samtheman

Difficult for me to say C86. I have not watched many of our performances of late, other than highlights, but notwithstanding I wouldn’t hold Paul Warne to account for any specific game in isolation, whether it Wycombe (A), Northampton (A), or Charlton (H). All 3 of them poor performances recently, with vital points lost, when a win could have created real pressure on teams around us.
I think he had really limited options on Wednesday, but part of that I feel is because he ‘breaks’ players. How many players have we had on the treatment table this season with niggling injuries to soft tissue, hamstrings, calf pulls, etc.  He works players too hard in my opinion, prioritising stamina and athleticism over ball retention and passing finesse. Fortunately we have a good, deep squad funded by Clowes, because we need it to cover for the number of injuries that are being sustained. Didn’t I read that he was saying on Tuesday how the players didn’t look right, and how some were jaded on Wednesday evening. I wonder whether he ever thinks it’s because he wears them out with his demands.
I am not a fan of his ‘tactics’ either - conceding midfield and hitting the ball quickly to the wings to get crosses in is ok, if we had a really decent (old fashioned) centre forward to get his head on most of the crosses, and if it wasn’t our only actual tactic (other than loading up at free kicks and corners). Seems to me that when the tactic isn’t working that we just try to do more of the same, but more quickly, with our players treating the football like it’s a hot potato.
In answer to @G STAR RAMand @YorkshireRam being second, per se, is not the problem, and he may well get us up. If he does it would be churlish for me not to say well done, you did your job. The players too. However, he disappoints me as I think we have the best squad overall in the league, and that the league is at its lowest quality for years. When I say in spite of Warne, I mean that I think a decent coach could have got this squad promoted by now, keeping the players fit through better rotation and the use of a few younger lads near the end of games, and playing a better brand of football suiting better the skill set of a number of our players. Rather than having a nail biting finish, we could and should be well clear of the third place team in my opinion.
And that is all it is, my opinion. Not concerned a jot if someone, or everyone, doesn’t agree with it, or doesn’t understand it. Equally I don’t feel the need to strongly debate it either. As you say I have been pretty consistent with my opinion on him since he joined, and I haven’t seen much over the last 18 months that that changes my viewpoint. 
 
 

Some people did.
Some different people did.

Had the wash (and a quick shave while I was at it)…..looked in the mirror….good God I am looking old 🥲 If we end up selling Cashin for 3 million and bring in Clarke-Harris for 1.5 million and it is within our budget, I don’t see what the problem is. Especially if his goals help get us up. But I genuinely don’t think we are in for him so it is a pretty pointless discussion 😊

hi all
What most concerns me about PW is his inability to just shut up when necessary.  Rambling interview answers, accidental revelations of what should be confidential and kept within the squad - he does seem to be verbally incontinent TBH and this needs to change.
In your workplace, if your boss (who after all is responsible for your career) wanted you plaster your cubicle with photos of your family and asked inappropriate questions about them all the time, how long would it be before you reported that boss to HR?  Players are entitled, as professionals in the public eye, to a private life and to confidentiality.  Some of the stuff he says on the radio makes even me squirm, so I wonder how some players must feel?
At what point does concern for his employees well-being morph into just David Brent-isms?  I wonder if we have now passed Peak Warne?  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  A footballer who has read a few Psychology books is also a dangerous thing.  This, remember, is a profession in which Roy Hodgson is regarded as a high level intellectual and Eric Cantona is apparently a philosopher by virtue of having a French accent and talking b******s.
I'm not accusing PW of any malice at all, but I do accuse him of naivety in the extreme.  There is a reason why most managers choose their words carefully in interviews.  Also, an apparent lack of verbal and cognitive discipline in public makes one wonder if he isn't actually similarly disorganised in other respects and relying on his staff to make the difficult calls behind the scenes.  Note also the "election" of the team captain, which is actually a complete abdication of his own responsibility to decide who has the necessary leadership qualities to wear the armband, accept the responsibility for that choice, and appoint the right player.  A football team is not a democracy.  
PW is very typical of the modern zeitgeist, in which everyone is all nicey-nicey on the surface, but underneath lurks a refusal to (a) grow up and accept the passing of time, (b) accept adulthood and the burdens and tough decisions that go with it and (c) accept that we can't be all things to all people all the time.
At this club, bobble hats and bull***t will only take you so far.  He has adjusted badly to being at a larger club with much more press and public scrutiny, and the signs are that it's gone to his head.  Time to cut the c**p and focus on delivery IMO.
"Popularity is a crime from the moment that it is SOUGHT".  No employer can ever keep everyone completely happy all the time, it just isn't possible, especially when you have 22 players competing for 11 starting places.  Gaining respect is more important to a manager than cultivating popularity, and respect lasts longer than popularity too.  In seeking popularity, my thesis is that PW has actually lost the respect of many people, hence the flat performances.  And a desire to be universally popular is nothing more than the manifestation of his own inner insecurity, and if he is to address that properly then he needs to take a sabbatical.  Failing that, just rig him up to a machine that delivers an electric shock if any answer to a question goes on longer than 30 seconds.  A few days of that should do it LOL.
If PW lived up to his own hype, we should see (a) a team greater than the sum of the parts, (b) in an appropriate formation, (c) busting a gut for the manager and the club.  So what happened?  Last seasons' tropes are already evident again this season - lack of imagination, fragile under pressure, losing games in the last 15 minutes, wrong formation for the strengths of the available players etc etc.
Warne lovers, by all means disagree or tell me I'm wrong.  However, when he was appointed we were 7th and we finished...7th.  Not a disaster, but not earth-shattering either.  

