Miggins

Please tell me there are plenty of scraves and flanges today. It is a difficult one to call so it might all come down to number of scraves and flanges on display!! XX

Please tell me there are plenty of scraves and flanges today. It is a difficult one to call so it might all come down to number of scraves and flanges on display!! XX

Northampton Town v Derby County
 
5pts 
StevenageRam    38
 
3pts
NONE

2pts
BodminRam    35
RadioactiveWaste    47
 
1pt
gccrowdpleaser    23
lagavulinram    1
Topram    29
Turk Thrust    4
 
Northampton Town 1 Derby County 0,  '0' = FRGS.
 

Maybe because Coors is all about lager, which thinks it is a beer but isn’t.
I suspect that we donate the next match’s  lager when we point Percy at the steel wall prior to the match and at half-time! 🤪

If you like history/architecture may I suggest that you have a look at the houses that make up Railway Terrace adjacent to the Brunswick Inn just along from Derby Railway Station. They were built by Stevenson and designed by Francis Thompson in 1840’s; the whole chebang only survived the wrecking ball with 20 minutes to spare - the Council wanted to flatten the whole lot and build a flyover - but were saved by Derby Civic Society taking out listed status and turned up to stop the demolition with literally 20 minutes before it was due to start. In fact Derby Station and the Midland Hotel opposite were also Stevenson and Thompson creations. Derby Station is a tri-junct where 3 mainlines meet. It made Derby the centre of the railway world; and notably the original plan was for Notts to be the centre but those Nimbies turned it down feeling it would besmirch their fair city - 🤷‍♂️ I know. Anyway, enjoy your time. I’ve had 2 great away days in Blackpool in the last 2 seasons so hope you do too - apart from the result of course. 
https://www.brunswickderby.co.uk/history/

I hate that little outdoor bit at the back.  The angriest people in the world are in it.  That being said I've only been in their 2 pints in .  Perhaps the ambiance is better when the terror isn't apparent. 😃

A lot of grave resurrection and dissection went on their as the surgeons used to undertake training in Amen Alley just next door a few hundred years back.  Runs by the side of the Cathedral.  Jorrocks down the road at the bottom of Irongate is very haunted.  They had a skull behind the bar for years that was dug up in the cellar.  It was a regular for the Jacobites just before it went tits up as they headed out of Derby and I believe someone broke their standard just outside in a bit of drunken revelry which was deemed a bad omen.  Most definitely a Derby pub however, so probably not the best choice before or after match.
Cathedral is actually quite nice and is the second largest church tower in England, but not quite York Minster.  Bess of Hardwicks tomb is in there.  St Marys church just up the road was Pugin designed, the only church he ever designed  and it does actually look like the Houses of Parliament. 

It's pretty hard to keep up with the plethora of injuries and the estimates on how long said players will take to return. Suffice to say it's pretty grim reading in any case and I see some are saying Ebou is now out too. If that's the case, then we're bang in the doodoo I'm afraid, as opposed to our current status which I'd describe as mildly decimated. That said, there's a match to be played, so based on what has been confirmed to date, but is equally subject to daily change, I'd go with the following:
A hopefully more mobile and solid looking 4 at the back, let's start from a solid foundation, at least. I'd have Wilson and Elder either side of the two who pick themselves, Cash and Nelson.
Before the Sibley fan club get irate, he still in my starting 11, I'd just push him right up the field to play off / behind Waghorn and look to make hay with Wilson and Ward paired on the right flank.
CBT remains an unknown to me but he looks the only sensible option we have right now to provide some sort of threat on the left. Lord knows I'd love to see the lad step up, as if ever there was a time to make a name for himself, it's now. He does show promise, but we need something rather more tangible come Friday night.
Elsewhere, Smith comes in for Hourihane. We must front up early and I think we'll be more able to do so without sacrificing too much passing ability, with Korey in a 3 and Conor an option later in the game as legs tire.  Waggy completes the line up, but is only marginally favoured over Washington. I might even be tempted to start the latter as I believe he will stretch defences more than a strangely subdued looking Waghorn. Waggy gets the nod by a  cat's whisker.

