🤣 Yeah right yourself. He’s gone out on loan to the club where he started his career, to play first team football, why does that imply it hasn’t worked out here? He joined the academy, he’s 19 years old, going out on loan is part of the development of young players isn’t it?
It genuinely amazes me how many people on this forum seem to default to the most pessimistic and negative stance on anything and everything
Nice Article
It has gone past 10pm, Derby County have just lost to Crewe in the FA Cup and their head coach Paul Warne is in the background trying to explain to the media what happened.
Some of the players are starting to leave and nobody could have blamed Kane Wilson for wanting to slip out of the side door with them rather than face the prospect of an interview. But once he finally emerges to talk to DerbyshireLive, any fears that he is in a hurry are quickly extinguished. For the next 15 minutes, he is engaging company - as fun to talk to as it is to watch him play.
It is perhaps the reason why so many Derby fans have quickly taken to the wing-back whose brilliant cameo against Barnsley led the club's media team to post a video of his 'filthy' dribbling qualities.
"I saw that," he laughs. "But that's how it's always been for me. I like to entertain the fans, and being here and playing in front of 28 to 30,000 of them every week is a dream. There weren't that many on Tuesday night for the cup game, but you know what I mean don't you? My favourite thing to do is to try to entertain the fans. I love doing that and I kind of see that as my job.
"Obviously, you want to win games first and foremost, and the manager will always want me to do that as well. But hopefully, the way I play does help us. Playing football is what I love and I hope the fans can see that by how I play whether we win, lose or draw. I think every person in the stands as a kid would want to play for fun and that is what I do.
"But I am not oblivious to all the love from the fans. My family looks all the time and if I can build a relationship with them and take them where they want to go, then that would be beautiful."
It is certainly hard to disagree with Wilson's assessment of what he has brought to this Derby team since his move from Bristol City in the summer. Whether he has played as a wing-back, winger or a traditional full-back, the energy and drive to take players on is a natural instinct. That should come as no surprise given he played as a striker at an early age, but when he moved to West Brom they recognised his ball-carrying ability lent itself to playing in a wider role that brought with it defensive responsibilities.
He made such an impression that he was taken to Austria with the senior squad at just 16. The manager at the time, Tony Pulis, wanted him to learn the position of full-back, and at that stage it seemed that he was on course to being considered a long-term first-team prospect. But while he was on loan at Exeter City to help with his education, Pulis was sacked. Alan Pardew came in and, as is so often the case when there is a change in manager, there were ramifications to deal with.
"West Brom wanted me to be a centre-back at first because I was kind of big and I was good on the ball," he says. "But equally I was also really good at running with the ball too. They then put me into midfield until I was about 12 or 13 and then my mum and dad got pulled into the academy head office. They were told that they wanted to fast-track me into the first team at 16.
"At the time West Brom had players like Darren Fletcher, Claudio Yacob and some big midfielders but they didn't have a right back. They were like he's obviously good at dribbling, he can defend, can we put him there? I was fine with that if I could get to the first team, and a year-and-a-half later, I was on the plane to Austria at 16. Pulis told me that he wanted me to learn the position. so I was loaned out to Exeter at 17. While I was there he then got the sack.
"When I came back, everything had changed. It is pot-luck sometimes. Alan Pardew came in and I don't think he knew my name because I was out on loan. I came back in January and trained for a week but he was never going to call on me because he was fighting for his job in the Premier League. I then went back out on loan again because I don't like coasting. If I hadn't, I would have been in the stands."
Spells at Walsall and Tranmere followed before Wilson eventually left on a permanent move to Forest Green Rovers. There he would become an integral figure under Rob Edwards, now managing Luton in the Premier League, as they won promotion playing what WIlson describes as "total football".
He was voted League Two player of the year and made the team of the year too. It was enough to tempt Bristol City to move for him last summer when he signed a three-year deal. But he never made one start in the league at Ashton Gate, not helped by a knee problem that kept him out for several months. Wilson has no problems about his departure from City and instead feels that Derby may be the team to reap the benefits of his exit.
"Bristol City was a good club," says Wilson. "I had no problems with them. I basically joined with the intention of playing and being a right back in the Championship. But I got unlucky with a cartilage injury, which kept me on the sidelines for like three or four months. When I came back from injury and to be fair to the other lads, they had taken their chance. I fell down the pecking order and didn't even start a league game. I never had a chance and I just think it was just timing really.
"I was unlucky with the injury and for one reason or another Nigel Pearson just didn't take a fancy but that's football. Managers have to make a decision. They can't have three or four right-backs at one club. My face didn't really fit the picture and then they told me I could leave. When I joined them I was going there to be the number one right-back. I had just won player of the season in League Two and I just thought everything was rosy. In my head, I was looking at taking Bristol City to the Premier League.
"But I never want to sit around and not play so I really tried to push for Derby where they can hopefully be the beneficiaries. For me it's beautiful. I am back at home and the goal is to be with Derby in the Championship and then the Premier League. I know we are a long way off from that at the moment, but everything for me here is perfect.
