Preston North End vs Derby County Matchday Thread

[RoyMac5]

6 minutes ago, Curtains said:

Is it Frank that hasn’t got what it takes or external forces beyond  his control. 

He his doing fantastic in my eyes within his working parameters 

PS That said he hasn’t made all the correct calls. 

You contradict yourself there then. ? All managers have to work with 'forces beyond their control', it's how you deal with it. He's had a tremendous pool of players to pick from, it's down to him how he plays them and gets them to play. That is his job.

[Tombo]

13 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

It's tv - they hope for controversy, lol. But I'd rather hear from Wee Billy too. Like it or not what he did took a lot of doing.

Billy Davies invented controversy

[Owd miner]

Ive just thawed out mi owds... Plus on way back there was a crash at j37 M1.... When I gor in Hilda wont happy.... Anyway all I'll say about game is that it was dog poo really wont it......

[Mucker1884]

50 minutes ago, superzak said:

Very poor game...first time i can remember wishing i hadnt bothered ...totally outplayed

Don't beat yersen up about it Zac.  Even Kings can have a bad game.

[Inglorius]

24 minutes ago, Curtains said:

Quick question. 

How much happier than last season are you. .

Just asking. 

Lampard still faffs around with team selection the only area he hasn't continually meddled with is CB.

Not sure if he is looking for the holy grail of combinations which will never exist and waste the rest of the season doing so (and ultimately a playoff spot)

[ram93]

Disappointing last night, but just want to touch on Franks signings. So far i can understand why Reading didn't want Evans, the fact that they are towards the bottom of the league and he couldn't get in their team added to the fact we were competing with league 1 Sunderland for his signature suggested to me he wasn't good enough for a promotion chasing team. I don't think one of his long range passes reached its target last night. I hope he proves me wrong, but can't see him being the long term replacement for Huddlestone. 

Frank keeps 'moaning' about the lack of funds etc, but if i'm honest the money he's spent so far he's wasted. Bar Marriott and Holmes i can't see where he's got value for money on his permanent signings. Evans i've touched on, Flo Jo can't get in the team, Malone is quite inconsistent. Waghorn i love to bits and wish he'd start more, however the fee we paid for him i just cannot justify. I know Waghorn has no influence over the fee we pay, but in my eyes if you paying 5mill rising to 7.5mill for a player, he should then be the first name on the team sheet and a match winner. The type of player that if he doesn't play we miss, e.g Wilson. If I'm honest i can't see how waghorn is that player, i believe we could have got a Waghorn type player for half the fee we paid for him.

Thoughts?

[Gisby]

27 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

I think it's much easier this season to settle for 'a good attempt', mainly based on the managers (lack of) experience. But also based on the way we play. After the initial honeymoon period of a new manager I'm not sure whether FL has what it takes, but it will be an interesting 2nd half - hope it's exciting too, but... ? #COYR 

 

Come on @RoyMac5mi ‘owd turn that frown upside down!! ? get round mine & borrow one on my pair of rose tinted specs. This seasons way more enjoyable\exciting than what’s gone before (since Mac1 anyway). Enjoy the ride, we’ve got Ashley & Andy waiting in the wings with Jack & Mason to come back from injury too, like you say the 2nd half of the season should be something to look forward to ?

[Inglorius]

2 minutes ago, ram93 said:

 Frank keeps 'moaning' about the lack of funds etc, but if i'm honest the money he's spent so far he's wasted. Bar Marriott and Holmes i can't see where he's got value for money on his permanent signings. Evans i've touched on, Flo Jo can't get in the team, Malone is quite inconsistent. 

You've put the word moaning in inverted commas as though it's not moaning at all, why are you making something out to be an issue therefore if it's not? 

[Archied]

36 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Don't think he'd have been much worse than Holmes at RB. Playing him and dropping him can't be doing his confidence much good either. 

Holmes at RB looked no better or worse than Anya would have done tbh! 

For me Waghorn through the middle (Nuge has been nothing more than a fly buzzing about for some time) and Bennett wide would have been a better choice and a better fit. TBH I'd rather have seen Harry up there, he's our main goal threat atm!

Lots of constant tinkering from FL with players that aren't 'total football' level, not gonna work imo.

Don’t get me wrong ,in my eyes waghorn is the player to play through the middle if Marriott is injured ,out of form or waghorn is better suited to the game or even looking better in training , just saying I can also see the thinking in pairing him and Holmes up the right last night , 

[ram93]

5 minutes ago, Inglorius said:

You've put the word moaning in inverted commas as though it's not moaning at all, why are you making something out to be an issue therefore if it's not? 

because clearly it is an issue if he's raised it multiple times in various interviews this last month, explaining his hands are tied as such and that he understands the situation the club is in etc. my point is the money he's spent hasn't been spent wisely 

[LazloW]

I think last night has to go down as a good point.  I must admit, I thought Preston were higher in the league than they are (and how they played, surprised they aren't higher), but they seem to be yet another very tidy team who play and press at a high pace.  Lots of teams like this in the Championship and we have to expect home teams to come at us.  I think some of the reactions on here tend to go a little overboard (understatement).  We always seem to forget that there are two teams playing and sometimes the opposition will play better than us.  I'm not going to pretend it was particularly pretty to watch, but that was far from the worst performance I have ever seen.  It might have been considered incredibly lucky, but for a couple of inches we could have gone in 2-0 up at half time.  Defending is also part of the game, and even though it was like the Alamo at times, to keep a clean sheet is still worthy of some praise, surely? (I do accept, however, a point made elsewhere, that even better defending is stopping the chances being created in the first place, but if you can't do that then at least throw everything you have into stopping the shots that do come in).

