May Contain Nuts

We should campaign to get a statue of Mick Brolly outside the ground . 
It would be a great place for fans to meet up before games if it is raining.  

Well, what can I say? 
The Germans decided that proper beer should only contain hops, malted barley, and water. And they did a pretty decent job of it. 
So, ingredients aren't a massive issue. Water profiles can be changed by adding minerals. Hops have different flavours and can be used in different quantities. Malt can be 2 row or 6 row breeds, can be roasted for different flavours, and used in different quantities to add depth and mouthfeel. Some heretics throw some extra ingredients in, partly for taste and sometimes for wacky factor. I'm looking at you, mushy pea mild. 
But the one thing that the Germans forgot is in all their beer, is yeast. And this is the biggest game changer. Yeast makes beer. Brewers make wort (the sugary liquid that yeast turns to alcohol). 
Unfortunately my pocket won't stretch to it regularly, but the difference in quality from the little Belgian beers in the supermarket shows the Madris, the Morettis, the Stellas and the Budweisers for what they are - mass produced products designed to maximise profit by efficient use of materials to make a product that the masses can't take much offense at. 

I think a big part of why he loves us so much is we helped him with his redemption arc after the drugs ban. When he posted a pic celebrating in the dressing room after the promotion game, the caption was something along the lines of "If you've ever been down and out, this is proof that you can come back from anything you put your mind to".

Next season's squad will certainly be interesting.
We're free of the league-agreed business plan, the level of obstruction and the impact it had on us in practical terms still very much debatable, but we'll still be working toward the aim of being sustainable and unlike in League One this past season we'll really have to make sure that we get value for money with our signings.
The starting lineup & bench come August 2024 will consist about 70-80% of players brought to the club by Warne, he won't be able to rely on the bulk of our minutes being played by those he inherited like he has this season, where his signings have contributed to an average of just 27% of our total minutes played, with 10 of his 15 signings contributing less than 30%.
Ultimately this season the means have justified the end, nearly all of the players have contributed at least something valuable to the cause, which speaks well of the preparedness of players even when they're dropping in and out, and we've achieved what we set out to achieve but I'd suggest it's rather unlikely we'll be able to get away such wastage next season.
Written down, it's difficult to argue that we were held back by the amount of money spent of pre-Warne signings or that they contribute a significantly higher sum to our wage bill than the players brought in this season.  In terms of VFM there's a clear distinction. That being said, you can say that it's to Warne's credit he got the most out of the players he inherited.
Hopefully there are more signings like Nelson & Adams to come, but we'll face far stronger competition for them without having the pull of being the biggest club in the division. News of us scouting abroad is encouraging, especially if it helps us find those players not on everybody else's radar.
We'll probably need to bring in a core of maybe 7-8 new players all capable of contributing to 60-80% of our minutes, if not higher IMO.
A big summer ahead, no doubt.

 

Next season's squad will certainly be interesting.
We're free of the league-agreed business plan, the level of obstruction and the impact it had on us in practical terms still very much debatable, but we'll still be working toward the aim of being sustainable and unlike in League One this past season we'll really have to make sure that we get value for money with our signings.
The starting lineup & bench come August 2024 will consist about 70-80% of players brought to the club by Warne, he won't be able to rely on the bulk of our minutes being played by those he inherited like he has this season, where his signings have contributed to an average of just 27% of our total minutes played, with 10 of his 15 signings contributing less than 30%.
Ultimately this season the means have justified the end, nearly all of the players have contributed at least something valuable to the cause, which speaks well of the preparedness of players even when they're dropping in and out, and we've achieved what we set out to achieve but I'd suggest it's rather unlikely we'll be able to get away such wastage next season.
Written down, it's difficult to argue that we were held back by the amount of money spent of pre-Warne signings or that they contribute a significantly higher sum to our wage bill than the players brought in this season.  In terms of VFM there's a clear distinction. That being said, you can say that it's to Warne's credit he got the most out of the players he inherited.
Hopefully there are more signings like Nelson & Adams to come, but we'll face far stronger competition for them without having the pull of being the biggest club in the division. News of us scouting abroad is encouraging, especially if it helps us find those players not on everybody else's radar.
We'll probably need to bring in a core of maybe 7-8 new players all capable of contributing to 60-80% of our minutes, if not higher IMO.
A big summer ahead, no doubt.

