Andrew3000

Paul Warne is a Ram, is a Ram, is a Ram
Paul Warne is a Ram, he hates Derby ?

If you hadn't noticed, we are presently **in** league one and need to bounce back. 
As for the comments about him having been Rotherham's manager, that is pure snobbery. 

Wouldn’t say this decision is madness but comes as a shock. Not sure the performances have warranted him leaving and I really liked Rosenior the man, I wasn’t 100% convinced of him as a manager right now but I’m sure he will be a good one. We’ll never get to know if that could have been with us.
For me, we’ve had the start you would expect of a team that’s talented but recently been thrown together. It also sounded like Rosenior played a key role in bringing a lot of the players in but…
Clowes has had time to figure it all out now and has a better read on the situation than all of us. It’s not reactionary because Rosenior was never given the job and looks like it’s always been the case that Clowes wanted his own man. For that reason, I think it’s probably the right choice.
Whoever it is, there’s a squad sitting there ready to win promotion and I hope they’re ready for the expectations that are undoubtedly about to be massively f****** raised
Such a difficult situation for someone to come into with this clubs history, you’ve seen it before with Derby where a self-imposed ‘promotion or bust’ mentality kicks in. It can tear a season apart if you have a bad run and get so so very toxic.
Not delighted to be back on the hiring and firing carousel but the away form was f****** atrocious, won’t miss that from the Rooney/Rosenior era.
Onwards and upthefookinramswards

Don’t really know what to make of all this. First thing I’d say is it’s a brave decision by Clowes, that is for certain. 
Rosenior has been a class act and has stuck with us through a lot. Ignoring everything prior to him as a manager though, and how would you say he had done thus far? Ok, I’d say.
He’s not pulled up trees but you could see a style of play emerging. Whether that would be enough in this league I don’t know. The players we signed nearly all cited him as a reason, and he was still restricted given the age and profile of players we could get.
The away form has been a huge concern, there’s no doubt about that either. Could he have solved it? Potentially.
All in all, I am surprised. Thought he had done enough to continue. Also surprised the stability and continuity wasn’t valued more. That said, if Clowes didn’t see a value in that with Rosenior and wanted a different guy for that, why wait any longer? Get your guy and start planning for January and give yourself the best chance  
As for Paul Warne. Knows his way in this league and seems to punch above a bit in Championship, on a very limited budget. Not the most exciting football in the world, but I think I’d take winning football first and foremost in this league. 
 

Oh the shame of a partial depluralisation. 

Fu Manchu's Face 

Alien, the sequel to Alien and prequel to Alien

Saturday 17 September:
Krystian Bielik played the full match in midfield for Birmingham, in their 0-0 home draw with Coventry City.
Jack Stretton was an unused sub in Carlisle's 2-1 home victory over AFC Wimbledon. Incidentally, former Ram Callum Guy scored his first ever goal for Carlisle to put them 1-0 up on the stroke of half-time, shooting into the top corner from outside the box.

Got a couple of his albums in my collection. My older Sis saw him early 70’s. 

Lots of questions there.
If you'd asked me this before recruitment and pre-season I would say better than expected, but the signings, along with the encouraging pre-season performances got me a bit more excited than I ought to be! So my head is very happy, my heart less so, as I feel we could have done better with what we have. 
Part of the reason is I don't think Liam has found his best eleven yet, or even if such a thing exists. But he will find the starting sides and substitutions that give him the best chance of winning games at this level. That doesn't necessarily mean playing our eleven most gifted players - we need players who graft and have heart in there, too.
No major changes, maybe set up a bit differently away from home. If Chester carries on like his debut yesterday that will help, keeps Knight in midfield too.
I think we'll score our first away goal at Cambridge and go on a bit of a run from there.
I predicted top six, just, before we started. Now think we might do slightly better than that, especially if some of the luck with decisions and injuries starts going our way (for a change!)  

Better than expected for me to. At the same time, incredibly frustrating. Having been a home and away fan in the 80’s I know what is involved. The away “statistic” isn’t just a statistic- it’s firm evidence that the approach is wrong & needs changing. LR needs to understand that and not just harp on about being more clinical. Look at the evidence and put it right. 
I think we have plenty to work on and we have a good amount to improve and I think we will improve. We need though to score more at home as well as away. I’d like to see us control a game for 90 minutes and win with some comfort - thus far it’s been fingertips stuff and yesterday but for Wildsmith’s 92 minute save it would’ve been a draw.
Id like to see us below the radar until January then get into a strong canter and string a series of wins together to gain a solid 4th or 5th place play-off spot. We won’t win the League but we are a good bet for play-offs. 
 