My only concern is that we do not seem to cope very well with the pressing.  We find it difficult to keep the ball and relieve the pressure.  Not sure what the answer is, other than perhaps being a bit more intelligent when we have the ball.  However, for backs to wall defending, last night was very good.  As was pointed out on the commentary, stopping crosses coming in seems to be another major recurring feature that we have to find a way of stopping.  Perhaps Cole's knowhow on the left will help when/if he is fit.  

FWIW, I don't think Tom would have been the answer last night.  In games like this he gets caught betwixt and between.  The play goes on around him.  Tom excels when we are in possession and dictating play (which isn't happening as much lately).  I don't think he excels when we need to be bombing around trying to withstand pressure (just my opinion, don't shoot me).

I said just the other day that I don't dislike Lawrence and a lot of the stick he gets is unwarranted, but even I have to say he had a bit of a stinker last night (sorry if that isn't hyperbolic enough!).  Its all about decision making, and he makes a lot of wrong decisions.  However, there were a few others who could have done more... but going back to my first point, perhaps it was just a case of Preston not allowing them to have good games because they just played that bit better on the night?

[Jayram]

I thought Preston were excellent last night, love the way they play, and if it wasn’t for Keogh, Tomori and Roos we would have been well beaten. It pisses me off that our football has been so flat and predictable since WBA away, the last time we truly looked worthy of our top 6 place. I have a feeling we will have dropped out by the end of today as I can’t see Brizzle not beating Swansea and to be honest we can have no complaints about that if it happens. 

I just hope that King coming in will have a galvanising effect on our midfield, which has been overrun too many times lately, and that we don’t lose either of our centre halves to injury or suspension because if we do we’ve had it.

Overall I was glad we took a point last night but really struggling with how easily we are outplayed game in game out - it’s demoralising.

 

[Stroker Ace]

33 minutes ago, McLovin said:

That’s nice except that Preston battered us last year too but we managed to snatch a win. Therefore to say that’s the type of game that we would have lost last year isn’t correct.

Not to be picky but that game was in April. Our traditional rubbish patch is earlier. So I'm sticking by my initial observation.

[cannable]

4 hours ago, Dcfcsr92 said:

I think its because how woeful he was on the anything over a 5 yard pass went about 10 yards away from where it was intended to 

He had our second best pass accuracy last night and successfully completed 5 of 6 attempted long balls, which is more than any other outfielder 

[Inglorius]

11 minutes ago, ram93 said:

because clearly it is an issue if he's raised it multiple times in various interviews this last month, explaining his hands are tied as such and that he understands the situation the club is in etc. my point is the money he's spent hasn't been spent wisely 

Provide quotes referencing him complaining about lack of transfer funds to back up your argument.

Latest quote from last night was that he was fully aware of the financial restrictions he'd be operating under when he took the job on so there seems to be a huge mismatch with your comments 

[The Key Club King]

1 hour ago, Duracell said:

Seen some Serie A-style overreaction here, which is great to see. I love the continental feel that comes with not being able to cope with a poor performance.

I’m in the mood for an espresso in one of those little cups.

 

 

Just time for a quick look at the papers;

La Gazzetta run with "Tom Lawrence è terribile"...

[Wolfie20]

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

It's tv - they hope for controversy, lol. But I'd rather hear from Wee Billy too. Like it or not what he did took a lot of doing.

I ñever want to hear from that poisoned dwarf ever again.

[Inverurie Ram]

11 hours ago, Steve How Hard? said:

I thought Lawrence looked like he was carrying a knock in that 2nd half. I was amazed when Waghorn came off. Even if Lawrence  wasn't injured that would have been my choice for Bennetts introduction. 

I thought Lawrence looked like he was carrying a camel under his @rse, again!

We'd get more effort, passion, commitment, pride and team work out of this fella and he's dying and stuck in Arabia! 

 

[ariotofmyown]

2 hours ago, Fraser_23 said:

Just seen that Tom Lawrence was arrested last night in Preston....

For impersonating a professional footballer 

This 'joke' would have been less dire if a) impersonating a pro footballer was a criminal offence and b) there was some sort of story of Tom been in trouble with the law recently.

If b) has happened and I've missed it then it's not quite as bad as I thought.

[BOB BIGGS]

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

It's tv - they hope for controversy, lol. But I'd rather hear from Wee Billy too. Like it or not what he did took a lot of doing.

Creating a squad that ultimately gained a record low number of points took some doing as well. Wasn’t in post too long to take full responsibility -  but he made sure of that. I’m quite happy that he is less visible these days.