Five things for NP to achieve this season

[Posh Ram]

I can't say I'm thrilled about our transfers on deadline day, but I do think that they show that Pearson has been afforded a proper chance to rebuild this team how he wants by Mel Morris. I'll assume, in that case, that Pearson will keep his job this season if we're in and around the playoffs as part of a commitment to a more long-term "retool" aiming at automatic promotion rather than the disappointment of the last three seasons. I'll be calling for Pearson's head if things go badly wrong, but he is a team builder with track record at this level who should be given time. With that in mind, here are five things I think Pearson needs to achieve regardless of results:

1) Adopt an effective style - the football has been crap so far this season and this needs correcting quickly. We need to stop playing aimless balls from Shackell and start moving the ball quickly and re-cycling possession effectively to build pressure. As well as that, I'd expect to see us become a real threat from set pieces.

2) Integrate the new signings - our main issue last season, imo, was that Clement signed players who didn't fit with our style in Johnson, Blackman, Bent and others and those players fell badly out of form. This year we can't afford to make the same mistake. I'd like to see Vydra and Anya given opportunities from the get go and a shift to playing to Vydra's strengths as he's now our main striker.

3) The redemption of Bradley Johnson - on that note, NP needs to persevere with Bradley Johnson who seems to me to be the ideal Pearson player - a proven Championship player who puts in a shift and offers both creativity and bite in midfield. Be it at left midfield or centre mid, Pearson needs to build up BJ's confidence again and get him playing an important role in the side. It sounds like he did well v Chesterfield. I'll say the same for Blackman but I'm not holding out much hope considering he's looked awful in a Derby shirt from day one.

4) Bring through youth - as Hendrick departs, it would be nice to see Pearson commit to giving the academy players a chance to play a role in the side. By the first game of next season, it would be fantastic to see Elsnik, Lowe and Zanzala to have won themselves matchday opportunities, with Rawson and Hanson kicking on to offer something to the starting XI.

5) Continue the re-build - in January, I think we should do whatever we can to shift Bent and (assuming there's no redemption) Blackman. Russell should be allowed to depart for a reasonable price and players who obviously don't fit Pearson's style (at this stage, Butterfield for example) should be allowed to leave. This side doesn't need razing to the ground but it does need some fresh faces so Pearson can build the team how he wants and we can break up the culture of bottling. As well as that we need to commit to a smaller squad.

 

[RoyMac5]

1) Top 6 finish

[Sith Happens]

Immortality

[Spanish]

2 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

1) Top 6 finish

sadly I think that would be amazing

 

Newc, AV and Norwich should be there, Brighton should be there also.  Then the remaining 2 places for  another group of Wolves, QPR, Wendies and us.   Having said that nothing is certain in the Championship I am just not very confident that his year is ours.  Next year though is completely different 

 

my first achievement would be playing attractive football for those that suffer in 'silence' at the Ipro

secondly, signs that we can close out games effectively

third cover for defensive midfield role

 

struggling with the next 2

[LeedsCityRam]

2 hours ago, Posh Ram said:

 

3) The redemption of Bradley Johnson - on that note, NP needs to persevere with Bradley Johnson who seems to me to be the ideal Pearson player - a proven Championship player who puts in a shift and offers both creativity and bite in midfield. Be it at left midfield or centre mid, Pearson needs to build up BJ's confidence again and get him playing an important role in the side. It sounds like he did well v Chesterfield. I'll say the same for Blackman but I'm not holding out much hope considering he's looked awful in a Derby shirt from day one.

 

Good post generally & agree with much of what you said but have to take issue with the above comment re Bradley Johnson.

I too think he needs to be rehabilitated & his skills utilised but I do not in anyway see him as a creative player. His first touch and passing ability (other than simple stuff) are both very ordinary at this level. Personally, I would play him in front of the back 4 - instructed solely to break up play, cover fullbacks bombing on & give simple passes to the real creative outlets - Ince & especially Hughes, who I would like to see playing much further forward with Johnson sitting behind him.

[DerbyRevolution]

16 minutes ago, Spanish said:

Newc, AV and Norwich should be there, Brighton should be there also.  Then the remaining 2 places for  another group of Wolves, QPR, Wendies and us.   Having said that nothing is certain in the Championship I am just not very confident that his year is ours.  Next year though is completely different 

mid table this season, maybe lower. goal shy strikers, non productive wingers, an injury at the back and we're weak. and i dont see why next year will be any different, replace Newc, AV and Norwich in your post with Sund/Palace/Stoke/Watford and everyone will be saying how tough a league it is, putting us in the 4th-8th bracket again. sadly i fear we missed the boat at wembley, and the next one wont be coming round any time soon.

