IlsonDerby

It would take an absolute idiot to keep watching our lack of control and continue to play 2 in the middle. I don’t believe Warne is an idiot - he’s been quite successful in this division so why on Earth is he persevering with this rubbish idea? You’ve got arguably 2 of the most technical midfielders in the division and they look awful. They’re not awful players but they’re being made to look bad by being crammed into a system that doesn’t suit them.

The issue I have with this is football is a lot about momentum and it just feels like after a run where momentum was fully with us it has now swung in the opposite direction. Wins against relegation zone sides are massive uphill battles rather than routine wins that you’d expect a top 2 team to manage. I hope we can repeat our past 15 results but what’s to stop us repeating our first 15?

I think in the context of the league we are in, the current squad is stronger than any Clough had except for his last. There is quite a big drop off from championship to league 1. Warne has had money to spend.

The easy thing to do to back up my argument is to say yes but it’s more nuanced than that so I won’t. If it was a great performance following on from the recent matches then I’d be frustrated with the loss. If it was a great performance following on from a run of great performances where we’d got the results we’d hope for then I think I’d be fairly happy still.

on top of the obvious Burley and Mac… When things were good under Clough jnr I enjoyed that. Disappointed he was sacked - I’m not trigger happy with managers. when things were bad under Clough jnr I accepted that he was resorting to the football we were playing because he’d trimmed us down to a bottom 6 budget and just wanted to secure safety. Warne doesn’t have the same excuses.

Honestly wish I’d have been doing wedding prep. This season would be class if all you do is look for the results rolling in on final score. The fact is that player for player we are better on paper than probably 20-22 of the teams in this division. Now football isn’t played on paper but it’s the coaches job to ensure that the position of the club is at least par with the budget the club has compared to the rest of the division otherwise he’s failing. If at the end of the season we don’t finish top 2-3 then we’ll have performed under par. That doesn’t necessarily mean you sack someone but if in the next 17 matches we can’t string together at least 10 convincing points performances then I’ll be questioning what we are actually building towards because he’ll have had over 1 and a half seasons and 3 transfer windows. By this point things should be coming together. it should be getting clearer and clearer to see what his ideal football blueprint looks like and us getting closer to it. The last 180 minutes of football haven’t been that. It isn’t black and white is it? If we’d played well but the same things in the match unfolded - ie we go in to half time at 0-0, then go 1-0 down early in the second half before coming back and winning 2-1 then I think the fans walk away content and happy with the result. For context I was happy enough with the Burton game (my bar isn’t that high) - felt daft mistakes let them in but otherwise we were in control of the match for 75 minutes. How much of the match were we in control for yesterday? When people demand better performances we’re not being entitled. You’ve literally got the manager saying the performance wasn’t good enough in the post match interview - is he entitled? The only difference is - Warne thinks he’s the man to get us to those excellent performances consistently. I’ve seen enough over the last year and half to know he can get us to perform well but I’ve seen absolutely nothing to suggest he can get us to do it consistently…

It is difficult to be that positive despite the league position. The run of form has been brilliant but it feels like it’s built on sand. There’s the saying ‘title winners know how to win when things aren’t going their way’. This is fine if it’s the minority of games where this is happening but it feels far more often than not that we win in spite of our performances. What changes? What can change? We’re pretty much staying as is until summer.

Bloody hell are you not happy with Warne anymore????

Stuck 2 midfielders next to him who can actually move…

Come on now!

Permanent transfer pot: £0 loan pot: nominal manager pay off pot: ? 👀👀

I’ve no idea but I still enjoy watching him for the most part (his frustrating free kicks he gives away apart). Think he’s one of the few players we’ve got that can take a ball past a player in tight spaces. Doesn’t rely on pace. Feel like he’ll never make it here though - too many managers used him as a utility player. Will watch with interest where ever he ends up next though.

Brilliant run from Sibley. Tried an intelligent ball to Hourihane into space rather than an aimless cross. Shame it didn’t come off. The run deserved it.

If I was Sibley I’d be employing a specialist defence coach. Think he could be a solid solid left back if he just works on a bit of positioning. He’s got the technical ability to get out of tight situations and try passes that aren’t completely aimless.

Guess work from the lino then. Looked on from the tv

About 70 seconds of sustained pressure and the fans are applauding loudly. They want to get behind the lads. It doesn’t take much for them to be behind the lads. Just give them something to cling to. Some tiny sparks of football.

It sounds like it’s gonna get quite toxic there based on the noises the crowd are making.

Sibley giving away that foul with their defender running absolutely nowhere is the reason why he probably won’t make it here. Fans just won’t forgive that lack of intelligence.

Cheltenham are a team of players who were so bad it took about 11 games to score their first goal. Their budget will be peanuts and yet under this new gaffer they’re playing above the sum of the parts. Our players are capable of so much more. Give them a canvas and plan to go and do it on.

Abysmal start. Continuing from Tuesday.

I don’t understand this though - Clowes is a good business man. He chose at great expense to keep category 1 status for our academy. I don’t believe for a second that he wouldn’t have told Warne his expectations of a pipeline to the first team when they were discussing the job. He doesn’t seem incompetent from what I’ve read and heard about him. I have to assume based on this that they’re just not quite ready yet.

Elder must be injured. Fella was improving game on game from a shakey start and was starting to look decent. Can’t imagine he’d be dropped from the 18.

Think he plays NML upfront with Collins in a 442

This is no dig at them but their owner is happy for them to be punching at the top of league one/around the play offs with the idea that they sell on and reinvest. Our club wouldn’t be happy with that which is probably why they’re able to cherry pick these non league lads, play them regularly so they’re up to speed. Fall short of promotion but then sell the gem for a good whack.

I’m not losing sight of the great run we’re still on despite the disappointing few games but hand on heart how many times have we come away from the games thinking we played well? I know people say it’s a results business and that’s true but poor performances will eventually regress back to poor results and vice versa which is why (as well as wanting to enjoy the football) people crave good performances because ultimately they’ll lead to solid results.