48 hours

This is message to derby players look just go there and play the football you were a few weeks ago let's see that free flowing football again. You got over 3k following black and white army following you.

Just comes across as a nice guy doesn’t he? One of those where if he’s your neighbour would take your bin out in the morning if you forgot.

Speaking of feeling uncomfortable... I now have an image in my head that cannot be shaken out!
Having said that, that white satin thong is sooo you!  🤓 
 
 

Think he is different to what I and probably many expected but I think it’s a big call to say someone with 16 goals / assists doesn’t warrant a starting position. Highest contributing central midfielder in the league, with Adam Phillips and Barry Bannan next with 13. He would basically have to be a complete and utter liability defensively to not justify a starting spot, which he isn’t. 
Goals and assists not everything I know but the other of our more advanced regular starting central midfielders has 5 which is one behind one of Burton Albion’s centre backs. I like Knight a lot but you leave a lot of productivity behind if you start thinking about taking out Hourihane.

I'm a Warne fan and but he got it horribly wrong on Saturday and chickened out of putting it right until too late.
Very much had the Wembley Way feeling when I saw the line-up and who was on the bench.
Curtis has too much credit in the bank to be criticised - the question is whether he should now be picked and, if he does get picked, how it affects the play. It appears that if Curtis plays, there is a no passing through midfield policy applied so we go wide and/or long. Who do you pick to get on the end of lumpball.......a striker who wins headers and can hold it up (DM) or one who doesn't (JC)?
Bird didn't touch the ball for 20 mins and Hourihane had scraps.
My wife asked for a prediction pre-match and I said Springett would get hooked after 60 mins having contributed nothing. Springett should be nowhere near our first 11. It's not his fault he's picked but we essentially started with 10 players and elected to play with about 6 of them.
The coaches were deliberating making changes from about 25 mins and jibbed until 43 mins - should have been before their second goal. Hourihane is one of our best players - if we choose to involve him in the game. Didn't deserve hooking IMO.
Yes, some other players had stinkers but this was Warne's fault. I hope he shares the blame after he's had time to reflect rather than losing the dressing room......where he now has some bridges to build.
Pick the right team and involve the better players in the play and play-offs aren't a problem. COYR

Barnsley. We lost that because we gifted them 3 goals. 10 shots each on the day. 5 each on target. Never a 4-1 game.
Fleetwood? They had a game plan that worked well for them, exploiting our frailer areas. PW reacted late, IMO. Changes should have come earlier than 44 minutes. He needs to find the middle ground between what he wants and some control of the ball. I'm not advocating going back to  the slow, slow, slower, slower, slow of Clement or Cocu or the not quite so slow under Rooney/Rosenior but it's not the one or the other. There's a time for playing through the thirds with control, there's a time for hitting the wings and getting crosses in and there's a time for the long ball over the top. Seems to me that we've spent much of the past few seasons utilising a single tactic rather than using footballing sense and playing the right tactic at the right time in a game. Top teams do it, we seem not to.

Some fat old blokes started fighting each other in the West Stand behind me and that was the most entertaining part of the game

Bloody hell, thats even one less than the North Stand ballboy...

I didn't say we need to sack him Jimbo and nowhere have I said or even suggested that. However, I do find this patch of form very worrying. We're shipping goals left and right, don't seem to really have much of a plan once we go behind and our style of play has dissolved into getting the ball into wide areas and lumping it in. Our record against the top half should be a big concern to all of us. It indicates that if a half-decent team sets their stall out, then we really struggle to beat them. I don't think this is purely a matter of squad depth but a bigger issue around tactics and style of play that we suffer from.

Grandson took this after the game.

I know he's there to "pass" into the net, but that stat is shocking. Three passes completed in 90 minutes on the pitch.
We really need to slow down this 100mph galloping around and get some control back into our game.
 

