Carl Sagan

A disappointing result against Lincoln, but you simply cannot win every game. However, we've now had our January draw, which means we have to win the final two games of the month, away at Reading and then at home to Cheltenham, not to lose ground.

In fact Lincoln's central spire collapsed in 1548, at which point it was no longer the world's tallest building, but we just didn't build anything bigger than it had once been until 1890. "Blimey" indeed!

It was presaging player power and the Bosman ruling that was to come. Derby County leading the way, just as we did with our shirt sponsorship with Saab, that wasn't allowed either.

While we await the match action...

Was at the Baseball Ground for that, and when we introduced Lubos Kubik and Igor Knoflicek to the crowd. What great signings any of them would have been.

From the local paper: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportlatest/24063171.derby-charlton-aware-bantams-fee-jake-young/ It says we've been following the striker and "are considering whether to table an offer after being made aware of the club’s evaluation of the 22-year-old." And that they've rejected three bids so far, and are not happy about Simmo's comments after Carlisle failed to land him.

I hope we're looking at something like: Vickers Wilson Nelson Cashin Elder Hourihane Bird Mendez-Laing Sibley Barkhuizen Collins

CBT not on the bench. Warne out!

Do they stick you in the boot for away days, Ella? Maybe it's your lucky spot and you're not allowed to swap places?

I remain struck by how Kirchner wasn't going to buy the stadium, so Clowes was going instead having to fork out the other £50million+. I'm glad the stadium deal, which had become such a complicated part of the whole financials with MM buying it off the club previously, ended up not being a stumbling block here. So much unusual expense in these initial accounts, but it looks as though DC has done an amazing initial job of stabilizing the club, while keeping us competitive at the level we find ourselves. Forever grateful.

Has anyone ever seen Curtis Nelson and a Terminator in the same room? No? So it must be true!

It's interesting the piece quotes a lot of Martin Rees, but we were out last night and he was actually far more positive about human boots on Mars than I expected. Partly it was because Bob Zubrin was there, supposedly for a debate about using humans or robots to explore Mars, with Bob famously a "boots on the ground" person and Martin famously for robotic exploration. But in the end they only disagreed on timeframes, and partly because it was a good debate and Zubrin was extremely persuasive on why it will happen, and I think Rees was prepared to be convinced by the answers. The point of difference was that Zubrin thinks we will terraform Mars to allow people to live on the surface (and explains how that might happen relatively quickly) while Rees thinks instead of adapting Mars to humans, the humans on Mars will use genetic engineering to adapt themselves and their offspring to the existing planet - forming the first post-human society. I've probably mentioned on here before that Zubrin's book The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet (which I'm publishing) comes out here in August. Sadly Martin's only part way through writing his book so that one will take a little while longer! But Zubrin makes a compelling case for why and how it will happen. If Musk stays on course then as early as 2032 for the first crewed landings. If he doesn't, then enough of the groundwork has now been laid for it to happen in the 2040s.

@DavidIs it a Cleethorpes lockin or am I too late?

Am currently writing a book on AI and am curious about the forum's views. Do many people on here use the new generative capabilities? Do you use other manifestations? Do you think the world will have changed much in the next 5, 10, 20 years? What are your hopes and dreams for it? What about your fears? And will a robot footballer ever play for Derby County?

I would have loved us to go for Dan Kemp and Jake Young after their great Swindon partnership this season, but sadly Kemp is now impossible having also played for MK Dons since his recall. Feel he's the better player, but the interesting thing is Bradford recalled Kemp but haven't played him, so the intention is obviously to sell. I would be happy to make a move for Young if he's not yet out of our price range.

Can't imagine this is true, but it would actually be quite funny if it were!

This is one of the reasons Wildsmith is so important and I love him for it. He is not embarrassed to take the heat out of the game and stifle our opponent's momentum this way. Even in front of the baying cop at Anfield. It might make the difference between promotion or not come the end of the season. I do not want Derby to be the Corinthian Casuals of League One, glorious failures, playing honorably while the teams around us scheme to earn promotion at our expense.

Going into the Spain World Cup in 1982, Peter Shilton was so imperious I thought he was practically unbeatable. Then the unthinkable happened and after Bryan Robson's 27 second opener in our first match, the French equalized. But it was a truly unsavable goal. We still won 3-1, and that was the only goal we conceded in the entire tournament, which we remained unbeaten in throughout. Yet somehow, through the way the rounds were organized, that meant we still missed out on the semifinals!

Agree with all of this except I didn't feel the Burton goals were down to Vickers, which makes it a little hard to switch him out even though his punching and command of the box was poor. Wildsmith is a huge asset in terms of game management and normally giving the defence confidence. I wish he hadn't had the two consecutive poor games he had, as I would prefer him between the sticks, but I think Warne will feel that now he's made the call, he can't go back on it immediately as there isn't a compelling reason to. And it may be that Vickers grows into the role.

Amazing. Seriously. But it shows this is about opinions. There was I wondering why on earth Warne was keeping him on the pitch when he was having such a poor fame, but presumed it was in a desperate bid to give Barks more confidence in himself, given he'd scored. I do think there is a player in there, but he's been poor for quite a while. I liked the McClaren way with wingers, where you have 4 on rotation, and if you play well you start and get 70 minutes and then the other guy gets 25 minutes at the end to make an impact and show he should start. Barks would benefit from that approach.

We would all love to dominate this league and stroll to the title, but the sad truth is that we are a strong League One team, in a battle with other strong League One teams. Any win is always a good win, as when you're playing anyone outside of the top 6, it is only the wins that matter. And at least the players know that as it was end to end at 2-2. Tonight was poor from the players, the manager and the referee. I would say at least five players looked under par: Vickers, Elder, Barkhuizen, John-Jules, Bird Wildsmith really needs to be in for the next game. If it's the only way to get Sibley in the team, he's 10x a better left back than Elder. At the moment John-Jules has been better as an impact sub, though twice he did put NML through. Barks scored but only did one other good thing in the game. Bird was wholly ineffective throughout. With our midfield nonexistent, it was baffling Warne let it slide for half an hour longer than he should. And I feel for Dajaune Brown. Burton brought on a young striker sub and he immediately seized his moment. Despite all his hard work in the U21s, Brown never has the chance to have a moment. I do hope and expect there'll be changes for Saturday. But we did win and, when the chips were down we came through, despite the setbacks. There is desire and belief among some of these players. Let's hope it gets up over the line. I could not bear another season of this. But 10 wins out of 12 games does auger well (if that's what it is now?).

What a miss by Collins, the goal gaping. Sliced a mile wide when free just six yards out.

I cannot fathom why Brown isn't on the pitch. And Thompson for some dynamism and energy.

It was sloppy but it was also a really obvious freekick. He took his legs long before the ball.

Seddon who should have been sent off in the first half goes through the back of Mendez-Laing, a clear foul, and then runs forward to shoot unchallenged, pulling one back for Burton. Poor refereeing and poor defending. Very disappointing all round.