IslandExile

Might just me, this surprised me the most, that the player is usually the one to ask for it?
Wouldn’t it be nice for clubs to initiate the idea of a testimonial thanking the player for their service.
Glad he’s getting one though, need to sell Pride Park out for it, the gang will be back together again for 90 minutes….
Grant, Forsyth, Keogh, Hendrick, Hughes, Bryson, Johnson, Martin, Russell, Ward

After last year, that's shear bliss.

Following the success at FGR, Warne has the players in for some light training ahead of the MK Franchise game.

There were threads on here discussing the Business Plan, Season Tickets, Fozzy's testimonial and discussion about agents' fees. 
So some of it may be of interest to the people who were discussing those topics.
I was rather pleased when the statement was released about season tickets on the day of the meeting, answering all the questions I had asked. I'd like to claim credit for it, really, but I suspect that the Board might have been on it anyway! 😂

After last year, that's shear bliss.

I never sat down mate
i was in standing bit

He's behind you

 

He's behind you

 

Collins is on fire 🔥

Collins is on fire 🔥

I wouldn't  put money on James Chester scoring, let alone a hattrick tbh

Sibley: Am I in the team today boss?

Sibley: Am I in the team today boss?

Sibley: Am I in the team today boss?

I mean it's OK, but as usual over-egging a potential victory over the worst team/s in the league and pretending that people who don't aren't even happy to have won.
Reality be more like...
10% of posters:



80% of posters:

10% of posters:

Mismanaged - Lack of rotation in the squad, asking 30+ year old players to go all out of 90 minutes on a regular basis, playing midfielders at full back, playing a high line with a slow defence, trying to shoe horn players into his favoured 532 formation.
Squad ability - Many Championship clubs were after Smith, Hourihane and McGoldrick in the summer. Eevery summer, Knight, Bird and Sibley are linked with moves to Championship clubs. Cashin will be in high demand this summer. Wildsmith's performances would mean that Championship clubs would snap your hands off for him if he was out of contract. Mendez-Laing has one of the highest goal contributions from all wingers in the league.
Squad overall - Again, poor recruitment in January has led to the lack in depth. Players were out there and Warne either failed to convince them to come, or opted not to get them in. It was clear to everyone that we had to get a CF in, especially once Osula returned to Sheff Utd. Some were even calling for a signing before his departure. Warne's the man ultimately responsible for building the squad, and squad depth is a part of that regardless of the restrictions.
Sheff Weds - Circumstances led to Wildsmith not getting a chance to establish himself as first choice. It's easier to drop your academy graduate than an experienced player on more money. They also play with wing backs. Our games this season will show you than Mendez-Laing is not a wingback, nor does he want to play there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah we're glad to still have a club.
Yeah, yeah, yeah the squad was cobbled together in extremely difficult circumstances.
Yeah, yeah, yeah Warne has only had the one transfer window with no finances available.
Yeah, yeah, yeah he's a funny man who wears a bobble hat.
BUT...
He's been in charge now for long enough for us to get an idea of how he likes to play.
We can judge whether he's getting the best out of the players available to him.
Tactics? Team selection? Substitutions?
There are reports from reliable persons that he's not attending academy games. I find that disconcerting given that the 4 year contract was intended to let him build the ethos of the whole club, not just the first team.
So, how do you feel it's going so far?
If you don't like polls, simply move on, go and do something else. Is Love island on the TV?

Really nice summary of exactly how I feel. Thanks.

This is actually one of my biggest arguments against Warne (and likewise Pearson, Rowett and any other manager that needs to radically reshape the squad to achieve anything).  I think the only way we're ever going to have any kind of sustained success is by relying on the academy (and for a club like us, 'success' probably means getting into the Prem and staying there, I'm not talking about winning the league or anything).  We probably aren't ever going to be in a position where we can compete on money-terms, so we're going to have to develop our own players instead.  And that means taking the long-view about what kind of club you want to be, what kind of football you want to play etc.  There's no point having an academy full of technical midfielders and tricky wingers, if your first team manager is playing 352 and just run around a lot (or vice versa, of course).  You need the entire club pulling in the same direction, and that will never happen if you keep switching managerial styles, bearing in mind it takes like 5-10 years for a player to progress through the academy.
Mel Morris's "Derby Way" stuff was one of the few things he was right about, it's just a shame he seemed to have no clue how to make it actually happen.  We *should* be wanting to have half the team filled with academy players, and we should be actively trying to make that happen.
For clarity, I'm not saying a manager shouldn't be able to put his own spin on things, but you can't go lurching between Pearson, McClaren, Rowett, Lampard and expect any kind of consistency or long-term progress.  We should have some rough idea of how we want to play, and only appoint managers who are going to play something close to that style.  If we'd gone e.g. McClaren, Wassall, Lampard, Cocu, Rooney, Rosenior, we'd be in a much better position, as they all played roughly similar styles of football, in roughly similar formations.  And we wouldn't have had a guy paying £12m+ for Vydra and Anya, and then the next guy not really wanting to use either of them.

you seem nice 😳

Are those stats for Derby across the entire season or just for Derby under Warne? If it's the former and to state the obvious Rosenior's stint will likely have skewed the short pass % as higher & long ball % as lower than it currently is.
 
