Walkley Ram

I had him down as my first goal scorer. It's such a shame he's not been fit all season. He could easily have chipped in with 10 goals.

Some players just take a little longer to settle. Let's not write him off just yet.

Top 5 all winning.

GAYLE

Not sure who Deborah is but she's having a good game.

Played well so far. I know it's not the strongest opposition, but still.

That's a yes then.

Their keeper has gone down for no reason. Time wasting?

Forearm to Gayle's face to block his run. Nothing given.

Should be 2 there. Absolute sitter for Barks.

Because he's a brick wall.

Nat needed to square that immediately to Gayle.

Sorry, my mistake.

So. 85 mins of sitting back and inviting pressure now?

Derby 1 Port Vale 0

We're winning this. I can feel it in my waters.

I agree with this, as all managers will say things differently in the dressing room. So we can only go by what we see on the pitch. Going to 5 at the back after scoring. Ignoring midfield as the opposition are "too good" to match up to. Sitting deeper as a match goes on. Leaving it far too late in matches to make changes. Having the last 10 mins of matches be a frantic game of "throw the kitchen sink at it" after spending 80 minutes not bothering to attack. The above all adds weight to the argument that we do worry a bit too much about the opposition, rather than take the game to them. It's that football cliche of giving the opponent too much respect when you come up against bigger teams. Except we do it against effing Crewe. I understand that everyone sees the game differently, and what I see as negative might be seen as prudent by others. I'm just an old romantic, and I want some risk and excitement in my football. I hate the percentage game. I want to be on the edge of my seat. Hopefully today gives us all some of that.

I predict another dire loss today. So that means we'll win because I'm always wrong. You're all welcome.

Tough. You'll get 5 at the back and you'll be grateful.

Also works well with Adams tucking in to help Wilson defensively, where he often struggles. Could work.

Derby 1 PV 2. Frgs Waggy.

A better question is how many of their managers would be an improvement on what we have. There are no Barcelonas in this league. But there are plenty of neat and tidy teams who do the basics right, and get the best out of the limited resources they have. We're not one of those teams. We cannot survive on moments of magic while the fundamentals of football are so lacking. We're so far away from looking like a side comfortable in their own skin. It's only been a year and a bit of this football, but for me it feels like a decade.

Did he really say that?

Can't even bring myself to listen.

He'd not leave man united for us. He'd be mad.