Blackburn Rovers v Derby County

[SKRam]

And despite ALL this and our feelings just now and I’m hurting big time too. But a Rotherham victory tonight keeps it wide open. Wouldn’t put it past them in this crazy league. I know, I know, folk will say we’d get battered in play-offs/ we don’t deserve it etc etc. Bear in mind Boro lost what 5 on the spin? They still want to be in that top six. We do. Just for that end of season excitement, you all want it, admit it. 

So today I shall commiserate with myself by heading to Huddersfield for some great Yorkshire ale, surrounded by ecstatic fans of the local club feeling on top of the world.... perhaps it’s the perfect place just now.......??

[SaintRam]

2 minutes ago, SKRam said:

And despite ALL this and our feelings just now and I’m hurting big time too. But a Rotherham victory tonight keeps it wide open. Wouldn’t put it past them in this crazy league. I know, I know, folk will say we’d get battered in play-offs/ we don’t deserve it etc etc. Bear in mind Boro lost what 5 on the spin? They still want to be in that top six. We do. Just for that end of season excitement, you all want it, admit it. 

So today I shall commiserate with myself by heading to Huddersfield for some great Yorkshire ale, surrounded by ecstatic fans of the local club feeling on top of the world.... perhaps it’s the perfect place just now.......??

If we somehow got into the playoffs, and then the players turned up for those 3 big games to the tune of the WBA away performance, it would be the most ridiculous promotion in history.

Tbf I've been pretty confident we're not going up for months, came to terms with it a while ago - and the nature with which we go about that is largely irrelevant to me. But the playoffs are 2 more games to watch, that's true.

I'm more in anticipation of the summer than I am the rest of this season. I fully expect the end of this season to whimper away in unmemorable fashion.

[BaaLocks]

9 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lampard resigns at the end of the season.

I think the enormity of the job required here will be starting to dawn on him, and in his position, it might seem appealing to duck out of harm’s way.

He is used to winning, he is used to being successful, he is used to things going to plan and things going his way. I don’t think he signed up for 40% win percentages, FFP panic, and losing roughly once every three games.

Maybe I am doing him a massive disservice, but you have to wonder where he’ll find the motivation and the stomach for a difficult rebuilding job in the Championship next season. I mean right now, he and the players can’t find it for a promotion push, despite being given so many lifelines.

The way I look at it is he’s just had a baby and he’s financially secure, would you blame him if he decided to step away and focus on his family, or go back to his comparatively stressless and more flexible media duties with his reputation relatively unharmed?

I mean we’ve been trash since December and he is still next in line for the Chelsea job...

He can do no wrong.

Don't get that feeling at all, don't even think the job is so massive. It just needs those couple of magic cogs in place and we are away. Norwich, Leeds, Fulham and Cardiff have shown this past couple of years that the margins between good enough and not quite good enough are razor blade thin. We've actually been good enough for a large part of this season, just not for long enough to make it mean anything. I'm personally looking forward to the last three home games, will be interesting to see how we play with a bit of pressure off our shoulders (even those who think we will still make it cna't deny we are no longer favourites). Brizzle (a) is pretty much the only game left that we should be surprised if we win so I just would like to see a few good performances to end the season - it's not about momentum, as (for those who know their physics) that requires the mass to remain unchanged and we will have big changes next season. But it will be fun.

As for Frank, I can't see him getting a better gig than this one at this stage in his career (and I include the Chelski job in that). We are perfect for him, he is still pretty good for us - next year is the year it all comes together.

[Ghost of Clough]

1 minute ago, SaintRam said:

If we somehow got into the playoffs, and then the players turned up for those 3 big games to the tune of the WBA away performance, it would be the most ridiculous promotion in history.

Tbf I've been pretty confident we're not going up for months, came to terms with it a while ago - and the nature with which we go about that is largely irrelevant to me. But the playoffs are 2 more games to watch, that's true.

I'm more in anticipation of the summer than I am the rest of this season. I fully expect the end of this season to whimper away in unmemorable fashion.

