IslandExile

Last year was a nightmare. The almost unthinkable nearly happened - we were so close to losing our beloved football club, founder members of the football league, champions under Clough and Mackay, FA cup winners after the war and European Cup semi-finalists.
David Clowes, a genuine fan with the means to do so, rescued the club at the last minute. He himself says it "was close".
Thanks to him, we have a club, our club.
We must learn the lessons of the past. We must not get into the same precarious mess ever again.
But....we can move on. We must move on. We should now look forward. We do not have to merely be content that the club is still in existence.
It's ok to demand more from the manager, the teams on the pitch (not just the first team but especially them).
We should demand exciting, entertaining football that gets results. It does not mean that we won't forever be grateful to David Clowes for saving the club.
It means we want Derby County to once again be a beacon for good football. Attacking football. Positive football. Entertaining football.
That means passing football, intricate moves, running with the ball, creating chances. It doesn't mean sitting back and hoping to score from a corner or a free kick.
I like Paul Warne, the man. But I don't like his tactics. I don't like his desire to play 3-5-2 with the players he has available, I don't like his use of players out of position or not giving the academy players a chance. I don't like the emphasis on set pieces rather than attacking play.
Yes, at least we still have a club.
But we are Derby County. The football should be, must be, ought to be better 🐏

31% possession and 119 passes compared to Bolton's 419. Guess I'm a toddler for wanting to compete in the third division.
Not sure why Warne supporters take it so personally when people point out how poor we are at the moment. Yes I'd rather we did well under Warne. But we're not. Yes I'd rather he turned it around in 2 weeks and proved me and his doubters wrong. I just don't see it happening. I'd be the happiest guy on the forum if he turns out to make a success of it. However, there's nothing about any game this season that's given me any hope at all.

When I saw Warne at Rotherham I thought fair enough, he has to play more ugly football due to his budget constraints and being a manager at a smaller stature club. I thought he hit a ceiling with them and did a good job. I was certain he would step it up with us. Bigger club, high expectations, intergrate his more pragmatic style with our tidy and technically solid football. A good fusion. In reality, his football is horrible to watch, his stubbornness and inability to evolve kick and lump it is starting to pee alot of supporters off. 
I've hardly seen any games home or away under his tenure where I've thought we have completely dominated matches. Even when we had that steady run of clean sheets, the matches were really drab and tedious affairs. We never really controlled the play, but the majority of opposition were mid to lower table crap which meant our defence barely had much to do. He has relied on individual brilliance (Dizzy and now Waghorn) to constantly bail him out. I look at all the good sides I've watched over the years and I think yes, we've had quality players head and shoulders above the rest of the squad at times, more importantly the team always stood out as a brilliant unit. Watching Paul Warne set out his team, I'm hoping for a piece of magic for 5 minutes to get us the 3 points every week. That is nowhere good enough, especially as we are one of the big teams in this division. 
His persistence to try and play wing backs is getting laughable. I'm depressingly admiring him for being so stubborn that he wants his precious 3 5 2 to work. It hasn't. Admit it. Every bleedin time he reverts to that system, we look even worse and our shape is a complete mess off the ball. I'll admit I have underestimated how many League One teams get the ball down and keep the ball well. We can't get near teams at times and it's a shambles. In my head we cannot get rid of him because he'll cost too much in compo and his long contract was given for a reason to stabilise the club. My DCFC heart says get rid of this chap, a manager completely out of his footballing depth. The media love him and bluntly, I do not care. Be a good football manager first then make me laugh 👍
Even though Rosenior had a horrid away record, at least I could see what he was trying to do. Possession football, dominating teams. We were battering some teams away from home, we just couldn't quite get it in the net. Over more time, averages say all them shots would have meant goals eventually. I could get behind the project as a supporter. I am reaching deep down to support Warneball. When I watch the team, we are all over the place with no clear plan other than an obsessive nature to cross the ball constantly with no build up play. Even if by some miracle we gain promotion, I'd have limited confidence in this manager to take us further. Where would we go in the Championship? Try and ping it 50 yards whilst all the teams pass rings around us. 
I'd sack this muppet tomorrow but he has to stay because we've committed to him. We've made that decision so the club needs to stick. A real shame.

Paul Warne, it's not me, it's you.
Tactically inept.

