CROSSWORD

I've read a few threads on X from Rotherham fans and the parallells between them and us when W has been in charge are alarming.
One such post reads:
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#dcfcfans #dcfc how’s warne doing lads? 3 at back? Long ball? Miss out the central midfielders every game by banging it over there heads? Loads of injuries in training? Same subs every week? No plan B? Just wondering from a miller?
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My best guess is that if things improve by end of October he will be given the elbow.
I would fully respect DC to go for someone who plays football the right way

When Big Trav could name all 5 of our first signings with absolute certainty, 4 days before we signed the first of them then I think it's safe to assume that those players were at or very much toward the top of Warne's list.
On top of those we've added Washington who Warne signed for Rotherham (while a Championship club so wages will reflect that) so that'll be another main target signed. 
The stated aim by Warne in interviews was that we would be looking at players you'd expect to want to be playing at Championship level - so those later in their career who think they could still play in the championship but would be willing to drop down, or those on their way up who would have ambitions to be signed by someone at that level but may take a chance of getting there with us.
It was said that it's easy to get players to sign for Derby, but they have to be the right ones. Warne wanted '2 good ones, not 3-4 average ones' (words to that effect) and then there's the whole getting the right character and not just the right player thing, and the remarks about them needing to be able to cope with the pressure of 30k supporters at home every week.
That's is the remit as set by Warne himself, not something he's been forced to say to keep up appearances.
...and on the face of, it all sounded good, commendable even.
The reality is though that targeting such players carried an increased risk that they would go elsewhere. The ones more likely to join being the older ones dropping down rather than the younger ones going up.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that we've ended up signing older players, or that that certain types (the high energy 23-28s) have been harder to identify or have gone elsewhere - especially with all the extra criteria we've added.
While waiting for the 'good' ones the 'average' ones all go elsewhere, leaving you with an even less desirable pool of available players.
In hindsight the entire strategy, which Warne was fully on board with and contributed toward setting - has been counter productive to to us building a squad with the attributes that fit Warne's style of play, and the notion that he's simply been let down by others doesn't really hold much weight.

Evidently you can’t rely on just good vibes and lads running through brick walls for each other after telling personal stories around a camp fire. 
 
There has to be good coaching and a clear plan. I’ll keep coming back to it until I’m blue in the face but we haven’t been coached how to press properly. The teams who do it well all know exactly when to click into shape. We don’t. 
 
 

It just followed the same pattern we saw too many times last season.
Play some decent stuff with a bit of variety. Fail to score the first goal. Fail to take any precautions against conceding the first goal by leaving big gaps in between / behind the defence. Concede the first goal. Watch as the opponent sits back a bit. Continue to have more of the ball than the opponent.  Play a bit more directly to try and force an equaliser.
No equaliser? Get progressively more direct and more predictable as the opponent sits even further back.
Equaliser? Immediately push for a second. Push too hard. Leave even bigger gaps at the back. Concede another goal. Cycle repeats, except time is running out. the opposition is even more steadfastly securing their lead and your own football has become extremely direct and hopelessly predictable and easy to defend. Time runs out. 
Convince certain fans that this all means that you dominated the game, should have won it, were just unlucky, that it was all down to individual mistakes which won't happen again and are nothing to do with the way the manager sets us up. Bemoan more individual mistakes a few games later (last season it was conceding penalties, until we tweaked the system and suddenly they seemed to stop happening)
Score first? Immediately push for a second. Take no defensive precautions to hold onto the lead you have. Obliterate s*** teams who don't offer any threat against you. Lose your lead and either draw with or fall to defeat against good teams. Blame the lack of strikers.

Maybe Sibbo gets his chance to shine with an extended run in an attacking role this year and gets into double figures with goals? Maybe Warne getting to play his preferred system, with his preferred players, playing in their preferred roles will add up to more goals shared around more players this year? Maybe we don’t concede so many silly goals from our own corners/attacking set plays? Maybe we don’t need to sign a Didzy MKII - even if one was available and within our price-range? Maybe we do find and fork out for “The One” on the best contract we can offer and they sustain a season-ending injury 10-minutes into their debut? 

Nelson is exactly the sort of CB we should be signing if it’s accompanied with one or two younger ones. We’ve lost a lot of experience in that position so Nelson’s know-how will come in handy.
Also great to sign an ex-captain. 

1968 Derby  v Chelsea league cup replay. Went a goal down then scored three in the second half to win. 30 odd thousand in the BBG sounded more like. 90 thousand. Never heard Rams fans louder, before or since. This was the start of the glory years.

Jim Smith?

And Dave Mackay who, after all, won us the top division.
And, no, it wasn't all Clough's team. The great man also said Mackay was not given enough credit.
Hard act to follow Clough and, especially, to cut through the turmoil at the club.
I wasn't happy at the time - I just wanted Clough back - but, now looking back, I think Mackay did an amazing job.

