Sufferingfool

I saw my mate
the other day
he told me he saw the new Shrek play
so I asked 
etc

And here we now have the scapegoat it would appear if things turn pear shape, I didn't see the game last night, I've read postings of his miss against Grimsby, Oh if only we were playing we'd have scored, My gran would have, A cows backside with a banjo, Not forgetting the Queen Ann's table legs ?
If only we could spend £50m + on someone like Haarland things would be a little more Rosie in the garden, Just an opinion here, Nothing factual, anyone who's played the game would know how difficult it is to run all day long on the pitch, Box to box, Defending and attacking, Linking up play, Heading away attacking corners, You'd have to be Red Rum to have stamina like that, Also this could be affecting his game, Not a centre forward that just stands on the halfway line but one that's involved for all the minutes when he's on the pitch.
I get peoples frustration, I'd wager Collins and LR are also frustrated, Results are the main thing we get that, As we now seem to have others contributing to the goals for Column there's no panic, I'm confident Collins will be contributing in due course.
COYRs  

Pot, kettle I reckon. We've had enough posters on here musing on LR's survival and we sit in the top 6! 

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

Alright Rich

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

The Premier League is nowhere near as interesting as the media hype would have you believe.
There's only going to be around 4-5 clubs that will ever win it from now until the end of time unless there is a major restructuring of football finances (which won't happen).
For fans of the rest, where's the enjoyment in hoping your team scrape enough points to finish 17th.?
The championship gets worse every year, parachute payments mean at least two of the promotion slots go to yo-yo clubs.
Sure League One has favourites for promotion but, at this stage, no one knows who will go up, who will make the play offs or who will get relegated.
That competition and uncertainty, even if not the standard of football (and it's still higher than many believe) makes it a darn sight more interesting and - yes - enjoyable.

I have followed the Rams from the third div north right through to today, and  can honestly say it has made no difference to me which league we're in. But give me Saturday kick offs anytime. So yes i am happy to be in this league.

Saturday games at 3PM ?

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

Never leave early too much often happens from 85 onwards. Plus I like to applaud the players off win or lose. On that note a word for Stearman such a wholehearted player and whilst he can lack a little finesse rarely puts a foot wrong. He always comes round to applaud the fans at the end ??? I thought he was excellent again yesterday.

Absolutely spot on, Crewton! As ever a visiting team only got a fraction of the cards they should gave been given. And their reputation as a footballing side is in question. Yes, they do have some talented players, but inevitably a few moments of interplay quickly gave way to the big hoof.
The red card was fully justified - I thought so at the time, and the highlights make it clear. It wasn’t Barky buying the foul, he was tripped deliberately.
Re our “poor passing”: apart from a few sloppy passes around the 70/80 minutes mark, if you look at what the players were trying to do, then the passes weren’t poor, they were passes that nearly worked, and there is a difference. Many times an inch or two difference either side of where the ball actually went and we would have had players in on goal.
Finally, the difference in how we are playing compared with last season is quite breathtaking. We thought that Rosenior was the brains behind Rooney achieving what he did last season, but the evidence would suggest not. Apart from the opening couple of matches, the Cocu-ball “shtay in the match” approach has gone. Even our goal-kick routine is much more direct. Unless thst is because Peterborough are a more attack-minded team so we don’t need to keep prising the bus away from the bus-stop! Our play is much, much more expansive, and us a whole load better to watch, regardless if the result - all credit to Rosenior for that!

Looking forward to a more open game today and also, with some amusement , the probable reactions on here dependent on the result. A win and we are champions elect. A defeat and Rosenior must go! Love it. 
 
Personally very happy with the start we have made and improving all the time. Feeling optimistic that a place in the top 6 is a possibility but a long way to go. COYR

Looking forward to a more open game today and also, with some amusement , the probable reactions on here dependent on the result. A win and we are champions elect. A defeat and Rosenior must go! Love it. 
 
Personally very happy with the start we have made and improving all the time. Feeling optimistic that a place in the top 6 is a possibility but a long way to go. COYR

Looking forward to a more open game today and also, with some amusement , the probable reactions on here dependent on the result. A win and we are champions elect. A defeat and Rosenior must go! Love it. 
 
Personally very happy with the start we have made and improving all the time. Feeling optimistic that a place in the top 6 is a possibility but a long way to go. COYR

Looking forward to a more open game today and also, with some amusement , the probable reactions on here dependent on the result. A win and we are champions elect. A defeat and Rosenior must go! Love it. 
 
