Is Rooney The man To Take Us Forward?

[Comrade 86]

14 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Personally, I wouldn't be making any decision about a permanent/season ending interim appointment until the New Year - as a club we're still in significant uncertainty until we get a resolution to the takeover saga so don't see the harm in keeping the current arrangement going.

Yep, up to now I've been steadfastly averse to any such arrangement but my view is softening as things begin to improve on the pitch. Frankly, until we have the takeover sorted, nothing can happen anyway and with that dragging on indefinitely, maintaining continuity seems a logical step.

[DesertRam]

Fully agree mate, were moving on up and it feels great again.

[Jourdan]

1 hour ago, LeedsCityRam said:

 

Exactly where I am.

We no longer look a soft touch & I like the new found defensive calmness. But our attacking threat is still diabolical & until it improves, we won't escape relegation trouble. I think the ambition is there but the decision making & lack of interplay between the front men is pretty laughable - there's just no menace there at all & considering Kazim is now giving us a platform, its arguably even worse now than when Cocu was in charge.

In terms of games, Rooney under sole charge has achieved 2 sub-standard home draws, a very good away win & a hard earnt away point - not a compelling case for him to get the job but reason enough to give him more games to see where he can take the side. Personally, I wouldn't be making any decision about a permanent/season ending interim appointment until the New Year - as a club we're still in significant uncertainty until we get a resolution to the takeover saga so don't see the harm in keeping the current arrangement going.

I think that’s the challenge for Rooney now. Grinding out results has a short shelf life, especially when you have a group of players who most if not all suspect are capable of more than that.

When I talk about ambition, I mean setting us up in a way that gets us posing more questions to the opposition and giving us more goal threat.

We will be treading a fine line by continuing to set up like we have in the past four games. When you play a game of fine margins like we are doing, it doesn’t take much for a 0-0 to become a 1-0 loss or a 1-1 draw to become a 2-1 defeat and the luck to go against you.

Brentford, Millwall and even Wycombe and Coventry all produced moments that were too close for comfort.

That’s OK when you are building a platform, but people will soon feel uninspired if that’s the regular pattern under Rooney.

As an example, having the likes of Shinnie in midfield and Holmes or Knight out wide sets the tone in terms of energy, work rate and commitment but it leaves us devoid of match winning quality in key areas.

We have Bielik, Bird, Knight, Lawrence, Jozwiak, Waghorn, Sibley and Ibe all seemingly fit and available for selection now. 

Obviously we can’t play all of them, but soon it will be appear unforgivable not to utilise these players to the fullest, especially if wins remain scarce.

With Shinnie suspended, I’d be moving to 4-3-3 and getting Knight and Sibley in midfield and Ibe/Lawrence and Jozwiak out wide.

If we want to win games, we have to put our best foot forward.

[Chester40]

Glad to see there is generally even-handedness about the situation. 

I'd say he is getting 6 or 7 out of 10 so far. Better at defending set pieces, less slow passing across the back, luck has turned and results are better. Solid but not especially exciting. Glad he has mostly stuck with youth and has stopped with the wholesale changes. 

If he can build on this and start to play on the front foot and create chances then he will be fine by me for now. Holmes doesn't offer enough for me, there is still a lack of pace and creativity, I think two holding midfielders is overly safe and CKR is pretty immobile and is mostly isolated. Needs addressing ASAP if we want to start winning games. 

He is even actually winning me round watching his interviews, slowly you can feel his confidence and personality starting to thaw the awkward stiltedness you usually see. 

[Sparkle]

41 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

Glad to see there is generally even-handedness about the situation. 

I'd say he is getting 6 or 7 out of 10 so far. Better at defending set pieces, less slow passing across the back, luck has turned and results are better. Solid but not especially exciting. Glad he has mostly stuck with youth and has stopped with the wholesale changes. 

If he can build on this and start to play on the front foot and create chances then he will be fine by me for now. Holmes doesn't offer enough for me, there is still a lack of pace and creativity, I think two holding midfielders is overly safe and CKR is pretty immobile and is mostly isolated. Needs addressing ASAP if we want to start winning games. 

He is even actually winning me round watching his interviews, slowly you can feel his confidence and personality starting to thaw the awkward stiltedness you usually see. 

