Andrew3000

I just want to apologise for the delay, my absence, my handling of the situation and try to explain what has happened.
The meeting on Wednesday was scheduled to end at 8.45pm, my last train home was 9.33pm, I slipped out just after 9pm as I didn’t have clothes, medication, toiletries with me as I wasn’t planning on staying overnight.
When the meeting had finished, an agreement was made where one statement would be written and signed off by all groups, this is the first time anything like this had been agreed, I was under the impression we would be allowed to report back as normal.
Being completely unaware of this, whilst waiting for my train I saw a conversation take place on my Twitter timeline discussing the meeting minutes, when would they be out.
I replied, that the meeting minutes were not taken and we would be sharing the information ourselves, which as I say I was under the impression would be allowed, why else attend? I thought I was being helpful.
Now I can see on reflection I was clearly naive in not appreciating the number of fans waiting online for what was said at the meeting, would see the tweet whilst was part of a conversation, which was also public and could be seen and shared by others. The tweet blew up online having been retweeted, I’m not exaggerating when I say maybe hundred or more replies, some abusive to the point where I had to turn notifications off as my phone was freezing with as I came back into an area with phone signal.
On the forum I did pre warn members not to expect anything Wednesday evening, the minutes can sometimes take a few days to a couple of weeks before being released. I was going with the intention of asking the club if the minutes could be released within 24 hours or that we could release the information immediately. Obviously once we was told the minutes would not be taken all that went out the window and believed we was free to report back immediately, and that was the plan.
Again, I was clearly naive to the fact fans on Twitter would not be aware of this, so when I wasn’t replying to all the tweets with thumbs up or down if it’s good news, or are we going to have a club next week the levels of abuse increased, despite my plea for being understanding I wasn’t in the position to do so.
With my write up, I had no intention of adding any personal opinion, it would be just what was said and allow you all to read and take it as you will.
As you will be well aware, all fans see things differently and I didn’t want to raise any expectations or disappoint fans, then receive more abuse as it wasn’t what they were expecting.
I put myself in this situation through naivety, but I don’t accept that the abuse was warranted at all, I have removed the twitter account from my devices and will no longer be active on that account, opting now for a private account as I have no interest in twitter fame.
I would seriously urge anyone that did send me abusive tweets to have a think how they talk to people online and their demands, if this is this what celebrities have to deal with on a daily basis, I’m glad I’m just a nobody!
Punjabi Rams, who I honestly can’t thank enough stepped in and put some tweets out from their account to give some information in my defence. You guys are awesome, didn’t need to do that but again, I honestly can’t thank you enough. Quick plug www.punjabirams.co.uk, @PunjabiRams on Twitter, go give them a follow if you are on there.
On the train home I started to do the write up on my notes app, realising I need to get this out asap, first thing to defuse the situation I felt I had created.
Thursday morning, as I was consulting my notes and finishing off the write up, there was a few things I wanted to fact check with the club were totally accurate, there has been times where things have been misheard in the past (Boycie ahem) and needed correcting, I didn’t want this to happen. We’re human, mistakes can happen, I believed I had time to ensure there were none.
I decided, and this was not requested by the club but to send my write up to them, asking if they could read it over and everything I had written was totally accurate, leaving ??? <—— fact checks where I was a little cautious over.
They agreed and I again naively yet again assumed that this would be back with me in a few hours……despite the previous night listening to just how busy they have been.
Now whilst I understand and totally agree that this meeting is important, the club staff are as I’m sure you can imagine really busy, now I need to really stress here that this is in no way the fault of the club, this is on me 100%.
No tweet, no forum post, none of this situation exists.
Meanwhile The Supporters Charter Group are scratching their heads as to why I’ve gone it alone, I can only apologise to them also, as I say I was under the impression that we would all be reporting back ourselves which I have explained privately with them.
A single statement isn’t something I would have been personally happy with but that is what was agreed in my absence.
I haven’t felt comfortable coming back on the forum if I'm honest, ignoring the fact I insinuated what was said at the meeting would be out Thursday on the forum, I feel like I have let you all down and for that I’m sorry.
Just to add, this apology wasn’t asked for, it's something I feel is owed to you all.
Should someone have gone that could have stayed all evening? Ideally yes, although Paul (Boycie) was unavailable to attend. Since the formation of 2017 it has only been either myself or Paul that has attended, I didn’t feel it would be right to send someone new which in hindsight was the correct call, they may have also not been able to attend until the end of what I’m led to believe turned out to be almost a 4 hour long meeting, putting themselves unwittingly into a similar situation I have.
I know you are all frustrated, the accusations of attention seeking, sitting on information, teasing, trying to get more views, followers etc. and even censorship on the forum are simply not true, they come from people that do not know me or how the forum is run at all, which is disappointing hearing it said by members that have been on the forum for a number of years now.
Finally, I do want to say thank you to those who have sent supportive texts, PM’s, DM’s, tweets you name it over the last few days, despite asking to be given time, it’s you who I put the hours in for, I will learn from this and work on handling things better in the future.
I would also like to thank the moderators who have been trying their best to keep on top of the situation, without them this forum would have crashed and burned over the last few days so please be respectful to them, even if at times you do not agree with decisions they have made. 
David
 

