ck-

Poor ref there. We had advantage

Can’t complain about that, but the rest of the performance has been disappointing. Just making poor passes time after time

No. Colour looks a bit off. I thought they were playing in pink when they lined up.

Was just about to post that. Nicking the ball, getting into space, then just dreadful passes.

Been a little disappointed in Bird after his fantastic last couple of weeks. A bit of his quality on the ball is needed to settle our midfield. We’re second to everything. Adams similarly playing below the standard of the last few games. For all Barnsley’s possession, they’ve not really created much.

Just seen their kit. B4 has got this for us.

I think I understand, but enlighten me if you can. My understanding is that the xG is derived from considering the outcome of similar situations. The model is built from as many instances as possible. What isn’t clear is whether it’s calibrated according to: - the skill level of the player shooting - the skill level of the league the match is in The first one in particular surely means that we should expect to do better than xG because we should have better players than the average - otherwise how are we near the top of the table. I’m genuinely interested, not trying any silly point scoring.

Interesting research here: https://www.football-stadiums.co.uk/articles/first-ever-football-matches/ The first two to kick off were: Stoke vs West Brom Wolves vs Villa West Brom finished before us and won 2:0 giving them an infinite goal average. So we wouldn’t have been top at any point.

Ah yes - I think I’ve heard that one.

I think Preston were top after that first game weren’t they? Goal average was used for the first few seasons, so their 5:2 win gave them a goal average of 2.5 whereas our 6-3 win gave us a goal average of 2.

Maybe bulk up isn’t the right phrase. Learn to position himself better so as to not be wrestled off the ball.

I like Sibley but I think there are things he needs to learn: Control the ball better. His first time control is poor. That’s learnable. Shield the ball better. That also learnable. Explosive pace into space. Probably not learnable, but the other two might mitigate it. It may also improve as he gains a little strength. I also think he’s quite physically immature - he still looks like a boy rather than a man. As he’s still only 22, he has time to bulk up a bit. It will then take him time to adjust to that - I recall something similar with Bird a couple of seasons back. Taking all that together, I still think there’s time for him to develop. We need to forget about him having been around the team for ages and think of him as a young player just getting his first chance. Encourage the heck out of him, forgive his mistakes, and accept that it will be a while yet before he reaches his potential.

Given one of my criticisms of Sibley (I like him by the way) I’m not totally convinced he wasn’t trying to control it. … but the avoidance of doubt, that’s supposed to be a joke, but seriously it is an area I think he needs work on. If he could control it quicker and shield it better, we’d have a heck of a player.

He expected to go to one 🤣

Pay the same way regardless of how the game’s going: no plan B Change the game to match the circumstances: doesn’t know his best formation. He can’t win can he? I took a long time to warm to Warne - I didn’t really like the David Brent like aspects of his interviews. But that seems to be happening less, and his interviews now are interesting to listen to with some real insight. What I especially like is that he has fostered a never say die attitude amongst the players, and we seem to have a character that I’ve not seen in Derby teams for a while. We are able to recover from setbacks in a way that we haven’t in previous seasons. Lose a game? Pick ourselves up and win the next. Come up against a team of thugs? Stand toe to toe and then bring out the flash of skill to take the win It’s not always pretty but I can usually find something to enjoy in a game.

Because it depends on whether it’s bruising, a partial ligament tear, or a full ligament tear. You’d expect a full tear to be possible to diagnose via the amount of movement in the joint, but swelling can mask that. i speak from personal experience of having had PCL partial tear, ACL partial tear, medial ligament partial tear, full ACL tear requiring reconstruction. In each case, only a scan or an arthroscopy could truly determine the extent of the damage.

Shots on target: them 2 us 6

Was beautiful wasn’t it? Clear shot on goal open to Exeter and then suddenly Adams comes sliding into view.

Barkhuizen can’t finish. We just play hoofball. We can’t play it through the middle. I love sarcasm

You beat me to it!

But that is something new isn’t it? He’s played well in a home game in front of a large crowd. He’s played well for a second game as opposed to being the second coming of Bob Malcolm who looked world class on his debut and … not quite world class thereafter. We confirmed that he’s still not match fit for 90 minutes so we need a plan for that.

Genuine question as I seem to have lost my understanding of what counts as offside with all the “interfering with play” considerations. But who was offside? The ball was played backwards to the player who scored so it’s not him. They had a player on the line, but he was behind Wildsmith so not obstructing him. Pretty much in the same way that Hourihane was for our goal.

It’s amusing how the posters on here regularly accusing the players (the ones who’ve got us firmly in the play off spots) of being bottlers are the very same ones who can’t handle a single bad result without screeching histrionics.

I’m not sure Heelium would be strong enough

I like it when I’m wrong and the right answer is better! Cheers 🍻