Ambitious

I didn’t hear the interview so I’m only going off the small bits that I saw, to be honest, but I think ‘given up on the midfield’ is hyperbole. 
We dominated possession and our midfielders had a significant amount more touches than their midfielders - I believe he was just stating that the plan to transition was going to be in wide areas where the pitch doesn’t get congested and that we can get their players isolated. I think he was concerned about Cheltenham essentially playing a box six (3x CBs and 3x CDMs) and us trying to find space in the middle of the pitch when irregardless of their players’ quality that they’re still eating up space in those gaps. Us putting more bodies in that zone essentially creates less space and a more erratic football match. 
I don’t think anyone is upset with the amount of chances created or how we transitioned the ball, mostly the quality of our play in those situations. I’m happy to s*** on Warne as much as the next man but based on what I saw today I’m just not sure the blame is down to him, if anything he gave the players a good opportunity to win that game by ensuring they weren’t congested but they lacked the quality to finish the chances when they arose. 

I didn’t hear the interview so I’m only going off the small bits that I saw, to be honest, but I think ‘given up on the midfield’ is hyperbole. 
We dominated possession and our midfielders had a significant amount more touches than their midfielders - I believe he was just stating that the plan to transition was going to be in wide areas where the pitch doesn’t get congested and that we can get their players isolated. I think he was concerned about Cheltenham essentially playing a box six (3x CBs and 3x CDMs) and us trying to find space in the middle of the pitch when irregardless of their players’ quality that they’re still eating up space in those gaps. Us putting more bodies in that zone essentially creates less space and a more erratic football match. 
I don’t think anyone is upset with the amount of chances created or how we transitioned the ball, mostly the quality of our play in those situations. I’m happy to s*** on Warne as much as the next man but based on what I saw today I’m just not sure the blame is down to him, if anything he gave the players a good opportunity to win that game by ensuring they weren’t congested but they lacked the quality to finish the chances when they arose. 

This league is so bad that Portamouth and Oxford United look like running away with it.
We couldn’t have asked for a better scenario with Blackpool, Wigan and Reading coming down and in disarray.
Throw in Barnsley, last season’s fourth best side, losing their manager and looking a lot weaker.
We should be p1ssing this league. There are no excuses.

The result is obviously a lot worse than the performance, for me this game was painfully similar to the Cambridge one.
I don’t think Warne got a lot wrong with his set up and team selection, albeit I would’ve liked to see Sibley for that little bit of guile and craft in the final third. It’s squarely at the feet of the players who made a ton of bad decisions in key moments and lacked quality when they needed it most.
You can definitely see why Cheltenham are where they are, but that’ll be something their fans have had something to cheer today. 

When looking at the player positions, it was actually a back four on Tuesday but dressed up as a five: 

Wilson played more advanced than NML. Bird, it seems, played a very similar position to Collins too. 

To Warne's credit, I think reading between the lines that we were in for Nyambe from a fairly early point in the window. He kept making reference to a player who was waiting for a Championship move but hopefully will come. I think that may have been in reference to Nyambe. 
He's going to be a on a very good wage here - he was one of Wigan's highest earners last season in the Championship. He rejected a decent contract from Blackburn the season before to get it. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's on £10-12k a week here, perhaps why it was negotiated until January as it was a big investment on our part and Nyambe didn't really fancy playing League One. 
It looks like it's working out at present, though. 

Same four as everyone else - Nelson, Nyambe, Fornah & Waghorn. 
Fornah is the player who I like most, you can really see a potential significant upside to him and his play. Technically and physically, he's fantastic. He's still very raw, but feel that he's a player who does have a pretty high ceiling - certainly no less talented than Bird, Sibley or Knight which is huge considering how cheap we were to pick him up. 
 

To Warne's credit, I think reading between the lines that we were in for Nyambe from a fairly early point in the window. He kept making reference to a player who was waiting for a Championship move but hopefully will come. I think that may have been in reference to Nyambe. 
He's going to be a on a very good wage here - he was one of Wigan's highest earners last season in the Championship. He rejected a decent contract from Blackburn the season before to get it. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's on £10-12k a week here, perhaps why it was negotiated until January as it was a big investment on our part and Nyambe didn't really fancy playing League One. 
It looks like it's working out at present, though. 

Same four as everyone else - Nelson, Nyambe, Fornah & Waghorn. 
Fornah is the player who I like most, you can really see a potential significant upside to him and his play. Technically and physically, he's fantastic. He's still very raw, but feel that he's a player who does have a pretty high ceiling - certainly no less talented than Bird, Sibley or Knight which is huge considering how cheap we were to pick him up. 
 

We, along with Bolton, have the most prolific strike force in the league this season. Barnsley also have 12 goals from their strikers, 9 from one player, but have played a game more. 
Oxford and Portsmouth trail behind, Portsmouth 8 goals and Oxford only 4. Oxford’s top goalscorer is a left back/midfielder but they’ve had 11 different scorers so far this season. In comparison we have 7, Bolton 5.
Goals from strikers aren’t a problem, it’s getting the midfield to increase their share that will be important. 
Waghorn, Collins and Washington are on for 55 goals this season at their current pace if they manage to keep it up. 