 
The starters aside, I'll wait to see who we have available and remotely fit, but even just for the psychological lift, it'd be grand to see Collo tamping at the bit in the dugout. Likewise, could young Jake Rooney figure? Robinson and Weston, along with the skipper and Thommo, seem likely candidates for the bench too.
I do think it's all about this game now. Win and with players perhaps returning the following week (or with another week under their belts at least), we could be back on track. Conversely, slide to another defeat and all momentum will be lost. With Pompey sat in wait, that's a fairly grim prospect, least it is for yours truly.
Suffice to say it's a huge weekend for club and fans and on that note, the first time we've actually had something to play for in a few seasons now, something I've overlooked if truth be told, so that's some small silver lining, at least!
COYR

Weston for the last 20 against tired legs would be my call. Will only work when we are playing on the break but he is much better at avoiding the offside trap than Waggy or Wash! And he can finish.

It wasn't particularly that we lost on Saturday, which is obviously very disappointing, it's the fact that moving into this game and beyond, we just barely have a functional squad to call upon. Trying to pick a team for this is so difficult. Sibley needs to be utilised further forward, CBT needs to start. Hourihane needs to be dropped entirely. Ideally don't play Waghorn. Beyond that, I have no idea. Of course, it's unlikely he will even do half of that.

A question at the fans forum was raised, asking Buxton and Hale if they think the U18/21 players ahold have been given more of an opportunity this season. The response being "they haven't done enough to convince Warne". They also stated Thomspon not being a top performer in the U21s, but stepping up seamlessly under Rooney.
None have played more than Robinson, who has only got 90 minutes vs a Wolves U21 side and hasn't played in any other game. The only player to feature in the League (Brown) has only got 13 minutes, I would be extremely surprised to see someone getting a chance this season.
Take that Wolves U21 game away, then you really see how willing Warne is to using them: Brown (30 mins), Radcliffe (11 mins) Weston (6 mins) and Fapetu (2 mins). It's pathetic.
They could have had a meaningful amount of minutes earlier in the season, even against the likes of Crewe or Bradford in Cup competitions, or when 2 goals up against Carlisle, Leyton Orient, and Bristol Rovers. If they were, we'd now have a better idea of whether they could step in for a couple of games. Even if they weren't ready, using them in more games would have helped keep our older players fresher, and potentially injury free.

I’m still in the PW in camp (just about) but sadly the good 3:0 wins are far outweighed by the poor defeats and the less than convincing wins. I also think the point you’ve made about new signings in the summer suiting Warne’s style is what is worrying a lot of people. Like I said, I think many of us are prepared the stomach the often less than entertaining football in order to get us out of this league but maybe don’t relish the prospect of the same next season. I also enjoy (most of the time) being at the top end of the league regardless of some (many I would suggest) bad performances but let’s be realistic, if we get promoted, we’re unlikely to have the luxury of being in the top six or so next season to compensate for the quality of football.

I think the higher number of posts when we lose compared to when we win is reflective of the above rather than people not wanting us to get promoted.
For me, I obviously want us to get promoted. Playing great football in the process would be ideal but not essential now that we’ve got so few games to go.
If we fall short, I’ll just accept it and we go again next season with PW in charge.(I’ll still be renewing my season ticket next season). If we go up I’ll be hopeful of surviving comfortably (again with PW in charge) and seeing some decent football. I’m certainly not assuming the football will be c**p and we’ll struggle.
 

Pride Park: Friday March 29th - 15.00 Kick Off
Friday night we get a chance to eradicate the bad dream that was Northampton away, but I think we've ridden our luck a little longer than just the last game and we simply must deliver a performance, or we risk succumbing to the lottery that is the play-offs. It's a sobering prospect by any measure. As it stands, we remain masters of our own fate, but potentially only by a single point and GD. Suffice to say, we can ill afford any further slip ups, or the chasers will be on us. 
On paper, this is a tougher game than the last one, with Blackpool having notched wins against Bolton, Peterborough and Shrewsbury as well as a draw against league leaders Pompey in their last 10 league games. Chief goal threat would be Jordan Rhodes who has notched 15 this season, with Jake Beesley and Karamoko Dembélé chipping in with 8 amd 7 respectively. Dembélé also has a very respectable 11 assists, with CJ Hamilton next best with 7 for the season to date. Keeping those two quiet might be key.
Squad News: Injury report might perhaps be a better heading! With Nate now joining an ever-growing list of crocked players, it's safe to say that having had a pretty healthy squad a mere few weeks back, we're bang in trouble again on that front and we'll need to marshal resources in a clever and effective manner if we are to get anything from this game. We are told that the one good piece of news on this front currently is that Collo may play a part, but whilst the man's a Spartan, he'll surely not be sharp enough to start. 
A last thought, until we have more news on who is actually fit enough to play, would be that while I want us to beat Blackpool, I do recall their kindness and solidarity during our troubled recent past. They're a proper club with a proper set of fans and I hope we make them as welcome at our place as they always seem to make us at theirs. 
May the best team win, but may that team be Derby, please! 
COYR
BEMOREB4