[Posh Ram]

14 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Good post generally & agree with much of what you said but have to take issue with the above comment re Bradley Johnson.

I too think he needs to be rehabilitated & his skills utilised but I do not in anyway see him as a creative player. His first touch and passing ability (other than simple stuff) are both very ordinary at this level. Personally, I would play him in front of the back 4 - instructed solely to break up play, cover fullbacks bombing on & give simple passes to the real creative outlets - Ince & especially Hughes, who I would like to see playing much further forward with Johnson sitting behind him.

Interesting. I agree he'd be well suited to that role but signs so far seem to point to NP playing a midfield two, where Johnson might have to do a bit of attacking.

[Jourdan]

1) Settle on his best eleven: He has had pre-season and the first five games to experiment, give everyone a chance and reshape the squad a little. It's time now to give the lads some structure. Hopefully in time, this will lead to more fluent performances and better results.

2) Be transparent: If you are clear on your vision, players know what is expected of them and if fans can see it taking effect on the pitch no matter how slowly, they will be more understanding and more patient.

3) Bring back the winning feeling: Nothing lifts the mood better than three points.

4) Get the best out of the players at his disposal: We have a core group of players that would be considered top Championship players in anyone's book - Carson, Keogh, Shackell, Hughes, Ince and Vydra - so it is not as though we are short of quality, at this stage what we are short of is a way of blending all these different players together to get a well-functioning team.

5) Be competitive: No-one is expecting us to walk the league and given the level of competition this year, very few actually think we will be in the mix for promotion. We don't have a divine right to be competing at the right end of the table but is there a reasonable excuse for us not to be? Yes, we are in transition. Yes, we've lost key players. But the majority of these players have been competing for promotion in recent years for a reason. Unless you can name six sides conclusively better than us, the top 6 should still be a fair and reasonable expectation.

[Seth's left foot]

55 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Good post generally & agree with much of what you said but have to take issue with the above comment re Bradley Johnson.

I too think he needs to be rehabilitated & his skills utilised but I do not in anyway see him as a creative player. His first touch and passing ability (other than simple stuff) are both very ordinary at this level. Personally, I would play him in front of the back 4 - instructed solely to break up play, cover fullbacks bombing on & give simple passes to the real creative outlets - Ince & especially Hughes, who I would like to see playing much further forward with Johnson sitting behind him.

Yes, Johnson should be played as the DM until Thorne is back as he has the physique to get stuck in. I don't like him playing on the left.

Hughes and Bryson (depending on the formation) can then be the creative midfielder's further up the pitch.

[ram59]

1, win the league

2, win the league cup

3, win the FA Cup

I can't think of the other two! 

[ossieram]

9 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

1) Settle on his best eleven: He has had pre-season and the first five games to experiment, give everyone a chance and reshape the squad a little. It's time now to give the lads some structure. Hopefully in time, this will lead to more fluent performances and better results.

2) Be transparent: If you are clear on your vision, players know what is expected of them and if fans can see it taking effect on the pitch no matter how slowly, they will be more understanding and more patient.

3) Bring back the winning feeling: Nothing lifts the mood better than three points.

4) Get the best out of the players at his disposal: We have a core group of players that would be considered top Championship players in anyone's book - Carson, Keogh, Shackell, Hughes, Ince and Vydra - so it is not as though we are short of quality, at this stage what we are short of is a way of blending all these different players together to get a well-functioning team.

5) Be competitive: No-one is expecting us to walk the league and given the level of competition this year, very few actually think we will be in the mix for promotion. We don't have a divine right to be competing at the right end of the table but is there a reasonable excuse for us not to be? Yes, we are in transition. Yes, we've lost key players. But the majority of these players have been competing for promotion in recent years for a reason. Unless you can name six sides conclusively better than us, the top 6 should still be a fair and reasonable expectation.

What have you been drinking and can you buy it by the gallon?

Derby fans don't do understanding and patient anymore, we have been taken over by the "I want it now" brigade. 

[Jourdan]

2 minutes ago, ossieram said:

What have you been drinking and can you buy it by the gallon?

Derby fans don't do understanding and patient anymore, we have been taken over by the "I want it now" brigade. 

PG Tips Lemon and Ginger Tea.

It has really helped me to keep calm over the summer, highly recommended! 

