2019-20 season assessment.

[Tyler Durden]

7 minutes ago, whiteroseram said:

We know our recruitment has been *censored* for years, but this year I do have some sympathy. Lampard and Morris took on a lot of the resposability around recruiment when they were here, the loanees obviously, Evans was a Lampard pick having been with him at Man City etc, and club couldn't exactly take that responsibility off them until they officially left so whilst they will have been working in the background, by the time they could move the best laonees were already being lined up or in talks elsewhere. Looking at what we did and our squad:

GK: PC was determined he wanted Roos to be his first choice  and loan was just to compete for the place...What good goalkeeper is going to agree to a loan being Championship back-up?
 

Sympathy or otherwise this season's recruitment has been the usual trainweck with a few OK signings interspersing the usual highly variable fare.

Do disagree about your thoughts on the GK position, if Cocu thought that Roos was anywhere near the standard of a competent Championship keeper then this is a huge question mark on his professional judgement, given the rushed surroundings with Hamers arrival this would also point to a lack of foresight and messing around in the transfer market again.

 

[Tamworthram]

2 hours ago, IslandExile said:

Shinnie deserves more than that. Top bloke.

Obviously a website aimed at dummies if it feels the need to explain what "twice" means:

 

"Derby was among the dominant football clubs in England during the 1970s, winning the First Division twice i.e two times."

 

[Jimbo Ram]

Had a lot to contend with, successful in bringing the youngsters through and a respectable top 10 finish. I think we need more energy in the team, more pace and to raise the tempo. We need to think about moving forward quicker and putting teams under some pressure. Less of the sideways and backwards passing. I would go with just the one defensive midfielder with 2 players up top next season. A couple of signings and a couple of decent loans and onwards and upwards?

[Edtheram]

Good first season. Top half isn’t bad for saying how many issues we've had both on and off the pitch and the amount of change that’s happened.

2nd season - We need to progress and not stand still a mid table finish would be a negative thing for saying that Cocu would of had 2 seasons and 4 windows to add and evaluate. We need 4 class players and every player to be more consistent and reliable.

as I always say aim top 2 and see where.you are after 30 games. Time for the recruitment team to step up

[Van der MoodHoover]

58 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Had a lot to contend with, successful in bringing the youngsters through and a respectable top 10 finish. I think we need more energy in the team, more pace and to raise the tempo. We need to think about moving forward quicker and putting teams under some pressure. Less of the sideways and backwards passing. I would go with just the one defensive midfielder with 2 players up top next season. A couple of signings and a couple of decent loans and onwards and upwards?

Whilst I agree in theory I think Rooney slowing down to a waddle and being no longer fit enough (if he ever was) to play 3 times a week for a prolonged period forced our hand.

With our defence it would be a brave manager playing Rooney as the sole cdm........we'd have to push him forward but he hasn't got the mobility there any more. We need to phase him out to coaching this season.

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

I think the passing game PC is trying to develop is getting there but it does still need a lot more work to prevent it becoming a bore fest. I do think however we have seen glimpses of what we are trying to do and if PC can get a squad together to master what is required we may well see some great displays next year. One of the unexpected benefits (if can call it that) from empty stadiums is the fact the players have been able to try and develop the passing without being pressured by an impatient crowd. Don't get me wrong, it has to be much faster, much better, but at least they have all been able to see if they have the basic passing and moving ability without being frightened to death. In other words no excuses going into next season.

To help the passing game however we desperately need more movement, pace and athleticism up front. Personally I would like to see us go 4-3-3 with Sibley, Lawrence & Marriott  up top.

[Sparkle]

In terms of Rooney’s wages I was told by a very good source of information to me over many years when we signed him that his wages were for a period of 18 months in which we were paying 25% of the total cost which was £6 million, so to us the cost is 1.5 million and if that is true since January he has basically cost us £500.000 and to me he saved us from relegation so it would be the best £500,000 we ever spent in January! 

You can believe it or not I do not mind 

[Sparkle]

3 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Whilst I agree in theory I think Rooney slowing down to a waddle and being no longer fit enough (if he ever was) to play 3 times a week for a prolonged period forced our hand.

With our defence it would be a brave manager playing Rooney as the sole cdm........we'd have to push him forward but he hasn't got the mobility there any more. We need to phase him out to coaching this season.

Or not play 9 games in 3 weeks 

[Dimmu]

Great at home, horrendous away. Correct the latter and up we go.