 

Love ‘ academy fruitfulness’. (Sounds like John Keats.)
The recent chaos has forced us to pi$$ away the historic value of academy investment but DC seems to support the academy model. 
 
For that model to be successful, the first team ethos needs to be aligned with it and its objectives. Cocu bought into this, it seems. Possibly unrealistic to ask Warne to focus on it in div 1, with such pressure on promotion. But now he’s succeeded in that I’d hope that promoting the academy and its products will form part of his approach. Good coaching of youngsters is a big part of this 

Ah, the great Richard Keogh.
I remember being ridiculed here when I said he doesn't look much of a captain to me. He was blaming others for his own mistakes, mostly Bogle, maybe because he was an easy target as a teenager. Blaming others is not a sign of leadership or being an accountable adult, never mind a captain. I don't want to piss off our supporters so I left it there, but in hindsight, you could say, there's a difference between blind support and support. What we are witnessing with the notts forest is blind support and I wish we never get there again.
Later we learned that being accountable is hardly his strength off the pitch either. With that night out he also showed how bad example and guidance he gave to younger players.
Just reflect on it a bit: Keogh whining and mutinying to Morris about Pearson. It's all just pure toxicity and such persons shouldn't be close to our team ever again. Big thank you for Clowes and his recruitment. No wonder I kept losing my love for the game.
Keogh was a decent Championship footballer though. Shame he wasn't much of an adult. Maybe as a pensioner, he can grow up now.

Spot on.  The Reading game where we lost 3-0 , he came out to block, Keogh screamed it was his and went sliding along the area, bloke skips round him with ease and poor old Albentosa basically has to stand on the line as the balls smashed past him  . Cue temper tantrum and much screaming from Keogh in his face.  Think I'd have clobbered him.
Pretty sure he did well with Malaga and Deportivo afterward so he was certainly a better player than we saw.  

Really?
The top 6 consist of 3 PL sides of last season, two sides still boasting former PL players and a final parachute payment and Ipswich who have been brilliant.
Rosenior took over Hull last season when they were a bottom 8 Championship side with players of that ilk.
No doubt they have invested. But not to the extent of bringing in a host of players better than 5 of the 6 above them.
They finished above Watford who are still under parachute payments, plus Boro and Stoke who have invested more than Hull.
I think if Rosenior had taken over a top 10 side you could argue finishing 7th with the added investment is a tad disappointing.
But underperformed? At worst finishing 7th-10th is solid but room for improvement, and that’s looking on with a negative spin.
Watford have disappointed. As have Stoke and Sunderland.
 

This one's a double lol:
 

Shoestring budget? We had the highest wage bill in League One 

Has no-one realised that Blackburn stayed up today by beating Leicester - one of the results that sealed Birmingham's fate.
This current manager of Blackburn is...?

Got to love the 2,000 Norwich fans baiting the home crowd with 
"Que sera sera
Whatever will be will be
You're going to Shrewsbury 
Que sera sera"
🤣

They're not in Administration and they've got hugely wealthy owners. They'll survive. When they took the piss out of us, we were on the brink of oblivion and their taunts must have made some of our more vulnerable fans even lousier, so I think we're allowed a bit of schadenfreude at their expense.

I would have preferred more entertaining football and control in games. I think that the lack of control in games led to unnecessary physical exertion which there is a good case for saying led to the amount of injuries. Some may argue our style of play played a part in Bird wanting to leave. Pure speculation of course.
I think much of the recruitment was ill thought out. Too many signings of players who were arriving with injuries, too near the end of the career or hadn't played for a while which didn't fit well with Warne's style of play. He signed Fornah to do a job he want physically capable of doing. 
There is an argument that our superior budget dug us out of a mess of our own making with the arrivals of Nyambe, Adams and Gayle later in the season.
I thought the whole captaincy process and back 5 insistence made him and Bradley look weak to many people. I can see the sense in a vote on captaincy but there was a perception amongst fans that Bradley was brought in to do this and that Hourihane wouldn't have been his choice.
On the plus side, we bounced back from adversity well. We never went on a dreadful run like we have under other managers. Some more cynical may suggest its easier to bounce back as you are never more than a couple of matches from playing a poor team.
We showed some good resilience in important/difficult games. Our away performances against Pompey, Posh (first half) and in patches Bolton were very good. 
He eventually solved the back 4 problem with Nyambe and in January solved the midfield energy problem with Adams.
In terms of PW I don't hate him. I hate very few people. I didn't like 2 interviews he did this year and I know they irritated many on here, some of whom have a rosier view of PW than myself. I'm fairly ambivalent to him generally. I dont feel the love that i had for Cox and Smith but he equally isn't a Pearson or even a Clement.
He has talked about needing a lot of changes for next year. I hope that means looking after the ball a bit more and not just taller, quicker versions of what we have now. His admiration for Bird gives me some hope in that direction.
My view of fans on here defending/over defending PW by pointing to limited resources is a bit off. They are only limited in terms of fees and in comparison to the MM Madness. We had a very good budget on wage bill compared to the rest of the league.
That is my constructive view.
 
