Caerphilly Ram

Weimann leaving Bristol City on a free, 32 years old so maybe not the age profile we want but plenty of champ experience and still close with the likes of Fozzy I believe….an option for the forward positions? Or a case of too old, on the wane, and “never go back”..?

Bristol offers the finest examples of both 😁 Back on point, it’s a shame whatever the reasons to see him move on but I wish Bird well, and hope we finish comfortably above Bristol City next season.

My intent isn’t to give stick, just to discuss a counter point. Bird may well have gone for a different style of football, I don’t think it’s that…or solely that. As to why Bristol there’s often more factors at play than just the club itself. Bristol is a great city, for a young lad (and his partner I think I’ve seen on social media) with some cash in his pocket it would be a good place to make home for a few years, his good mate is there, he’s been at the club from a young age and ridden a very emotional rollercoaster along with the rest of us the last few years, with the added personal experience of losing his father. I’m speculating based on what’s out there and maybe what I want to see/hear/read, I think he was just ready for something different, a change of scenery, club, colleagues, and yes possibly style of play too. It’s a moot point I guess as only a handful will ever know the real reasons

No doubt there’ll be people who think that, and it’ll fit a certain narrative, may even be true….only Bird will know for sure what his reasons are. However given how keen you are for open dialogue around opposing views I would say Warne had moved to make Bird central to everything we did this season, played him in a more advanced role and looked at times for us to play through him, spent time coaching him around his finishing which looks to have been successful, and if you watch the footage of all our goals back this season there was plenty of football played in the build up to a number of them. So what that “different style” of football is, I’m not sure, possession based? Is that how Bristol City play? Can you guarantee a style of football at a club where the manager could change on the back of a poor run of results?

I mean I obviously wouldn’t admit to being choked up slightly myself at any point, but I’d never stand in the way of anyone else feeling sad…. Now where are those tissues

I’m with you there. Big fan of Bird as a player and think it’s a shame he’s gone, but sort of understand the circumstance. Really nice touch watching that back, wish him all the best, apart from when he plays us 😉

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6zK7RmiUcn/?igsh=MWh4Z2Vxb3Q2OXhuZw== The above is a link to Max Bird’s Instagram and a lovely reel he’s shared earlier this evening 😢 👏

Only a one year extension so he can sign for us when Warne takes us up as champions next season 👀 🤥

There’s no need for your conspiracy theory around Elder’s contract having an extension trigger, he signed on a 3 year deal last summer. Perhaps Warne used Elder this season because…well…erm… he’s one of our players and contributed to our promotion this season. Radical idea I know

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This article seems to sum it up quite well; https://erkutsogut.com/blog/2023/06/25/recent-changes-to-the-visa-rules-regarding-foreign-players-and-governing-body-endorsements-gbes-in-uk-football/ Post Brexit there was a points system, players from the top leagues in Europe and those with international honours were likely to get the required 15 points to then be allowed to play in the UK, essentially making it ok for the PL sides but harder further down the pyramid. But last season they relaxed the rules a little to make it easier for EU players to qualify for “work permits” so we’re probably in a position to sign some.

Any word on who the trialists were and also if we’re looking to sign them?

I agree, I think Kane and Williams on free transfers would be solid business to add to the squad. Both a good age at 25 and 24 respectively, both been consistent performers for a Barnsley side pushing at the top end of league one, would give us a younger option to Hourihane in midfield and another option at cb.

It’s an interesting take you’ve got, so in the absence of proof that another team wanted him or the club didn’t try and offload him it’s all Anya’s fault, yet you can’t prove he had no interest in playing, how do you know he wasn’t doing all he could to be picked to play? Clubs are likely only going to show an interest in him if he was given an opportunity to show his ability on the pitch right? Can’t earn himself a move if he’s not in the shop window type thing. Looking at it objectively it was a massive failure as signings go taking into account the fee and wages, but it’s not on him that we paid the fee, or gave him the wages and contract. To hold such personal blame and dislike against him as a person seems odd to me, chalk it down to bad business by all parties involved and move on.

I don’t know that their presence on the vegas trip should be a direct indicator of their futures. Hourihane, Collins, Sibley, Thompson, Smith, Bird, Adams are all there and as it stands aren’t going to be Derby players next year. From what I can see Waghorn, Ward, Wildsmith, Forsyth, Loach, Fornah, John-Jules, Nyambe and Barkhuizen are missing from this group shot that was shared; Top row L-R; Cashin, Bradley, Elder, Wilson, Collins, CBT, Smith, Nelson, NML. Bottom row L-R; Washington, Vickers, Sibley, Hourihane, Bird, Thommo, Adams.