Really like this initiative so made our way over to the hub before the game on Saturday to buy £20 worth. Lovely guy at the door who spent 10 minutes telling me all about his struggles with his mental health and how much the community trust had helped him. Said he would never have been able to talk to fellow fans without the confidence he had gained through them and had learned how to help others which in turn helped him. Nervous as hell but he wanted to do his bit to repay them. Makes you realise just what a positive effect any form of community outreach can have and what a strong brand dcfc is. Loved hearing his story and all he told me about the various things the club do to support in areas I wasn't aware of. Whoever you were you are a truly inspiring man. Keep up the great work. 

Wildsmith
           Rooney   Cashin   Forsyth   Roberts
                           Smith      Bird
                              Hourihane
            Barkhuizen      McG     Dobbin
 
Subs - Sibley. Thompson, NML, Collins, White, Springett, McGee.
A bit like the Battle of Britain - All 18 fighters are airborne we have no more !!!
Davies, Stearman & Chesters congrats on great careers.
Need more 'bite' in midfield.  ( oh for a Shinnie type).
  

One defender, Ronnie Edwards, called up to England Under 20s squad. Made 32 appearances this season.

Some slating Hourihane is laughable IMO
If we wanted players who will run through brick walls and have constant energy like Knight for example we would not have signed Hourihane at all
He has scored some good goals and assisted quite a few as well so guess what ? if you take him out I don't think it would help.... He has never been a marauding CM and has value on the pitch for me as long as the other mids balance it out
To say he is one of the worst signings ever is a joke quite frankly....Mikkel Beck , Bob Malcolm , Derek Hales , Claude Davis , there's plenty of players deserved of that title and Hourihane is not one of them 
 

Every few months we seem to make it onto here, one of my favourite twitter pages.
Anyway as someone who has to console themselves with a chicken tikka pukka pie sometimes at PP as I’ve not had chance to eat in town, where in the bloody heck is someone getting these from? Last time we were on was for a Christmas dinner in a tub from inside the stadium! 

I have not commented on  this forum in years as I have not really had the need but recently I have started to have serious concerns about certain aspects of Warne’s management that he needs to work on , let alone the players.
Firstly it has been quite obvious that Curtis’ legs have gone. Much as I love the guy it was sad to see him look totally lost,  I know that PW said they had a bad day at the training office but it must be obvious that CD is struggling. it must be so easy to see in training, so why play him?
Tactically it could have been altered within the first 15 by bringing Roberts on. Fossie also looks slow on the left and it then exposed Cashin, who then started to wobble as he was not sure who was around him. A good manager doesn’t soldier on, he affects changes. Too much dwelling and no incisiveness. If I and those all around me can see the issue, then why can’t the paid professionals?
Because he didn’t make immediate changes the result was destabilising team morale by changing two players two minutes before half time, that were symptoms of the issue but not the cause.
My major concern is that we underestimate the opposition, as most of the lesser teams are physically aggressive, crunch up the mid-field and do a press on the back four, although the press was not massively evident yesterday. We are predictable and easy to play, opponents stop our game and then we fall into midfield head tennis and channel balls invariably going nowhere. We need to learn how to counter this if we are to progress but i do not see much evidence of this on the field. PW must work on this, along with the development of further strategic planning in the event that a team does A, then changes to plan B and so on; which has been evident from the opposition in many recent games. 

One thing that is clearly evident from this league, is that there is a good set of opposition coaches that use quite a lot of guile and gamesmanship to get results. Just running faster is not the answer, we need to be developing other dimensions to our play and taking note of what to expect.
 
 