[G STAR RAM]

4 hours ago, Posh Ram said:

I can't say I'm thrilled about our transfers on deadline day, but I do think that they show that Pearson has been afforded a proper chance to rebuild this team how he wants by Mel Morris. I'll assume, in that case, that Pearson will keep his job this season if we're in and around the playoffs as part of a commitment to a more long-term "retool" aiming at automatic promotion rather than the disappointment of the last three seasons. I'll be calling for Pearson's head if things go badly wrong, but he is a team builder with track record at this level who should be given time. With that in mind, here are five things I think Pearson needs to achieve regardless of results:

1) Adopt an effective style - the football has been crap so far this season and this needs correcting quickly. We need to stop playing aimless balls from Shackell and start moving the ball quickly and re-cycling possession effectively to build pressure. As well as that, I'd expect to see us become a real threat from set pieces.

2) Integrate the new signings - our main issue last season, imo, was that Clement signed players who didn't fit with our style in Johnson, Blackman, Bent and others and those players fell badly out of form. This year we can't afford to make the same mistake. I'd like to see Vydra and Anya given opportunities from the get go and a shift to playing to Vydra's strengths as he's now our main striker.

3) The redemption of Bradley Johnson - on that note, NP needs to persevere with Bradley Johnson who seems to me to be the ideal Pearson player - a proven Championship player who puts in a shift and offers both creativity and bite in midfield. Be it at left midfield or centre mid, Pearson needs to build up BJ's confidence again and get him playing an important role in the side. It sounds like he did well v Chesterfield. I'll say the same for Blackman but I'm not holding out much hope considering he's looked awful in a Derby shirt from day one.

4) Bring through youth - as Hendrick departs, it would be nice to see Pearson commit to giving the academy players a chance to play a role in the side. By the first game of next season, it would be fantastic to see Elsnik, Lowe and Zanzala to have won themselves matchday opportunities, with Rawson and Hanson kicking on to offer something to the starting XI.

5) Continue the re-build - in January, I think we should do whatever we can to shift Bent and (assuming there's no redemption) Blackman. Russell should be allowed to depart for a reasonable price and players who obviously don't fit Pearson's style (at this stage, Butterfield for example) should be allowed to leave. This side doesn't need razing to the ground but it does need some fresh faces so Pearson can build the team how he wants and we can break up the culture of bottling. As well as that we need to commit to a smaller squad.

 

Good post (except calling BJ creative!)

5 sensible and achievable goals.

I wonder how closely aligned these are to the goals set out by the club?

[Spanish]

1 hour ago, DerbyRevolution said:

mid table this season, maybe lower. goal shy strikers, non productive wingers, an injury at the back and we're weak. and i dont see why next year will be any different, replace Newc, AV and Norwich in your post with Sund/Palace/Stoke/Watford and everyone will be saying how tough a league it is, putting us in the 4th-8th bracket again. sadly i fear we missed the boat at wembley, and the next one wont be coming round any time soon.

what about 3 from Burnley Hull Watford and Bournemouth as the relegated trio?

I understand you though it is tempting to think that next year will be easier when it is likely that it wont be.  Unless we get a couple of game changers in the team playoffs is the most likely route

this may be the case for everybody given the impact of parachute payments in the future, yo-yo until you're dizzy!

[archied]

1, break up whatever clique, boys club culture ,whatever you want to call it that seems to have evolved at our club , one of the reasons I feel there's some truth to this is that it seems that any new player we have brought in for some time now ,no matter their cost ,reputation ,form before joining us , looking fantastic early on for us seem to turn in to absolutely shells of the player we brought in???? , am I the only one who is thinking this can't be right ? Something must be going wrong somewhere, you can dress it up as poor recruitment or wrong type players nonsense but very decent players come to us start well ,then given time in our dressing room the become they all become the Forrest Gump of the football world? Really?

sort that out the rest may follow and we start moving forward again

[eddie]

5 goals

[archied]

Sorry

2 Instill some backbone in our team

3. Get us moving the ball quicker and with some intent( in any formation)

4 get a team out on the field that the fans connect with and in the main don't want to boo ( it's not the losing its how you lose) by staying honest and keeping our players honest( his very well chosen words to describe burton Albion)

5 keep us competive whilst changes taking place ,hopefully play offs 

[RadioactiveWaste]

1. Wrestle a forest player

2. Meltdown at a journalist when baited

3. Get some headed goals from titchy players.

4. Play Johnson as a number nine just to troll people who didn't want Martin to go. 

5. Get Nick Blackman to score a good goal from open play then drop him for ever more. 

If he does all the above, the forum will remain entertaining. 