In answer to the OP’s question, and as with everything, it’s not as binary as some on either side of the argument would have us believe. Warne himself is keen to share the credit for any success he has with his colleagues and players. I suspect Barker does a lot of the coaching on the grass along with Hamshaw, but Warne definitely plays a part. Both Bird and Warne commented on the additional coaching which led to Bird’s improved finishing this season so there must be something there. We’ve seen a number of players adapt to new/different roles and positions during his tenure. Sibley at lb/lwb, Smith at rb, Wilson who many said couldn’t play as a rb filled in admirably at the end of the season as the examples that stick out in my mind. We’ve defended as a team and achieved the best defensive record in the whole EFL this season, that has to be down to some sort of coaching surely rather than the “our players are just better” that certain posters keep trotting out. For a defence that suffered constant changes due to injury and the switching from 3 to 4 at the back to be so consistent smacks of some sort of tactical organisation despite the occasional erratic moment. His man management and the team unity has been cited by a number of the squad as being a big factor in their success this season. Does that count as coaching? And yet there were games (more last season than this? 🤔) when an opposition manager tweaked something in the game and Warne didn’t react. There’s the much discussed lack of youth integration and development into the first team, does that count against his accolades as a coach? The game management and lack of control in midfield has irked many, is that a failing of his coaching (or is it a tactical choice which he is happy to take for pragmatic reasons?) For me Warne has some strengths, despite what some are desperate to deny, and he has some weaknesses which are also ignored by some of the fan base. He has delivered a measure of success this season and we get to see whether he can carry that into the championship in the coming months…fun times innit 😁

It’s semantics until we know the reasons IF and when Wildsmith leaves though right? We’re not “letting him go” if he chooses to leave, and we don’t yet know that he is leaving. Didn’t someone on Radio Derby say he’d had a contract offered and not signed it? And then also @angieram (I think) said Wildsmith himself said there’d been no contract offer….the plot thickens. I’m torn between this being a lazy link that was inevitable this summer or there actually being something in it.

Great shot on the lad

Really enjoyed that, there’s plenty of variety in the goals scored and the scorers, nice touch that they added in some of the class saves from Wildsmith and Vickers and a couple of goal line clearances from the likes of Cashin and Bradley too.

Says he has a £900k release clause and we’re interested along with Sheff United and Stoke. Could be (probably is) a lazy link from Nixon but if we are interested I wonder if we’re in a financial position to compete with the other linked clubs 🤔 Maybe the Warne, Vickers, GK Coach connection would play a part. Suppose we’ll see how likely our interest in a goalkeeper is when we hear more about Wildsmith’s future.

This fella seems strangely appropriate;

You’re right in that it’ll be Warne’s call. My stance on it is partly driven by sentiment as I think he’s better than some credit, but it’s also logical (to me anyway) to keep some continuity in the squad. Collins is seemingly a very good pro, played a high number of games, scored a high number of goals, trains well and plays hard. He’d continue setting the standards in the squad and would complement a couple of younger options as one of our forwards next season. Probably wouldn’t want him as the main choice, but would I want him coming on against tired defenders with 20 mins to go either looking for a winner or putting in a shift to defend a lead? Yeah I would. Would I want him sharing his experience of playing the striking role with a young and exciting talent like Dajaune Brown? Yeah I would. Hypothetically what would your stance be if it was McGoldrick and not Collins we were discussing?

Why must people agree? I’ve seen enough of him the last 2 seasons to say he’s got pretty good technique, his heading technique is good, his penalty technique is good, a number of his goals show very good technique with both feet and his mid-riff, here’s a selection of them from this season; I agree we would benefit from a younger option in the squad but the discredit levelled at Collins never makes sense to me. If we had Collins as a central striker supported by capable players out wide and a creative 10/8 behind him he’d still score plenty. He’s scored the number of goals he has in his career (215 in senior club football) because of his technique, it’s more likely to be his lack of pace and athleticism that’s stopped him succeeding at a higher level (and caused him to often be caught offside). I always think it’s possible to say we need new signings without being completely dismissive of our current players and their contributions.