But it's reactive not pro-active. In the final analysis, WR has said he wants the players to be more courageous, so he has to demonstrate faith in their capacity to be brave by modelling brave decisions himself. OK, for game one given the frantic and frenetic build up just to get a squad together but I want to see courageous management going forward. Talk the talk and walk the walk. Football is 90% confidence, but to be confident sometimes means finding confidence from the courage of your convictions not waiting for things to go your way. 

I'm generalising massively here, but there hasn't really been a lockdown for many people. There's been middle class people hiding in their houses whilst the working class deliver stuff to them.

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release
Meanwhile, much maligned Sweden has seen just 1.5% excess deaths, virtually 0 covid deaths recently and unlike Australia's impending recessions will see their economy grow this year.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-economy-growth-covid-pandemic-b1892860.html
 

So Mel wants an academy team and Wayne wants Dad's Army. 
Like a mixed boys and dads team. 

Another polish guy that was at the euros would help kamil massively,  im sure people are forgetting we don't have any other wingers on the bench , ebosele can play there but it's not his position and he's still learning , and other than sibley we basically have no one , would be good to have both definitely if possible 

Working with Richard Stearman? Accepting low wages? Rooney had him by the balls? Seriously though it was an intriguing comment.

I think the extended highlights are available to members only this season. Which might have been an enticement but not if other clubs are providing them foc! 

They were good. Much better than the brief guff that was in Rams TV.

They were good. Much better than the brief guff that was in Rams TV.

https://www.htafc.com/news/2021/august/highlights-Derby-county-1-1-town/
 
excellent extended highlights from HTFC

It was great to have that buzz again, football is a spectator sport and our fans are massive to our team. I think without the supporters yesterday we'd have crumbled to a defeat. 
Signing Davies and Stearman was the right decision, they kept us in the game with their smart decision making. Their lack of pace was obvious to see however we defended very well for a large portion of the game. If we face lump it, kick it sides we will cope fine. When the ball gets played in behind then I start to worry. However for now, them pair are solid enough to keep us in games. 
Similar to last year, my main concern will be the lack of creativity. Lawrence did alot of hard work chasing balls down and covered alot of yards, similar to a Bryson performance. However this meant we didn't create enough chances. CKR will give it his best however we can't expect him to play every week. We have to prioritise bringing in another striker. 
In a way, having the knowledge that the team will be underdogs in most games works to our advantage. No pressure on the players, go out and give it your all etc. As much as Rooney won't admit it in his press conferences, we are going to struggle in a number of games purely on the lack of depth in the side. Mel is completely deluded on the academy players. Even when you look at Norwich who have brought through a number of fantastic talents, their success was helped by the smart recruitment of Pukki, Buendia. Whereas we've had terrible recruitment, not complementing the young talent coming through, relying on teenagers to win us big games. 
I really hope we can stay in the fight between now and January, with the hope of mote investment in the New Year. Having the supporters back is massive for this team and I don't think we'll struggle as badly this year.
 