 

You’re correct, with my patient optimism I have always been right! And some people have also always been correct in their concerns. But mainly I was right 😉 
I think the door has swung both ways with the more vocal minority on either side of the argument quick to goad, dismiss, mock, label all season long. Looking at it objectively the following concerns have been raised, some of them are valid and some were clearly short sighted and spiteful, the evidence is there if you go looking from all sides. These are summarised/paraphrased points to try and capture all sides ;
- “Warne doesn’t have any pull” (disagree here as we’ve signed some effective players this season… and gambled with some injury prone ones)
- which brings me to point two, “he’s been operating with restrictions so we should be patient.” I always felt there was some logic to this and also agree with the points made that we still could have recruited better when you look at some of the other free agents signed up by our rivals. Overall the group we had were effective and got the job done, hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is I can’t help but wonder if we’d have won the league with a couple of different options.

- “he only signs old players/cloggers/former Rotherham players” biggest short sighted load of nonsense out of all the criticism for me and one point I’ve been at pains to counter for the last 2 seasons. It’s a generalised and ill informed view that ignores the restrictions at play and also the likes of Nyambe, Adams, Nelson, Wilson, Elder, Ward, TJJ, none of whom are ancient or cloggers or former Warne players.
- “players don’t want to play for him/he’s a glorified PE teacher/fitness coach” always felt this was unfair and it’s clear by the end of the season that this squad did want to play for him and he’s got a little more about him than some would credit. His man management seems to be a big strength and one people have been quick to dismiss, surely he deserves credit for getting the team over the line even if they are “the best players in the league” and he’s “just done what’s expected of him” 😉 
- “he’s tactically limited” this is one of the big ones and hard to fully pick apart without a good dialogue from all sides. Part of me agrees and sees it from the football purists point of view that we don’t typically control the ball and control games so see why folks have issues there. But also he has adapted all season, used different shapes, different combinations and still got the job done. It seems to be a case of pragmatism over style which then comes down to preference as many have expressed, it’s not for them that’s fair enough, and others (like myself) are happy seeing us score goals and win regardless of style (which is also fair enough). Though my biggest and remaining complaint with him will seemingly always be his timing of subs, a couple of times this season he’s nailed it (can’t remember specific games) but there have been others when a change was desperately needed and he’s done nowt….come on Paul, save my blood pressure next season please. It’ll be interesting to see how he adapts in the championship with Derby, but I think he’s earned that right.
- “the football is dire”, another difficult one to reconcile personally for me as I’ve enjoyed it but I get that people want more control in midfield, more passing etc so again it’s a complicated point to discuss with more nuance. Personally I’ve enjoyed winning lots, scoring plenty, improving away and ultimately going up automatically but it could have been smoother sailing for sure.
- “he doesn’t trust young players”, another of the biggies that so far seems to be evident and is more a wait and see thing for me. He definitely could/should have used the pizza cup to blood a few more youngsters this season then perhaps they’d have been ready to plug gaps when injury struck. However I also see Warne’s point about not throwing them in and “ruining them”, he’s essentially done the job this season but given the investment in the academy and his key it in theory will be to the clubs future this is one he must do better on.
- “his interviews are *insert positive/derogatory comment*” this is all down to personal preference, some like his interview style and some don’t, if that’s how you feel it doesn’t make you factually wrong it’s just an opinion. 
 
- “give him time”, seems so far to have been the right shout, earlier in the season understandably more and more people had concerns, I even had my own mini wobble, but essentially the patience appears to have paid off (for this season at least….what happens next we have to wait and see).
There may be other points but I’ve got to do the school run so feel free to pile on and tell me what I missed and where I’m wrong. My point here is that there are valid concerns all round, and plenty to discuss respectfully, we all want what’s best for the club. 