Up there with Huddersfield getting promoted 

[zaragozaram]

Where is our ball playing attacking centre midfield player?. Our Bradley Dack if you like. Waghorn/Bennett/Nugent/Marriott can run around all night and not have a sniff of the ball (like last night).

Where is our ball winner? our water carrier?, someone who breaks up the play and lets the flair players play?

Two big holes that need filling and until we do, we are not going anywhere. IMO

 

[Ghost of Clough]

2 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

7 of the starters (8 of the players used) last night currently won't be here next season... Is that too many? 

Thinking about this a bit more, what's the best team we can currently field from those who'd be here next season?

First XI: Carson, Bogle, Keogh, Wisdom, MacDonald, Huddlestone, Bird, Holmes, Waghorn, Marriott, Lawrence

Subs: Ravas, Bateman, Evans, Sibley, Mitchell-Lawson, Jozefzoon, Bennett

If not for injuries Malone, Forsyth and Davies would be in the squad, but it highlights how big a task we have in the summer

[Jourdan]

30 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

Don't get that feeling at all, don't even think the job is so massive. It just needs those couple of magic cogs in place and we are away. Norwich, Leeds, Fulham and Cardiff have shown this past couple of years that the margins between good enough and not quite good enough are razor blade thin. We've actually been good enough for a large part of this season, just not for long enough to make it mean anything. I'm personally looking forward to the last three home games, will be interesting to see how we play with a bit of pressure off our shoulders (even those who think we will still make it cna't deny we are no longer favourites). Brizzle (a) is pretty much the only game left that we should be surprised if we win so I just would like to see a few good performances to end the season - it's not about momentum, as (for those who know their physics) that requires the mass to remain unchanged and we will have big changes next season. But it will be fun.

As for Frank, I can't see him getting a better gig than this one at this stage in his career (and I include the Chelski job in that). We are perfect for him, he is still pretty good for us - next year is the year it all comes together.

I might be totally off the mark suggesting he might resign. But I don’t think it’s too farfetched.

I suspect managing at this level will feel like a novelty to him and he probably envisaged having a much more successful season this year. So seeing his team turned over meekly by struggling sides in half-empty stadiums might be starting to wear thin.

I don’t think it’s a difficult job for a manager who is used to working under constraints and understands the Championship and how to navigate it. But it might be a difficult job for someone like Frank, who is Chelsea through and through and spent his best years in that footballing culture.

He only knows the highest level, he only knows winning, he only knows instant success, he only knows spending millions, he only knows having the best of the best and invariably everything going to plan. It wasn’t a culture of patience, steady growth and long termism.

Coming into a club like Derby with much humbler resources and having to take the rough with the smooth, having to deal with adversity, having to build something long term, and having to work under constraints will be alien to every experience he has had in football in the past 15 years.

He might look at the job on his hands and think he’s above this.

Obviously I hope he stays, learns from this season, and we come back with a bang next season, because he’ll learn more and take more from one promotion with us than he would from dozens of honours he could win with teams higher up the ladder.

But does he realise that? Is the lack of hunger and commitment displayed by the team merely a reflection of the manager?

[Spanish]

Just now, Jourdan said:

I might be totally off the mark suggesting he might resign. But I don’t think it’s too farfetched.

 

do you think that resigning when the going gets tough (and its not that tough really) would damage the chances of a new job?  He has the name but it surely won't help him

[jono]

13 hours ago, angieram said:

What a shocking performance that was tonight from outr team.

Out-run, out-muscled and out-thought all over the pitch.

I can't really think of any positives and it's going to be a long drive home.

Hope you made it home ok Angie. Your posts usually have some light in them but the pain was evident in this one.

it brought to mind that old Monty Python sketch about elections

Interviewer to candidate “Kevin Phillips Bong, you have polled no votes at all, not a sausage, in fact ..... *ugger all” 

it feels a bit like that at the moment 

Anyway .. we all cheer up a bit by Saturday I’m sure. life as a Derby Fan. COYR

 

 

[Jourdan]

4 minutes ago, Spanish said:

do you think that resigning when the going gets tough (and its not that tough really) would damage the chances of a new job?  He has the name but it surely won't help him

But that’s the point. What does Frank really have to prove? Will this job be make or break for his managerial career? Does he really even need a managerial career?