Easy-peasy.

[Ellafella]

6 hours ago, RamNut said:

This season was always going to be something of a challenge after losing at wembley and then subsequently losing frank, tomori, mount and Wilson. We also witnessed the departures of Bryson, nugent and Johnson, and discarded carson.

we signed four loanees plus shinnie and a new record transfer signing in bielik, with Rooney to follow in January.

expected line up - roos, bogle, fozzy, keogh, Clarke, bielik, shinnie, dowell / Rooney, Waghorn, Lawrence, marriott
predicted finish 8th.

final line up - roos, bogle, fozzy, wisdom, Clarke, bird, Rooney, knight/ waghorn, sibley, Lawrence, Martin 

The Drink / drive incident Had a major impact with the loss of the defensive lynch pin in keogh. Shinnie, Marriott and dowell failed to secure first team places. bielik suffered a major injury. Roos showed occasional wobbles and lost his place to hamer. It transpired that Marriott was carrying a groin injury that required surgery. there was plenty of tinkering with the team selection as cocu sought to find his best 11.

The players who stepped up were wisdom and Martin, and three academy graduates  - bird, knight and Sibley. 

ultimately the season was slightly disappointing but a 10th place finish was good, if not also slightly flattering in the circumstances. 

the highlight was certainly the emergence of the three youngsters - especially sibley - who seemed to have to wait and wait for his chance. Once selected he introduced himself with a magnificent home debut goal, before the season was immediately disrupted by the global pandemic which killed 45,000 people in the uk before the season was even over. 

The season ended on a bit of a downer with a series of defeats against teams from the top six. This killed off any hope of the play offs.

We go into the new season with much uncertainty once again.
 

This time there is the unresolved threat of penalties associated with the EFL charge, and the financial situation remains problematic. The further financial savings on Anya, Thorne, huddlestone, and keogh is offset by hefty wages for Rooney. The On going pandemic presents unprecedented challenges with regards to income.

The expectation is for loans and freebies to bolster a squad likely to be further weakened by the likely impending departures of Bennett and Martin. One freebie signing already confirmed is Mike Te Wierik, the intended replacement for keogh. 

Next comes the annual pantomime of Summer recruitment. Then next season the challenge will be to see whether bird, knight and Sibley can hold their own throughout the notorious second season. We have further academy graduates waiting in the wings, notably Whittaker and the brown twins - Jordan and Archie - trialist, ebosele, and maybe even Ravas or shonibare. 

Mid-table again?

 

A great analysis @RamNut. Overall, we did well to finish 10th given some of the events that tarnished the great name that Derby County has in football. PC has shown great resilience to have stuck with the task. 
The things that concern me going forward:

1. Playing Style 

2. Our poor discipline. 
 

Playing Style

Glimpses of fast exciting football but our default is to be slow and ponderous. Is the latter symptomatic of the coaching culture and directly attributable to PC? If so,  PC is the wrong man for the job because that style will not get us out of this division except via the trap door. Jury still out but that is the key factor that is subservient to all other issues. 
 

Poor Discipline 

This simply has to change. We finished bottom of this table and I would hope to hear PC address this head on. Does it link to a culture that led to Drinkgate? We are not a dirty side but you cannot be an effective unit without a strict moral team code. 
 

I’d like to see the Club somehow “come together” as one and draw a line over some of the negatives from this season. Perhaps this could be achieved by a virtual “fans’ forum”? 
 

The youngsters breaking through has been phenomenal. The resurgence of Andre Wisdom very notable and of course CM19 who we know is a great footballer that we need to hang on to. Shinnie is a very good player and he needs to be played regularly.
 

Next Season?

We need to be seriously challenging the top 6 next season. That is a totally realistic aim for a Club of Derby’s stature. We need a top Goal Keeper and we need to utilise Marriott who clearly has 20 goals in him given a clean bill of health. We need a pacey winger who can give us an alternative outlet. We are not too far away from a very good side but I have doubts about PC’s capacity to fix discipline and I do wonder about the slow and ponderous play. 
 

[Van der MoodHoover]

14 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

A great analysis @RamNut. Overall, we did well to finish 10th given some of the events that tarnished the great name that Derby County has in football. PC has shown great resilience to have stuck with the task. 
The things that concern me going forward:

1. Playing Style 

2. Our poor discipline. 
 

Playing Style

Glimpses of fast exciting football but our default is to be slow and ponderous. Is the latter symptomatic of the coaching culture and directly attributable to PC? If so,  PC is the wrong man for the job because that style will not get us out of this division except via the trap door. Jury still out but that is the key factor that is subservient to all other issues. 
 

