Leeds Ram

We thought we had the League 1 Guardiola 
Turns out we got Phil Brown in disguise 
 Bradley and Nelson at the back
He’s going to get the sack
Paul Warne’s brand of football hurts my eyes
 
I have been singing that this morning. Unfortunately gallows humour has not lifted my spirit.
 
I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth.

that collapse was largely the result of an injury crisis that battered our squad tbf

I think this is important. I'd also say, as fans not only have we been starved of success but we've had such a difficult few years I think we're just crying out for something to shout about. Last night, I didn't even have the energy to boo them off the pitch or shout as usual. I was simply resigned to this is what we should expect. 

I think this is important. I'd also say, as fans not only have we been starved of success but we've had such a difficult few years I think we're just crying out for something to shout about. Last night, I didn't even have the energy to boo them off the pitch or shout as usual. I was simply resigned to this is what we should expect. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

The reason I left early from the Newcastle game all those years ago was that I was working in financial services on commission based sales, so if I didn’t do my job I didn’t get paid, and was watching a bunch of millionaires or soon to be millionaires getting paid a fortune for not performing.
That sentiment wasn’t lost on me last night - we can only pay new players £4000 a week, but that equates to £208,000 a year. And many are on way more than that. We are watching millionaires and soon to be millionaires (in Division 3, remember) being paid more in a fortnight than I was earning in a year, and that for working 60 hours a week!
So while many of us are bricking ourselves about the still ongoing cost of living crisis, the Derby players and management are swanning around without a care in the world. So people criticising fans who boo the team need to think again. We are the best supported team in the midlands, and outdo many Premiership clubs, and we have stuck by the club through its darkest days, of which there have been many. So booing isn’t a sign of lack of support. It is saying it how it is, it is demanding that the players and management do their bit as well instead of just showing up for the pay-check. Maybe they should dip into their own well-filled pockets and refund all those fans who have to endure this tripe, because the fans are the only ones who turn up at a match.
And I have come to the conclusion that Queen Victoria was a Ram because she was famous for saying “We are not amused”. 😡

It's not pace that's the problem, it's position. The players can't find each other precisely because he's got them all running around "at pace" all the time. No-one knows where any bugger else is! 

It's not only 3 league games, he was here doing the same last season. I'm fed up watching other teams play football around us. Last season he found a formation that worked and then threw it away. How can he not see how awful that game was? Perhaps he doesn't watch football on tv and only has his own career to go on?
When you think of how well some/all of those players in our squad have played in their careers and look at them now. Warne making a team less than the sum of it's parts! Oh and then throwing them under the bus. Plus suggesting Clowes/recruitment has too by saying he needs pace in the squad - well who bought a load of leadlegs then Paul?!

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

You can't rely on set pieces to win games at a professional level. We lacked anything from open play, devoid of quality or dangerousness they looked utterly comfortable. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

I am tempted to ask for a refund for tonight's game because I paid to watch derby county play football, but whatever it was that we served up tonight, it was not football. The first half was so timid, scared, and off the pace. We played a back 5 as the wing backs became full backs, and the midfield was so deep, leaving Laing and Collins so isolated. One of the few times we broke, Laing crossed it in and apart from Collins in the box, there was no one within 35 yards of him. Mistakes were everywhere, and Oxford looked neat and tidy but I suspect that was because we made them so. It was surprising they only scored 1 by half-time. I've seen some blame Wildsmith, but it was a hard shot high up from about 10 yards out... not sure I'd blame him for that. 