Actually I've calmed down a bit, and the players did let themselves down, and the let the club down, and more than that they let the fans down. So apologies, your point accepted.
But it was underpinned by the tactics used today, which were woeful. When it has taken this far into the season to find that we need a third man in midfield, especially if Hourihane has to be in there (I don't remember Richi Sunack passing a law that he must always play unless injured, but it would seem to be the case), only to go with a two today. It crippled us,  especially when he took Adams off, not Hourrihane. And I don't know if you noticed or not, but we were back to the "whack it ide and lob it into the box" methodology that has never worked, and that didn't work today. When as players you know there is a much better way to play, and that you are capable of winning if only we would do it, but are forced into this sort of crapology, is it any wonder they were a bit half-arsed? Yes the players were poor, but they'd had their hamstrings snipped as they walked onto the pitch today.

At this stage of the season Warne should know how to get the best of the team. That doesn't rule out an off-day, but it should rule out off-days of this magnitude, and of this frequency. The biggest issue is that he got us reverting to hoofball, which hasn't worked whenever we've tried it, and strangely enough it didn't work this time, either. So we got him pre-match blathering on about the threat Northampton offered, and that we would have to defend with our lives, and clearly set up in fear of them, when with our comparative league positions and current form they should have been scares witless of us. Hourihane has told us that if they don't play the way Warne tells them then they get dropped. So today's tactics have to be on him. And when, as a bunch of players you know you can do better, and are being forced against what you know will work, is it any wonder that they looked, to be frank, hacked off at times?
And I brought the ref into it because he really was poor. If he had given the free kick for the blatant foul on Wilson, and the card that should have followed, Northampton wouldn't have broken away and scored, then our terrible defending would have mattered, or actually even taken place. So effectively he did cost us the game, but I would never make that claim, because it was our shocking defending that cost us the game. But the ref did nothing about the timewasting even before the goal, or Northampton stealing 5 - 10 yards and more for every throw and free kick, but was actually quite hot on Derby players for their throw-ins. And although Sibley deserved his yellow, maybe if the ref had given the free kick and yellow for the foul on Sibley immediately before he got his revenge, then that yellow card for Sibley wouldn't have happened. Or an offside on CBT after he had run through from the middle of a group of players before the ball was played.
But my main reason for pointing out the ref's abject performance, and why I didn't include the detail i have just given, was to highlight the fact that Derby County' performance was even worse.

I had three months sick leave for stress in 2019. I was being treated appallingly by a new boss at work. I did my job with nothing but praise for eight years and suddenly I couldn’t do anything right. Counselling didn’t help at the time. I left my job without another job to go to. The experience left me with really bad anxiety. I had another breakdown in October 2022 from the same issues. My doctor was great and I started medication and was referred for CBT. It wasn’t effective enough, so I went on to trauma counselling, which was great. It really helped and I turned a corner in June last year. Without this help I don’t know how I would have got through Daniel’s death. My mental health is up and down at the moment but I think I just need time. I only took 10 workings days bereavement leave including the funeral which wasn’t enough but after my previous work experience, I didn’t want to ask for more time. My boss was very kind and supportive and work sent me flowers. Colleagues have been very supportive too. People with genuine mental health problems need to be supported and not be treated as a government statistic. 

