FlyBritishMidland

Exeter 1 Derby 1 FRGS NML

Totally agree. I seem to remember an interview with David Clowes (can’t remember if it was just after he’d taken over or the one last summer) but he said something along the lines of SP being very good at his job and he’s being allowed to do his job. David Clowes obviously trusts him or he wouldn’t be here.

To the outside world we must look a bit mad. A team sat 2nd in the league and we have a thread about sacking the manager that reaches 120 pages. And about 13.5, over 10%, of those pages since going into 2nd place. This must be some sort of record amongst fan forums. Most fans would be delighted to be 2nd in their respective league. A lot of the concern and debate is about the football. I get it may not be pretty all the time, but I also don’t think it’s as bad as portrayed in here. It reminds me of Mel sacking Clement and coining the infamous “Derby Way” phrase. I also get the concern about PW in the Championship. What I would say is, he’ll have far more resources to build a team to stay there than he ever had at Rotherham.

I listened to the RD Shrewsbury build up podcast this morning. Dom started saying this is coming and that there are legal agreements in place on certain subjects.

Derby 2 Shrewsbury 1 FRGS Bird

Probably because we’ve had to rebuild the recruitment staff since administration. The Head of Recruitment only started in the summer and Warne also said that they’re looking to improve the scouting network abroad.

Forest appointed Cooper in September and Jones is a good manager in Luton, hasn’t worked so well outside of there so far. And as @Kernow has said, they’d pretty much need to win every game.

It happens all the time. Team goes in a goal down at half-time, manager issues a rollicking, they come out fired up for the first 15mins or so of the 2nd half.

I think we’ll be top 4. Then it’s who can be most consistent. If we can manage that, Top 2 is definitely on. We’ve steadily improved our league position and since getting into the Top 6 we haven’t dropped out. I do wonder if our injuries have come at the right time. The bench yesterday was probably the strongest it’s been all season with some coming back. Getting Washington and maybe Waggy and Foz back later this month will add that bit more quality, depth and experience for the the last couple of months. Signing CBT means we can be a bit less nervous about NML getting injured. Adam’s looks like he’s given us a bit of an edge in midfield. I seem to remember Mac1 saying that Fergie used to say you don’t need to be top but be in touch going into Feb, and then kick on in the final third. Being 2nd, others do have games in hand, after the 1st weekend in Feb is a nice place to be.

Charlton 1 Derby 1 FRGS Collins

So you make the cat have the tap end??

I’m either going insane or had too much to drink. Are we really debating whether a penalty should be counted in goal stats, it inflates stats, the taker may not be involved in the build up, a tap in, blah, blah, bleedin’ blah? Can’t we all just accept that Collins is having a very good season. Goals win games no matter how they’re scored or who by. Did we get a bonus point for his volley last week? No. If we win 1-0 to tomorrow and it’s a 90th minute penalty do we only get 2 points? No. Give me strength!!

I seriously worry about the youth of today when I watch it. Can’t tell the difference between crumble and breadcrumbs 🤦‍♂️.

If (!!) it happens he’d be a good backup. Which is essentially what we would have been after anyway. You could see how he’d be good to come on after 70mins either alongside Collins or when Collins has worn out the defence.

Hang on. He’s 21(?) playing in the 3rd division. And you’re comparing him to title winning, England internationals? Using that logic we may as well call it quits and let them all go.

And yet as a TEAM we’re higher up the league and scored more goals than both of the clubs they play for. And here’s me thinking that was more important.

I made a similar point yesterday. If he’s rated so highly, at least L2 clubs would want him. And throwing him in should Collins get injured could potentially destroy him. Imagine if we get booed off at half-time on his debut, like Saturday. Whilst they wouldn’t be aimed at him, mentally it would affect him.

I thought he’d done an interview with Rams TV early in the season that he didn’t expect to be here in his preferred central position 🤷‍♂️.

I get we’d ideally like a striker - and something may still happen - but let’s not forget the squad is actually stronger than at the beginning of the month. With a lot of players to come back. We’ve added in midfield - which most of us have said we needed - and we’ve added a wide attacker. This frees up Barkhuizen to play in his preferred position. Chin up, we’re not in a bad place.

For all the talk about letting Brown go on loan, he’s gone to non-league. Not even to L2. If he was to be used if Collins got injured he’d probably be out of his depth, get a load of stick and set his career back 5 years. I’m all for letting him go out and play mens football lower down and learn his trade rather than throw him in at the deep end, even if we don’t sign a striker.

I’m choosing to look on the positive and my glass is half-full. The Bird deal didn’t just crop up today. Talks ongoing for probably a week or more. It obviously wasn’t dependent on getting the Adam’s deal done as it’s a loan back. Although I do wonder if we have view to a permanent with Adam’s. I wonder if we’ve been in discussions about a permanent striker over the last week or so. And it’s a case of if we can get a striker in our price range, we’re prepared to sell Bird now to fund it. Plus, as it stands the only striker we have on the books next season is Washington, so it would ease the summer window. I guess we’ll find out in the next 3-4 hours.

Just got home and read this. Post of the day!!

Fee plus a loan back is a decent deal. Makes sense if he doesn’t want to sign a new deal. We aren’t weakened, plus gives us money that may fund another incoming, if there’s time. Makes sense both football and business wise.

January is a tricky window. Realistically any striker we’re looking to loan, as that’s all we can pay a small fee for unless we sell is going to look at Collins form with 18 goals and realise they’re 2nd choice, maybe lower than that once one of the others is fit. That means there not going to be playing regular at their parent club. If you’re that striker do you swap one bench for another? Also, it makes getting a young PL loan tricky. If you’re a PL club, do you loan your young striker to a club knowing he’s back up for the rest of the season? Ideally you’ll want him playing around 75% of th3 time, may even stipulate it in the deal. The summer is easier as it’s a clean slate and easier to cement your place. Anyway, Gregory wouldn’t be a bad back up and will do a job, but I think I’d rather have Smith.

According to the DET Warne wants a striker and a midfielder, but the latter is dependant on someone leaving. That would be a very good window in my opinion. If there are no arrivals or departures, not ideal but we’ve had worse windows. And we do have lots of players to come back for the final third. A striker in and no one else in or out would be good. The thing with a striker is we’re likely to get someone who isn’t playing, like Smith, which means they’ll need minutes to get up to speed. You’re signing someone and basically telling them they’re 2nd choice at best behind Collins so you need someone happy to play that role - which means they might not be a popular signing. It’s like when Mac1 was here and Martin was the main man. Getting another striker was extremely difficult as no one wants to be 2nd choice.