You have start somewhere and he has been putting players into their best positions for the team and sadly we may lose the current captain and best defender in Davies - in the championship you have to head the ball away and Davies does just that and to get clean sheets away at Millwall and Brentford was excellent ( it was rather surprising to see how much Brentford lump it to the big  ones was used) 

in terms of his awkward stiltedness I have a degree of understanding with him as he has constantly been put in a goldfish bowl in his life by the media and he has a rightfully suspicious caution of the media. 

[StantonRam]

hi all

My impressions of Wazza so far

PLUS - has stopped the rot, unbeaten in 4, 6 points from 4 games, calm on the touchline, seems to get the game management mostly right, substitutions make sense, seems to have the players onside, doesn't play the big man as he might be entitled to, seems to respect the players, none of whom are anywhere near his level, seems serious and genuine about becoming a manager

MINUS - needs to complete coaching qualifications, needs to start reading books and learning some new words, awful in interviews, inarticulate, cliche piled upon cliche, painful to listen to, needs media training, shows no awareness of the club itself, I have the sense that really we could be anyone, also one suspects that he will do a Lampard (one season here then the Man Utd job)

VERDICT - if Mac wasn't on board I'd say no BUT with Mac's advice on hand and if he can address his verbal inadequacies and show that he gets the 'Derby Way' ethos then on the basis of these 4 games it's a cautious YES from me

LR2

[LeedsCityRam]

6 hours ago, Jourdan said:

I think that’s the challenge for Rooney now. Grinding out results has a short shelf life, especially when you have a group of players who most if not all suspect are capable of more than that.

When I talk about ambition, I mean setting us up in a way that gets us posing more questions to the opposition and giving us more goal threat.

We will be treading a fine line by continuing to set up like we have in the past four games. When you play a game of fine margins like we are doing, it doesn’t take much for a 0-0 to become a 1-0 loss or a 1-1 draw to become a 2-1 defeat and the luck to go against you.

Brentford, Millwall and even Wycombe and Coventry all produced moments that were too close for comfort.

That’s OK when you are building a platform, but people will soon feel uninspired if that’s the regular pattern under Rooney.

As an example, having the likes of Shinnie in midfield and Holmes or Knight out wide sets the tone in terms of energy, work rate and commitment but it leaves us devoid of match winning quality in key areas.

We have Bielik, Bird, Knight, Lawrence, Jozwiak, Waghorn, Sibley and Ibe all seemingly fit and available for selection now. 

Obviously we can’t play all of them, but soon it will be appear unforgivable not to utilise these players to the fullest, especially if wins remain scarce.

With Shinnie suspended, I’d be moving to 4-3-3 and getting Knight and Sibley in midfield and Ibe/Lawrence and Jozwiak out wide.

If we want to win games, we have to put our best foot forward.

Guess there's an argument for saying the side needed to be set up in a particular way for 2 tough away games. 4 points very much justifies the means, just disappointed at not so much the ambition, as the execution going forward. CKR is winning the ball high up the field but no-one is getting in & around him or causing havoc from wide.

The onus will very much be on us for the next 2 home games, irrespective that both are top 6. Shinnie's suspension opens an opportunity for Bird to come in & get Bielik up the park, where I think his dominance can cause even more problems. Totally agree about Sibley coming into the side, we need that willingness to run with the ball, drag players away & create space.

Not sure how the poor execution & decision making can be addressed though. Cocu's remit was to give his front players total freedom, perhaps they need a bit more structure & coaching to play as a unit. McClaren could be very useful here.

[DCFC27]

Just listened to his post match interview and I can’t help but notice he’s has a very Mac like demeanour, all very happy about belief just making the players believe in themselves and enjoy their football. On radio Derby yesterday in the pre match Mac was having some banter with the presenters. Everyone that speaks to him talks about the energy he brings to a club and the feel good factor. I’m not taking anything away from Rooney these are his tactics and his way of playing IMO but I think Mac has had a good impact on Moore farm. Probably making Rooney believe in himself and that’s then passing on to the players. 
It is nice to see a really calm manager that clearly doesn’t need to shout to have the respect of the players and when he does shout its probably a shock to the players and has more of an impact. 

