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In defence of Frank and his management team


Wraggrams

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Frank et al are a rookie management team (Mr Abramovich please take note!). They have courageously taken on a big challenge in DCFC. Probably bigger than they expected. FFP has clearly bit us hard. The lack of activity in January  proved that. Inspite of this they have reduced the average age of the 1st team. Tried to incorporate academy players in the 1st team squad. Used their contacts to bring in 3 loan gems. Tried to introduce a possession based pressing game. They have changed formation and tactics. We seem fitter. We have had some excellent performances e.g. WBA and Manchester United. This has all been done with a net spend close to break even. They have raised expectations with us in/near promotion places all season. Just to be there is an enormous achievement for a rookie management team. I would love us to go into the Premiership next season. But either way am looking forward to the summer transfer window because Frank and his management team will have every opportunity to create an exciting squad for whichever division we are in. A squad not only signed up to their high press tactics but one with the strength, vitality, youth and ability to be able to consistently deliver it, no matter our opposition. 

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1 minute ago, Wraggrams said:

Frank et al are a rookie management team (Mr Abramovich please take note!). They have courageously taken on a big challenge in DCFC. Probably bigger than they expected. FFP has clearly bit us hard. The lack of activity in January  proved that. Inspite of this they have reduced the average age of the 1st team. Tried to incorporate academy players in the 1st team squad. Used their contacts to bring in 3 loan gems. Tried to introduce a possession based pressing game. They have changed formation and tactics. We seem fitter. We have had some excellent performances e.g. WBA and Manchester United. This has all been done with a net spend close to break even. They have raised expectations with us in/near promotion places all season. Just to be there is an enormous achievement for a rookie management team. I would love us to go into the Premiership next season. But either way am looking forward to the summer transfer window because Frank and his management team will have every opportunity to create an exciting squad for whichever division we are in. A squad not only signed up to their high press tactics but one with the strength, vitality, youth and ability to be able to consistently deliver it, no matter our opposition. 

I was going to ask whether that is a general view as some are commenting that several players look knackered.

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He inherited the most or  probably 2 nd most expensive squad in this league ( behind villa). He’s spent around 12 million. Which as you stated came mostly from Vydra’s sale, but I suspect last seasons squad will beat this seasons squad in terms of points. I like him and hope we stick with him but we haven’t actually advanced. Just imagine how many points we would have got with Mount Wilson and  Tomori in last seasons squad. Zero transfers and those loans would have seen us far stronger. Although I doubt he had any choice in getting rid of Vyds. 

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52 minutes ago, Wraggrams said:

Frank et al are a rookie management team (Mr Abramovich please take note!). They have courageously taken on a big challenge in DCFC. Probably bigger than they expected. FFP has clearly bit us hard. The lack of activity in January  proved that. Inspite of this they have reduced the average age of the 1st team. Tried to incorporate academy players in the 1st team squad. Used their contacts to bring in 3 loan gems. Tried to introduce a possession based pressing game. They have changed formation and tactics. We seem fitter. We have had some excellent performances e.g. WBA and Manchester United. This has all been done with a net spend close to break even. They have raised expectations with us in/near promotion places all season. Just to be there is an enormous achievement for a rookie management team. I would love us to go into the Premiership next season. But either way am looking forward to the summer transfer window because Frank and his management team will have every opportunity to create an exciting squad for whichever division we are in. A squad not only signed up to their high press tactics but one with the strength, vitality, youth and ability to be able to consistently deliver it, no matter our opposition. 

I'm a fan of Frank and am trying not to be too critical of him in this, his rookie season. However, the number of good performances have been massively outweighed by the number of poor ones especially of late. Also, do you really think he'll have "every opportunity to create an exciting squad" in the summer?

For me, he's done OK given his lack of management/coaching experience and the challenges you have mentioned but, somehow, he needs to reproduce this so called exciting and free flowing football the papers seem to think he's become famous for here at Derby. Does he have the players available to achieve this? probably not but they really should be performing better (yes I know we're 7th in the league and that's a great achievement but, surely no one thinks we've been anywhere approaching good for several weeks now). Will he have the funds and coaching network at his disposal to build the squad he wants in the summer? Hopefully but no doubt on a shoestring.