Wildsmith       5.5   Could have done better on the second goal
Smith              3.5    Errant passes, usual poor standard of crosses, fell over when challenged, fell over when not challenged, improved a bit second half (presumably as he sobered up) but that was clearing the lowest of bars
Davies            5   Father Time appears to have caught up with the wonderful Curtis. Part of a shocking defence until replaced at HT but did manage a key tackle and several headed clearances. Also had to operate between Smith and Cashin which can't have been easy yesterday
Roberts           7     MOTM for me. Was positive every time he received possession and seems to enjoy working with Dobbin down the left. Must start at LB
Cashin         3.5    Never shirked from taking responsibility but had a shocker. Remains a fine prospect and fan favourite but maybe time for a breather?
Forsyth      5      Better when playing at CB these days. Not the 300th appearance he would have hoped for as nothing he tried from LB was as good as Roberts managed
Bird          5.5     Not match fit but 90 mins would help towards that. The lad can pass but we seem to bypass midfield too often which will always affect his influence on a game. Largely anonymous.
Hourihane     5     Playing optimistic hoofs forward surely isn't Hourihane's game. Like Bird, wasted in the more direct way of playing we seem to have adopted. Should have influenced the game like Fleetwood's #16 did. Neither Bird or Hourihane appeared to be in the right area to pick up second balls either
McGoldrick     5.5     Always made himself available but nothing really came off. Has to start if fit
Mendez-Laing     5     Lacking the explosiveness of earlier season and another who could benefit from a break. May be injured anyway now
Dobbin       7     Only player apart from Roberts to provide a spark and hopefully that will be our first choice left flank from now on. Could he operate as a #9? (see entry on Collins)
Sibley        6     A little unlucky to be subbed after reasonable first half by comparison to his teammates. Plenty of challenging but little end product when in possession. Could he operate as a #9? (see entry on Collins)
Barkhuizen     6   More involved than NML but better on left side of attack. Could he operate as a #9? (see entry on Collins)
Springett     2.5     I've never given as low a mark before but not sure how low is too low. Tried to beat his man a couple of times but couldn't, never won an aerial challenge, operated on a different radio frequency to Forsyth as they tried to develop an understanding and hit a couple of crosses straight at the defender at no more than waist height. Performance summed up by him given a rare opportunity to run at his opponent and playing his first touch out for a throw in. The young lad just put his head in his hands. As did thousands of us. A genuine Nick Pickering of a performance. He'd looked alright up until now so have a break and go again Antonio. We are all with you
Knight     4.5    10/10 for energy levels, 2/10 for poise, weight of touch, passing accuracy etc. Personally, I'd put him back at RB and shake up the midfield
Collins     4   What kind of striker is he? He never seems to find space in the box when a cross comes in. Sometimes he hasn't even found the box when a cross comes in. He lacks the control to play as a hold-up man bringing others into the play. He hasn't the pace to play on the shoulder and race on to through balls looking for a one-on-one with the keeper. He's great at giving away fouls in all areas of the pitch and also at berating officials. The only area he matched Stockley of Fleetwood yesterday was in the reckless swinging of arms when challenging (both landed at least one nasty one on an opponent that could have seen red). Just a waste of a shirt imo and I'd rather see Cybulski given a go ahead of him if nobody other than Didzy can operate up top. 
 
Thank you. That was rather cathartic. 

Most fans can tell exactly where we are going to pass  the ball before the hoof. If we can, the opposition certainly can and can equip themselves to deal with it. They deal with it oh so simply. Press the full backs and and make the game physical when we have got it. We have no answer. The games we look good in, the opposition haven’t done that. Compare the two halves against Plymouth.. 
Warne keeps saying we need to turn teams quickly and get crosses in as fast as possible. When the opposition is on us, that is hoofballl and passes to nobody and the ball constantly coming back. It’s depressing watching, especially when the opposition still manage to string 5/6 passes together in a controlled manner after their press. Our midfield is never going to win head tennis and second balls, especially if they are outnumbered from the start. 

My random thoughts on yesterday:-
Worst home performance since Scunthorpe in the Nigel Clough years for me.
Starting team selection was wrong.
The substitutions 2 minutes before half time humiliating for the players taken off.
Davies cannot be starting matches anymore.
Cashin is having a really rough patch and its culminating in us conceding 2 or more goals on a regular basis now.
Bird didn't look back up to speed.
First 4 substitutions didnt have much impact.
Dobbin looked like he might make something happen.
The difference between our target man and their target man was night and day.

