Rev

Lancashire Hotpots in a couple of weeks, Big Special a few weeks later, then Bruce Springsteen in Cardiff, early May.

I can't find a decent hotel for love nor money, so stopping in Hereford and catching the train in.

Looks like he has found the McClaren playbook. 

Nice.

I'd like to add, it's a moot point, not a mute point.

Otherwise, carry on.

1 hour ago, oomarkwright said:

Yes saw in local Lidl they had the pack of 6 Belgian beers for about £12. I was walking though so couldn't carry the weight. Was thinking of going back in the car to see if I could get them. I'll have a think tommorow. 

They've also got Budvar dark 500ml bottles on offer at £1.79.

It's getting quite hard to obtain that now.

2 hours ago, Oldben said:

I wonder if it's worth considering replacing Paul Warne with Luke Williams.

Williams has been coaching in League One and the National League with Notts County, and it appears that he is close to making further progress up the pyramid. He is known for his coaching methods and tactical mind, having previously coached the Robins Under-23s from 2017 to 2019, before joining Notts County.

We would have to buy out this contract, but we would have to buy out the contract for most managers who might be worthwhile replacing Warne.

Williams is an "on-the-grass" style coach who can help players improve their individual skills. However, I understand that there could be concerns about his ability to promote us to the Championship, and whether our club is willing to take the risk.

Please stop. 

It's quite obvious these are not your own thoughts, and the constant copy and pasting is frankly doing my head in.

I think we've reached the point now, when a manager starts clutching at straws, desperately trying something new to stave off the seemingly inevitable parting of the ways. 

 

I'd imagine tomorrow's training session will see Sonny Badley up front, Josh Vickers banging it long up to him, and James Collins so far offside he's mostly retrieving the ball for goal kicks. 

 

Warne will return to the managers office in despair, coffee in one hand, Winter 2023/23 holiday brochure in the other.

 

He'll thump his head on the desk in sheer frustration, and begin typing out his resignation letter. 

 

"FFS, even this desk is against me" he'll moan, as his fingers struggle to hit the right keys as the table wobbles precariously back and forth.

 

Investigating further, he realises the force of the head butt has dislodged a dusty old folder being used to even out the wonky desk legs. 

 

He picks up the folder, expecting its probably just some old accounting ledger we didn't want the EFL to see, and wipes the dust from the cover.

 

'The Steve McClaren playbook'.

 

He opens it gingerly, like Indiana Jones opened the Ark, and gazes in rapt wonder at its contents. 

 

He realises, for the first time in his life, that the ball serves its purpose better on the floor, passing can be better than running, and effort is no substitute for ability. 

 

He slides the holiday brochure back under the table leg, and sets to work typing up his new vision of football management, ready to impart this knowledge of his staff and players, and before we know it, the Rams are flying up the table. 

 

All I needed was time, he'll declare to the local media upon automatic promotion in April 2024.

 

Prologue.

 

It's October 2024, and the Rams are struggling to establish themselves back in the Championship.  

 

The fans are unhappy, the owner's coming under pressure to make a change, so Paul dips once again into his managerial bible. 

 

It's done him so well, so far, but try as he might he can't find any answers. 

 

He knows there's a section called Plan B, but he's never had to delve that deeply, all his prayers had been answered in the first section, so he was saving Plan B for the Prem. 

 

Needs must though, so he turns the page eagerly.  

Plan B.























 

It's blank, obviously, apart from a picture of a giant mug, and a Newcastle telephone no.

 

53 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Which is a lovely irony as he struggled to turn himself around on the pitch......

Wash your dirty mouth out.

1 hour ago, Grumpy Git said:

The bloke that 'tackled' him needs locking-up.

I've seen the video and it's 100% intentional. HTF anyone can describe that as an accident is pathetic.

Looked like he lashed out, kung-fu style, after being knocked off balance. 

However, he was on ice, so maybe it wasn't as deliberate as it looked. 

According to The Athletic, on revenues of £20m last season, we still posted a small loss. 

Hard to criticise a man who still pumps money in.

We need to be in the Championship when the new deal starts, otherwise he'll have to keep pumping money in.

39 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

How can you stick with a manager who insists on playing a way that doesn't suit our strikers? It isn't even a few crosses, it's constant, plus long throws too into the box. 

How can you feel sorry for such an obstinate man who is coming across as 'footballing stupid'? It's nearly all his doing.

What happened in the second half? Who was playing where and for how long?! Can't let this man buy anymore wingbacks or players for his bankrupt system.

Out now while there is still a chance at top2.

Unless you scrap the offside rule, how on earth do you set up a side to suit James Collins?