 

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If we dont get promoted i hope mad Mel sacks him 

Don't get me wrong i like Frank. He’ll Probably do a decent job given time & another summer window where players are out of contract & he can potentially bring a few in. He’ll learn from this season but balls to it. 

I just enjoy a summer of speculation of who the next manager will be, the turmoil, its all exciting. Be boring if we actually stick with someone & give them time like the nigel clough days... rubbish 

i want a new appointment, change of system & millions of pounds thrown away to achive a sixth place finish or worse the following season. Hopefully we’ll then limp out of the playoffs in the first leg. If we can repeat that process again the season after with yet again another different manager to the last then superb ?? 

Lets keep appointing people until we get another billy davies, fluke & promotion then have another banter season in the top flight. Or if we look at sheff united they faded last season, stuck with a manager, re-grouped & look better this season, they look like a proper side. We could appoint their manager & sack him after six months if his magic wand doesnt work 

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I think he's doing well overall. Slightly concerned about next year and replacing the loans with a few more of equal quality. Think we have got lucky on that front this year. 

Only thing that has concerned me is the style in the last few games. We seem to be going far more direct than at the start of the season. Not sure why we've changed. 

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1 hour ago, G-Ram said:

i want a new appointment, change of system & millions of pounds thrown away to achive a sixth place finish or worse the following season

You jest, I know. But this is me all over. I love all this crap. New managers, big money thrown around...

I like a bit of madness at my club. It's better than being Milwall or summat.

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2 hours ago, G-Ram said:

Lets keep appointing people until we get another billy davies, fluke & promotion then have another banter season in the top flight.

Perhaps's we can do a Watford instead and bypass any Krankies?

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1 hour ago, RamsFan10 said:

I think he's doing well overall. Slightly concerned about next year and replacing the loans with a few more of equal quality. Think we have got lucky on that front this year. 

Only thing that has concerned me is the style in the last few games. We seem to be going far more direct than at the start of the season. Not sure why we've changed. 

We are far from direct, we seem to play like Arsenal under Wenger, with far less quality. 

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48 minutes ago, Parsnip said:

You jest, I know. But this is me all over. I love all this crap. New managers, big money thrown around...

I like a bit of madness at my club. It's better than being Milwall or summat.

Bookmarked.

For 5 years time, when Millwall become the last current team to leave this division ahead of us, after coming from 2-0 down with 10 minutes left in the 2023 play off final, eventually overcoming us on penalties.

Bogle scoring the winning penalty, having been released the previous summer to fund James Milners signing, while Derby manager Peter Crouch looks on aghast.

Frank Lampard surveys the scene from the safety of the Sky Studio, alongside the guests Mason Mount and Jack Marriott, both essential components of Frank's winning World Cup side of 12 months ago.

 

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22 minutes ago, TommyPowel said:

have you heard of the word sarcasm,this forum isd about football not written english.DO YOU AGREE WITH THE GUY OR NOT? (caps on purpose)

I gave up trying to understand what the post was about after the 10th sentence without a break.

Which was my original point 

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I personally think frank is doing OK for his debut season in what is a difficult job. He does seem to be a bit of a slow learner (still hasn’t figured out how to break down teams who defend deep, hence our shocking record against the bottom 6, and doesn’t seem to know his best team after over 40 games) but he is trying to impose an identity on the team and does want to play the #rightway.

For me personally, I just don’t like Derby appointing rookie managers so the entire fact he’s here is an inherent cause of frustration. I think Derby should be a bigger prospect than “Training wheels for Frank before he gets a proper job”. Lampard has achieved nothing in management to get the Derby job - one of the biggest outside the top flight. I just don’t think he should be here.

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As an old fart in my 52nd season of supporting the Rams I'm going to make an old fart comment which may or may not be common knowledge. In Clough and Taylor's first season  1967/68 we finished lower than the previous season after which Tim Ward's contract was not renewed (I don't think manager's were sacked in those days). The following season we won the league in style.

