Wsm-ram

I really enjoy hearing Bird speak, I think he has a real maturity for someone who is still relatively young in both a footballing and broader social sense. I always assume his sad life experiences related to his father passing must play some part in that, credit to the young man. 

There’s that thunderbastard I ordered! 

We soften them up!
Reduced to a Wendies fluffer.

Trying to get Dizzy to sign another contract is a must. I would also give Fozzy another year or two (great squad player and to provide some stability). Would love to see us sign Roberts on a permanent if we can.

It's going to be interesting next season. I think Warne football has been very much geared towards being an underdog, hussle and tussle, plenty of crosses from the wingers, very athletic. I completely understand supporters that are worried about the managers inability to change his tactics. I thought when he first arrived Warne was willing to adapt his style to what we had in the squad. Since the end of January, particularly away from home, he's tried to implement more of his traditional tactics and I don't think it has worked. The team looks knackered, once the second half kicks off then we can't get into games. This has been going on for a couple of months now and whether Warne likes it or not, I think his inability to rotate the squad correctly has cost us results. I have no issues with him trying to be more aggressive with the pressing out of possession. However half the lads look burnt out by 45 minutes because he doesn't freshen the team. Why he keeps playing NML every game is baffling. The poor bloke ran his rear end off for a good half of season and we've kept starting him when he's clearly shattered and needs a couple of games out of the side. He's got options out wide and I don't think he's played Dobbin / Barks enough. I put that down to the manager.
I know Derby have been rubbish away from home for years, however this doesn't mean this squad should be completely dominated by a lower tier League One team. That's nothing arrogant. Put the two teams on paper, Derby have the bigger budget and attracted better quality footballers. Really poor when the away support has been superb this season.
Our owner is clearly thinking long term and I get the impression he's very happy with Warne at the helm, regardless of if the football is dire. As long as we don't fall away into the bottom half, I can see Warne sticking around. He's got time to build a squad around his style, which we've been crying out for years. Jurgen Klopp rebuilt Liverpool to his style of football over a couple of seasons. Far fetched I know, managers who show some progress whilst changing the team on the pitch get time. My only concern with a Paul Warne rebuild is are we going to have enough funds to overhaul the squad again. His pursuit of bringing in them "prime aged" footballers is going to cost a lot more money.
As painful as it is at the moment, I think with the rebuild behind the scenes, I do believe the manager will come good. Whether the supporters will stay patient is another matter. Especially in this day and age of "we want everything now." 

I don't know what his obsession with 3 at the back is when none of our squad can play it well. We have plenty of options to play a decent back four with Rooney and Roberts also reasonable fullbacks.
Then we could see Barks and NML up front causing the chaos we have previously seen them do. 

I think they'll be gone. They don't fit Warne-ball. 

I take a lot of your points about how the team is playing currently but using the 30% possession stat from yesterday as the benchmark isn’t the one. We had 63% possession against MK Dons and 29 attempts at goal, each game in isolation throws up different stats that can be used to make a point.
Your other general points about controlling the ball are absolutely valid, I don’t want to see us go back to holding the ball for the sake of it and doing nothing with it. Earlier this season Warne seemed to have struck a balance in the side between controlling the ball and using physical attributes to get us on a winning run. I genuinely think if he can find the right players to complement his stubbornly pursued 3-5-2 then it’ll work as he intends it, however for the remainder of this season I think he should be looking to get back to that 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 that was working earlier in the season. 
He wants Knight in the side no matter what for all his running, but is he effective at the minute in midfield? I’d potentially use him at right back with Cashin, Forsyth and Roberts making up the back 4. Get Smith or Bird as the holding midfielder with 2 of Hourihane/Sibley/Bird as the others in the middle and play NML and Barkhuizen/Dobbin either side of McGoldrick. Get back to what was working and see if we can still sneak into that top 6. 