I hope it works for LR and Mr Clowes - both deserve success. To LR I’d say don’t over-think it, get the team to enjoy the game, change the defensive approach and be a tad more experimental and bold. 

Better than expected especially given how quickly a squad was thrown together & Rosenior being a novice manager...two key factors that seem to be conveniently ignored by some.
I did think we'd start slowly, look very disjointed & probably be just outside the top 10 until around Christmas. Aside from Lincoln on Tuesday, we've played well in spells in all our league games which is a credit to Rosenior & his staff. Getting a batch of new players to settle quickly & get results is very difficult...see also Forest, Notts
Not unreasonably Rosenior will not know his best XI as a) we're 9 league games in & b) some of our players still arent matchfit or haven't been available throughout the season (Chester/McGoldrick/Dobbin/Korey Smith). In terms of changes, I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion Bird & Hourihane can't play together but dont necessarily think Knight is the silver bullet. I've been pleased that we've started to mix up our restarts instead of passing it out every time. Predictability is never a good trait.
The away goal stat is increasingly being used by those not happy with Rosenior...I would add we have been very unlucky not to score & win away yet, Charlton in particular springs to mind. It will turn for us though as we are creating chances. Worth reminding all that Arthur Cox's away record in the first part of 84/85 was appalling, it does take time to get that fluidity on the road as a new side. 
From here on in I'd like to think we can finish 5th/6th & secure a playoff spot. Top 2 is probably out of reach given the foundations clubs like Ipswich, Plymouth Portsmouth have built over last 2/3 years.

I remember his minor hit from the mid-70s, Rock and Roll Hymn, which I've always liked. 
 

His back catalog is pretty huge, especially latterly once he moved to Germany and settled down. I do enjoy listening to him, but it can be a bit hit and miss
There was a really good exhibition of his artwork at Derby Deda on Chapel Street a few years back. I've a feeling that his children may have been at the opening

Here's one of my favourites of his later stuff
 

Wildsmith 7.5 Great saves, some crap kicking and beaten at his near post.
Chester 6.5 Apart from balls up for goal with Curtis, looked tidy, better technique than Stearman. Coped OK RB, will be good at CB I think and hope he can leap like Cashin to make up for lack of height.
Knight 6 Relative to his own talent. He will get more goals from that position in this league. Love his energy.
Roberts 7 Good pace, energy, tidy feet, got forward well. Quite tough and gets stuck in too.
Cashin 7.5 Solid, combative, good reading. Lovely couple of forays forward one good shot and a lovely cross from the left!
Davies 6 only issue were forward passes. Solid otherwise.
McGoldrick 8 Energy, lovely movement and feet. Glides around creating and beating his man. Breathtaking at times. Lovely chip, delicious reverse pass, shame he didn't get a goal. I love him. Thrilled to see a 90 mins of running from him.
Sibley 6.5 Decent shift. Ball gets caught under his feet at times and play broke down but drove us forward at times.
Hourihane 8. I'm one of the few that thought he did well before the goals. Good corners, good passing and one cracking goal and another decisive finish.
Mendez-Laing 7.5 can't believe he's injured, (according to Rosie) looked as powerful as ever. Great shot which was pushed onto bar. A thrilling outlet, they could not deal with him.
Bird ? 5. Really lacking in any kind of power, lost the ball a few times due to a combination of this and slow execution. Rest him. Only use him as back up for Hourihane.
Collins 6.5 Good sub appearance. Nice technique and good decisions apart from that kick forward to their keeper in the final minutes.
Barkhuizen. 6 Not his best day but didn't do much wrong. One peach of a cross but nobody in that area in first half. More to come.
Forsyth 6. 

I recently found out about this Derby born singer and, whilst his music is quite dated and not completely my bag, he possessed a great voice and creative mind and some of his wonkier blues-based psychedelic stuff is really good.
Some info here:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/dec/06/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries
 
Fascinating to me, partly because not many musicians to gain any kind of fame or critical acclaim seem to come from Derby. As far as I know any road!
Maybe some of our older fans could help me out here. Does anyone have memories of him ? Did anyone know him personally? Any relatives out there? 

