Alty_Ram

And it's a gamble for them for sure. He's one heavy tackle away from a long layoff and on his wages we just needed him gone. Having a fully fit and firing Bielik in this side would be a huge deal, but with current ownership we are choosing to cut our cloth according to our situation and the Bieliks of this world just don't fit into that plan. It's just too much resource tied up in one player who would just leave for nothing next summer anyway. This was always going to happen and it was just a case of when and where. So, good... one loose end tied up.
As for the message itself, well I'm not sure what some fans expect him to say. If he says nothing then he looks like an ungrateful arse and if he is too gushing and badge kissy then he just looks insincere. I think he's ticked the 'respectful enough' box and there we go, job done. No problem, both parties move on.

Nah, exactly. We often have unrealistic expectations of loyalty as fans because the club is something fundamental in our psyche. It's no great surprise that he doesn't exactly bleed black and white though is it ? He is a modern footballer from another country who played for DCFC for a bit and has now moved on because he had a more attractive offer and his National Manager has strongly hinted that he wanted to see him play at a higher level than the 3rd tier in England. 
He's been ravaged by injury and despite that has been given a 3 year contract by a club in a higher division so obviously he is going to take that. Good luck to him. No hard feelings or much in the way of feelings either way really. We'll always have the 96th minute..

And it's a gamble for them for sure. He's one heavy tackle away from a long layoff and on his wages we just needed him gone. Having a fully fit and firing Bielik in this side would be a huge deal, but with current ownership we are choosing to cut our cloth according to our situation and the Bieliks of this world just don't fit into that plan. It's just too much resource tied up in one player who would just leave for nothing next summer anyway. This was always going to happen and it was just a case of when and where. So, good... one loose end tied up.
As for the message itself, well I'm not sure what some fans expect him to say. If he says nothing then he looks like an ungrateful arse and if he is too gushing and badge kissy then he just looks insincere. I think he's ticked the 'respectful enough' box and there we go, job done. No problem, both parties move on.

And it's a gamble for them for sure. He's one heavy tackle away from a long layoff and on his wages we just needed him gone. Having a fully fit and firing Bielik in this side would be a huge deal, but with current ownership we are choosing to cut our cloth according to our situation and the Bieliks of this world just don't fit into that plan. It's just too much resource tied up in one player who would just leave for nothing next summer anyway. This was always going to happen and it was just a case of when and where. So, good... one loose end tied up.
As for the message itself, well I'm not sure what some fans expect him to say. If he says nothing then he looks like an ungrateful arse and if he is too gushing and badge kissy then he just looks insincere. I think he's ticked the 'respectful enough' box and there we go, job done. No problem, both parties move on.

Nah, exactly. We often have unrealistic expectations of loyalty as fans because the club is something fundamental in our psyche. It's no great surprise that he doesn't exactly bleed black and white though is it ? He is a modern footballer from another country who played for DCFC for a bit and has now moved on because he had a more attractive offer and his National Manager has strongly hinted that he wanted to see him play at a higher level than the 3rd tier in England. 
He's been ravaged by injury and despite that has been given a 3 year contract by a club in a higher division so obviously he is going to take that. Good luck to him. No hard feelings or much in the way of feelings either way really. We'll always have the 96th minute..

Nah, exactly. We often have unrealistic expectations of loyalty as fans because the club is something fundamental in our psyche. It's no great surprise that he doesn't exactly bleed black and white though is it ? He is a modern footballer from another country who played for DCFC for a bit and has now moved on because he had a more attractive offer and his National Manager has strongly hinted that he wanted to see him play at a higher level than the 3rd tier in England. 
He's been ravaged by injury and despite that has been given a 3 year contract by a club in a higher division so obviously he is going to take that. Good luck to him. No hard feelings or much in the way of feelings either way really. We'll always have the 96th minute..

OK, so the relationship didn’t work out as well as you’d hoped. You feel let down, possibly even betrayed. The other person in the relationship didn’t show the same commitment as you did but they’ve tried to end it with an element of good grace and now moved onto a new partner. Isn’t it time to stop being quite so bitter and in the words of Elsa - let it go? 😀

Completely agree with this. After a 7th place finish last year and less restrictions this time out, I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect us to build a team that can achieve playoffs as a minimum goal, but I just don't think you can insist on top 2 as a minimum requirement or it is a 'failure'. Sheffield Wednesday didn't get into automatic places but I bet they don't give a rats ass right now. By any reckoning, a Top 2 finish is going to need a relentless run of point gathering. Wednesday lost just 6 games from 46 and still missed out on automatics. Even a slightly sluggish start with a largely new team that is still getting to know each others game would leave you needing a special season.

Completely agree with this. After a 7th place finish last year and less restrictions this time out, I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect us to build a team that can achieve playoffs as a minimum goal, but I just don't think you can insist on top 2 as a minimum requirement or it is a 'failure'. Sheffield Wednesday didn't get into automatic places but I bet they don't give a rats ass right now. By any reckoning, a Top 2 finish is going to need a relentless run of point gathering. Wednesday lost just 6 games from 46 and still missed out on automatics. Even a slightly sluggish start with a largely new team that is still getting to know each others game would leave you needing a special season.

Completely agree with this. After a 7th place finish last year and less restrictions this time out, I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect us to build a team that can achieve playoffs as a minimum goal, but I just don't think you can insist on top 2 as a minimum requirement or it is a 'failure'. Sheffield Wednesday didn't get into automatic places but I bet they don't give a rats ass right now. By any reckoning, a Top 2 finish is going to need a relentless run of point gathering. Wednesday lost just 6 games from 46 and still missed out on automatics. Even a slightly sluggish start with a largely new team that is still getting to know each others game would leave you needing a special season.

