DCFC Kicks

9 minutes ago, angieram said:

If it is true that Clowes cannot afford to sack him, then I think he needs to sit down and have a serious talk with him about changing his approach to the game. An owner straying into onfield management is dangerous territory as we know to our cost, but what is the alternative at this stage?

I just can't see how its possible for Warne to change his approach. I don't think he could even if he wanted to. The only way would be if different coaches were brought in to assist him, which is never going to happen.

There needs to be someone brought in with a knowledge of football to oversee it on behalf of Clowes and Pearce. At the moment Warne is the highest authority in footballing terms at the entire club, which is scary. 

14 minutes ago, BathRam72 said:

For what it is worth. The players have to take some responsibility. 

Everyone saying we aren't playing them in positions that suit their style of play is fine, I get that.

However most people would agree that most of our players are or in paper at a standard above this league.

So why aren't they playing like it? Even if they aren't in their favoured positions they should still be able to play football.  So why, when they are out of position,  do they lose the ability to pass, control the ball, read the game?

Lack of sharpness which should be gained in training sessions? Not being trained to move correctly off the ball to be in a position to receive a pass? 

I think when it happens to one player then you say its their fault, but if its the entire team that has to come from how they're coached surely? 

1 hour ago, Anag Ram said:

My son-in-law is a huge football fan. 
 

He told me last night that he can watch most games regardless of quality but that the standard of the Derby game on Saturday was so poor he had to switch off.

I keep hearing what a strong squad we have but I suspect a neutral view would be that we’re a bang average bunch.

I don’t think any new manager will wave a magic wand and turn us into Man City. All we could hope for is an improvement in passing and more attacking intent.

 

I honestly think that's all it would take to get top 6 with the quality of players we have. Top 2 is probably out of reach now regardless.

1 hour ago, jono said:

It’s getting boring reading the intransigence and polarisation in the conversations we seem to have running at the moment. It’s hardly worth reading 50% of the posts because you see a name and know exactly what the tone and message will be. Predictable, knee jerk reactions. Anyway, see you all Tuesday 🤣
 

 What the hell else do you expect to read on a matchday thread where we lost the game in such a poor way? How big my half time dump was? 

I'm honestly desperate for any positives that would make me change my mind. Got any?

11 hours ago, Jram said:

Anyone else still willing to give this time? Don’t seem to be many on the forum.

I don’t think we’ve been that bad (albeit I wasn’t there yesterday). Sounded like we had some good spells in the game though and we’ve had some brilliant performances (Peterborough, Blackpool)
 

Big squad turnover in the summer so willing to give it chance to come together. We’ve had some bad luck with injuries and decisions which will hopefully turn. 
 

I think some of the anti-warne sentiment is the immediate anger of losing to so-called lesser clubs but, unfortunately, we were always going to lose games across a 46 game season so no need to panic 

Lets give it time? We've given it this long and now the top 2 look like they might be out of reach. We give it longer and the top 6 might be out of reach, and then that's another season down the drain. More of our good players like Bird and Cashin will be gone at cut price deals and our squad will get continually worse. 

Yes we haven't been that bad but we should be challenging for the top 2 minimum. I don't care if it sounds arrogant. We're the biggest club in the league.

the squad turnover only happened because Warne messed up the transfer window going for a formation change, which he has since abandoned. 

I'm not sure better luck with injuries and decisions is going to be enough to change the fact we've been playing some of the worst, one dimensional, predictable and boring football in the clubs history. 

I hated Warne's comments over the international break saying the players need to have a talk amongst themselves to find out why they're underperforming. Isn't that his job? He's trying shift the blame away from himself. I have a feeling he told Hourihane to go over to the fans yesterday as well. He's clearly blaming the players and not taking responsibility himself.

Yesterday was the first time in my life I've ever stopped watching a game while Derby were still in the game. I stopped after around 75mins because it was just too boring. Worse football I've seen us play ever (except 07/08). 

6 minutes ago, Matchday Fred said:

Aye but the only thing that is relevant is what that high value squad (whatever that means) does on the pitch today. Last year is not relevant. Too many are way overrated, Cashin included. Too short,too heavy, too slow, cannot pass a ball.

I respect your opinion, but why would Brighton be trying to sign Cashin if he's overrated? They seem to be quite good at judging players.

Too heavy? isn't our manger a former fitness coach? why is he letting our players get overweight?

Too Short? apart from Smith and Sibley, I think our entire team was minimum 5ft11. 