Since he can get a job based on his name alone, and certainly his name carries enough weight at certain clubs higher up the ladder, what he does here will be largely irrelevant.

And so does he have the same hunger, the same drive, the same desire, the same commitment as say a Chris Wilder or a Daniel Farke and many other managers who are still building their reputations in the game?

We have won 5 games in 19. We are outside the top six. We have played well maybe 2-3 times since the turn of the year. He is still being linked to the Chelsea job by the media. One of the six biggest jobs in the country. Yet we’re, by most accounts, ‘bang average’.

Why would you stay at a club like ours and slog it out when in all probability a top job could fall into your lap?

[BaaLocks]

27 minutes ago, Spanish said:

do you think that resigning when the going gets tough (and its not that tough really) would damage the chances of a new job?  He has the name but it surely won't help him

If Frank did walk now it would only be in a Kevin Keegan way, never to be seen again. Besides that possibility there's just the small point of needing to show at least some success if you want another role. Frank has done nothing to date that would warrant any move at all. He will be successful, I am sure, and when he is other clubs will show an interest and we will deal with that at the time. But, to date, his future (and that of his team - Jody etc) is very much in the future.

[angieram]

4 minutes ago, jono said:

Hope you made it home ok Angie. Your posts usually have some light in them but the pain was evident in this one.

it brought to mind that old Monty Python sketch about elections

Interviewer to candidate “Kevin Phillips Bong, you have polled no votes at all, not a sausage, in fact ..... *ugger all” 

it feels a bit like that at the moment 

Anyway .. we all cheer up a bit by Saturday I’m sure. life as a Derby Fan. COYR

 

 

Yes, thanks. We went back M6, A50 and no hold-ups at all (unlike on the way there!)

Sorry I was struggling last night as we didn't really do anything of note. Couldn't argue with the result or even blame the ref; we got what we deserved. 

I was also disappointed with our position in the ground, as we were so far above the players we couldn't really give them our support and encouragement as we usually do at away games. Also makes a very sterile atmosphere in the ground. Why would you have a whole section pitchside completely empty? Makes no sense to me, but I can't say that was a factor in the result as plenty of other teams have gone there and won this season.

If I could add a positive on reflection, it was to the small group of fans behind us who kept going with the songs all through the match - witty and something a bit different!

[Spanish]

2 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

But that’s the point. What does Frank really have to prove? Will this job be make or break for his managerial career? Does he really even need a managerial career?

Since he can get a job based on his name alone, and certainly his name carries enough weight at certain clubs higher up the ladder, what he does here will be largely irrelevant.

And so does he have the same hunger, the same drive, the same desire, the same commitment as say a Chris Wilder or a Daniel Farke and many other managers who are still building their reputations in the game?

We have won 5 games in 19. We are outside the top six. We have played well maybe 2-3 times since the turn of the year. He is still being linked to the Chelsea job by the media. One of the six biggest jobs in the country. Yet we’re, by most accounts, ‘bang average’.

Why would you stay at a club like ours and slog it out when in all probability a top job could fall into your lap?

really if he's not sure whether he wants a managerial career and doesn't have the hunger to succeed he should duck off now and let us find someone who does.  I think he does want to be a success and he doesn't want a failure on his managerial cv, I do hope so

[BaaLocks]

21 minutes ago, Spanish said:

really if he's not sure whether he wants a managerial career and doesn't have the hunger to succeed he should duck off now and let us find someone who does.  I think he does want to be a success and he doesn't want a failure on his managerial cv, I do hope so

Exactly @Spanish. You don't get to win what Frank did as a player by being a quitter. We're all entitled to our opinion but the original one, that somehow this 'play offs in sight in your first season' is all a bit tough for him, is - well - daft (and sorry to the OP for that but it's how I feel).