Personally very happy with the start we have made and improving all the time. Feeling optimistic that a place in the top 6 is a possibility but a long way to go. COYR

Looking forward to a more open game today and also, with some amusement , the probable reactions on here dependent on the result. A win and we are champions elect. A defeat and Rosenior must go! Love it. 
 
Personally very happy with the start we have made and improving all the time. Feeling optimistic that a place in the top 6 is a possibility but a long way to go. COYR

So I'm putting this post together because since the start of the season there have been question marks on Knight starting at RB which have ranged from mildly questioning to outright ridiculing. 
But very frequently what gets missed is why Knight is starting there, why he's good at it and why it actually relies on his skillset. So I'm going to play devil's advocate and argue for Knight should start there.
Tactics
I think that Rosenior identified that a few things going into the season; we have talent in midfield, we likely have technical superiority and teams are likely going to sit back and try to counter or press and try to counter. And so he's built tactically from that point.You can see this in how our flanks are set up.
Wingers play high and wide and are both fast, phsyical and good 1v1. A compact opposition has to stretch or leave a man free. A team that presses always has to be wary of that threat in behind if they overcommit. Also it helps provide space in the centre for our midfield to take advantage of.
Meanwhile our fullbacks essentially play as midfielders when we have the ball. They tuck right into the middle operating from a much more central postion and given the responsibilities of a deep midfielder in getting the play going and supporting the play. This provides extra functional bodies in the build up play making it theoretically easier to pass through a press and it allows other midfielders to go take up dangerous positions further up field as they don't have to worry so much about the build up. Same applies to the wingers who can play high and wide because the fullbacks are functionally midfielders.
This isn't something revolutionary that Rosenior has done. In fact it's almost identical to what Guardiola has done in the past (who often would play midfielders like Delph at fullback).
Inverted fullback
The demands on this role are different that was is typically called for. They need to very comfortable on the ball in central areas, their passing needs to be good, they need to know what to do positionally when they are in midfield and they need that high energy to cover ground, support the attack and quickly get back into position. Functionally it operates a lot more like a wide midfield role on the ball.
Why Knight ? 
Simply put he excels at all of the above qualities is the primary reason whilst being sound defensively. There is a good reason why most our success in attacking has happened down the right. Playing him there essentially allows us to cheat and play another midfielder
The second reason is with a decent number of midfielders going into pre-season but no right back in sight with restricted dealings in the window. It made sense to coach someone into the role and Knight ticked the most boxes.
Why not X instead of Knight ? 
Odurah - Seems a decent prospect but looked a touch raw and shaky in pre-season. Likely isn't ready just yet.
Smith - This could work but Knight has more energy and crucially Smith hasn't had the same coaching time to coach him into the role.
Thompson - isn't as phsyical as Knight which could get exposed defensively and would need coaching into the role.
Stearman - This is a joke right ? He looks too awkward at CB on the ball never mind in midfield areas and would get exposed for pace.
Roberts - The role benefits from someone playing on their stronger side so they can open their body easier. Also needed at LB as Fozzy can't really play that role reliably.
New Right Back - Well yeah... but that's increasingly unlikely to happen but it won't be for a lack of trying.
Should he play midfield anyway ? 
Now that's a tricky question. Because we have a balance problem in midfield (at least some of the time) that you can point to Knight as a fix. And Id agree with that to a large degree that Knight as one of the three would help. The two counterarguments I might make are that problem might be better solved by playing either Sibley or a fit McGoldrick and by moving Knight from there you might be just shifting a problem rather than fixing it overall.
TLDR; The way we play calls for someone comfortable in midfield at right back. And Knight is likely the best at it we have.
(PS you may be able to tell I'm bored because I'm ill at home) 

I recall Steve McClaren's swashbuckling teams of 2013-15 and 16/17 struggling to break down teams who sat in and played on the break/direct/long ball etc, and losing a number of games 1-0. People used to moan about "no Plan B" at a time when we were playing some of the best football at Derby since the Jim Smith peak years. We couldn't solve the problem then, and now after 4 games and working under an EFL business plan, folk (not on here) are screaming for the head of a manager 4 games into his career because he hasn't solved it yet while he's trying to rebuild the playing side of the club. And we're 7th. I f'kin' give up with some of our fans.
 

Great away point. Clean sheet. Onwards and upwards. We have a football team to support.! Come on you mighty Rams.

True but I felt like over doing it on the positive slant to add some balance to those seeing it as a poor result. An away point is not to be dismissed at this stage.

True but I felt like over doing it on the positive slant to add some balance to those seeing it as a poor result. An away point is not to be dismissed at this stage.