Poor Discipline 

This simply has to change. We finished bottom of this table and I would hope to hear PC address this head on. Does it link to a culture that led to Drinkgate? We are not a dirty side but you cannot be an effective unit without a strict moral team code. 
 

I’d like to see the Club somehow “come together” as one and draw a line over some of the negatives from this season. Perhaps this could be achieved by a virtual “fans’ forum”? 
 

The youngsters breaking through has been phenomenal. The resurgence of Andre Wisdom very notable and of course CM19 who we know is a great footballer that we need to hang on to. Shinnie is a very good player and he needs to be played regularly.
 

Next Season?

We need to be seriously challenging the top 6 next season. That is a totally realistic aim for a Club of Derby’s stature. We need a top Goal Keeper and we need to utilise Marriott who clearly has 20 goals in him given a clean bill of health. We need a pacey winger who can give us an alternative outlet. We are not too far away from a very good side but I have doubts about PC’s capacity to fix discipline and I do wonder about the slow and ponderous play. 
 

Dearie me, just look at those stats.........highest number of reds and every one a straight red!

I can't believe that, for saying we're a small weak team that gets knocked around - it looks like we're a bunch of snidey, ankle-tapping moaners........have we brought Savage back as defensive coach without me noticing? ?

[Jimbo Ram]

1 hour ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Whilst I agree in theory I think Rooney slowing down to a waddle and being no longer fit enough (if he ever was) to play 3 times a week for a prolonged period forced our hand.

With our defence it would be a brave manager playing Rooney as the sole cdm........we'd have to push him forward but he hasn't got the mobility there any more. We need to phase him out to coaching this season.

I see Bielik playing the lone role ?

[Jimbo Ram]

45 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

A great analysis @RamNut. Overall, we did well to finish 10th given some of the events that tarnished the great name that Derby County has in football. PC has shown great resilience to have stuck with the task. 
The things that concern me going forward:

1. Playing Style 

2. Our poor discipline. 
 

Playing Style

Glimpses of fast exciting football but our default is to be slow and ponderous. Is the latter symptomatic of the coaching culture and directly attributable to PC? If so,  PC is the wrong man for the job because that style will not get us out of this division except via the trap door. Jury still out but that is the key factor that is subservient to all other issues. 
 

Poor Discipline 

This simply has to change. We finished bottom of this table and I would hope to hear PC address this head on. Does it link to a culture that led to Drinkgate? We are not a dirty side but you cannot be an effective unit without a strict moral team code. 
 

I’d like to see the Club somehow “come together” as one and draw a line over some of the negatives from this season. Perhaps this could be achieved by a virtual “fans’ forum”? 
 

The youngsters breaking through has been phenomenal. The resurgence of Andre Wisdom very notable and of course CM19 who we know is a great footballer that we need to hang on to. Shinnie is a very good player and he needs to be played regularly.
 

Next Season?

We need to be seriously challenging the top 6 next season. That is a totally realistic aim for a Club of Derby’s stature. We need a top Goal Keeper and we need to utilise Marriott who clearly has 20 goals in him given a clean bill of health. We need a pacey winger who can give us an alternative outlet. We are not too far away from a very good side but I have doubts about PC’s capacity to fix discipline and I do wonder about the slow and ponderous play. 
 

Some good points. I agree about the playing style. I suppose we were a bit spoilt under ☂️ man ?

[Ellafella]

1 minute ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Some good points. I agree about the playing style. I suppose we were a bit spoilt under ☂️ man ?

There’s only really one way to play football and that is in an honest, fast, free-flowing way with passing and movement. Anything else is a bastardisation of the beautiful game. 

[hintonsboots]

What a team we had under Mac when we made Brighton look like a league 2 side in the play off semis. 

I think with a 100% fit Marriott, Holmes and Lawrence in the team and a major signing in Bielik coming back, the youngsters blooming, it looks good. I agree a rapid winger and a reliable keeper needed. Time to let Cocu build a team. Rooney needs to be used in shorter bursts, preferably further forwards.

Somtimes I feel myself weakening and yearn for Colin to get us up to the Prem, and then jettison him for a top manager, but I’ve decided to back the Cocu revolution.