Wildsmith 8 Three crucial saves including a 90th minute finger-tipper that would’ve ripped the net.
Chester 7 Mix-up with Davis led to WW goal but went on to give an assured debut.
Knight 8 Midfield perpetual motion; we ran the game when he finally got the central position - who’d have thought players in their natural positions would work this well?!
Roberts 7.5 Very good game. Notably further up the field. Was tactically subbed 2nd half but played well.
Cashin 7.5 Very good display including a 25yard shot inches wide. Drops half a mark for the limp challenge for their goal.
Davies 5.5 Below par. Mix-up with Chester led to their goal. Stray pass 2nd half let WW in & Wildsmith saved. 
McGoldrick 8.5 A joy to watch. Tricks, turns, flicks, dummies & dinks. Should have scored when 1v1; standing ovation at 90 minutes.
Sibley 7 Wasp-like but the ball didn’t quite fall
Hourihane 9 MotM Conor was running the show before scoring the brace. We need this sort of game engineering regularly Conor
Mendez-Laing 8 Power pace passion. Game-changer when coming off the bench.
Bird ? 6 Has lost his sparkle & needs a rest. Subbed 2nd half then we clicked.
Collins 7 Did a stint for the Team. One beautiful arrowed 45 yard pass to NML 
Barkhuizen 6 Needs to have more impact.
Forsyth 6 Saw the game out.
 
We won, so many will forget the absolute shambles of the first 15 minutes. We seemed to go through a cocktail of formations with LR typically over-thinking what is fundamentally a simple game. Who would’ve thought a central midfield pairing of Knight & Hourihane would win us a game? After the first set of subs we didn’t seem to have a LB but nobody seemed to notice such was the quagmire of tactics: a back 3 when we have the ball with Roberts going advanced which transmogrified into a 4 without. So one thing LR learned yesterday - Knight is a very good midfielder. Hopefully LR will learn his best 11 come the last Saturday of May. ?

THAT FIRST ONE IS FOR YOU, MA'AM! A minute's applause, the anthem, GOAL!!! Superb!
Yet again, Liam got his tactics wrong from the start. None of us had any idea from the team sheet how we were going to line up, so Wycombe were going to have no idea at all what they were going to face. But it actually didn't matter - Wycombe, as is their way, said a very clear "Stuff you" and just got on with their game, so those tactics didn't work! And no, the lump in my cheek is my tongue, not cancer!
As everyone has said we were dreadful in the opening 20 - 25 minutes, with one possible cause being a new system which we hadn't had much time to work on. But at least Liam tried something different, despite telling us he wasn't changing anything. But the biggest factor, as against Lincoln, was the lack of effort from many of the players. Twice, a pass out to the wing, although not good ones, were there to be chased down by Hourihane and he would have been absolutely clear, but both times he settled back to a trot and let the ball go. Apart from his goals, I was not impressed, and he was probably a greater candidate than Bird for being subbed. The only players worth their salt in that half were Knight (as ever), Sibley and Cashin. They were the only ones who seemed to give a damn.
There was a massive irony that Wycombe accused us of cheating, when that seemed to be a part of their game plan from the first minute. Time wasting from the 15th minute, kicking the ball away at every opportunity, feigning injury as soon as we were breaking away, and several less than regulation challenges. Barkhuisen got cleaned out with a studs up challenge early on which was at least a definite yellow, but no card given. Either Bird or Hourihane was fouled as he was breaking clear, which the ref did give, which was another blatant yellow. But 3 different players kicked and ran the ball away, so the ref chased them, obviously to threaten them that he would frown at them if they carried on. And no yellow for the foul, despite being only too willing to card Hourihane for  similar foul. Similarly for a clattering on Sibley - the ref played the advantage, but still didn't give the yellow. Very poor, and until the last part of the match, the only Wycombe yellow was for time wasting. Incidentally, there was contact when Sibley went down in the area, but Sibbers made a meal of it - probably noting that Lincoln got a penalty for only slightly less of a dive. But he ought to know that we hardly get any penalties, let alone soft ones.
But something got our dander up and we started to make the new formation start to work and we gradually started to take control, with several spells of pressure - once we started to attack their penalty area, they didn't know how to deal with it, resulting in the bagatelle scene, and several other shots. What saved them was their desire to win the ball, which meant a number of blocks and last ditch tackles. But we were knocking on the door. We could have gone in at half time 2 or 3 goals ahead, especially if McGoldrick had got his shooting boot on. He is really classy and elegant in the build up play, but apart from a lack or power, all his shots were straight at the keeper. Come on David, you can do better.
Second half saw us work up to knocking on the door again, especially after the substitutions - well done, Liam for those! And a goal was only a matter of time, and it was a delight to watch that shot which I knew was going in way before it did! The second goal was an absolute delight, because it took all 3 points off the team that, as someone said early on in the thread, were trying to grave rob us while we were still on our death bed! Sweet!
So we beat the scummy Wycombe, and made a load of places on the Red Dogs (a bit tenuous, that last bit!).
COME ON YOU RAMS!

