Neil Warnock used 2 songs from "White Christmas" for his unfinished operatic version of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", which is based on his attempts to reach Derby during a terrible blizzard.
Derby fans sometimes sing White Christmas when winning away in late October. That song was then used in the film of the same name, becoming universally well known soon after.
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 know I'm new around here, but nevertheless I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! And to B4's family and friends, and anyone who is missing someone special this Christmas, I hope the precious memories of your loved ones will bring you some comfort.
Merry christmas to you as well Dawnie. The forum is more fun with you around and I hope santa brings you something nice
<maybe even get yourself a bargain>
https://www.dcfcmegastore.co.uk
Consult the B4 manual.
A. Buy them tickets for Christmas and take them with you.
B. Don’t listen to the calls and go on your own.
C. Tell them you’re just nipping to the shop and then go.
xG has many uses. You can't see it with your eyes, or hold it in your hands, but like the wind it covers our land, strong enough to rule the heart of any man.
Powerful stuff.
It seems to me, we, the crowd, are kind of judging each game as we don't yet trust them to blow teams away. As a result the atmosphere is tense rather than arrogant. I'm not blaming us fans I'm just saying the players as yet haven't got the unquestioning belief of the fans. If that happens the whole mood will change, players will relax and the better times will role.
Bloke is the top scorer for the third placed team and has scored double the number of goals that a striker our fans were creaming over has scored this season.
Fornah is a good young player who’s willing to try things. He’ll lose the ball because he’s trying to move it forwards. Bird has more experience and is better at this currently but losing the ball trying to progress it isn’t the worst crime in the world. Can’t have 3 Hourihanes all holding hands with the centre backs.
For someone who 'does not have the instinct of a goalscorer' he's not doing too badly with not far short of 200 in his career so far. Jordan Rhodes is often mentioned as a 'natural goalscorer' yet has only scored 30 more having played a similar number of career games.
You've recently suggested Michael Smith or Lukas Jutkiewicz as better alternatives to Collins yet their goals per game records are significantly poorer. It's obvious you have a downer on the guy yet the stats don't appear to confirm your opinion about his goalscoring ability.
I have no problems at all it you having your views and opinions, just as I have mine - that’s what the world is about thank goodness. What I do hate are comments like “and it is down to the way the team are being asked, nay told to play - out wide, cross it”. You do not know how they have been told to play, you are purely guessing based on your bias and non-objectivity. Our poor performance in the 1st half, I think, was down to out inability to pass the ball with quality, control the football properly, people not moving to receive the ball and therefore getting tackled. The opposition, as another poster remarked, packed midfield and made space at a premium. An obvious answer is to try and attack down the wings. Unfortunately our passing and crossing when we got the chance was of poor quality.
Again, my opinion - not fact, I think Ward was shown an example of, by being substituted at half time, in a like for like change. Wilson struggled early on, but currently has more confidence to keep taking player on (than Ward) and this made a difference. Two of our goals came from crosses into the box, the first and second goals. I also don’t like the balance in midfield wher we tend to be too open. I personally would like to see Fornah as the defensive midfielder, as he is more mobile and can win the ball. Hourahan could possibly then link up by playing in the middle. I think Bird has done ok in the advance position and has been involved in some lovely passing movements which have lead to goals a month or two back. But the balance isn’t right and I am not sure we currently have the players to get it right.
In summary, I have opinions but I do not spout them as being factually correct. You may be right that Warne tells them not to pass to midfielders, only to wingers or whack it down the field, but I am sure that is not the case. He seems as frustrated as the fans that we are not playing better. I think Warne gets a bad press on here, when I think the players have to take a lot more responsibility for their performances.
Was thinking this myself.
Do it for us all derby DO IT FOR B4!!
Get back in the championship 💪
Didn't no him personally but after the match yesterday found myself thinking of him amazing really
Someone alluded to this in last nights match thread and I think they're spot on. It's no coincidence that his passing has coincided with the unbeaten run we're on.
He's definitely having some influence from above. I wouldn't be surprised if he's convinced the good Lord to allow him to paint the pearly gates black and white. Keep up the good work B4.
Of course, as the initial poster said, @B4’s Sister starting the match day threads is also having a big influence too.
I've only just twigged B4 was the same age as me and it's really hit me. Amazing how many people he influenced in his all too short time. Definitely puts things in perspective and makes me want to look on the bright side much more often and be less of a grumpy sod! Rams are doing you proud lad.
archram reacted to Elwood P Dowd in White Christmas film and the Rams link??
