Andrew3000

Bring him back. We've only Waggy that can start and he hasn't done 90 mins yet. Washy only just back will take weeks to be up to speed. Daj is fit and firing and full of confidence, he could really help us from the bench.

Totally agree, I'm very happy that footballers of his generation watch anime.

You are a class act. Bravo! And thankyou.

Knows CBT is waiting to pinch his place too.

I'm all for this.

If you've got the energy? Sorry, I'm childish when nervous.

Do we need Thompsons energy in place of Hourihane?

He's transferring his form to mens footie. Sounds like he's got that scoring instinct, not just pace and power. Really promising, couldn't be more pleased.

This is excellent news, confidence will be soaring.

Some great points. Clowes has secured his place as one of the most important people in our history and will eventually be immortalised in some form. The academy status is a dilemma. They have an obvious emotional appeal, but are they actually worth the investment over the long term? Anyone got any evidence either way?

You must uv loved Gary Rowett ven.

If true, this would reflect very badly on those senior figures. Its one thing to have an opinion, quite another to let that damage working relationships.

Brown that is.

He's scored again!

Have we had any updates on Elder. Didn't seem to get a mention in pre- match interviews.

Helpful angle. You see good control and some decent pace. Absolutely delighted for him. Hopefully he breaks through next year.

Oops, so it was!

Nice goal. Will do wonders for his confidence. First goalm in mens footie and the fact it's a last minute winner. Great sign of composure.

1Wildsmith 4.5 Like @Comrade 86, I felt Wildsmith was the better of our two keepers and felt much more comfortable when he came back in, but now I am confused and worried. My attention was drawn throughout the first half to a furious Richie Barker, bawling, gesticulating and shaking his head at our unresponsive keeper who was seemingly not releasing the ball quick enough. I was speechless at his ridiculous charge out of his goal, when covering defenders were clearly present and the lame kick at their forward to concede a completely unnecessary penalty. Following this, he then fluffed a clearance, slicing it in the manner of my wife swinging wildly at a beachball after several generous long island ice teas. In mitigation perhaps, the game had already become a farcical and frenetic game of pinball played by a hyperactive toddler and so perhaps he merely became infected with the moronic miasma that had first enveloped the referee, then the players, coaches and finally everyone in the stadium (one guy in front berating Wilson being a good exemplar). I certainly felt 25 % stupider upon leaving the ground. 24Nyambe 6.5 Was looking strong and decisive before his injury. A couple of good raids forward and a silly long range shot. Any serious injury is a huge blow to our campaign. Why aren't we allowed to have full backs any more? 7Barkhuizen 5.5 I was surprised that he came on when he did and didn't notice him much after that. His body language is generally miserable and weary, much like myself! 35Nelson 7 A warrior who always takes responsibility. He even managed to sling a few decent balls into their box. I didn't see the altercation with their player, just the aftermath and he seemed extremely frustrated at the wrestling during set-pieces but was giving as good as he was getting. 5Bradley 6 Generally defended ok as far as I could tell, bar a few dodgy clearances, possibly panicking due to their press. 6Cashin 7.5 A baffling decision to play him left back was almost made to look reasonable by Cashin. I felt embarrassed for Warne when he explained that he simply wanted to keep all of his best players on the pitch and this was the solution. Just stop that now. He nearly got done for pace a few times and most other teams would have exploited this unnecessary flaw and roasted him. Instead, Charlton played quite narrow and Cashin used his nous to read the game. The fact that he looked like the best footballer on the pitch is in no way an endorsement of him playing full back. His sheer power and determination took him through a crowd of players to head in the opener. Sometimes the raking balls forward did not come off, but without him trying to start the play we look lost. 2Wilson 5 A real off day for Kane got worse when he was needed to revert to right back. The sight of him and NML taking people on inside our own half is terrifying. He played a dozy ball back to Adams which put him under pressure (although what happened next was totally unexpected as Adams ingested a big gulp of moronic miasma and lost the ball underneath him in a way which look harder to do than not). 12Smith 6.5 I liked much about this display from Smith. He seemed sharp and snappy. He won several headers after majestic leaps and hit a pea-roller than was just wide. He was guilty of one moronic moment in the first half when he pinged the ball straight to their onrushing players. 17Sibley 5.5 I had to remove half a point because he too succumbed to the miasma with that gormless shot high into the South Stand. Apart from that struggled to get involved but tried his best. 32Adams 6 His entire Derby career so far seems to have entailed enduring repeated manslaughter attempts by the opposition and being punished by the referee instead of protected. He is entitled to feel persecuted and generally tolerates this somehow without losing his mind. Merits the miasma induced minus though for dummying the ball to set up their second goal. 27Blackett-Taylor 6 Did not see him really, not enough time to get going. Thought he should have come on instead of Barkhuizen if we were insisting on doing that kind of thing. 11Méndez-Laing 6 In open play nothing really came off, despite his usual impressive determination and effort. One moment, when he raced sideways across our own half, was particularly emblematic of the whole affair. Some really good set pieces though, one of which was the corner we scored from. This is encouraging, because it means we don't have to perpetuate a dependence on Hourihane. 8Bird 🐦 6 He had the world-weary look of Barkhuizen and I think must be one of the "gassed out" gang that Warne referred to afterwards. Didn't execute the right passes and seemed to waft about on the periphery at times. A couple of good interceptions got us driving forward in the first half. 25Gayle 6 One the few encouraging sights of that evening. Admittedly, he didn't get the ball much but he when he did, he used it well, with one neat flick to a team mate that stood out. He looked sharp and very motivated. He pressed and made menacing movements. Whilst he may have lost some power and pace, he looked sprightly and I do think he is highly capable of scoring and otherwise offering us real attacking instinct at this level. 10Waghorn 5.5 It was so good to see him. His playful, fatuous demeanour is itself a real tonic, the antitheses of Barkhuizen (and myself generally tbf). One pathetic prod when well placed to score, but he will get sharper with each game obviously and adds a muscular presence and some free kick options. So good to be able to balance his fitness and Gayle's. WARNE - I've kept positive generally but his decision making was very frustrating. He did however speak afterwards about the players needing to slow the game down at times in order to manage it better. I was relieved to hear this because sometimes he seems to justify the pinball. However, if he wants more control than is on display, he needs to find a better way of communicating this and facilitating it to happen, because it rarely has this year. This match was a marker for me - not quite a final straw but a significant sign that I cannot shake off, no matter how much I want him to succeed here. ATG - although after the equaliser, I think I left my body so as not to get caught up in any wasted excitement or stress, as we smashed the ball around desperately as per usual.

Two key admissions by Warne that both contribute to weakening our offensive play: that we lacked a focal point and the initial shape was wrong. So, I'm hoping he addresses both. Firstly, we need yo stop the no striker experiment immediately. We need Brown back purely to be a back up focal point. Neither Gayle nor Waggy can do 90 and it will take weeks before they can, if it all. Therefore, Brown, whatever his current readiness, is required to ensure we have enough options to maintain a focal point. Secondly, 4 at the back has to be our starting formation from now on. This allows CBT, NML, Barks and Wilson to rotate in their best positions. Warne admits he has been caught between defensive or attacking advantages of the formation, but surely now it is clear that 3 at the back creates more problems than this, our overall play is far more suited to four at the back, too many players suffer as a result.

You love it?

3 at the back not a big decision? I think it changes things very significantly.

Oh yeah, only 10 !phew

No Wilson or Ward, but 3 at the back?