The problem is the massive disconnect between how Paul Warne sees football, and how a large portion of the fanbase, and I suspect the squad he's inherited,  see it.

He sees it as a cardinal sin that we can't compete physically for second balls, while the Warne Out camp think if the first ball is more accurate, you don't need to compete for second balls, the initial pass does the damage.

 

Not his fault The Wall let him down today.

We need to share, not shaft.

One pun per post please. 

1 minute ago, Millenniumram said:

That’s what I’m hearing from someone high up 

Kin ell. 

Normally when God starts talking to people on Earth, its to tell them to lead his people to a new land, kill all the other people who don't believe in him, or to promise his lad will sort stuff out once he's finished his apprenticeship. 

God really has lost his focus, to be commenting on our managerial situation.

Why a separate thread?

 

As stated previously, I'm not a long term student on the situation, so I found this German state broadcaster film on the origins of conflict illuminating, and depressing in equal measure.

30 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Well the comment about Warnock was a joke in bad taste because of his age and I apologise for any offence it may have caused. 
 

As for Taarabt, he was a talented “resource” available to Warnock upon his arrival at. Who is to say any manager taking over at QPR at the time wouldn’t have done exactly the same?

Regarding Warne, we may not like the way he operates, we may not think he’s the right manager for Derby but of all the less than complimentary things we might say about him, describing him as a dinosaur wouldn’t be on my list and this is the first time I’ve heard him called one by even his most ardent critics on this site.

To clarify, my comments weren’t intended as a defence of PW (if that’s what has upset you). I was found it odd to describe him as a dinosaur of all things.

I thought it might be light hearted, and age related, with regards to Warnock, and I take no offence with any of your post. 

However, I do think dinosaur is a decent description of Paul Warne and his methods so far. 

He's not a big scary T-Rex though, more a gentle herbivore dino, so he can't quite beat the footballer out of the squad he's both inherited and built.

As a consequence, we've ended up with a ineffective hybrid playing style, where ballers still want to ball, while trying not to displease the boss by running around to no real effect. 

His style can work, but he needed to inherit a squad far closer to his ideal than he did, and he hasn't made enough progress to change that squad.

I hoped, on his appointment, that he'd been held back from a more pleasing style of football by the circumstances at Rotherham, and we perhaps offered an opportunity to really build from the ground up a more aesthetically pleasing yet successful football team. 

That was a false hope.

He's a fitness coach, who lucked into management in the first place, had some success, equalled by failure every time, was handed the opportunity of a lifetime here, because let's be honest were any other clubs beating down his door, and he's squandered it, through tactical ineptitude and the inability to adapt to the squad he has, or to build the squad he wants.

 

47 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Dinosaur? Has Warnock been appointed already? 😀

I can think of many things to call PW but dinosaur isn’t one of them. Also, what has Pearce got to do with anything? If you’re alluding to his time under Mel’s tenure, this has been discussed at length and I think most accept that if DC feels he’s worthy of keeping on we should respect that decision. It seems odd to lash out at him right now.

How is Warnock a dinosaur? 

His teams have all played in different ways, to suit the players at his disposal. Dinosaurs don't make Adel Taarabt the centrepiece of a championship promotion winning team, I'd suggest as one example.

Equally, what makes you state PW isn't a dinosaur so assuredly? 

I see no evidence in his years work so far that he's a modern, progressive tactical coach capable of outthinking his opponents.

Bypass midfield, hit the channels, get crosses in, win second balls, score, seems to be the extent of his  coaching so far.

If you think a why wall, mugs for scoring, pestering players via WhatsApp etc make Warne a modern man, they're just variations of tools managers old and new use to motivate.

33 minutes ago, Ramifications said:

Surely there must be clauses in his contract, depending on how well we are doing, or not doing? 

Why would he leave an equally well paid job, a league higher, to sign a contract with such clauses? 

He'll need paying off, as will his staff.

9 minutes ago, Kokosnuss said:

Aye. I've asked before but what does he do?

What are his attributes?

How do they got in with anything Warne says he wants us to do?

Why was he so keen to bring him in? To prioritise a portion of our budget on a player he doesn't even seem to know how to use?

We / he can't complain about not being able to afford a better striker when we've wasted resources on this turkey

 

He was quick.

Several years ago.

2 minutes ago, oodledoodle said:

And yet weirdly, it didn't seem like the players have downed tools. Imagine how bad it would be if they did.

They're trying for him, that's for sure. 

What he's asking of them, they're not capable of, and that's where the problem lies.

I've a feeling it's run out.

The way we approached the last knockings today makes me think Warne knows it too.

1 minute ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Has to go now.

I think he's gone, and he knows it.