are saying here. To an extent I think we need to have one eye firmly on the goal of retaining as many of the players who have come through the academy as we possibly can. 

8 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Where will Bielik fit in ???

It's a good thing to think about isn't it ?

But I'd wager the best thing to do would be to Bielik between Bird and Tommo and play a 433. 

This felt like the opposite of the West Brom game in that it felt like a game were things just weren't going our way. Outplayed them for most of the game but just couldn't quite get that final ball completely right, lost count of the times a ball flashed across the box narrowly not finding a Derby player. 

But as I'm sure others have noted it would have been easy at 2-0 to meekly give in and say it wasn't our day so to force a point out of it is truly excellent. 

12 minutes ago, jono said:

I’m killing myself .. thought it was an evening kick off. All ready to watch .. argggghhhh what a drongo I am 

Phew .. sounds like it was a great game. Kaz does it once more and I presume Mrs Davies is going to be pregnant again soon ! 
 

It sounds like Tommo was on it again too ? 
 

Unbeaten in 4. Ten points from a possible 12. Fighting to the end. I love this team. 

When isn't he ? 

I'm quietly come to the belief that I think he might be the best we have coming through. The way he's seamlessly slotted into the midfield with how high is average performance is It's phenomenal at his age.

Our midfield with him and Bird look so much more fluid than it did earlier in the season and with the 3 in front of we are keeping the ball better and pressing more intelligently.

10 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

After that performance can see why you say that. But he might just contribute more as a 60th minute wonder. 

I think he came on at the point where he could contribute the most. Rooney was correct to start Jozwiak based on how he played and he was correct to bring Ebosele for him when he did.

1 minute ago, DavesaRam said:

And a brilliant substitution by Rooney when he took Tom Lawrence off. The equaliser had got to his head so he wasn’t going to do anything more. Great move, Wayne!

I don't think it was so much that and more he was just gassed. He'd been leggy for about 10 minutes.

Best win of the season. 

Tactically spot on today both the initial line up and then the subs made the needed impact. Pressed with real aggression and used the ball well with purpose. This is the best we've looked so far this season and gives us that glimmer of hope.

Best performance for a while.

Thompson has been excellent, Plange has carried a real threat, the midfield is looking really sharp on and off the ball and we've looked mostly solid at the back.

Just need to build on this now and perhaps calm things a touch.

7 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Roos

Jagielka   Davies

Festy   Tommo   Bird   Shinnie   Williams

Knight      Lawrence

Kazim

 

Subs: Allsop, Byrne, Stearman, Forsyth, Ravel, Jozwiak, Sibley

Saved me a post with that line up. I'd probably find a way to put Watson on the bench over one of the defenders though. 

I think the QPR game highlighted some faults with certain personnel in the system and some of the problem areas. Namely (and not for the first time) play just breaks down too readily on our left hand side especially with Fozzy playing and he just hasn't got the pace anymore to recover from those very high positions. Williams will help massively by just being someone who can retain possession as well as giving us more pace down that side. On the right side Byrne had an ok game but Festy is far better suited for the role in the tactics we deploy, he's faster, he's better on the ball and he carries the genuine threat we need from the wing/fullbacks in this system; especially with Knight in front of him. I think I agree about Kazim up front too, part of me would be tempted to play Lawrence up there but I think we need that option of someone who the ball is going to stick to and I think we need that option to go long right now. If it's going long is far better going long centrally right now so the likes of Shinnie, Thompson, Knight and Lawrence can all attempt to get on that second ball. 

Just now, Jimbo Ram said:

How do you think we could have won that? We were holding on from the moment they equalised, a draw would have been a great result….we looked tired and leggy, one game too many…

I think you've misinterpreted what I meant by that a little. To be clear QPR deserved to win. But we got our noses in front and looked initially like we could hold them at bay with them looking a bit toothless in the first half.

The issue was through a combination of being content to give up the ball and go long, try and force things down the left and a player in Morrison who just wasn't in the game we ended up playing too much without the ball. This caused us to tire out by the second half and it's why they started really opening us up. 

Shift things tactically to keep the ball better and keep their back 3/5 a bit more honest and we stand a better chance at coming away with a positive result.

13 minutes ago, Andicis said:

I think a healthy dose of realism is needed for some ? QPR is a top side with some great strikers, any result would have been brilliant but unexpected. Always surprises me how quick people are to flip on Rooney and just forget about the embargo, lack of players and depth, and sheer difficult of scenario Rooney has had to put up with. 