I'm in real conflict about this question. Instinctively I do not like sacking managers & believe the longer they get (particularly at lower levels), the more likely they are to succeed. This is primarily due to being able to get their 'type' of players & culture into the club but this theory also assumes that they are competent in the first place. I wasn't a fan of Rowett or Pearson's style of football either but still believed that both needed more time to deliver their ideas (accept Rowett walked but the club atmosphere was toxic by that point anyway)
On the flip side, I don't necessarily want the kind of athletes at Derby that Warne will need to make his style work & I also worry about the implications for the Academy as @IslandExile has highlighted. I don't enjoy Warne's style of football & there does seem to be some glaring flaws in his ability given the amount of times he has been out-thought by opposition managers in the second half of games. I also do not believe he is getting the maximum from this squad - ideally we want a manager who is able to get his team to out-perform expectations, not the reverse.
That said, I struggle with agitating for the removal of a manager hired by David Clowes - it's all too easy to gloss over our debt to him & therefore I want to give his pick the benefit of the doubt whilst still reasonably pointing out where Warne is falling short currently. 
I don't therefore think I'd be happy if he went at this stage but there needs to be some serious consideration within the club early May as to the long term implications of sticking with Warne. Until then I will support his team to the hilt at games & criticise on here when warranted.

As the Author of the poll, I can tell you what triggered me to post were the comments that I was seeing on the Academy Thread.
Every team hits dodgy patches of form - look at Manchester City and Liverpool. In our case, we narrowly escaped extinction. I think we only had five contracted players when Clowes and Rosenior managed to scrape together a squad, with no transfer fees and under spending constraints for wages, for this season. Warne was then brought in as manager - inheriting players not necessarily suited to his preferred style of play - and he has had only one transfer window BUT no money to spend. As I understand it, even selling players he would not be allowed to buy.
So, very definitely,  I can assure you that I am not trying to sustain any Anti-Warne sentiment on the basis of the difficult situation Warne has had to contend with or a - very understandable - dip in form. No, it's not that at all.
My concern is the bigger picture. The development, encouragement and fostering of the academy. The overall tactics and style of play if and when we get out of League One. That's what concerns me. It concerns me now as it did when he was appointed - and people warned then about tactics and non-use of the academy.
It's not just about where we finish in League One this season. Warne was brought in on a four year contract to build the whole club, not just to get us out of this division.
I hope that clarifies.
As an aside though: it's great that we have finally settled on a manager that you @Jourdan want to get behind 😉

Is no-one concerned that Warne doesn't appear to take an active interest in the academy?
See the Academy Thread.

Yeah, I guess there are many ways to "skin a cat". Maybe he is following the approach as you see it. I would advocate a more holistic approach - and drive change throughout the club, threads  in parallel - but maybe he doesn't think that's possible.
His predecessors, of which I know you had less faith, Cocu, Rooney and Rosenior, had the academy teams play in the same manner and formation as the first team so that it prepared the youngsters. I guess it could be argued that those managers had no choice but to make use of the academy - and it is certainly  fair to say the academy had a better crop of players to choose from than is available now - alas, thanks to Administration etc.
So, we will have to see how things pan out in the future.
I do think it's reasonable though to discuss whether we're happy with progress so far. Whether the signs are good. If you think it's still too early to judge, does that mean we shouldn't have even discussed Warne's merits at the time of the appointment? Of course not.
This is a forum, a discussion board, that's all we're doing.

As the Author of the poll, I can tell you what triggered me to post were the comments that I was seeing on the Academy Thread.
Every team hits dodgy patches of form - look at Manchester City and Liverpool. In our case, we narrowly escaped extinction. I think we only had five contracted players when Clowes and Rosenior managed to scrape together a squad, with no transfer fees and under spending constraints for wages, for this season. Warne was then brought in as manager - inheriting players not necessarily suited to his preferred style of play - and he has had only one transfer window BUT no money to spend. As I understand it, even selling players he would not be allowed to buy.
So, very definitely,  I can assure you that I am not trying to sustain any Anti-Warne sentiment on the basis of the difficult situation Warne has had to contend with or a - very understandable - dip in form. No, it's not that at all.
My concern is the bigger picture. The development, encouragement and fostering of the academy. The overall tactics and style of play if and when we get out of League One. That's what concerns me. It concerns me now as it did when he was appointed - and people warned then about tactics and non-use of the academy.
It's not just about where we finish in League One this season. Warne was brought in on a four year contract to build the whole club, not just to get us out of this division.
I hope that clarifies.
As an aside though: it's great that we have finally settled on a manager that you @Jourdan want to get behind 😉