Millenniumram

Thought last night was a very “Jeckyll and Hyde” type performance.
Similar to Charlton, going forward we were largely excellent. Particularly first half were were aggressive, moved forward with pace and created a lot of good quality chances. Dobbin and Sibley especially were superb, constantly making runs in behind and driving into the box. There’s still a bit of an issue with taking those chances of course - we need to be more lethal, but hopefully that’ll come with sharpness, and is probably less concerning long term than not creating chances in the first place. 
Defensively though… the less said the better in the second half. Poor Oduroh had an absolute nightmare on his debut, not helped by some very clumsy distribution from Stearman next to him. We have the ball away way too much playing out the back, and looked very vulnerable when Mansfield lobbed balls into the box. Understandable to an extent of course, what with a disjointed defence that have never really played together - some players on their first appearances of the season and clearly unfit, and others on their senior debuts and potentially not ready. Just hope our first choice defence can build partnerships as the games go on, and become much more reliable distributing from the back.
Can’t talk about the defence without a special word for Cashin though. He was absolutely magnificent, basically holding the defence together while others around him struggled. Unbelievably mature performance for a player so young, and showed just how important he’s going to be for us this season. Rolls-Royce of a CB with a huge career ahead of him.

Oh yeah, we definitely shouldn’t be thinking about cash here. I hope our worries in that regard are behind us, but in any case, TV money from an EFL cup game won’t be any more than a standard league game. Certainly not some big pay day.
A game against Forest would be the nightmare scenario. They’d almost certainly beat us with their reserves, which would knock both the players and fans confidence early in the season. A League One club would be boring, but preferable to Forest, Leeds or even Leicester.

Well, big Trav seemed pretty sure a couple of weeks back. Are you doubting him?

Well, big Trav seemed pretty sure a couple of weeks back. Are you doubting him?

Well, big Trav seemed pretty sure a couple of weeks back. Are you doubting him?

Any League Two side for me, to give us the best possible chance of progressing further. Want to stay in the cup as long as we possibly can, to keep the reserve players fit in case they’re called upon.

Any League Two side for me, to give us the best possible chance of progressing further. Want to stay in the cup as long as we possibly can, to keep the reserve players fit in case they’re called upon.

Not gonna lie, never even been to an England game! Travelling around watching Derby getting beat every week is more than enough disappointment…

It's usually confined to England playing in tournaments in far flung places. 
Seems doable, although we are usually carp at those. 

Ah, hadn’t seen that, thought he was still out for Barnsley. That’s good news in the short term, finally gives us an option up front off the bench.
Thinking long term through the season though, we still need to sign a third striker. Only takes one injury and we’ve got no-one on the bench again. You can’t play a striker 90 mins every week. 

McGoldrick in squad for Saturday LR quote from Derby Telegraph 

Totally agree.
 Much as I'd like some cash from a home game against the red dogs, I think I'd rather get some game time for the second string players.
 More minutes means they get more up to speed, so i'd like a league 1 or 2 side so we can have a chance for another couple of games that wont impact on the table.
 

Any League Two side for me, to give us the best possible chance of progressing further. Want to stay in the cup as long as we possibly can, to keep the reserve players fit in case they’re called upon.

Players would look a bit daft in jeans

Wildsmith 7
Oduroh 6
Stearman 7
Cashin 7
Forsyth 7
Rooney 6
Smith 7
Sibley 7
Dobbin 6
Knight 5
Thompson 5
Subs:
Barkhuizen 7
NML 6
Collins 5
Hourihane 4

Be good to see Oduroh for the first time, and see what Dobbin can do from the start as well - hopefully he can make more impact with time.
Interesting that Rooney plays as well straight after signing for the U21s, be interesting to see how he performs given his opportunity.
A game too late for Sibley, but he does finally start. 

Duck me, my Nan could hit a better delivery and she’s only got one leg

Duck me, my Nan could hit a better delivery and she’s only got one leg

Death, taxes, Derby losing away 

In the 3 minute highlight reel I watched, it took him a minute and a half before he passed it to one of his own players or had a shot on target. I'm hoping my Youtube judgement of him isn't representative.

He’s all right foot in his highlight video from the first page. If he plays out left he will be cutting inside the whole time.

Finally, a naturally left sided attacker. Welcome to Derby Lewis!

Finally, a naturally left sided attacker. Welcome to Derby Lewis!

So the role which requires harder work and more graft, is easier when you get older? I’ll be shocked if he plays up front alone unless it’s for injuries. 

He did very well there, but he also did well at Ipswich too by and large. I’d argue his age lends more to playing him as a lone striker - younger players with pace tend to be better in a two up front, whereas older, stronger and more clever footballers tend to make better number 9’s. From what I’ve seen of McGoldrick, he has all the attributes to make a good withdrawn striker, holding the ball up and linking others into play.