By this logic, I assume you believe Cocu was our best manager of the last 20 years? Tactically what he was trying was far more advanced than anyone else- fluid positional rotation, utilising long periods of ball retention via slow build up to dominate games... how well overall did that work out for us?
It's a balance of finding a tactical setup that suits the players, whilst ensuring they're playing to their full individual potential through man management and psychology- Warne seems very big on the latter. Cocu underestimated the ability level of the squad and asked something unrealistic of them. Perhaps at this level, ensuring consistently solid individual performances goes further than trying to establish defined methods of play?
I love discussing tactics and football stats but with stuff like this I can't help come back to the Classic Clough quote:

Its also nice to be able to have a good moan about footballing issues rather than amortisation, The EFL, points deductions, MM, Boro, etc etc. 🙂 

Not really. 
Paul Warne apparently said to someone he's going to sign three big centre halfs for next season, which makes me fear for Cashin's future. He is happy here, now feeling he's a valid member of team, last year said he didn't quite feel he should be there. Curtis Davies is so pleased that Orient going up and he jokingly said if he can't get a contract here, he'd love to go and play for them. 
Got chapter and verse about his ins and outs of the team this season, he's a great bloke. Very erudite and chatty.
Sibbo thrilled to be back in the team playing further forward; Bird very quietly spoken and appreciative of any compliments; Knight buzzing around everywhere, I never caught up with him! 😂
Roberts also very polite, loving being here but not looking beyond the next few games. He was very aware his form is good for his future wherever that might be. 
Joe Wildsmith loving it here, appreciating being in the first team and said how it was difficult at Weds not to still be seen and treated as one of the "loyal" academy lads. Said could see similar with the way our academy lads are here. He was asked who he wanted to win at Hillsborough and emphatically replied "us of course" clarifying that by us he definitely means Derby. He was one of the last players to leave. 
We spoke to a gaggle of players together - McGoldrick, Hourihane, Mendez-Laing - about the new formation, all loving it and much praise for Sibbo and Bird too in how that combo is working. Mendez-Laing was very witty and amusing! 
McGoldrick is much less shy face to face and was chatting about family, playing in black and white, and grateful for the praise coming his way. Got a bit of ribbing from the others about the attention he's getting. When Warne announced SC player of the season he said "in ascending order, third David McGoldrick, second David McGoldrick and the winner is ..." Made everyone laugh! 
Corey Smith is also really chatty and quite philosophical about his role in the team, happy to play anywhere, unlike Mendez-Laing,  who suggested I popped over and told Warne how much I loved the new formation! 😂 I didn't,  though sorely tempted! 
A bit of photo spam (sorry!) Didn't take many photos, unless players offered,  just happy to chat with them, tbh.
Also spoke to Stephen Pearce, David Clowes and Mrs Clowes at some length. 
Everyone was very open and approachable and Lynn and the Supporters Clubs did a great job in organising as usual.
 

No. The start of our troubles was Mel Morris overspending wildly, gambling the Clubs future on his ego-trip. Administration was the end product of the crazy spending. 

As a poster has said...it's a stock bog answer to a hacks question, We'll not see him play again in a DCFC shirt imo, Wages will be to high, He or agent will be working on his next move...loan, I doubt someone will pay a fee except loan fee with only a year left on his DCFC contract.
He's not pulling up any trees in Birmingham, His best bet will be abroad...or with some luck...Forest spunking £30million for him. 

If we don’t finish in the play-offs, we just go again next year.
Let go of the entitlement you are obviously carrying and show the league some respect. Promotion has to be earned, not given.
You make it sound like every club of our size and stature dominates the division and goes up at the first time of asking and there are countless examples of actually quite the opposite.
We were in the top six from November to April and we are only out of it on goal difference. We have been competing at the top end of the division, but we are not the only good side in the division and it is no disgrace to be where we are.
Ask the likes of Darren Moore, Kieran McKenna, Steven Schumacher, Michael Duff and Ian Evatt to compete under our restrictions and the response you’d get wouldn’t be a kind one.
Just because we have the best stadium, the best training facilities and the biggest crowds doesn’t mean we are in the best position to succeed.
We are competing against sides who yo-yo between the Championship (Barnsley and Peterborough) and sides who have spent several years coming together (Bolton, Plymouth, Wednesday and Ipswich).
We have no divine right to success in this league.

We know the script by now, more than match them first half and create the better opportunities, miss some sitters. Second half they change it up and we gas out on 60 minutes and capitulate. 
Rinse and repeat until the end of the season. 

We do, to a degree, the likes of collins, nml and barks for instance. We know theyve had moments in the league above… but for all of them that was a good few years ago.
theyre all well past their prime and having to manage their bodies accordingly.. as a 45 yo who still plays i can vouch for it lol.. u see things u want to do, positions and spaces u want to get into but sometimes u have to turn it down cos u know if u dont make it your going to be wildly out of position.
the first thing warne said when he came in was the squad lacked players in that prime age bracket… i think that still rings very true and with a hugely restricted transfer window i think we’re feeling the effects of it 

Your obsession with Dobbin is really really strange. Same for other people who look to single him out time and time again.
He’s not the reason we lost, he did as much or as little as any of the other forward players yesterday. It is a team game, Dobbin has already had a part to play for us this season and will again before the season ends. Very much in the same way that NML, Barkhuizen, McGoldrick and Collins do. 

