Duracell

Balotelli was born in the wrong era. When players were less fit, the game was slower and the pitches were terrible, raw natural talent got you a lot further and the game would have masked his shortcomings. Similar story with Taraabt - offered nowhere near enough of the ball to become an elite player.

10 hours ago, Ramifications said:

I think Plange is excellent at keeping possession and holding up the ball. 

This is so so important. With Plange and CKR we can now rotate two players who can bring other players into play. 

14 minutes ago, ThePrisoner said:

Had a feeling Masi wouldn't come out of this unscatched but surprised it took so long to happen. Maybe waited until they knew who they wanted in to replace him. Hopefully it brings back some of the sporting element over "entertainment first" that we saw during 2021.

They timed the announcement it to the exact same minute as Ferrari’s launch, which is of course the biggest. FIA were only waiting for the best time to bury it imo.

Masi out, Wittich and Freitas in. Freitas was my suggestion before - incredibly faultless race director of the WEC, including Le Mans. Can’t recall him ever making a mistake - and that’s easier to do in a 24 hour race across an 8 mile circuit with 65 cars than it is a single GP.

New Ferrari looks incredible, and also very different to the other cars - which means it will go like hell or be the slowest car on the grid…

"Got hurt"

Not long until we can be knocked out of the Papa John's Trophy by a U23 Premier League side made up entirely of players who used to be on our books.

Just now, angieram said:

What's with all these insults about Steve Cooper's appearance? 

Yeah, really ridiculous that and makes us look really small time. Forest give us so much material we can rip them for without having to stoop to that.

I think today’s selection was a miscalculation - made sense against a back 3, but Cooper is too astute to play the wrong formation for long.

How Samba was on the pitch at the end of the match is a mystery - should’ve been subbed OR sent off, take you pick. Can’t believe we got rattled by a concussed mummy.
 

Injury time was a joke, the ball was barely in play. I’d want us to do the same but I’d expect the referee to be on our case more than he was on Forest.

We move on. We have much bigger issues to deal with, and a win today wouldn’t have changed that.

This has been a masterclass in taking the sting out of a game from both the Forest players and the referee. 

Lawrence sticks it right past Samba’s lump. 

Both teams getting a bit weird now. There’s another goal in this - it’s going to finish 2-0 or 1-1.

Can’t believe he’s back on.

Just now, Ghost of Clough said:

No chance Samba is coming out in the 2nd half

Why keep him on for those few minutes? I’m no medical expert, but I definitely know enough about the human body to know his head definitely shouldn’t look like that. 

Even forgetting his welfare, would you really want a keeper in that state facing a shot from Tom Lawrence?

Only going to be harder to score past Samba with that bump, sheesh

If Davis hadn’t dived, he’d have been fouled hahahahah

Just now, Carl Sagan said:

. Just come on here and seen people saying it should be 1-1. 

To be fair, I don’t think that anyone else has said that other than this idiot here. Forest player had more time - I guess it’s fairer to say it could be 1-1, but we should definitely have scored.

The occasion seems to be getting the better of Thompson a little bit. 

Forest’s tactical switch seems to have answered the questions we were asking them.

1 minute ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Pretty even and pretty dull so far.

 

Though it’s been dull, should be 1-1. Weirdly, both teams are actually trying to play. Needs a Proper Football Tackle to wake this up a bit. This match resembles a football match waaaaaaayyy too much.

Throughout this crisis, Derby fans have never lost their sense of humour. Even more encouraging to discover that Forest fans still haven’t found theirs.

I think this is about as bleak as it can get, because everyone has now dug their heels in. It's a stalemate. And that is the last thing you need with the clock ticking...

What makes no sense is that so long as Wycombe and Boro are pursuing this as a football debt, they are guaranteed no money. This will bury us and you can't sue a liquidate club.

With that in mind, how can you come to any conclusion other than that they are trying to have us liquidated?

1 hour ago, Asanovic70 said:

Got involved in a spat with a self-righteous Middlesbrough fan online, who adopted the moral high-ground. OK, Mel definitely broke rules

I think you can just stop there.

I remember the sucker punch of the 2014 playoff final. It hurt not just because of what happened in the 90 minutes, or Keogh's mistake, or Zamora's finish, but because we were a sensibly-run club living within our means against a team of over-paid and over-priced players clearly there to pick up a pay packet. It really, truly felt like the 'wrong' team won, and QPR were effectively rewarded for cheating.

At no point did I ever want QPR to be liquidated, threatened with expulsion, or relegated to the third tier. My gripe was never with QPR fans, and for the crimes of Tony Fernandes, I wouldn't want a community to lose its club, Loftus Road to become derelict, or see 140 years of history turn to dust just because of the immorality of a handful of board members who happened to be at the club at the time.

It's not worth engaging with any Boro or Wycombe fan who cannot see that; those that want the scene of the crime punished rather than the criminals themselves aren't true football fans. They are prepared for an entire community to suffer as the fall guys and girls just to make themselves feel better about their own club's shortcomings. There is nothing you can do or say to change their mind, it's already made up.

2 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

HELP!

I've just read the EFL statement from last night, From an old mans perspective, It looks like the EFL are slightly back tracking on the War with us, It looks to me that those in power at the EFL might have bitten off more they can chew.

Can I be hopefull or just bluster from them?

I don't think the EFL board is intelligent or competent enough to think at anything like this level.

I think they're so out of touch, they won't really grasp the severity of the situation until it's too late. 

There is absolutely no urgency at all. The statement we needed was one of clarity, the sort that would buy us every single second to get a takeover done, which would keep a founder member alive, a community with its heart still beating and also a chance that our creditors will actually be paid.

We got none of that. What we got only muddied the waters further. I think the EFL genuinely believe they were helping the situation with that statement, which is, in some ways, an even scarier prospect than the narrative that they are sinisterly plotting against us.

3.5 years?? I can't believe that Jordon Ibe's career will last longer than Derby County Football Club.