Just the kind of average we needed today 

Such a weird game that. 10 minutes that changed the mood significantly. It was about to get quite toxic if that had remained 0-1.
We were particularly dreadful in the first 25. Surrendering the initiative and allowing a team which doesn’t keep the ball very well to actually play football. It was an alarming start. 
First goal comes from 2 players challenging for the same ball, which also nearly happened early in the second half. We looked slow, unfit, lethargic… every pass seemed too much trouble to move a yard to even receive it. 
Now did everything change after half hour? No. We did start to create some half chances and did start to keep the ball better and further up the field. But the same issues of poor tempo and general sleepiness remained. 
By mid way through the second half it seemed like we were never going to score. So many presentable chances just somehow not taken. One of them days. 
But here we are, the worst player still on the pitch was the one who scored both goals. After a turgid game where nothing was good from him, Hourihane then goes and shows everyone what he’s best at. 
Notes on a few individuals…
Knight better in midfield, and better in the actual middle, not as a supporter of the striker like first half.
Wildsmith was brilliant today. A few incredible saves, particularly the one in stoppage time at the end, and one pass first half to McGoldrick which Ederson would have enjoyed. 
McGoldrick is quality. Just wish he could shoot. 
Much better balance when NML came on. Think Roberts did fine but he’s not the most attacking fullback so why he was playing wing back opposite Barkhuizen was a puzzling choice, it was really imbalanced.
Sibley was ok but had a few moments where he looked like he was running in treacle first half. Kind of epitomised how sluggish we were.
Best performance I’ve seen from Collins. Actually hit some lay offs, and even a cross field ball which I didn’t think he had in his locker. He gave it a bit of b****** when he came on which I think the whole team needed. 

I'm hoping he means that Hourihane and Bird don't bring enough energy. Or at least that the tempo is too slow.  Otherwise, it's just more vague nonesense.

Liams latest interview has left me with mixed feelings.  On the reassuring side, he sees that teams work us out and out run us. He hints at some modification but is clearly not going to deviate from the style. However, he never acknowledges that he has made mistakes in selection. Being kind to him, it would perhaps be foolish to signal changes so obviously on the eve if a game. I worry that he is overly reassured by the stats and like everyone else, i worry that the idea of possession based football is something he is far too committed to and creates a fatal blind spot.  Curtis was outspoken about Cocu-ball, let's hope he's speaks honestly about Rosie-ball now rather than after another demoralising  lesson for the club. Intruiging game coming up.

I'm hoping he means that Hourihane and Bird don't bring enough energy. Or at least that the tempo is too slow.  Otherwise, it's just more vague nonesense.

Liams latest interview has left me with mixed feelings.  On the reassuring side, he sees that teams work us out and out run us. He hints at some modification but is clearly not going to deviate from the style. However, he never acknowledges that he has made mistakes in selection. Being kind to him, it would perhaps be foolish to signal changes so obviously on the eve if a game. I worry that he is overly reassured by the stats and like everyone else, i worry that the idea of possession based football is something he is far too committed to and creates a fatal blind spot.  Curtis was outspoken about Cocu-ball, let's hope he's speaks honestly about Rosie-ball now rather than after another demoralising  lesson for the club. Intruiging game coming up.

I'm heartened Rosenior says we're not taking enough risks.
I'm horrified he says things are OK because our Expected Goals (xG) stats look fine.
I'm perplexed he says we need more energy in the team.
A forward-thinking midfield duo of Knight and Sibley solves all his problems. Why doesn't he see it?