For the 50th time, we know he isn’t the best player in the world, his finishing is erratic, but he has pace and directness that puts opponents on edge and he can (as he has done a few times) chip in with an assist or a goal. To hope that Warne no longer uses a player in the squad who has a couple of different assets compared to his colleagues makes no sense, whether you personally like him or not. 

I'm a Warne fan and but he got it horribly wrong on Saturday and chickened out of putting it right until too late.
Very much had the Wembley Way feeling when I saw the line-up and who was on the bench.
Curtis has too much credit in the bank to be criticised - the question is whether he should now be picked and, if he does get picked, how it affects the play. It appears that if Curtis plays, there is a no passing through midfield policy applied so we go wide and/or long. Who do you pick to get on the end of lumpball.......a striker who wins headers and can hold it up (DM) or one who doesn't (JC)?
Bird didn't touch the ball for 20 mins and Hourihane had scraps.
My wife asked for a prediction pre-match and I said Springett would get hooked after 60 mins having contributed nothing. Springett should be nowhere near our first 11. It's not his fault he's picked but we essentially started with 10 players and elected to play with about 6 of them.
The coaches were deliberating making changes from about 25 mins and jibbed until 43 mins - should have been before their second goal. Hourihane is one of our best players - if we choose to involve him in the game. Didn't deserve hooking IMO.
Yes, some other players had stinkers but this was Warne's fault. I hope he shares the blame after he's had time to reflect rather than losing the dressing room......where he now has some bridges to build.
Pick the right team and involve the better players in the play and play-offs aren't a problem. COYR

Barnsley. We lost that because we gifted them 3 goals. 10 shots each on the day. 5 each on target. Never a 4-1 game.
Fleetwood? They had a game plan that worked well for them, exploiting our frailer areas. PW reacted late, IMO. Changes should have come earlier than 44 minutes. He needs to find the middle ground between what he wants and some control of the ball. I'm not advocating going back to  the slow, slow, slower, slower, slow of Clement or Cocu or the not quite so slow under Rooney/Rosenior but it's not the one or the other. There's a time for playing through the thirds with control, there's a time for hitting the wings and getting crosses in and there's a time for the long ball over the top. Seems to me that we've spent much of the past few seasons utilising a single tactic rather than using footballing sense and playing the right tactic at the right time in a game. Top teams do it, we seem not to.

Grandson took this after the game.

I have not commented on  this forum in years as I have not really had the need but recently I have started to have serious concerns about certain aspects of Warne’s management that he needs to work on , let alone the players.
Firstly it has been quite obvious that Curtis’ legs have gone. Much as I love the guy it was sad to see him look totally lost,  I know that PW said they had a bad day at the training office but it must be obvious that CD is struggling. it must be so easy to see in training, so why play him?
Tactically it could have been altered within the first 15 by bringing Roberts on. Fossie also looks slow on the left and it then exposed Cashin, who then started to wobble as he was not sure who was around him. A good manager doesn’t soldier on, he affects changes. Too much dwelling and no incisiveness. If I and those all around me can see the issue, then why can’t the paid professionals?
Because he didn’t make immediate changes the result was destabilising team morale by changing two players two minutes before half time, that were symptoms of the issue but not the cause.
My major concern is that we underestimate the opposition, as most of the lesser teams are physically aggressive, crunch up the mid-field and do a press on the back four, although the press was not massively evident yesterday. We are predictable and easy to play, opponents stop our game and then we fall into midfield head tennis and channel balls invariably going nowhere. We need to learn how to counter this if we are to progress but i do not see much evidence of this on the field. PW must work on this, along with the development of further strategic planning in the event that a team does A, then changes to plan B and so on; which has been evident from the opposition in many recent games. 

One thing that is clearly evident from this league, is that there is a good set of opposition coaches that use quite a lot of guile and gamesmanship to get results. Just running faster is not the answer, we need to be developing other dimensions to our play and taking note of what to expect.
 
 

Even in the Premier League with the (allegedly) best officials and with the help, or hindrance, of VAR there are still some right dodgy decisions. 
The Championship, as we well know, then has the next tier down of poor refs and League 1 then has what’s left and so on and so on…..
Their decisions can indeed affect games but we have to live with that unfortunately. 
The best answer is either don’t give them decisions to make or just score more goals than the opposition anyway. Easy…
 
Bleating after every loss about the ref and spouting about EFL conspiracies etc is frankly embarrassing and makes us look pathetic. 
 
We lost - move on. 

Difficult to threaten if not on pitch for more than about 5 minutes