[Jourdan]

42 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Guess there's an argument for saying the side needed to be set up in a particular way for 2 tough away games. 4 points very much justifies the means, just disappointed at not so much the ambition, as the execution going forward. CKR is winning the ball high up the field but no-one is getting in & around him or causing havoc from wide.

The onus will very much be on us for the next 2 home games, irrespective that both are top 6. Shinnie's suspension opens an opportunity for Bird to come in & get Bielik up the park, where I think his dominance can cause even more problems. Totally agree about Sibley coming into the side, we need that willingness to run with the ball, drag players away & create space.

Not sure how the poor execution & decision making can be addressed though. Cocu's remit was to give his front players total freedom, perhaps they need a bit more structure & coaching to play as a unit. McClaren could be very useful here.

You’re absolutely right. Four points from the last two games and a four game unbeaten run overall will leave Rooney feeling very much justified.

He deserves credit for this run we are on and I totally understand why he has taken the approach that he has.

But it’s one where we could have conceivably ended up with 1 point or 10 points and in my opinion, that leaves us feeling insecure moving forward.

Obviously we are not going to transform into a free flowing, free scoring side overnight, I think that’s accepted.

But intent is the key for me. Seeing Lawrence, Ibe and Waghorn on the bench and Sibley not even in the squad bursts that particular bubble.

I’ve been looking at the line up in recent games and thinking ‘OK, I see the plan and it could work, but do we actually want to win this game?’ 

Now I can’t speak for everyone else but my feeling is if we want to hurt teams and get some kind of cohesion in attack, we have to at least put our most dangerous players on the pitch.

I hope we see more of a shift towards that in the upcoming games.

[RoyMac5]

10 hours ago, 86 Schmokes & a Pancake said:

Yet never registered a shot on goal and were lucky not to concede several. Laugh it up all you like mate.

Neither did they!

We were away at Brentford - 7th. What were you expecting from us? Got to laugh at fan expectation ain't ya!

[66DegreesNorth]

It does sound harsh coming off a decent point at Brentford, three at the den and unbeaten in four, but our inability to attack the opposition is a concern.

Brentford played a very highline last night and Derby continued to affirm a pragmatic 'safety first' policy rather than testing the water occasionally and playing a ball in behind. Ironically, Marriott would have had a field day running in behind the backline last night.

Two games coming up are in theory winnable, but not if we continue to play the same hand by knocking the ball up to Kazim and hoping for a flick on or lay off. Eventually Rooney will have to unshackle the wide men of some defensive responsibilty and let them run at the opposition. Pick a midfield that includes creativity rather than steel.

Realistically, we are going to have to score two to beat Stoke and offensively astute to nick the points from Swansea. We haven't as yet done any of those this season and whether we can produce an attacking display to change that will very much sway the decision as to whether Rooney is the man or not, regardless of the support he has from Mac.

I hope Rooney throws caution to the wind on saturday and picks his most attacking line up because I for one cannot swallow being the worst team at home in the country.

[Rammeister]

2 hours ago, LondonRam2 said:

MINUS - needs to complete coaching qualifications, needs to start reading books and learning some new words, awful in interviews, inarticulate, cliche piled upon cliche, painful to listen to, needs media training,

I should imagine he’s had loads of media training in his career, which is why he is so guarded in interviews. I also think he is rightly wary of the press given some of his past experiences.

I get your point though. I do wonder whether if he spoke with a different accent whether people’s perception would be different?

What books should he read? Whole lot of potential there for a new thread...

 

 

[MuespachRam]

The best thing he has done so far is in the 2 away games...showing that he has the balls to drop Lawrence and doing what all the managers before him didn’t do when It was crying out for and walk away with the win 
And then he went to Brentford with a plan against this amazing Free scoring champions elect team and made them look ordinary, they never looked like beating us. 
impressive....

[Dimmu]

I don't mind him as na interim, let's have some stability in these turbulant times. But later definitely someone new.