[GenBr]

39 minutes ago, Jourdan said:

 

Why would you stay at a club like ours and slog it out when in all probability a top job could fall into your lap?

Some people dont just give up at the slightest sign of hardship. Frank certainly didnt get where he was by giving up when things got tough. Success requoees hard work regardless of what profession or role you are in.

[VulcanRam]

1 hour ago, Jourdan said:

I might be totally off the mark suggesting he might resign. But I don’t think it’s too farfetched.

I suspect managing at this level will feel like a novelty to him and he probably envisaged having a much more successful season this year. So seeing his team turned over meekly by struggling sides in half-empty stadiums might be starting to wear thin.

I don’t think it’s a difficult job for a manager who is used to working under constraints and understands the Championship and how to navigate it. But it might be a difficult job for someone like Frank, who is Chelsea through and through and spent his best years in that footballing culture.

He only knows the highest level, he only knows winning, he only knows instant success, he only knows spending millions, he only knows having the best of the best and invariably everything going to plan. It wasn’t a culture of patience, steady growth and long termism.

Coming into a club like Derby with much humbler resources and having to take the rough with the smooth, having to deal with adversity, having to build something long term, and having to work under constraints will be alien to every experience he has had in football in the past 15 years.

He might look at the job on his hands and think he’s above this.

Obviously I hope he stays, learns from this season, and we come back with a bang next season, because he’ll learn more and take more from one promotion with us than he would from dozens of honours he could win with teams higher up the ladder.

But does he realise that? Is the lack of hunger and commitment displayed by the team merely a reflection of the manager?

I think you're doing him a disservice. He's an intelligent guy who's been around football all his life. He knows what the Championship is all about. I don't think you can blame him for last night at all. He wasn't out there misplacing passes, failing to make tackles, not working hard enough, ballooning a free kick pretty much over the stand, flapping at everything in his penalty area. He picked a team who only three days before performed really well at Brentford, playing with verve and vigour, where they did the things they didn't do last night.

Last night was about the players, nothing more. 

But on your post, he might well leave if he thinks the job is too much for him. But I don't think that thought even occurs for another year at the very least.

[cannable]

I still think the midfield is off. 

First ten minutes was easy on the eye but going nowhere. The wingers are too narrow, they’re playing where the #8s should be. 

This means that the number #8s are too deep. Then it’s Bryson who is dropping in and showing for the ball when it should be Mount. Bryson isn’t technical enough so he ends up just playing the way he’s facing. 

This means we’re inviting pressure on without the personnel to beat the press.

And this we get dominated. 

[RoyMac5]

54 minutes ago, VulcanRam said:

I think you're doing him a disservice. He's an intelligent guy who's been around football all his life. He knows what the Championship is all about. ...

But on your post, he might well leave if he thinks the job is too much for him. But I don't think that thought even occurs for another year at the very least.

Don't think he does get Championship football tbh.

But I agree, I don't think he'll think the job is too much for him, but he might decide there's no more to 'add to his CV' by staying here long term. Would look better maybe being assistant at a top Prem club than another couple of years here?

[Inglorius]

4 hours ago, GenBr said:

Rowett, McClaren, Clement, Pearson all out of work at the moment. Clough is the only recent one that is still managing a first team.

There's a reason for that.  And they all landed up at Derby one after the other. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

3 hours ago, Premier ram said:

yes , a tenacious , ball winning , driving force of a midfielder should be top of Franks summer shopping list . think back to Derby sides in the past who have tasted glory , they all had one , Carlin , Gemmill ,Van de Laan , Oakley, a lack of this sort of midfielder has been one of the fundamental problems this season

To be fair to Frank, I believe that was the reasoning behind the Andy King loan in January. But of course he was crocked before he got going so we will never know whether that was a good or rank bad decision. But i took it to mean that Frank was not totally blind to the team's needs.