Bird and Hourihane are excellent passers, especially at this level. We could do with some more. Warne doesn't seem to value passing ability much in recruitment 

I agree we could do with more pace, but NML, Barkhuizen, Wilson are quick

All we need is to find the right manager then the rest should take care of itself. Ipswich were where we are not long ago now they're 2nd in the Championship. 

19 minutes ago, Matchday Fred said:

Credit Hourihane for having some bottle. He epitomises the bits and pieces squad we have. Some relatively good athletes who are not good on the ball (Smith, Fornah etc) and some good players who aren’t athletic enough (Hourihane, Bird, Thompson). And too many that are neither (Cashin, Collins, Waghorn). The squad is nowhere near as good as some folks think, and the academy delivers what exactly ? I would argue no more than other L1 clubs. With a limited budget that is a tough job for anyone, but I’d still expect more than Warne can conjure.

It’s ready made for someone who can squeeze something out of nothing. We may need to make plans for Nigel.

'bits and pieces squad'? 

We have the highest squad value in the league. 

8 players who were playing in the Championship last season.

Cashin was very close to signing for PL Brighton, and Bird would've signed for Championship Hull if he hadn't got injured.

0-2

Sibley

1-2 Barkhuizen

1 minute ago, Eatonram said:

Wilson’s miss obviously Warne,s fault 

It was a right backs finish. Warne chose to play a right back in right wing

2-0 loss

1 hour ago, Jourdan said:

It’s only October, yet you have written off eleven signings?

Can players only play in one system? Why does 4 at the back necessarily affect how successful the signings can be?

Nelson, Nyambe and Fornah are playing well and look like our standout players at the moment. Waghorn and Washington have chipped in with some goals here and there and contributed to some wins.

Wilson was brought in to add depth and competition for places and he has looked lively in his cameos. Vickers as we know is only likely to deputise for Wildsmith. What more could he have done so far?

That’s at least five or six who have made a reasonable start to life in a Derby shirt.

Ward is a natural winger who can play RB or RWB if needed. When fit, there will be a place for him unless NML or Barkhuizen really motor but as we know they are both inconsistent. Elder will return from injury too and push Forsyth for his place. Hopefully John Jules will do the same and push Waghorn and Collins, but if not he’ll be gone in January.

The only signing who really looks to have missed the mark so far is Bradley. I think he could be waiting a good while to get back in the side and he looks a long way from living up to his billing.

Where did I say I'd written off eleven signings?

Yes, some players can't play in certain systems, like wing-backs in a back 4. My main point was about the number of players in each position. We have 4 strikers but we're currently playing a 4-2-3-1. We only have 2 natural wingers. Barkhuizen is the only player we have who can play LW. 

I agree some have done well, Nyambe, Nelson, Fornah and Waghorn have looked good. Ward and Wilson look like good players, but would we have signed them if we building for a 4-2-3-1?  Disagree about Washington. Waste of a transfer if we're continuing with 1 up front. 

Ward is not a natural winger. He played RM earlier in his career but hasn't played there for over 5 seasons.

Warne has made a mess of the transfer window. Despite almost all our existing players not being suited to it, he committed to changing the formation of the team to a 3-5-2, and signed players for this. Now he's gone back to a back-four and we're playing relatively better. 

Two of his signings were RWBs who are now going to have to play out of position at either RB or RM if they get into the team. He's now signed Nyambe because we didn't have an orthodox RB. What a waste of resources that could have been used elsewhere.

He seemed to put most of his efforts during the transfer window into signing strikers because he needed two for his 3-5-2 formation. Despite acknowledging there was a lack of strikers on the market at the time. He ended up signing three strikers and it looks like we're only playing with one at the moment, as Waghorn looks like he's playing at CAM. 

Imagine if he'd just built on last seasons 4-2-3-1 and signed some decent wingers, a CAM, and a striker.

2-0

Barkhuizen

On 25/09/2023 at 13:20, Chris_Martin said:

The last regime being rosenior and rooney who got us playing decent stuff and fighting for everything on the pitch, whilst also creating a real unity in the squad. Warne has ruined the 'playing decent stuff' bit and we also seem worse in terms of fighting for everything and unity in the squad. I think the damage done by mel obviously has some affect in the background running of the club still, but nearly all the players are new and have no experience of those days. 

We showed promise when Rosenior was here on his own, but Rooney's football was even worse than Warne's at times.

On 08/09/2023 at 22:10, Jourdan said:

Our best run was 9 wins and 6 draws in 15 league games. That’s over two points per game and trending for over 100 points across a 46-game season. Inevitably there would be a drop off.