Wasn't that thread from October, when things were looking absolutely dire on the pitch? I appreciate it's a results business, but at the time we were getting neither the results nor a performance. We'd barely troubled the top six the previous season, and looked set to repeat the same again.
The message was sent loud and clear that it wasn't good enough. Had things carried on in the same manner, he'd have been out of a job. Absolutely no doubt in my mind. It's also important that Warne at this point was freely admitting things were nowhere near good enough. It wasn't just us Warne outers that were critical. He was agreeing with us.
Credit given to all involved that following that "altercation" with Hourihane and the fans, results did improve. And that was despite key players being out injured. I absolutely think that the toxicity at the time knocked some reality into the players and staff. I think it was their make or break time. I also absolutely think we'd be nowhere near second had we all just clapped them off every game, and quietly accepted whatever garbage was being served up. I truly think it was the moment the penny dropped for the club. And it was needed.
I think that point in time, when the Warne doubt was at it's highest, that neither camp was wrong. One camp were fed up with things as they were in reality. One camp were optimistic things would improve. I'd also argue both camps were right because despite results improving, arguably the football didn't. So some very valid questions remained.
However it's results that get you up, so most sane doubters were placated. And we did go up. Because we're Derby and we're brilliant, regardless of who's in charge.
But I'm always wrong, so feel free to disagree.

It was nice being a big fish in a small pond for a bit, but lets be honest League One is absolutely honking and the idea that Derby should have been happy to take it slow and rebuild down there was nonsense. I am delighted that we got out relatively quickly given the circumstances that saw us down there, let's never go back again.

“Not renaming the road between Derby and Nottingham”
Fair enough. But the M1 between Derby and Rotherham can now be the “Paul Warne Way”. 

Misread that and thought it was a “paint me like one of your French girls Jack” sort of line 👀 

My grandson is doing it, so proud.

I don’t think I’ve ever really understood this argument. You can’t do it perfectly but if you have a relatively big budget for the level you can buy relatively better players for the level who can do it.
If we get promoted, we will have a relatively worse squad than this year, that’s where I can understand pragmatism. Although even then we played decent enough football to accumulate enough points to be lower mid table with a tiny budget last time we were there, albeit in weird circumstances.
Warne has chosen this way to play football. It’s not really my taste but we’re pretty good at it so who am I to argue. But let’s not pretend he’s not had a choice. 

As one - of what felt a relatively small minority at times - who urged patience earlier in the season,  I'm obviously glad we were, and that the outcome justifies it.  I aleo don't subscribe to the 'with the squad we have it was the least we should expect/we should be walking this league' mentality either.
However,  we have been slightly fortunate that other teams have stumbled so much and/,or that 3 good teams went up last year that would possibly have finished above us again this year. It doesn’t feel like a particularly strong League 1 - the Championship looks ridiculously strong though.
All irrelevant, we go up and we deserve it. Warne deserves a crack at the Championship. 
But it's inevitable if we continue the style of play when we are bad that he will come under pressure. This year the mantra is 'he's done it 3 times' and that calm experience looks key now. Even the way we accepted a (vital) point at Wycombe whereas Peterborough have taken a couple of hidings in amongst their wins.
Next season all previous experience is relatively negative so it won't be long before the pressure is on. Bottom half there will be a lot of groans, near bottom 3 close to Xmas and I expect he'd be close to gone.
I can't imagine many teams go up with such a divided fan base around the manager but almost everyone will agree he's done his job this year and so understand why he's going to be given the chance again. How long that patience last is going to variable!!

I wouldn’t quite describe it as “exemplary”. Our performances against Northampton and Wycombe (in my book, by and large, the management and players take joint responsibility for the poor performances and credit for the good ones) in particular are enough of blot to make such an accolade unjustified. Even most of the wins have been less than convincing but, I agree with your other sentiments. 
 
whether he is the right man to rebuild and go again is uncertain (I do understand certain posters concerns) but I do think he’s got us close enough not to be sacked.
Again, I get the concerns voiced by some others if we go up but he will have earned the right to give it a go.

For the away or third kit, I'd like us to try something different and include a map of Derby in the design of the shirt. It could be done so that Pride Park is located within the club's logo, seen as the logo is an outline of a ram. For extra points they could utilise the colour scheme featured in the modern remake kit that @loweman2 posted a few posts ago. Here's a few attempts at it with other clubs over the past few seasons. I especially like the green Hibernian one from 2021/22.