This is a big issue for me as well. He initially tried 3 at the back, didn’t work. Reverted to a four. Worked really well. Towards the end of our run changed the four slightly. And then now fully back at a 3.
Going back to a defence of smith, fozzy, cashin, sibley seems so obvious as our best way forward.
then hourihane and bird in midfield, with knight ahead, nml and barkhuizen wide and mcgoldrick up top.
that team just makes a lot more sense than any picked lately. Can sometimes have Collins in and move mocgoldrick back too. Dobbin a wide option.

Genuine question. I simply can’t remember…
why did we ditch the formula that got us on a decent unbeaten run? Chiefly Sibley and smith either side of Cash and Foz and NML playing further up the pitch, not being asked to defend and  bird sitting in front of the back four?
even if we got found out a bit, surely that was our most cohesive team?
 

I'd say we need someone with experience at this level. 
Someone "who knows L1" inside out, and has a good record of promotion up and out of this league.
We'd also need to promise him some leeway, until the EFL restrictions are lifted, and he's allowed to fully build his own squad.
Then give him time to build, given our own spending budgets (over and above the EFL restrictions).
So, perhaps a 4 year programme, and contract of a similar length.
 
 
Oh... erm... 

Maybe we could appoint a tactically astute manager who is able to get the best out of his resources, which is what the best managers do, at whatever level they are at?
I think the worry lots of people have with Warne is that no one can say that Hourihane, Sibley, Bird, Knight et al are being utilised effectively and very few of us can actually see a pattern of play that is recognisable, to the point that you can clearly see what we are trying to achieve. This is coupled with the fact that time and time again, opposition managers change something and Warne doesn’t react in any way. We seem to be floundering at the moment and a lot of good faith / good will is being lost across the fan base.
I think it’s all a moot point though because we have to give him time and let him assemble his own team. Let’s hope that goes well and we don’t  then have to employ a new manger who will need a couple of years to undo the damage and do exactly the same. 

Well at last that match is over. It makes me want to go and break a few windows, or thump an old person in the face so at least the punishment of watching Derby play is somewhat justified. 
So we started by playing the ball on the grass, where Cloughie says it should be played, and we scored., But then what? Bristol upped their tempo after about 20 minutes and it was all over. And what we did was start to hoof the ball long - to the opposition. And then even passing the ball out of defence seemed difficult for us, and often went to the wrong player. On rare occasions we cocked up and played the ball on the floor and actually threatened, but only on very rare occasions.
Actually the ref was pretty ok 1st half, but the EFL must have had their man at Bristol, who popped into the refs changing room at half time because suddenly he was gifting cards out like it was a mass birthday party for Derby players. It actually wasn't a dirty game, with Derby looking the dirtiest because of clumsy challenges, and there was a remarkable lack of malice, which is surprising given who their manager is!
The penalty was give-able because there  player was impeded in the penalty area, but as many have said, is the type of penalty given against us, but never for us. It was certainly softer than the belt in the back given to Jason Knight on Monday! And would have been as soft as the one that could have been given when McGoldrick was pulled down a little earlier, and probably would have been given if he was playing for Bristol. Or any other club who isn't Derby County.
BUT: it wasn't the ref today, because Bristol deserved far more than they got, and we deserved diddly squat because of our dreadful performance, and sitting back once we had gone a goal up. Given that we need to improve our goal difference, sitting back was unforgiveable.
And surely the players themselves have got to have a good sit down and ask themselves what the heck they ere doing this afternoon. Even at League one levels, not being able to pass the ball to your own team-mates for nearly 90 minutes simply isn't good enough.
I shall miss the next home match, against Burton, because I will be at my son's wedding, so at least I will be having good time. I will keep you all in my thoughts, though!

Pen or not I’ve just left the game wondering how we haven’t lost 3-0, early goal then just sat back and offered nothing, so so poor, and it was our chance to make it ours to lose, why do we always bottle it 

We shouldn't be letting games get to the point where one decision defines it, it's Bristol Rovers, we sat back and allowed pressure from the moment we scored, no one to blame but ourselves.