6 wins and 5 draws in 18 as a stat doesn’t tell the whole story though. I don’t dispute there were poor results and poor performances but there were also games where we played reasonably well and sometimes very well but didn’t come away with the points we deserved for various reasons. It’s a combination of factors. Not just luck, but it helps.

I am not pretending anything. McGoldrick was brilliant but it’s useless to speculate on how things would have been without him. We simply do not know, for better or worse.

The calibre and experience of said players can be very misleading though. You have to look at what they can offer now and bring to the table at present. You talk of the high level experience of these players, but how telling has it been really? Only McGoldrick consistently stood out last season. The rest looked very much like League 1 players.

An ingrained brute like style? Irreversible damage caused by Warne? No better chance at promotion? Please stop. If we are playing like brutes and in mid table in April, this might be fair. But in September? It seems completely unfounded hyperbole and scaremongering.

 

I don’t accept your reasoning for the drop-off, because you could just apply it in the same way as reasoning for why we were winning in our good spell (luck, not getting what our performances deserve etc.). My main concern about our good spell was the fact it came early in Warnes time here. Shouldn’t it happen later as he gradually improves the team? It’s been over 30 games of not improving from the good spell. Why? 

Stop sitting on the fence. We all know McGoldrick is irreplaceable. He’s a player you just put in the team and let him get on with it. The manager has no input in his performance. He carried Warne last season. Of course we don’t know what would’ve happened if McGoldrick didn’t sign. Just like we don’t know what would’ve happened if Rosenior had stayed, or if we played Forsyth up front. It’s a non-argument. You’re using ‘what ifs’ to avoid making an opinion so you don’t run the risk of being wrong.

The players we signed last season were all playing at least top half Champ football in the last 2 seasons. Most weren’t even that old. Why is it the players fault for not performing instead of the coach? We now know there were very few restrictions this season compared to last as well.
 

I didn’t say it was irreversible. Does it not take time to change styles when a new manager comes in because they’re used to playing a certain way? It took Warne a while to change from Roseniors style. A change, which in my opinion, correlated with the quality of football. Why do you just say ‘please stop’ instead of acknowledging the points I was making? Do you not think the competition is relatively worse this season? Why do you keep speaking like this is Warnes first season and he wasn’t here most of last season? 50+ games is long enough to expect improvement.

23 hours ago, Chris_Martin said:

he would make an excellent fitness coach...

Are you sure? We’ve been getting a lot of injuries.

2-1

Washington

5 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Alright buddy. No need to get worked up. I misread your post and, not only do I acknowledge my error, I apologise. 

Do you have any evidence to support that claim?

8 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

What "obvious reasons" rather than guesses or assumptions?

I didn't say 'obvious reasons'. I said 'there's obviously reasons'. When a player choses to sign for one club over another, there's usually reasons involved, as oppose to a flip of a coin. Or do you need me to give evidence to back that statement up as well? 

57 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

I didn't make the assertion, you did.

Where basically you've admitted that you can't support this with any evidence whatsoever but you've decided to tout it anyway as it fits with your narrative.

What you've just answered with are just pure generalisations.

You have no evidence whatsoever of which players whom we actually were in for decided to accept offers elsewhere due to Warnes playing style as you put it, nor what players would have come to the club if Rooney or Rosenoir had been in charge and not Warne.

I wasn't making an assertion, I was hypothesising. Sorry, I wasn't aware you had to present a fully cited academic paper to support every casual opinion you put on a football fan forum. 

There's plenty of evidence that we were after players who ended up at other clubs. There's obviously reasons they chose other clubs instead of us. I was stating an opinion that our style of play doesn't help attract players. Again, you have no evidence that counters my opinion. Unless you do, then please share.

43 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Every player we signed finished higher than we did last year. "The majority of our transfers this season are from L1 or lower champ" Why are you including league one? We signed more premier league players then we signed League One players. Of course these players from the clubs in the leagues above us aren't playing, otherwise why would they decide to move down a league?

Your point about connections pure conjecture, you're making it up as you go. 

Glad you mentioned Plymouth. How did they start last season?

My point was about comparing the recruitment this summer to last summer. Many of the players we signed last summer could have gone to the Championship if they wanted.

So you're seriously suggesting Warne has better connections in the game than someone like Wayne Rooney?

Again, you're trying to counter my point by changing what my argument was. I mentioned Plymouth to highlight how its possible for the season to be over (in terms of top 2) by the half way point.