In their first season they had to continue with a majority of inherited players although 4 went on to play in the glory days (Boulton, Webster, Durban and Hector) and they added players of their own some who didn't really feature after that first season (Barker, Stewart and Wright) although Roy Mac obviously did.

In their second pre-season they began to put together the promotion team, most significantly signing Mackay and adding O'Hare, Hinton, McGovern and Carlin. I can't remember if Green and Robson were already here but I believe they were Clough/Taylor signings.

My point is, we really must give Lampard/Morris time, we may finish lower than Rowett's team did come May but to my eyes the improvements are there to be seen in so many areas.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Richard Dastard Lee said:

My point is, we really must give Lampard/Morris time, we may finish lower than Rowett's team did come May but to my eyes the improvements are there to be seen in so many areas.

 

 

I would give Frank another season come what may...but 'improvements in so many areas '..?

Meaning??

Results are on a slow general decline at present. 

The style of football was a joy to behold...but for quite a while now I would say its been slow; sterile and predictable. 

Player-wise he reduced the average age and brought in/through youth eg Bogle, Bennett, Marriott ...in Jan he signed Cole and King.

Players already here...have they been coached to be better? Nugent, Bryson, Wisdom, Johnson, Lawrence, Huddlestone...do they seem rejuvenated and with a fresh sense of purpose, style?

I don't feel we have a spine of a team building for next year... Keogh... Marriott... that's it. Most of the rest of the regular 'must starters' are too old or not our players.....

The fans were so behind Frank its untrue before Xmas.  But the atmosphere is poor generally now and attendances are definitely not on the up.

 

Soooo interested what you mean. Not being hysterical, overly critical, knee-jerk... I still believe too.. just wondering why??? 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Wraggrams said:

Frank et al are a rookie management team (Mr Abramovich please take note!).

Correct

They have courageously taken on a big challenge in DCFC. Probably bigger than they expected.

What?! Courageously taken on a team that has regularly finished in or around the play offs, with one of the most expensively assembled squads, with a big wage budget and a chairman renowned for providing funds.

FFP has clearly bit us hard.

Not really. Through the sale of 2 players we were able to generate  £15m that Lampard was given to rebuild the squad. 

The lack of activity in January  proved that.

The transfer budget was used in the summer. Maybe some money should have been left aside for January. The £5m spent on Flo Jo and Malone maybe?

Inspite of this they have reduced the average age of the 1st team. Tried to incorporate academy players in the 1st team squad.

Correct, deserve applauding for this.

Used their contacts to bring in 3 loan gems.

Doesn't this show an advantage we have over other clubs?

Tried to introduce a possession based pressing game.

Tried it for a few games and seem to have abandoned it.

They have changed formation and tactics.

But on recent performances, not to much effect.

We seem fitter.

No idea what makes you say this. We are in February and all energy seems to have been drained from the team.

We have had some excellent performances e.g. WBA and Manchester United.

Chelsea plus Brentford and Sheff United at home too. Hardly a long list though. 

This has all been done with a net spend close to break even.

Don't see this as too relevant. Pretty sure Vydra was leaving anyway, so in my eyes he has had funds of circa £15m plus loan fees.

They have raised expectations with us in/near promotion places all season.

Not really, every season for the last 5 years we have expected play offs.

Just to be there is an enormous achievement for a rookie management team.

Why? We finished 6th last season and spent  £15m strengthening the squad. 

I would love us to go into the Premiership next season. But either way am looking forward to the summer transfer window because Frank and his management team will have every opportunity to create an exciting squad for whichever division we are in.

Me too, always do.

A squad not only signed up to their high press tactics but one with the strength, vitality, youth and ability to be able to consistently deliver it, no matter our opposition. 

Hope so!

 

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I expected top 6 under Rowett last season so wouldn't say they raised expectation levels overly much.

Great performances? weve had like 4 or 5 and played 40+ games.

Franks has changed something and im not sure what it is but every player seems to be playing within themselves they need to be let loose on Monday cut the restraints loose

 

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