[Comrade 86]

7 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

I think our finishing position is outstanding given everything that’s happened. If everything had gone to plan, I still think 10th place would have been a decent result - competing at the right end of the table was always the target this season, at the start of a long term plan. With the squad we actually ended up with, without Keogh etc, simple avoiding relegation turned out to be a decent result. Cocu has done a brilliant job with the hand he was given, all whilst sticking to our long term philosophy of using youth from the academy.

Looking ahead to next season, I think the target has to be more consistent performances, and competing at the right end of the table across the season. We’re still only in year 2 of a long term plan, so if we don’t make the playoffs yet it isn’t a disaster as there’s a lot of work still to be done. We need to be showing we can compete at that end of the table mind, so I certainly don’t want to see us dropping down to 18th or somewhere like that again. We need to show progress in our performances as well, so that we no longer see 3-0 defeats by the likes of Reading.

OK, who the duck are you and how did you hack his account? ?

[G STAR RAM]

7 hours ago, YorkshireRam said:

Capology has them but that data has been shared on here as well: https://sillyseason.com/salary/Derby-county-players-salaries-126696/

I love the way that site says that it has been kind enough to compile a list of salaries for us to see, unfortunately they forgot to mention it was compiled by plucking figures out of thin air.

There is one salary on there that was actually publicly disclosed and it is 300% higher than what is on that list!

Using that figure as a comparison I would guess that pretty much every figure on that list is wrong.

[Jram]

2 hours ago, Ellafella said:

A great analysis @RamNut. Overall, we did well to finish 10th given some of the events that tarnished the great name that Derby County has in football. PC has shown great resilience to have stuck with the task. 
The things that concern me going forward:

1. Playing Style 

2. Our poor discipline. 
 

Playing Style

Glimpses of fast exciting football but our default is to be slow and ponderous. Is the latter symptomatic of the coaching culture and directly attributable to PC? If so,  PC is the wrong man for the job because that style will not get us out of this division except via the trap door. Jury still out but that is the key factor that is subservient to all other issues. 
 

Poor Discipline 

This simply has to change. We finished bottom of this table and I would hope to hear PC address this head on. Does it link to a culture that led to Drinkgate? We are not a dirty side but you cannot be an effective unit without a strict moral team code. 
 

I’d like to see the Club somehow “come together” as one and draw a line over some of the negatives from this season. Perhaps this could be achieved by a virtual “fans’ forum”? 
 

The youngsters breaking through has been phenomenal. The resurgence of Andre Wisdom very notable and of course CM19 who we know is a great footballer that we need to hang on to. Shinnie is a very good player and he needs to be played regularly.
 

Next Season?

We need to be seriously challenging the top 6 next season. That is a totally realistic aim for a Club of Derby’s stature. We need a top Goal Keeper and we need to utilise Marriott who clearly has 20 goals in him given a clean bill of health. We need a pacey winger who can give us an alternative outlet. We are not too far away from a very good side but I have doubts about PC’s capacity to fix discipline and I do wonder about the slow and ponderous play. 
 

Don’t agree about this table showing anything meaningful, it’s such a small sample size, chance will have played an enormous part

agree generally otherwise 

[Sparkle]

2 hours ago, hintonsboots said:

What a team we had under Mac when we made Brighton look like a league 2 side in the play off semis. 

I think with a 100% fit Marriott, Holmes and Lawrence in the team and a major signing in Bielik coming back, the youngsters blooming, it looks good. I agree a rapid winger and a reliable keeper needed. Time to let Cocu build a team. Rooney needs to be used in shorter bursts, preferably further forwards.

Somtimes I feel myself weakening and yearn for Colin to get us up to the Prem, and then jettison him for a top manager, but I’ve decided to back the Cocu revolution.

Marriott Holmes and Lawrence hmmm I hope we have somebody to give them the ball because they won’t be winning it 

[Ellafella]

40 minutes ago, Jram said:

Don’t agree about this table showing anything meaningful, it’s such a small sample size, chance will have played an enormous part

agree generally otherwise 

I think an SPC analysis would show otherwise. We are clearly significantly different from most if not all other Championship teams and it’s not a random causal factor. We’re not dirty but we are naive, wreck less and inexperienced in key areas. 
 

And whilst we are at it, what sample size / number of observations would you recommend @Jram? And what statistical test / analysis would you employ?