Our next game is against you but got to wait two weeks because of international soccer before it.  Damn nuisance as we're really hitting targets now and don't need no break under such momentum.     I'm kind of perplexed by County's erratic form in the last few weeks. Obviously we'll be looking to take you out such is our position on the verge of an automatic promotion.      Your team appears to be struggling, it's a shame we got you next up as our own team is looking real promising right now.     It would be churlish to predict a Town victory in front of your own fans but I got so much confidence in our abilities right now.     The league status doesn't lie but other than Sheffield I feel we probably are the best team this division can offer right now.    
I understand defeat in this league, it's no fun being beaten like today particularly a recognized name more established than most others but you got to ask yourself how much do you really want it.     Our success comes from a reliable array of attackers, a goalkeeper that has been arguably one of the league's finest and a manager who knows what he wants and how to get it.    Add to that a certain momentum and belief that a number of other squads seem to lack.     I think the international interim will suit County better, had you played us at the regular schedule I'd be real confident of taking a result from it.       

Dissapointing to say the least,  we need to get back to some sort of form and hopefully take it into the playoffs if we make them
I do understand Warne's comments and he said they'll watch it back 
What i do think is wrong though , is the fact when we are up against it like when we went 0-2 down , our play becomes a bit desperate 
The amount of aimless crosses or attempts to cross when sometimes you just have to get the ball down and play it on the ground and move the opposition about creating spaces
We do have players who can do this but the biggest dissapointment for me is that time and time again we resort to what I'd call hit and hope football.
Yes the players lost out and didn't show enough commitment and desire to be first to the ball and cover the yards to close spaces but we surely can't be relying on pure effort and desire alone ?
Tactically I think we are quite poor especially against the better sides in this division where you need a bit of guile as well as effort 
Some criticised Rosenior's style of play and my comment is not meant as a comparison or a who's style was better etc etc but sometimes surely we have to change what we are doing and think of different ways to open teams up and move the opposition around.
It does seem as some have already alluded to that we seem to have one option of how to play and we kinda stick with that and now and again show we can pass it around and play slightly differently but its only in short spells then we go back to plan A
I'm not against PW and of course I really want him to succeed and I do like his methods of team bonding and the togetherness he has brought but..... in games where it is not going so well we do need the manager and or coaches to be able to change and tweak certain things and i don't mean just formation changes but changes in how and what we do 
What I am finding really frustating  after watching us today where we really didn't look like scoring is  the aimless crosses and attacking play then continue to do whats not working , in the hope it will work , rather than altering it .
yes good players who can keep a ball are capable of of going long of course they are and if its working and  thats the plan then great, but to continue to play those aimless crosses when they have the ability to play more possesion football or up the tempo or overload certain areas of the pitch should be an alternative and I don't see much alternative
COYR and Warney and coaches we are better than losing at home to Fleetwood !! lets not ignore other capabilities in our squad 
 

I usually sulk for a day or two after losing, not being able to find positives when it’s just all gone wrong as it did today, I kind of find a quiet corner to lick wounds. 
 
Oddly I don’t feel so bad. You get games like this. No manager or team is perfect and .. there are 11 players on the opposing side that have every right to stand up for themselves 
Right then. Back line selection didn’t work. Curtis, knight of a player he is, was rusty as hell and I think the legs might have gone. Smithy made more errors in the first 30 minutes than he’s made all season. It got scrappy, hoof ball, head tennis, no retention of possession, no cutting edge, I’ve been a Collins supporter but wherever his poachers instinct came from in times past, it’s gone the same way as his touch, pace and energy - vanished in to the ether. Honest he maybe but he was adrift for so much of the game it was painful. NML wasn’t much better. Horrible first half especially as in the first 5/10 mins it looked like Fleetwood had little to offer. Second half … tried a bit harder changes to shape and people / positions helped but we didn’t do more than match them.
Fleetwood on the other hand deserved their win. It wasn’t all rough tough stuff, even though they are big hairy sods. they played some good football at times. 
I wanted to hate their No 9 .. he was an ugly beast, a bully and no sportsman. Yet if he’d been ours we’d be saying he was a battler who made life difficult and did his job.
Ref did well. Fussy about throw ins, but I’m glad he was .. it’s a 90  minute Pee take robbing 10/15 yards as a minimum so well done him for applying the laws. He missed a couple of failed strangulation attempts but on the whole ran the game with authority and even handed decisions. 

going to bed .. hope they sort it for Peterborough or it might get a bit messy, but even if it does I just have to say  I don’t do booing. Pointless … a bit like today really