ram59

I think that we need 2 new topics on this forum, a happy clappers' one whereby only positive opinions are allowed and a moaning minnies one where only critical opinions are allowed. This would reduce the vitriol aimed at fellow Rams and those of not interested in the others' opinions need not read them.

Is it possible for the mods to add B4's avatar to the title line on this topic, please? I really miss seeing it on the forum.

Then the prison warden lock the cell door and throw away the key. 😁

It could be argued that he was tactically aware. Football is now a game consisting of 15 outfield players, 10 starting and up to 5 'finishers'. There are some games where you need to tough it out against a physical opposition before bringing on your more lightweight players. Sibley and Smith played key roles in the goal, had they started the game, they probably would have been battered into submission. Statistics seem to back up this theory, Derby substitutes have scored more goals than any other team in this league. In rugby union when England were at their peak, they would bring on their 'finishers' in the second half, players that were arguably better than those they replaced.

Was there a lesson to be learned at PP today? The crowd really seemed to step it up mid way through the second half and the team seemed to respond, maybe we have a role to play in the run in?

Technically, you don't need to name a goalkeeper on the bench, so if your keeper gets injured in the warm up, the replacement keeper would go straight into the team.

Perhaps as a club, we've been guilty of being too nice and honest in our negotiations for players? Maybe we've negotiated with only one or two targets rather than five or six, the one or two being unlikely to be let down by us choosing another player. A more cynical approach would be to negotiate with 5 or 6 players, leading all of them to believe that they are our first choice, only for us to complete the purchase on the our highest rated target which we can get over the line. After all, this seems to be the approach of the players and their agents when dealing with us. How many times in the last couple of transfer windows have we been told that a deal has fallen through at the last moment because the player or his club have backed out?

On the other hand, a rubbish manager would have spent the money that Charlton have spent and would be fighting relegation.

Regarding the January transfer window and the purchases and sales, Warne is getting quite a hammering for not signing a striker. But where does the blame lie? I suspect that there's not a simple answer, Warne will surely indicate who he wants at the club, but others negotiate the transfer fees and contracts. Then you have the situation where everybody has done their job, only for some outside force arrive on the scene and throw a great big spanner in the works.

He has had his time at Derby, but he's still having his time elsewhere. Martin never had much pace to lose, but he still has his skill and intelligence and I can see him doing a job in the lower leagues for a few more years yet. A manager playing him to his strengths will be well rewarded.

ITV local news have just reported 5 and a half years also, that's a crazy length of contract for an out of work manager who's been sacked twice in less than 2 years. We'd be having a meltdown on here if DC had offered the same in the same situation. The Warne situation was totally different, as we had to tempt him away from a very secure job. But, he's a lovely bloke and I wish him well, except when we play them in a few weeks' time.

Were they moaning about all the glorious chances they missed by inches, by any chance?

One of the comments I most hate in football, is when a player is described as giving 110% which is impossible, but Collins comes close.😁

I find it really sad that a 'Derby fan' sits down and watches a match noting every slight chance, none of which really troubled our goalie, that the opposition had and in fact makes a note on 10 different occasions. On the other hand we actually troubled their goalie on six occasions, 3 of which ended up in the net, 2 resulted in decent saves from Elder and Bird plus the save from Collins, which should have been put away. In addition to this there were the 2 great opportunities for NML and Barks which could have been finished better, those were proper chances.

The match was heavily influenced by the ref's THREE BIG mistakes, who's knows what the game would have turned out like? He missed the early blatant handball for a penalty, that would have changed how the game panned out from an early stage. Hourihane's goal would have put us 2 up, putting a different complexion on the game. Then you factor in Wildsmith wrongly getting sent off with half the match remaining and then their winning goal from a penalty for a foul clearly outside the penalty area. Had the ref done his job properly, you would think that the match would have panned out quite differently, in terms of style, statistics and probably result also. If ever there was a match that should be replayed, this was it. Had it been a draw we would be 4 points ahead of them now and if we had won the gap would be 7 points. I can't help but fear that the result of that ref's actions will cost us at the end of the season.

I thought that last night's game was almost the perfect away performance. For all those complimenting Exeter on how well they played the ball around, I ask "is that because we let them do so in not dangerous areas?" For all their possession and 'attractive' football. how many proper saves did Wildsmith have to make, a big fat zero! On the other hand their keeper had to make a few decent saves, in addition to the 3 goals we scored. Could you imagine the 'moaners' on here had the teams been reversed last night, it would have been a total melt down. Comments like knocking it around with no penetration, got caught 3 times and could have easily been 5.

I don't think anyone has picked up on the position of the free kick in the Cashin incident. Cashin fouls their player quite a long way from our goal, right on the line where the grass cutting changes. However, the ref gives them a free kick in a position nearly 2 grass cuttings closer to our goal. Assuming the cutting stripes are 5 or 6 yards each, this is 8 to 10 yards closer to our goal and well within range of a direct shot. Fortunately, it came to nothing, but I was fuming at the time.

Yet again, we've been fortunate to catch a form team on an off day. 😉

As you say, it could be player wages or maybe even just first team squad wages. Derby probably have more other costs than any other club in this division with the academy and the running costs of PP.

My positive is that I haven't blamed the players or the management for dropping the 2 points. For me the blame lies totally with...... ............. The ground staff, for not watering the pitch enough at half time. If they'd done their job properly, that ball from Nelson's header would never have bounced high enough to strike the bar. It wouldn't have happened in Clough's days at the BBG.😁

Quite possible, especially when you consider that they only avoided relegation last season because of Reading's points penalties and the great start under Warne.

What's the combined cost of the Leicester squad? Make them give all their players away, including their youngsters that they have nurtured. Make them sign only free agents on limited wages and then we'll see, especially with teams treating it as their cup final every week. Quite often, big teams are humbled or struggle against league 1 opposition in the cup, even with their mega expensive players. It would be interesting to see how they would cope, having the big name, but without the big players to go with it

No matter where you are in the football ladder, you will get the moaners. I used to listen to talksport and the fivelive phone ins, listening to top 6 clubs' fans moaning about their teams. It used to drive me mad, so I don't bother anymore. Even locally, villa fans, after about 15 consecutive home wins, were moaning how rubbish the football was. 🙄

No matter what measurement you use for offside, there's always got to be a critical cut off point, which will create controversy. Say you legislate a player is only offside if there's a 1m gap between him and a defender, you'll get disputes when a player is 1.01m offside. Like the widely accepted goal line technology, we could have offside technology using sensors in the ball to check the precise moment it is played and monitors that the players already wear to denote their position on the pitch. You'd still have to decide who's interfering with play, but technology could solve many issues.

Who's paying his wages hire and when is fairly irrelevant. A package has been agreed whereby Bristol pay us a sum for his transfer and allow him to stay for the remainder of the season. I'm sure the methodology of how the finances have been sorted out, will have been done with our business plan in mind, much like the unusual CBT package.