I actually feel sorry for Warne tonight. I didn’t see the game, but just watched a few highlights.
He is imo out of his comfort and ability zone, and I would happily see him go, but he had a bum steer today what with Cashin most likely not in the right frame of mind, Thommo (and some legs) not available to him in midfield, Rooney’s injury, Bradley (his big summer signing) making another poor mistake, having to play 45 minutes with 10 men, and a flukey deflected winning goal for Bolton.
That doesn’t though excuse a performance where as a team we only could put 200 passes together (120 successful), and one shot on target (presumably the penalty). There really must be a major flaw in his system, not just bad luck, that has contributed to todays result. We do have some very good League 1 standard players. They should be performing better.
That all said, If we had got a point today, it would have been a very good point.
David Clowes is unlikely to sack Warne yet; I think we must all know that. The international break has come at a good time for us, and Warne. Hopefully it will help some players recover from injury, Bird, Barkhuisen, Thommo and Sibley, and give some breathing space for Fornah, John-Jules and Embleton to settle into the squad. However, it will hopefully also be a period in which Warne (and his coaches) realise that they must be doing something a lot better with the set of players we have. We need to start playing more controlled football, not simply looking to gas-out the opposition. We really aren’t good enough to do that unless he wants to drop a lot of the older members of the squad. In the next 2 months, with the options he now or will have available, there has to be a discernible improvement in performance otherwise I think fan reaction will force Clowes’s hand.

Get him gone. The football is bad, the team can't do the basics and despite all the noise in pre-season about getting everyone fit the squad is already on life-support and looking shattered.
Warne and Derby are just not a good fit. He needs a different type of club,we need a different type of manager.

People can only judge what's in front of them. If it's rubbish then it will be judged accordingly.
To suggest people are enjoying this is just plain wrong.

With the rumours of Warne not wanting to include the academy and never watched a game in the academy, I don’t believe he’s the right fit for our club. 
 
The football is atrocious 

Cashin & Bird to sign long term contracts - with us.

Sorry IE, completely missed the gist. FWIW I agree.

Here's a radical new idea.....
Let's keep our best players.
We could even build a team around them.
Mind blowing, eh?

It's rare that I watch Pointless but in the final of an episode on the other week, they were asking for names of Danish footballers who've played in the Premier League.
My immediate answer... Mikkel Beck, and he would indeed have been a Pointless answer to go with being a pointless signing. I did think however that it might be the first time Mikkel Beck could ever have actually been any use to someone.
(Jacob Laursen would also have been a jackpot winning answer)
 

No question about the worst. Mikkel Beck, deadline day 1999. 
Was absolutely gutted when I heard we'd signed him. 
He didn't disappoint.

It’s i-Ram’s.
 
 
 

I think he got his squad number stitched into the seats, then Nigel gave him a different squad number to take the mick.

Yes he did but IIRC it was with a Merc and he had all the seats done out with black and white leather. I also seem to remember him picking a fan up on the way to Pride Park in it one matchday, maybe even someone on this forum.

Look, it's hilarious that forest lost, but it's a league cup match and they won't be up against that quality week in week out. Rest of the time they'll be up against much better teams.

Well this is message t is the fans currently over 2k going let's get all of upper stand sold out. Let's make even louder than it was on saturday. A sea of black and white let's invade Bolton on Saturday lets help the Lads claim on top table and stay there.

George we’re a bit skint.
I’m afraid we’re going to have to send you a backdated medical bill 😊

In my opinion, we should have a separate thread about opinions and the opinionated.
Keep this one clear for news of Eiran Cashin 😬

In my opinion, we should have a separate thread about opinions and the opinionated.
Keep this one clear for news of Eiran Cashin 😬

Which is why you extend the contracts of the players you do want to build the team around. Cashin, Bird, Thompson and Sibley should be central to our long term plan.
At the moment, this is the best team would we could field next season:
Vickers
Rooney   Bradley   Nelson
Wilson   Fornah   Radcliffe   Elder
Ward   Washington   DBrown

I agree, but for a short while I think we are going to have to be beggars. In two or three years hopefully we might reach chooser status again.

Here's a radical new idea.....
Let's keep our best players.
We could even build a team around them.
Mind blowing, eh?