"There is competition. It's a big club, it's a big squad and I really believe we can go up and the idea of being with Derby in the Championship was something I couldn't turn down. When I look around, it would be nice to be a Craig Forsyth kind of thing. He's had an unbelievable career. For me, he is the epitome. He's been here at Derby, a massive club, for 10 years. He's had his testimonial and everything. That's beautiful. He's seen the good times, the bad times. It's been a real journey. But come on, I am miles away from being the new Craig Forsyth but you have to aim for something. If I could have a career like him I would be happy."
Derby's head coach Paul Warne has lavished Wilson with praise for some of his performances this season, but he is yet to establish himself as a bona fide first-team player. You sense, however, it will not be long before he is one of the first names on the team sheet. He is a popular member of the squad and is part of a car school with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing when their music tastes can range from hip-hop to indie to house music. He accepts, however, that there are elements of his game that he needs to improve.
"The manager has been good with me," continues Wilson. "When I first joined, he was honest with me and just said you've come in later than everyone else but if you work hard, you'll get your chance. I got my head down and obviously, I'd had a year of not playing, so I wasn't match fit at all. For a few pre-season games I was blowing a little bit. He says that he sometimes falls out of love with me because sometimes I can be a bit sulky if I'm not playing.
"But he's good and always honest. And you have to bear in mind the competition here is really good. You've got Ryan Nyambe at full-back, you've got Joe Ward. If I'm playing winger, you've got Tom Barkhuizen and you've got Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. There are good players out wide and I'm probably the youngest out of all of them. I've got to kind of work double hard because I've got the experience ahead of me. I keep working hard and hopefully, I can break in there one day and be like a Derby player full-on.
"I know I need to improve the dirty side of the game, like heading, positioning and winning big tackles. But being here is honestly everything I could have dreamed of."
I’ve asked my parents to confirm the time the cortège will be at Pride Park. Will let you all know when I have the answer. As the funeral is at 11:00am, I would guess 10:20ish. The cars will stop outside the main entrance for a few minutes before setting off.
Thank you again to everyone for your kindness and love for Daniel. It’s been lovely getting to know people and even meeting a few in person. All the messages and laughs have really kept me going during this awful time ❤️🐏❤️
Except he was doing this week in, week out for our academy for a long while. He came into the first team and because he wasn't immediately doing it for us there, a section of the fan base were straight on his back.
Morgan is a lovely, quiet guy - he did a lot of voluntary work with DCCT for example. He was hurt by the boo boys and it took him a while to recover his confidence.
I hope he's a lesson learned for some of our brain dead fans, but I doubt it.
We had a choreographed goal celebration when Nigel was boss, it involved all the team sitting back for the rest of the match and not venturing past the half way line 😀
I have some very sad news this evening. Daniel (B4) died earlier this week. He was just 38.
As you know, he has been battling numerous health conditions for a long time, but always remained cheerful and was the most loyal supporter of his beloved Rams, home and away.
He was at the match at Crewe and gave his full support as always.
Daniel leaves behind a grieving dad, mum and sister. Our thoughts go out to them and we only hope they get a little comfort from knowing how well loved Daniel is by all who know him.
Here are a couple of photos that his dad agreed could be shared. I'm sure many of you have others, as Daniel loved a selfie at the game.
David is hoping to arrange a more fitting tribute in time, but for now please raise a glass in his memory and a good Derby win today. I am sure that's what Daniel would have been doing tonight.
I had a terrible case of the Brad Pitts after eating a dog burger outside Loftus Road.
The runs came on that evening when I went to a party thrown by a girl who owned a groovy flat in East London. When I rushed to the loo, I found out that one of the groovy things about the flat was that the bathroom didn't have a door, just a bead curtain. And there was a queue of girls outside the bead curtain.
So I ran downstairs and outside to find somewhere, anywhere. The car park in front of the block of flats was small and well lit. The only thing in it was a speedboat on a trailer.
And so I found my relief squatting in the small patch of darkness behind a speedboat, beside the Whitechapel Road.
It was a memorable evening.
There's a good selection of grub at derby nowadays,they are spread out amongst the separate buying areas however,so very easy to miss if you traditionally stick to your closest serving area.
Shame they don't just get a local baker like birds or Stacey's to do the food throughout the stadium tho,having some decent fresh cobs or sausage rolls etc would be great and good for the local economy.
I guess someone who has been promoted 3 times from this league doesn’t know how to get out of it. We are where we are because of people’s expectations and demands that we match the glory days of the 70’s. Buying player after player for inflated amounts to satisfy chairmen, fans and reach those expectations.
The news is we are starting again rebuilding the Club from its grass roots and it does take time. In 1967 when Brian Clough first came here, moving from 4th Diivision Hartlepools to 2nd Division Derby, his first season was underwhelming, we finished in a lower position ,18th, than the previous season. We didn’t start the next season that well and things only improved after we signed Willie Carlin. Not saying for a moment that Paul Warne is in Brian Clough’s league, but he needs and deserves time to achieve success.
Criticism of his work is fine, but the personal abuse he is subject to from some, both on X and here, goes beyond that.
I knew why Ed was off work because his colleagues said so, but I didn't post it on here because I knew what would follow.
Anyone should be able to do any job, without fear of personal abuse.
Slaapwekkend P reacted to Caerphilly Ram in Charlie Lindsay - Rangers - signed for u21s