The second half was just as much of a shambles. Oxford could have scored 3 before we got 1 back and again looked dominant. They easily beat our press and forced mistakes off the wide players, especially on the left-hand side of the pitch, where the second assist came from. Warne made a boatload of changes, so the players didn't know whether they were coming or going for half the half. Thompson managed to play both LWB and as an advanced CM in one half... what is more amazing than that is that neither is his natural position. We looked slow, clueless, and inept when we did move it forward. 
The only time we did look threatening was from set pieces. But the lack of any threat from open play is a massive problem. There is no tempo, pattern of play, consistency, or movement. We seem to pass it around the back, then move it to the wing relying on either a run and a cross or boot it down the line hoping we'll force an error. We arguably have 2 of the strongest technical midfielders in the division, and we are completely bypassing them, nulling their strengths. Laing possesses the physical attributes to cause problems but he is being played out of position and was coming too deep today.
The system and style of play absolutely stink. I'm not even angry, at this point it's just utterly depressing to watch us reduced to this. Warne is mismanaging a team he put together, playing to their collective weaknesses and giving the opposition such an easy time of it. If I didn't know any better I'd say he's a forest agent in disguise trying to get us relegated to the 4th division. I thought his post match presser was a fu**ing disgrace. Making jokes, failing to take responsibility, and being utterly blind to the reality of our performance. If he doesn't sort it out after 15 games i hope he fu**s off back to Rotherham where it increasingly looks like he belongs.

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

that collapse was largely the result of an injury crisis that battered our squad tbf

You can't rely on set pieces to win games at a professional level. We lacked anything from open play, devoid of quality or dangerousness they looked utterly comfortable. 

that collapse was largely the result of an injury crisis that battered our squad tbf

I am tempted to ask for a refund for tonight's game because I paid to watch derby county play football, but whatever it was that we served up tonight, it was not football. The first half was so timid, scared, and off the pace. We played a back 5 as the wing backs became full backs, and the midfield was so deep, leaving Laing and Collins so isolated. One of the few times we broke, Laing crossed it in and apart from Collins in the box, there was no one within 35 yards of him. Mistakes were everywhere, and Oxford looked neat and tidy but I suspect that was because we made them so. It was surprising they only scored 1 by half-time. I've seen some blame Wildsmith, but it was a hard shot high up from about 10 yards out... not sure I'd blame him for that. 

The second half was just as much of a shambles. Oxford could have scored 3 before we got 1 back and again looked dominant. They easily beat our press and forced mistakes off the wide players, especially on the left-hand side of the pitch, where the second assist came from. Warne made a boatload of changes, so the players didn't know whether they were coming or going for half the half. Thompson managed to play both LWB and as an advanced CM in one half... what is more amazing than that is that neither is his natural position. We looked slow, clueless, and inept when we did move it forward. 
The only time we did look threatening was from set pieces. But the lack of any threat from open play is a massive problem. There is no tempo, pattern of play, consistency, or movement. We seem to pass it around the back, then move it to the wing relying on either a run and a cross or boot it down the line hoping we'll force an error. We arguably have 2 of the strongest technical midfielders in the division, and we are completely bypassing them, nulling their strengths. Laing possesses the physical attributes to cause problems but he is being played out of position and was coming too deep today.
The system and style of play absolutely stink. I'm not even angry, at this point it's just utterly depressing to watch us reduced to this. Warne is mismanaging a team he put together, playing to their collective weaknesses and giving the opposition such an easy time of it. If I didn't know any better I'd say he's a forest agent in disguise trying to get us relegated to the 4th division. I thought his post match presser was a fu**ing disgrace. Making jokes, failing to take responsibility, and being utterly blind to the reality of our performance. If he doesn't sort it out after 15 games i hope he fu**s off back to Rotherham where it increasingly looks like he belongs.

He's mismanaging the team he put together. Unless he ditches the formation and style of play, then it won't improve. I hate watching us, this season has already been bloody painful and then I'm reminded there are still 43 games of this to go. If you don't change anything then you can't expect results to change either. We've been performing poorly for 4 months now. 
Warne needs to go to a flat back 4 and start playing a more possession-based style. We need to start controlling games, playing 1 touch quick tempo through the middle of the pitch. Start Kane and Elder to give us options out wide to cross with Smith/rooney sitting in front of a back 2 of Forsyth and Cashin providing a midfield screen to stop counter attacks and recycle the ball. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh. 

Yeah not to be mean about him but if he was a horse he'd be glue by now tbh.