We, along with Bolton, have the most prolific strike force in the league this season. Barnsley also have 12 goals from their strikers, 9 from one player, but have played a game more. 
Oxford and Portsmouth trail behind, Portsmouth 8 goals and Oxford only 4. Oxford’s top goalscorer is a left back/midfielder but they’ve had 11 different scorers so far this season. In comparison we have 7, Bolton 5.
Goals from strikers aren’t a problem, it’s getting the midfield to increase their share that will be important. 
Waghorn, Collins and Washington are on for 55 goals this season at their current pace if they manage to keep it up. 

We, along with Bolton, have the most prolific strike force in the league this season. Barnsley also have 12 goals from their strikers, 9 from one player, but have played a game more. 
Oxford and Portsmouth trail behind, Portsmouth 8 goals and Oxford only 4. Oxford’s top goalscorer is a left back/midfielder but they’ve had 11 different scorers so far this season. In comparison we have 7, Bolton 5.
Goals from strikers aren’t a problem, it’s getting the midfield to increase their share that will be important. 
Waghorn, Collins and Washington are on for 55 goals this season at their current pace if they manage to keep it up. 

We, along with Bolton, have the most prolific strike force in the league this season. Barnsley also have 12 goals from their strikers, 9 from one player, but have played a game more. 
Oxford and Portsmouth trail behind, Portsmouth 8 goals and Oxford only 4. Oxford’s top goalscorer is a left back/midfielder but they’ve had 11 different scorers so far this season. In comparison we have 7, Bolton 5.
Goals from strikers aren’t a problem, it’s getting the midfield to increase their share that will be important. 
Waghorn, Collins and Washington are on for 55 goals this season at their current pace if they manage to keep it up. 

I'd bet really good money that our wage bill is the highest in the league, but that's by-the-by. 
We should really be in the top 2 and a play-off position for us this season is no success. It's probably acceptable, but by no means a successful season unless promoted. 
We were a lot better on Saturday, so we'll see where we go from here. The back four has made a difference, four clean sheets in four games where we have gone 4 instead of 3. We don't concede many opportunities now which is good to see.
What I will say is that the atmosphere around the club is disgusting at the moment. I feel that will be something to watch going forward, because I get the impression from the outside looking in that there is a decent size, albeit minority, that absolutely hate Paul Warne and get no pleasure in wins under him. Commercially, I think anything less than promotion this season is going to be hugely detrimental to this club because I don't think the fans have it in them to watch a Paul Warne Derby County side kick off the 24/25 season in League One. If we stay down, he has to go - otherwise you take 4-6k off the attendances right away which would be multiple millions. 

The chances we did or didn’t create were on the players individually rather than a systematic error - in my opinion. I would guess that we had more final third entries in the game against Cambridge than we have in any other game this season and quite significantly more.
We worked the ball into crossing opportunities brilliantly but it just didn’t seem to do much with them, that’s on the players decision making and the movement of the strikers. On another day, we win the game comfortably, but it was just one of those days. For me, it was just good to see us dominate a game, regardless of the result.

The chances we did or didn’t create were on the players individually rather than a systematic error - in my opinion. I would guess that we had more final third entries in the game against Cambridge than we have in any other game this season and quite significantly more.
We worked the ball into crossing opportunities brilliantly but it just didn’t seem to do much with them, that’s on the players decision making and the movement of the strikers. On another day, we win the game comfortably, but it was just one of those days. For me, it was just good to see us dominate a game, regardless of the result.

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Best performance of the season by an absolute mile, but final touch wasn’t there. I just hope that we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water based on us not winning this game. We suffocated a capable Cambridge side to absolutely no opportunities due to a controlled, concise approach. The final ball lacked, individually not good enough, but the set up and system is one for much promise. 
So, so much better and a progressive performance. I can see a ton more promise with what I saw today than our usual approach of trying to turn the game into a basketball match. 

Let’s start with the pros, as it’s only fair: He’s an intelligent tactician and theoretically astute. He can talk a good game, clearly has a good understanding of the game, feel even though he’s said previously he’s not a student of the game that he understands it very well. I see him as man-manager, emotionally intelligent, albeit not to everyone’s cup of tea (but who is). 
cons, for me, as a tactician he sees players on the pitch as pieces on a chest board rather than players looking to develop. He will help players gauge an understanding of the game, evidently he likes to make sure his players are aware and they obviously do their home work. I don’t see him as a technical coach, like McClaren and Cocu, more-so a fitness, psychological coach and that’s where he feels comfortable. It makes his quite stubborn, at times, we’ve all seen that with formations this season. I also feel that he has struggled with the size of the club and the weight of expectation, he’s almost played it off but incorrectly at times. Lastly, in contrast with the above, I believe he is incredibly aware tactically of what he wants to do and how to be successful - I’m just not quite sure he knows how to achieve it with the recruitment required. What he wants, how we recruited were at odds - clearly there was someone compensating so I won’t hammer him as ultimately it falls to the recruitment staff to find the very best players available to us. If he was dead set on three CBs then he needed to add speed and lateral quickness to the wide CBs but instead signed Nelson and Bradley. Doesn’t add up. 
Overall, 5/10, the club isn’t really better or worse off. We will get into the playoffs, I’m sure, but without significant improvement it’s a wasted ticket. Philosophically, he sees the game in a lot of ways different to me, but a lot of people do, but it’s the reason why I’m not right behind him currently - like I was McClaren and Cocu.