Bit science to support this:

This article surveys the literature on the impact of managerial successions on team performance in professional sports and assesses ten studies on the effect of managerial succession. They cover 80 years (1920–2000) with data from four different sports and two countries. From these studies, three lessons emerge when teams perform poorly: i) a change of coach or manager during the season is not helpful; ii) if succession is deemed necessary, change the manager between seasons; and iii) if the choice is between a manager from inside the organization and one from the outside, choose the former. What is critical is that whichever manager is replaced or for whatever reason, the performance of the team will most likely not improve for that reason alone. In short, a new manager does not make a better team

Jon Aarum Andersen: A New Sports Manager Does Not Make a Better Team

 

[Leicester Ram]

I had a really strong idea of what sort of manager we should bring in when Cocu left but I honestly have no strong feelings at all now. 

Feel a bit numb to the manager situation, Rooney’s stopped the slide and done some promising things but he’s not ready to be anointed just yet. Seems like the way things are falling, he’ll get a handful more games to secure the job and that might be enough. 

FWIW I think the solidity he’s brought to the team would be raved about if it was Allardyce/Cook who’d managed the last 4 games, he’s settled the team down and (with some luck last night) we’ve stopped shipping goals. Could also argue goals conceded against Coventry and Wycombe were a bit unlucky on the balance of the game.

My one strong feeling is that whoever is made manager should be the manager next season too. Don’t like any of this McClaren/Rooney/Allardyce to the end of the season nonsense. With how things stand, the goal this year should be a) keep us up and then b) use this term to assess the squad/build chemistry/build a playing style with the aim to getting us back into the top ten next season. If we can be safe sooner rather than later, this season could still be valuable in the long term instead of a waste.

While some might think Rooney is a bit hollywood, I strongly disagree with the fear that ‘oh well, as soon as he does well he’ll jump at an opportunity at a bigger club.’ That’s just playing scared, doesn’t get you anywhere. 

The average lifespan of a managerial appointment in this league is so short, you can’t worry about that and if he leaves because he’s been successful...well at least he’s ducking done well! Much better outcome than sacking a manager because you’re in the relegation zone isn’t it?

May I remind you, that Gary ‘this is my dream job’ Rowett who lived in the area, played for the club, family were Derby fans and signed two ducking contracts with us in the space of about 9 months jumped ship for a sideways move to Stoke for a slightly bigger budget. Nothing is guaranteed, nothing is really safe.

Appointing a manager for attention from Sky is the wrong way to go about it but if Rooney keeps up the gradual improvements to results and performances, he’ll have earned the job by the time this takeover goes through.

[Tombo]

I have been very very vocally anti-Rooney. And I concede now I may have been harsh.

But I don't want him as Head Coach. And I don't want him playing. I'd like to see him in the coaching set up under a new manager, perhaps to get the job next time.

Whatever we do, just as long as his playing career at Derby is done.

[BIllyD]

4 minutes ago, Tombo said:

I have been very very vocally anti-Rooney. And I concede now I may have been harsh.

But I don't want him as Head Coach. And I don't want him playing. I'd like to see him in the coaching set up under a new manager, perhaps to get the job next time.

Whatever we do, just as long as his playing career at Derby is done.

Surely you want a head coach that's successful, does it really matter if his name is Wayne Rooney or Fred Smith ? 

Same if he returns to playing again, the best outcome is if he performs the same way he first did when he joined us ?

So people not see the connection between a successful Wayne Rooney and Derby county ?

[Mostyn6]

I haven’t commented on this, because it’s hard to dismiss anyone who has no record or experience to attempt to evaluate. I just knew that the one certainty was Cocu was never going to rescue the situation. 
 

Last night, on paper, perhaps doesn’t seem different to under Cocu, but watching it felt massively different!!

[MuespachRam]

1 hour ago, Tombo said:

I have been very very vocally anti-Rooney. And I concede now I may have been harsh.

But I don't want him as Head Coach. And I don't want him playing. I'd like to see him in the coaching set up under a new manager, perhaps to get the job next time.

Whatever we do, just as long as his playing career at Derby is done.

and you say all that and have the profile icon thingy with the biggest waste of money we have at the club....

[IslandExile]

47 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

Last night, on paper, perhaps doesn’t seem different to under Cocu, but watching it felt massively different!!

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, it helps having Bielik and Kazim-Richards fit to play and not having to accommodate Rooney, the player, in the team.