Gaspode

He actually said 'in the next 18 months', so gave himself the chance not to make it this season, but will he still be around next year if they miss out on the Play-offs this time?

Seen quite a few folk (both their fans and pundits) saying he'll be a good appointment if he's given time - which (if recent history repeats itself) is exactly what he won't have.....

Yep....

Having watched quite a few of the Irish performances, I thought he was finished in management once he left them - dreadful negative football and completely lacking in ideas - it'll be interesting to see whether a return to club football can get him fired up because it looked as if he'd given up towards the end of his international tenure....

A few news agencies running this warning today - watch what you post folks..... With the Hillsborough disaster trials due to begin on 14 January 2018, please remember The Contempt of Court Act rules on what information can be published during active trials. It is an offence to publish anything which could prejudice or impede a trial.

Absolutely - but the point I was making is that he's not necessarily a worse player this year, just struggling to deal with the uncertanties in front of him - and while it's true that he's made a lot more mistakes than last season, that's likely to be a symptom of what he's up against. Last year he was fairly confident in what was likely to happen when the ball dropped into our box - this year, Tomori spends too much time ball watching and gets out of position to deal with the ball (and opposition players) and Keogh (I suspect) is trying to over compensate for that and so also gets himself in daft positions - that makes it hard for Carson to know whether he should try to catch the ball or leave it to a defender to deal with. We can try a different keeper, but I suspect the root of the problem is the defence rather than the keeper....

Without trying to start a "Keogh (or Tomori) is crap" discussion, Carson has suffered from not having trust in the defenders in front of him this season - I doubt any keeper (including Elliot) will look solid behind our wobbly defence.....

Any chance the mods can pull this thread back on topic? the last few pages have turned into a pissing contest between posters trying to outdo one another in their knowledge/guesswork regarding the club finances - with very little relating to Nuge and a possible transfer.....

Not even if plucky Burton win the League Cup.....

Not an insult that they can't understand roundabouts - just a statement of fact...... 25+ years ago there were no roundabouts in the town and everyone managed to get about - as soon as they introduced them, there were accidents and there are still instances of people who have no idea what to do when they're contronted with them - you can be approaching a roundabout when there's absolutely no other traffic in the vicinity only to find a car in front stop for no obvious reason - the mini roundabout on Hawkins Lane has been known to come to a complete halt as everyone gives way to each other. Conversly, I've been cut up numerous times in Burton (frequently on the roundabout by the Pirelli stadium) by people who don't understand the idea of giving way to traffic already on the roundabout - it's probably only the older drivers nowadays who still struggle when dealing with roundabouts, but it was certainly an alien concept when they were first brought in....

What are you on about? Clough Jnr's brand of football towards the end of his time at the Rams nearly stopped me renewing my season ticket (after 30+ years) - as for Burton, it's just a small provincial town full of people who don't understand how roundabouts work....Indeed, my Missus used to live in a road that backed onto their old ground, so I used to occassionaly drink in the Eton Park Social club - but I'm not really sure why I should think any more of the Brewers than any other minnow just because I support the Rams....

I'm a happy slasher - but that's nothing to do with this board....

I guess the fact that we appear to be letting Pearce go out on loan would suggest that we will be bringing in an additional centre-half - I doubt Frank will do that simply to have someone sitting on the bench so it will be interesting to see who he choses to replace (unless of course he decides to utilise Wisdom as cover in the middle and Lowe at left-back)

You may just have picked up on one of my pet hates in modern football - not just 'the kids' over reliance on stats, but pundits in general (and Sky in particular - they've even ridiculously quoted stats on how many saves a golakeeper SHOULD make in a game) - not saying there isn't a use for the statistical analysis as long as people understand what they're trying to say - the fact (in isolation) that Keogh passes the ball more than all of our other players doesn't make him our best passer of the ball, nor does it suggest that he is a good defender - I think I'll stick to my tried and tested 'personal opinion' method of deciding if a player is any good....

No it doesn't (however likely that is) - we could be (almost certainly are) over-playing at the back. Lampard may want someone in midfield to make themselves available so that the defense don't have to spend so much time passing between themselves - or he may prefer a centre-half that is more decisive and more offensive minded when passing from the back so that there's less 'fannying about' when we're in possession. The quoted stats tell you that Keogh sees a lot of the ball and passes it to other players - that's it - nothing about whether he can defend or indeed whether those passes are good ones or whether his pass drops another player in the doo-doo (as has been the case on numerous ocassions over the years) - fair enough that the 'football manager' generation use stats to justify their opinions - but there's a need to see what those stats tell you rather than interpret them incorrectly to try to prove a point....