Not often I disagree with you assessments buddy, but Hughes was massively technically gifted. In what was a very good vintage for the club, he still stood out on that score. I'd definitely agree that he's a very clever lad but I think the only reasons he's not dining at the top table, are that he lacks a yard a yard of pace and could score more often. 

Do we set up to score goals or to not concede goals? The Euros saw Gareth Southgate pick 8 or 9 defensive players every game and it worked for a while but couldn't get him over the line, with an incredible array of attacking talent on his bench. Rooney has far fewer options but a very similar mindset.
Asked in today's Radio Derby interview why Louie Sibley doesn't start Rooney effectively said he doesn't trust him defensively. Sibbo is to Rooney what Jack Grealish is to Southgate. Rooney said he didn't play Sibbo specifically because his number one priority was not to fall behind in the match.
Here's the interview https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09pv3hb with the best version of the interview at 46:30.
Derby's problem is not scoring goals. Louie Sibley is the biggest goal threat our team has. Aston Villa built their team around Grealish until selling him for £100m. If Derby are going to survive (and maybe thrive) this season we need to build our team around Sibbo, not give him a cameo in which to try to make the difference. How best to do this?
I have long argued that the 4-2-3-1 does not work for us and we should be playing 4-3-3 (set up as 4-1-2-3). With the players available at the moment we should have Shinnie shielding the defence and then we can have Morrison and Sibley as the two more forward midfielders, which gives a forward line of Kazim-Richards central and Jozwiak and Thomas wide. So much more threatening than what we have at the moment.
With a team desperate for goals, having your 5 most dangerous attacking players in the line-up seems a no brainer. Rooney needs to learn to trust Sibley, and I am certain that trust would be rewarded.

Curtis was captain when my two girls were mascots, he said to them in the tunnel; "I always head the ball as we run out... but if your too cool for that don't worry..."
Top guy! Maybe him staying is the watershed?

Adjustable though

In fairness, one game is certainly not enough to judge. Indeed, one game, plus preseason, isn't enough for the players themselves to implement the strategy perfectly.
But of those who saw the game, either in person or from their holiday villa in Spain, could you discern the foundations for a pattern of play that the team are trying to fulfill?
I'm pleased Rooney has said that having a preseason has enabled him to communicate the style that he wants the team to adopt. That's a better approach, IMHO, than just matching what the opposition do.
So what were the signs? Were there any indicators?
Play faster from the back? Long balls to the flanks? Intricate triangles from an interchanging front four? Possession football across the backline?
(Thought of posting this on the matchday thread but that's just turned into a series of posts slamming Jozwiak).

We already have weapons at the club am afraid no need for anymore....

Said if before and I’ll say it again… there’s not a lot to be proud of or positive about at the minute but Curtis is and absolute legend in my eyes.
he won’t get the plaudits of ex players who achieved a lot more but for the Wednesday game and sticking with us since I’ll always remember him as one of the best ?

We have to have more players. 
It's really that simple.
We need Jagielka, and Mengi then the options at centre half are fine.
But more so now we absolutely need another striker and a winger.
5-6 more and we can compete.
 

Seems a bit of a knee jerk reaction to write off Joz after one game of a season, especially considering he hasn’t had a full pre season. 
 
I feel it is fair to judge after 10/15 games when he has reached full fitness.

Welcome to Derby Ravel, now go and show us what you can do ???

A positive substitution earlier than the last 10 minutes?! Come on Sibbo!

A tactical sub on 52 minutes?!
Sibley will at least get a decent amount of time to impress today then, on for Louie Watson.