I just want to say how lucky you are to have Paul Warne as manager. I've supported the millers for 69 years. Obviously, I've seen managers come and go during that period. As far as I'm concerned, and many other fans Warne is the best manager we've had.
Like Derby fans we went through some dark times. Administration points deducted, lost our ground, forced to play in Sheffield in an athletic stadium. No atmosphere, 4 years in the 4th division.
Paul has many qualities. Excellent staff management, a workaholic. He's articulate, honest and will live and breathe Derby County.
I thank him for all the memories, 3 Wembley wins 3 promotions and I wish him well and as a consequence wish the Rams well. I've never had a second team, but for the first time Derby County will be my second team. I look forward to seeing Paul succeed. 
Hopefully Derby will be promoted and we survive in the championship and look forward to see you at the New York stadium.
All the best.
 
 

The handful of you who have known me from the DET days of the COYR's site will know that I have nothing but contempt for him for what he has done as a footballer at our great club.  Nigel's hand was forced by the circumstances and timing of Shackell's departure, and whatever good TSOG did for the club post Jewell has to be tempered with his two most expensive signings - Sammon and Keogh.  Buying an almost ever present in a Coventry defence finishing 18th and 23rd in the previous two seasons (when he dabbled with the captaincy) smacked of desperation.
 
Long before Zamoragate (which had been happening for two seasons, so was entirely predictable), even in the first season, his propensity for totally avoidable errors, invariably as a result of over belief in his own ability combined with simple brain fade, have been a constant thread throughout his DCFC career. True, he has made some exceptional goal saving tackles and clearances, (even a broken clock is right twice a day), but more often than not as a direct result of his chronic lack of positioning.  His younger partners have regularly saved him - Tomori in 18/19 being the most blatantly obvious.
 
My biggest frustration is that he played with a lack of intelligence and acceptance of responsibility for his errors, and simply not learning from them.   We all make mistakes, but life is about learning from them and his were made over and over again. Often a yard behind or in front of his back line, making those surging runs with pretty much zero end product (at the right end, anyway), defensive half clearance headers back towards the penalty D, backing off too far then challenging often two footedly and jumping so smart strikers simply shot low to avoid him, there are too many to mention.   His desire to "get there at all costs" often blinkered him from seeing others better positioned to make the challenge and left his man free. 
No one could ever doubt his intensity or passion or commitment to the cause, and by all accounts managers fellow players have remarked on his leadership qualities, but leadership ultimately only works when you add more value than you take away.  He could have been a decent player for us, if only he'd thought more about his game on the pitch....But that isn't who Richard Keogh is.
 
The article mentions mental health struggles, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I hope he remains well in this respect.
 
I'd venture to say that both Mel and Keogh share one trait - an ultimate belief in their own ability. It works well when you are that good, but not always. There is one common thread from 2012 to joinergate,  and thank goodness he's gone.