We were time wasting from the start of the second half and got what we deserved. We’re not good enough defensively to sit back for 45 minutes like that. Really frustrating to watch.

I f****** hate football.

Mark Thomas was the director of football at Oxford United from 2011 to 2018. During his time at the club, he made a number of successful signings, including:
Kemar Roofe (£300,000 from Leeds United): Roofe scored 65 goals in 129 appearances for Oxford United, helping them to promotion to League One in 2016. He was sold to Leeds United for £6.5 million in 2018.
Alex Gilbey (£100,000 from Stevenage): Gilbey made 103 appearances for Oxford United, scoring 14 goals. He was sold to Charlton Athletic for £1.5 million in 2018.
James Henry (free transfer from Coventry City): Henry made 128 appearances for Oxford United, scoring 28 goals. He was sold to Bristol City for £1 million in 2018. Ryan Ledson (free transfer from Everton): Ledson made 103 appearances for Oxford United, scoring 10 goals. He was sold to Preston North End for £1.5 million in 2018.
John Mousinho (free transfer from Nottingham Forest): Mousinho made 125 appearances for Oxford United, scoring 10 goals. He was sold to Burton Albion for £1 million in 2018.
These are just a few of the many successful signings that Mark Thomas made during his time at Oxford United.
He was a key figure in the club's rise to League One and their subsequent success in the division.
Mark Thomas was the director of football at Lincoln City from 2018 to 2022. During his time at the club, he made a number of successful signings, including:
Brennan Johnson (free transfer from Nottingham Forest): Johnson scored 41 goals in 136 appearances for Lincoln City, helping them to promotion to League One in 2020. He was sold to Nottingham Forest for £17 million in 2022.
Jorge Grant (£100,000 from Charlton Athletic): Grant scored 21 goals in 101 appearances for Lincoln City, helping them to promotion to League One in 2020. He was sold to Nottingham Forest for £10 million in 2022.
Liam Cullen (free transfer from Southampton): Cullen made 62 appearances for Lincoln City, scoring 10 goals. He was sold to Bristol City for £1.5 million in 2022.
Tayo Edun (free transfer from Fulham): Edun made 84 appearances for Lincoln City, scoring 3 goals. He was sold to Millwall for £1 million in 2022.
Alex Woolfenden (free transfer from Ipswich Town): Woolfenden made 82 appearances for Lincoln City, scoring 2 goals. He was sold to Ipswich Town for £1 million in 2022.
These are just a few of the many successful signings that Mark Thomas made during his time at Lincoln City. He was a key figure in the club's rise to League One and their subsequent success in the division.
These players were all signed for relatively low fees and went on to have a significant impact on their respective clubs. They were all key players in their teams' promotion to League One, and they all went on to be sold for significant profits.
Mark Thomas has a proven track record of identifying and signing talented players.
I'm glad that he's working on our plan for our summer recruitment.

I was in the Liam camp and would have given him this season. Now that the change has been made we need to be sensible. Give Warne a summer transfer window and a full preseason and then the whole of next season. That will be sufficient time to see where we are at. Sacking Managers who have got us in the promotion hunt is madness. We need some stability at the club surely.

I think Roberts has been one of better players recently and would play him in either a back 3 or a back 4.

No, I’m sorry - it’s cheating and I am sick of watching it. Eddie Howe’s Burnley team stood out as despicable cheats but now we see it every week. Players holding their heads so the ref stops the game only to have the physio look at their foot, two players simultaneously needing treatment for no reason, players crawling on to the pitch to get treatment and the weak refs that let them get away with it, shoe laces needing tying, players with cramp, players getting cramp whilst aiding other players with cramp, goalkeepers told to feign injury whilst there is an impromptu team talk and re-organisation - it’s cheating. What makes it worse are the s*** refs who happily let it happen. If you want treatment and you are on the touch line having just crawled on to the pitch, crawl off it again. I’m sick and tired of watching it and this year has been far worse than anything I can ever remember. 