There are, of course some poor teams in this division but I really don’t think it should be “automatics or else” for PW. Do you not think it’s reasonable to consider Barnsley and Bolton as serious contenders? There will be other teams that are also expecting an improvement on last year (Portsmouth?) as well as a potential surprise package or two.
For me it has to be: automatics is the target (as it should be for half at least dozen other teams) and reaching the playoffs is minimum expectation. The consequences of achieving anything less is of course dependent on circumstances. If we finish 7th on goal difference having lost some key players due to injury then we dust ourselves down and start again. If we finish in the bottom half of the table with no mitigating circumstances then DC may have a serious decision to make.
Regarding the size of our support, sadly league tables are not determined by attendances. Also, don’t forget, there are certain clubs that finished above us in the league pyramid that may well get bigger attendances if they had bigger grounds. If we were still at the BBG we wouldn’t be “the 18th best supported club in the country”.
 

It would be really nice for once to get off to a flyer and be the pace-setters ! So often we seem to be playing catchup and we need a burst of title winning form to get back in the mix.

It would be really nice for once to get off to a flyer and be the pace-setters ! So often we seem to be playing catchup and we need a burst of title winning form to get back in the mix.

They also seem to be under the impression that we have an ancient squad. Someone's not been paying attention have they.. "a squad that has an average age of about 94".. apparently.

https://londonroad.net/Forum/
derby are splashing the cash.

Jeez, give me a bit of notice people !
Sorted.....

At this stage you could just tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

Completely agree with this. And yeah in an ideal world we would just have a playmaker who could consistently whip in a good ball to a dangerous area or was a serious threat to bang one in and also have a couple players in the box who could get on the end of those crosses very often but that's sadly not the case. That is one of the reasons why I love creative set pieces with a lot of movement to try to stretch out the defense or create some level of confusion. Mixing it up in that regard I feel can be very beneficial but ultimately will not be a cure until we get a playmaker in who is consistent on both of the levels I mentioned above. 

In an ideal world Jake 😊

I think this is the crux of it for me though. Teams watch us and know before they play us that we are not a big set piece threat, either directly or from getting on the end with a header. Our delivery seems pretty average but we don't have a dominant aerial threat so it all feels a bit 'hope for the best'. If you are Hourihane, who are you going to pick out ? If you don't have people who will win their share of aerial duels then it is even more important to get that delivery right. Many times we seem to just swing it in at no great pace and that's perfect for the defending side so invariably the ball either doesn't clear the first defender or we lose the aerial dual or get put off to the point of a tame nod into the keepers hands or whatever. A ball whipped in at pace and dip gives a far better chance of an attacker stealing half a yard on their marker and being able to make it count and in a crowded box a defender might also nick it past their keeper or scuff a clearance into someone's path.

It's much the same with crossing. Putting a routine diagonal balls in when you have a beast of a No9 is probably fine because they'll win their share and create threat that way but if you don't win aerial duels then it's a wasted ball. If you have quick nippy forwards then you need to stretch that defence and give them a chance to get the drop on a backpedalling central defender.

Unfortunately teams don't fear us at set pieces and they are right not to. It seems to have been that way for a while now though, not just this current team. Looking back to when we looked genuinely threatening, with Harry Wilson there was always that sense of expectation that he may just score a worldie and that is another thing for the defending side to worry about, not just whether he might drop it on someone's head 6 yards out. Even going back to the likes of Bucko though. He was no any great height but for whatever reason he looked like he'd get himself into areas that might cause problems and he won more duels than he had any right to. Don't know if that was sheer belligerence and determination but he was always in there amongst the flying boots. We seem to have neither of these elements currently but and I'm sure that if we give the set piece taker a viable target then we'll have a whole lot more joy even with the same personnel taking the kicks. We're not going to win every game with champagne football and set pieces are a big part of the game at all levels. We need to get this aspect right or we are making life harder for ourselves.

Doesn't sound very Derby. We probably added a clause to pay 50% of any sell on fee.

Jeez, give me a bit of notice people !
Sorted.....

Hi Jake. Wow, what have you let yourself in for 😉
Amazingly none of us are here for the glory so as with the rest of us you'll just have to get your 'wins' in whatever way you can! Derby is one of those clubs that the vast majority of fans have some direct personal connection with so its great that you have found us via our funky little club badge - we're absurdly proud of it !
We've had our moments in the spotlight of course (a couple of League titles a few decades back) but it's times like the present that I often think we're at our best - adversity often does that. It was a rough time during Covid and with the club's finances a mess, it needed everyone to pull together and our owner is an absolute legend for stepping in and saving the club. Obviously far from ideal to be down in the 3rd tier of the league but hopefully we'll bounce back soon now we have the club back on an even keel. New season coming up, new signings to discuss (hopefully!) and who knows, it might even be our year to bounce back !
Anyway, welcome to DCFCfans. Tuck into some of the threads. Enjoy 😃

Jeez, give me a bit of notice people !
Sorted.....

Hi Jake. Wow, what have you let yourself in for 😉
Amazingly none of us are here for the glory so as with the rest of us you'll just have to get your 'wins' in whatever way you can! Derby is one of those clubs that the vast majority of fans have some direct personal connection with so its great that you have found us via our funky little club badge - we're absurdly proud of it !
We've had our moments in the spotlight of course (a couple of League titles a few decades back) but it's times like the present that I often think we're at our best - adversity often does that. It was a rough time during Covid and with the club's finances a mess, it needed everyone to pull together and our owner is an absolute legend for stepping in and saving the club. Obviously far from ideal to be down in the 3rd tier of the league but hopefully we'll bounce back soon now we have the club back on an even keel. New season coming up, new signings to discuss (hopefully!) and who knows, it might even be our year to bounce back !
Anyway, welcome to DCFCfans. Tuck into some of the threads. Enjoy 😃