[Ambitious]

If he doesn't finish in the top six then he's failed in his first year at the club. 

How can you take a top six side, dismantle it, finish in a worse position and still be considered a success? You can't! 

I don't really care how he does it, but he's made some pretty huge decisions in his short time here and anything other than a successful season will make him, rightfully, a failure. 

We severely lack creativity, Russell is our most creative player on paper with one assist roughly every 4 full matches. 

If you take the last two full league seasons (whoscored):
Ince - 23 goals, 9 assists in 5301 minutes
Vydra - 19 goals, 8 assists in 4698 minutes
Wilson - 6 goals, no assists in 1694 minutes
Weimann - 7 goals, 2 assists in 3134 minutes
Russell - 16 goals, 16 assists in 5736 minutes
Bent - 14 goals, 4 assists in 1977 minutes
Camara - 2 goals, 0 assists in 1541 minutes
Butterfield - 14 goals, 9 assists in 6962 minutes
Blackman - 14 goals, 3 assists in 4230 minutes
Johnson - 20 goals, 4 assists in 6638 minutes 
Bryson - 7 goals, 3 assists in 3704 minutes
Hughes - 2 goals, 5 assists in 3675 minutes
Anya - 0 goals, 8 assists in 4145 minutes

Goal to game ratio:
Bent - 1 goal every 1.57 full games.
Ince - 1 goal every 2.56 full games.
Vydra - 1 goal every 2.744 full games.
Wilson - 1 goal every 3.13 full games.
Blackman - 1 goal every 3.36 full games.
Johnson - 1 goal every 3.69 full games.
Russell - 1 goal every 3.98 full games.

Most Assists:
Russell - 1 assist every 3.98 full games.
Bent - 1 assist every 5.49 full games.
Anya - 1 assist every 5.76 full games.
Vydra - 1 assist every 6.52 full games.
Ince - 1 assist every 6.54 full games.
Hughes - 1 assist every 8.17 full games.
Butterfield - 1 assist every 8.6 full games. 

[PodgeyRam]

17 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

If he doesn't finish in the top six then he's failed in his first year at the club. 

How can you take a top six side, dismantle it, finish in a worse position and still be considered a success? You can't! 

I don't really care how he does it, but he's made some pretty huge decisions in his short time here and anything other than a successful season will make him, rightfully, a failure. 

We severely lack creativity, Russell is our most creative player on paper with one assist roughly every 4 full matches. 

If you take the last two full league seasons (whoscored):
Ince - 23 goals, 9 assists in 5301 minutes
Vydra - 19 goals, 8 assists in 4698 minutes
Wilson - 6 goals, no assists in 1694 minutes
Weimann - 7 goals, 2 assists in 3134 minutes
Russell - 16 goals, 16 assists in 5736 minutes
Bent - 14 goals, 4 assists in 1977 minutes
Camara - 2 goals, 0 assists in 1541 minutes
Butterfield - 14 goals, 9 assists in 6962 minutes
Blackman - 14 goals, 3 assists in 4230 minutes
Johnson - 20 goals, 4 assists in 6638 minutes 
Bryson - 7 goals, 3 assists in 3704 minutes
Hughes - 2 goals, 5 assists in 3675 minutes
Anya - 0 goals, 8 assists in 4145 minutes

Goal to game ratio:
Bent - 1 goal every 1.57 full games.
Ince - 1 goal every 2.56 full games.
Vydra - 1 goal every 2.744 full games.
Wilson - 1 goal every 3.13 full games.
Blackman - 1 goal every 3.36 full games.
Johnson - 1 goal every 3.69 full games.
Russell - 1 goal every 3.98 full games.

Most Assists:
Russell - 1 assist every 3.98 full games.
Bent - 1 assist every 5.49 full games.
Anya - 1 assist every 5.76 full games.
Vydra - 1 assist every 6.52 full games.
Ince - 1 assist every 6.54 full games.
Hughes - 1 assist every 8.17 full games.
Butterfield - 1 assist every 8.6 full games. 

Absolutely, if he doesn't get top six he will have failed. Darren Wassall got this team to the playoffs and he was derided by many fans. Fact of the matter is, if Pearson with two transfer windows can't get this team to the playoffs he has failed and can't complain if he's sacked. He seems to know this having stated that promotion is the aim this season.