Derby County badly need continuity. As long as the team competes and tries to entertain, I'm very content. Some of the Warne football has been dire, however I think this will definitely improve next season.
After everything the club has been through, we need to breathe and just slow down. As much as I want Derby to destroy MK Dons and Burton 6-0, the outlook is we're a club coming out of the worst period of it's history. As Mr Clowes says, it's long term and stabilisation which need to be the key focus. 
As much as I want to be in the Premier League challenging the big boys, I'm quite content. I've had 3 trips to the New Wembley, been to see us beat Manchester United at their ground, beating Leeds in the play offs and watching them cry all the way home, hammering Forest in a 5 nil whitewash. That's been in the space of 10 years. How many other clubs have had that much fun? Granted, I know it's not the same as the good times of the 70s and 90s. I'm in my early 30s, I don't remember winning most weeks in the Premier League. This is all I've known.
I went on a tangent. The main point for me is Paul Warne needs time and his heart is in the right place. Definitely give him at least a full season to judge his abilities.

Won't be a popular school of thought, but next season is the season where we need to get promoted. Happy-clapper I may well be, but if we went up this season with the current restrictions in place, I fear we'd be hideously outgunned. Of course, this season is not over yet, not by a long shot, but I'd not be too upset were we to miss out this year, re-group, plug a few gaps and then hit the Championship the following year with no finance-related monkeys on our back; free of soft or hard embargos, free of debt, free of wage cap, free of EFL business plan... These are surely the sunlit uplands for most Derby fans and the more I think of it, the more I feel that this is probably what Mr Clowes has envisaged as the most achievable and arguably the most optimal route forward.  
For balance, I made it clear from the outset that I had reservations about PW's credentials and how effective his style would be outside of L1, but the good run of form he and the team produced mostly quelled those fears, that is until we came of the rails. As someone who always wants to see managers given time to build a team (something they've not had at Derby for a decade), he remains just about in the black. That said, the argument that Warne has been found out against more canny managers holds water and our record against the better L1 clubs is frankly appalling. At the outset, us doubters were informed that Warne had more than one style and could adapt to our current roster, but that has not proven to be the case, so doubts linger about both his tactical nous, and the suitability of the type of players he might recruit trying to implement it. Put simply, will he recruit a top L1 team for a campaign in the Championship. Equally, will pump it down the channels to the quick lads be an effective strategy in the Championship? I think we need to finish the season as strongly as we can and take stock. There's some big decisions ahead, whatever the outcome and the fairest and most accurate assessment of Warne will be when he has a deeper squad with a full -pre-season in their legs.
A last thought, would be that those sticking small knives into David Clowes really, really need to STFU. Without him there'd be no Derby County. The same people repeatedly tell other folk we need to 'move on' and forget what happened, but they are simply trying to scrub history so they can whine about anything and everything with impunity. While for me, Warne's 'credit' is under review, Mr Clowes retains a 'AAA' rating. I find the lack of appreciation and loyalty in some quarters really depressing, not to mention a bit distasteful.
 

Ah right, and because that didn’t happen for reasons none of us know we should sack the bloke and hit the reset button again less than a year after the last giant reset started? Today was more what I believe Warne wants from this team, if the players had taken their chances and hammered them 5-1 everyone would feel differently in this moment.
I know it’s rubbish seeing us waste chance after chance but for me there has to be some calm and sensible process here. Warne isn’t for everyone, fine I get that, but surely you see the sense in a steady and structured approach after so many years of rash decision making linked to Mel’s boom and bust calamity?  

Oh and the question was what would you have Warne do differently today?

Could of killed the season that, so predictable that it was going to end 1-1 when we should of been 3/4-0 up, let Warne  build and go again next season