You make valid points and some are massively overreacting. But this does feel like a night where Rooney got it wrong initially and didnt react fast enough to how the game was unfolding. It frustrates because it feels like a game we could have won despite their form and all our troubles.

Well I think we probably deserved that. 

I think to an extent what happened was we were so content to go long and play without possesion in the first half we just knackered ourselves out. 

Tactically it feels like we got it all wrong today and we just didn't react fast enough in order to change the game. The play just broke down far too often for us especially on our left side which we persisted playing to. We sorely missed the ability to stretch the game in order to keep their back 3/5 a bit more honest.

Morrison was a passenger and needed to be brought off earlier. Don't know why Festy didn't start but his late cameo underlined that he should have been on from the start. 

On the bright side Thompson was excellent for the third game in a row. 

Really should be encouraging Jozwiak to cheat a little bit here. Just be him to sit high and wide in the pocket behind Adomah

Morrison really should have come off 10 minutes ago

1 minute ago, TheresOnlyWanChope said:

Think he was worried about a runner coming in and Davies going to mark but he probably should have stayed with his man and not assumed.

There were Derby players coming back to deal with that. Defensively part of his job is to cover the left back when they are stranded up field and so he needs to mark the man at the back post.

That was a pretty routine counter attack and should have been routinely dealt with. Just needed Shinnie to not switch off completely.

1 minute ago, Yani P said:

knight fouled , again

He really has a staggering knack of winning free kicks

10 minutes ago, oomarkwright said:

Doing well holding them off but still infuriates me no end to get a thow in 20 yards in their half to pass it back to Davies to pass back to Roos who boots it for a throw in to them 10 yards into their half. ?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️

Any clues? Someone enlighten me. 

I think it largely comes from Davies' confidence in possession. Often in those throw in positions we need to go back to recycle and keep possession because there is nothing on. The issue is it hits Davies and if he's under a bit of pressure he largely opts to go back for the easy option to Roos who then usually has no option but to go long. 

He's been great defensively but he is a big chink in us trying to play out from the back.

2 minutes ago, Ramarena said:

Nice goal and we’re doing alright and working hard. 

Id get Morrison off at HT for Festy or a Sibley depending on tactics/if you want to give Festy more of a rest.

Maybe not half time but I wouldn't give him long after half time to bring someone. He's largely been ineffectual.

Off the ball we've been mostly excellent but it feels like we are a bit too happy to be off the ball. We've gone long a little too frequently and aren't getting much joy from it.

Similarly we seem fairly insistent on trying to get in down the left but nearly every time the ball has gone to that side of the pitch the play has quickly broken down.

Fozzy is unfortunately having one of those game were he is just a bit off it and sloppy. I wouldn't make major changes there just yet but I'd be half tempted to switch Knight to that side.

But we have the lead, haven't looked like conceding and our pressing game does look like it can rattle them at times.

Festy dropping doesn't really feel right to me.

Good to see Thompson still in the side, I hope he isnt going to get shoved out of midfield for Morrison.

38 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

Point 1: I’ve noticed that. We’re more vocal with lower than optimum numbers.

Point 2: beg to differ there @Carl Sagan; not often I disagree with your good self but I’m thoroughly enjoying the football. The images of Festy blitzing the Fulham fullback last night like a bike chasing after a train will live in my mind. And Curtis racing forward and setting up TL for the awesome strike that their keeper somehow beat behind. Bloody joyful football. Rooney has really got this group gelled and working like a machine. A few tweaks and …who knows! 

On point 2 the major difference for me is one of intent; we are trying to play football this season, take the game to people and make things happen. Yeah sometimes we make a bit of a fluff of trying to play our way out of trouble but I can respect that we keep trying to make it work and we are overall getting better at it. It's the same going forwards we don't score enough on paper that's for sure but it doesn't seem like it's from a lack of intent and even then I don't think we are far from finding the right balance to create enough meaningful chances. We are a mismatch of players who are past it, mediocre or at the very start of their career it would be easy to revert to percentage football or meekly accept our doom and yet we haven't and are still trying to do the right things. 

For me that's what's entertaining about this season; I can see a team shaping and evolving in spite of the external goings on. It's fun to see Bird really starting to hit his stride this season, Ebosele breaking through to terrorise players, Thompson coming out of nowhere as if he'd been playing in the championship for for 5 years or the likes of Jagielka and Davies pulling out every last trick they can to stop us conceding. The overall spirit of the team is one that is giving it's all and pulling in the same direction. Will it be good enough to get safety this season? Probably not but at least we go down giving our best effort.