I've had CBT and it did diddly.  They also put me on a list for 6 months to start it and changed the person doing it halfway who scoffed at what the person did before.  As it didn't work  I then spent another 6 months trying to find an alternative they couldn't offer as the service is CBT obsessed.  After another assessment they decided EMDR to deal with a past traumatic event may help .  I emphasise this wasn't offered but should be available so I pushed for it.  The therapist new nothing about my past history, which after copious notes were taken was very demoralising. After 4 very intensive sessions which aren't that pleasant, I was advised the therapist was moving to another trust so they suspended it and I waited 4 weeks to get another assessor. Guess what, this new therapist wasn't happy with what the previous one had done and wanted too start again.  At this point I gave up and was advised they'd keep me on file but the first point of call would be CBT.   
Glad it worked for you but if like me it doesn't, neither the therapist to try something different or listening to what you saying is very high on the agenda.  I imagine it's worse now they've merged PCT therapy regionally.

So disappointing to see the Work & Pensions Secretary Mel Stride saying that the de-stigmatisation of mental health issues has gone “too far” and that we should just consider it the “normal ups and downs of human life”
I'm pretty sure that most people who have contributed to this thread have had their mental health struggles and found that it's the de-stigmatisation of mental health issues which has allowed them to open up - and that's a brilliant thing. None of us are alone
It disgusts me that we have dinosaurs like this in positions of power who think we should  go back to the days of telling people to "just get over it" 😞

He had the world at his feet...and then 🤷‍♂️
https://news.sky.com/story/paul-gascoigne-says-he-is-a-sad-drunk-living-in-his-agents-spare-room-13088285

P.G Wodehouse from the directors box.
 
Upon the dreary canvas of this afternoon’s spectacle, painted with strokes of ineptitude and dashed hopes, one solitary silver lining emerged: the absence of my dear chum, Clarence Threapwood, the 9th Earl of Emsworth, from the lamentable affair. Engaged, fortuitously, in the matrimonial celebrations of a member of the DCFC fan’s forum, he was spared the spectacle of our team’s lamentable performance. Reports of the bride’s radiance and intellect, ample enough for two, provided a faint glimmer of mirth amidst the otherwise dismal proceedings, for surely she possessed wit enough to comprehend the gravity of her matrimonial choice. My only hope is the Groom’s despondency at the result doesn’t derail his wedding night.
Alas, my afternoon was not blessed with such diversion, and I spent 90 minutes plus ten added praying for my fountain pen to give up the ghost.
As I endured a woeful display of hoofball from Warne’s bobble hatted charges, bereft of precision, potency, or tenacity, against the hapless Northampton Town, who lack even a Subbuteo set to their name.
Bradley, in particular, resembled naught but a flailing marionette caught in a tempest, with many an experienced undertaker being deceived by his appearance and starting to embalm on sight. To use the analogy of the sport of shooting Derby ended upon the wrong end of the gun, with a limp wristed display reminiscent of Torquay Utd at their best.
Sonny’s subsequent banishment from the pitch, though regrettable, may indeed harbour a silver lining, for perhaps absence will lend him time to rediscover his vigour. As we face the looming encounter with Blackpool, the need for three points and a performance befitting professional footballers hangs heavy upon our shoulders, a task of Herculean proportions in our current state of disarray.

This is what pisses me off, We know players aren't machines and produce top performances game after game, But if the majority "don't turn up" you're up sh!t creek without a paddle.
Northampton have conceded 60 goals let that sink in for a second...and we couldn't stick one in the net, I believe there was enough out there from the starting 11 to get at least a point today.
Not good enough from all who were involved today, A big attitude change needed on Friday or it's the play offs...and in them I'm not confident 😬
 

We now likely have to beat Portsmouth to go up. Our chances of promotion have taken a huge dent.
One of Bolton, Peterborough or Barnsley will win all their remaining games. We now have to win all of ours. To lose that game today, with the chance to go 7 points clear, can be described as nothing else than bottling it.

Fozzy much better captain in my opinion. At least he knows what he is doing, and I am a fan who doesn't like getting on players backs.

Poor all round today, lineup and subs didn’t work, players didn’t turn up. Only real positive I can think of is we’re still 2nd with players to come back from injury.
Onto the next one. 

This club has perfected the art of building you up with just enough hope that the disappointment is absolutely crushing. A real skill.